Call Me Ishmael

Beer #181 Ipswich Original Ale / Mercury Brewing Company, Ipswich, MA

Last Friday before we embark on a two week tour of the West Coast.  Many things to do this weekend to get ready to leave, but I'll love every one of them.

For no reason at all, here's a picture of what appears to be a road construction project gone wrong.  Or, some kids playing "King of the hill" gone wrong.  Or, something gone wrong.  Didn't seem like anyone was in a hurry to clean up this giant pile of rocks in the middle of a busy road.  Hey... free rocks, everyone!

Rock it.

Tonight's beer is the Ipswich Ale from Mercury Brewing, out of Massachusetts. It pours a hazy orange in the glass, with a lingering fluffy white head.  Your nose finds aromas of bread and orange, and when you drink it you get flavors such as biscuit, bitter hops, and fruit flavors.  There's a dry finish in there, too.  Not a bad choice, try one if you find it in a store/bar near you.

Ahoy!

This brewery stretches back to 1991, when it was known as the Ipswich Brewery.  They sold out to someone who sold out to someone who sold it to someone in 1999 who renamed it the Mercury Brewing Company, and now we're all caught up.

Thing to Think About Today:
Based on the label, and based on the name of the town, this beer sort of makes me think of Moby Dick.  One of the all-time classics, this Herman Melville book tells the tale of the mostly unhinged Captain Ahab and his whaling vessel crew hunting at all costs for a deadly and rare white whale.  You probably read this somewhere in your early high school career, and you probably didn't like it, because it used unusual phrases and metaphors and made you think.  If you haven't read it as an adult, you're missing out on one of the legendary pieces of literature in our time.

NOMZ NOMZ!

Marci and I often joke about our personal "white whales," the things which keep us up at night, the seemingly unreachable goals, the things which keep us fighting for another day.  Here's hoping you'll all catch your white whale some day.

Super bonus trivia: If you drink coffee from Starbucks, you're drinking coffee from a franchise named after a character in this book.  Knowledge is Power!