Breweries "Visited"

Thursday, September 27, 2012

Rare Beer and Great Music Day

Beer #292 Raspberry Tart / New Glarus Brewing Company, New Glarus, WI

I'm definitely beating The Cold, but he's not going down without a fight.  Later this evening, I'll be having an awesome time watching David Byrne do his thing on stage!  Yes, the former front man for the Talking Heads has kicked off a new tour, and we're catching the only (I think) Philly date.  He's sharing the stage with St. Vincent, who I'm admittedly not all that familiar with, but honestly - if David Byrne was on stage with a tree sloth who played the bongos I'd buy a ticket.

Today's beer is the Raspberry Tart from New Glarus Brewing, out of Wisconsin.  This beer was a great gift from a fellow beer geek and member of our PSU tailgate squad.  Great gift, you see, because New Glarus really doesn't ship outside of Wisconsin, their home state.  They recommend you pour this beer into a champagne glass, and once you do you'll find a dull ruby color and no head.  There's a pleasant raspberry aroma, and the taste is tart and sweet, with fantastic real fruit flavor.  A bit of carbonation, but maybe not as much as you expect from something in a champagne glass.  Really amazing beer, and I'm quite pleased I was able to cross this brewery off the list!!
Pretty, and pretty damn tasty!
New Glarus was founded in 1993 by a husband and wife duo, and they're still going strong in the world of craft beer.  For my Philly people who are all jealous because we got this rare beer and you didn't, inexplicably you can sample it this weekend too!  Hawthorne's Cafe is hosting a fundraiser for the Pennsylvania Society for the Protection of Animals on Sunday, and will be pouring not only New Glarus but also Tyranena (also rare around here) as part of their dinner that night.  Check the details here.  Help animals in need AND drink great, hard to find beer?  No brainer.  Get on that, people.

Thing to Think About Today:
While thinking about raspberry beer, I realized I've already used Raspberry Beret in this space back in May - even though Prince is being a total jerk and yanked the video down from YouTube.  Dick.  So instead, let's go ahead and think about David Bryne (also not a newcomer to this space).  I've come to realize that I'm completely drawn to music that appeals to smart people.  Call me a snob, but music that tells a story, or has depth to it, or feels like artwork, or simply makes you think is far more appealing to me than.... well I won't name names here and hurt anyone's feelings.  Obviously, the Talking Heads fit my criteria of "smart music" perfectly.

It seems the playlist tonight will feature most everything from Byrne & St. Vincent's new album, Love This Giant, along with songs from St. Vincent's past work and Byrne's incredibly good solo work. And, it appears there will be some classic Talking Heads in there, which is always a treat.  CAN.  NOT.  WAIT!  I don't expect to hear And She Was tonight, and I love it so I'll go ahead and drop it in here so we can all enjoy.  Have a good night, folks!


Oh, and if David Byrne does a cover of Raspberry Beret, I'll quite definitely die from over stimulation.

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