Beer 39: Voodoo Love Child

Imagine getting this instead of your favorite beer-related blog!

I'm postponing today's post in support of the SOPA / PIPA online protest.

Since I’m not going to summarize it any better, I’ll allow Wikipedia to do the writing:  Fighting online piracy is important. The most effective way to shut down pirate websites is through targeted legislation that cuts off their funding. There’s no need to make American social networks, blogs and search engines censor the Internet or undermine the existing laws that have enabled the Web to thrive, creating millions of U.S. jobs.

If you are like some people I encountered today, you may be wondering why you should care.  SOPA and PIPA represent two bills in the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate respectively. SOPA =  Stop Online Piracy Act.  PIPA =  Protect IP Act (IP being intellectual property).

At their heart, both bills have the good intention of attempting to stop copyright infringement.  What they will most likely end up doing if passed, is infringing on free speech and limiting the growth of the Internet.  An immense burden will be put on website owners requiring them to police user-contributed media.  Your access to online information will be severely curtailed.  Think about how many times you’ve visited Wikipedia, YouTube, fashion or sports blogs (This beer and lifestyle blog! Oh my!), message boards or…ahem…adult entertainment sites.  It’s all at risk.

If you are bothered at all by the thought of limited free speech, write your representative or senator.  Share your thoughts.  Make yourself heard.  Be part of the process.

***

Beer and Pupperoni!  Yum!

Tonight we're drinking Voodoo Brewing's  Love Child.  Voodoo Brewing is based in Meadville, Pennsylvania - a tiny little hamlet near Erie, Pennsylvania.  After checking out their website - quite possibly created by crackheads - it's pretty certain these guys are dedicated to their beer and aren't worried about anything else.  I love it.

Love Child is advertised as a golden ale aged on raspberries, cherries and passion fruit.  It's described as a bastardized Belgian fruit style beer.  Wow.  I didn't expect to enjoy this as much as I do.  But maybe that was due to the mildly disturbing image on the label.

Yes, I see a rotund man in a thong wearing a helmet too.

I wasn't sure what style glass to use for a bastard beer so I went tulip.  It poured with a surprising red hue that didn't really translate well in this photo.  It barely had a head and what was there fizzled out quickly.  A swirl released a nose full of raspberry but it wasn't cloying.

Drinking it revealed big carbonation, lots of fruit and a sweetness with a mild bite.  The fruit is best described as strong undertones of fruit.  This Love Child is by no means fruity.  Based on the scent, I was expecting more lambic qualities and when they weren't there, my fondness for this beer grew immensely.  That being said, at 9.5% ABV, one of these bad boys is good; two would be daring.  Three may have you stripping in front of a roaring fire while yelling at your co-workers that it's too hot.  (Man I worked with some lunatics over the years!)

So here's to you, friends - appropriate and inappropriate - and here's to freedom of speech and all the porn you can handle!  Cheers!