Brew Ha Ha: what’s all of the fuss about beer?

May 5th, 2008

“I almost blew it last night”

So this priest walks into a bar … #4
I have often been struck by the similar roles played by priests and bartenders. In many ways our jobs are the same. We both listen to people talk about their problems, we both offer advice and mediate disputes and we both try to give folks […]

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April 28th, 2008

“Hey Yank!”

Hopfen and Malz returns in “So this priest walks into a bar … #3″
Ok, so this one is not about me but comes from a fellow priest who is now retired. Back in the early 90’s, he was serving in a small church in Scotland. Now one day Steve was in the pub and the […]

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April 14th, 2008

Liquid Bread (beer as an essential part of daily life) Liquid Bread (beer as an essential part of daily life)

The return of Hopfen and Malz
Writing my previous post (Saints of the Suds #3) got me to thinking about the role of beer in our daily lives. It doing a little basic research into the history of beer consumption, there was a time in which beer held a much more prominent place in […]

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April 7th, 2008

Saints of the suds III - German Monks

Another edition of Hopfen und Malz, this time with a more historical take on German double bock beers and the fasting period of Lent. Enjoy!
Ok, so this is a pretty broad and impersonal grouping to qualify as a “saint.” Then again, I could probably do a whole series in this column just on the […]

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March 31st, 2008

So, this priest walks into a bar…

Return of Hopfen und Malz:
Along with Saint’s of the Suds I hope for this to be an occasional, yet on-going series, reflecting on the holy (and sometimes weird) things that happen to me when I go to bars.
Part I “It seems that you see me more in bars than in church.”
I heard these words […]

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March 30th, 2008

Quote for a chilly Sunday morning

The church is near, but the road is icy. The bar is far away, but I will walk carefully.
–Russian proverb

From Rob Anderson’s beer quote page
Tags: bar, beer, churchShare This

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March 27th, 2008

Worshipping beer

This is kind of an interesting concept. Called beer church, it’s an attempt to take the social and convivial nature of beer drinking and use it for the forces of good. I’m not entirely sure I understand how it works, but as part of a beer tasting group loosely associated with a church, I applaud […]

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March 21st, 2008

“…a godly, righteous and sober life”

In honor of Good Friday, here’s a post from our friend the friar
It was the morning after attending the 2nd Annual Philly Craft Beer Festival. As I knelt on the cold tile of the church floor and said these words (which come at the end of our confession of sin) I couldn’t help but […]

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February 6th, 2008

“Beer Day” to go on as planned

According to this article, the US Navy will go ahead with Beer Day on the USS Camden as planned even though it falls on Ash Wednesday. Beer Day is a reward of sorts for crewman who’ve been out to sea for 45 days straight, but there was concern that Roman Catholic members would miss out […]

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January 14th, 2008

And on the 8th day…

The Friar drummed up another post for Hopfen und Malz, so here it is:
Less than a week ago, several members of my beer club bottled our first two batches of homebrew. I am well aware that when we taste it next month, the results may be less than spectacular. In fact, given the […]

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