"Men's courses will foreshadow certain ends, to which, if persevered in, they must lead," said Scrooge. "But if the courses be departed from, the ends will change. Say it is thus with what you show me!""Ghost of the Future," he exclaimed, "I fear you more than any spectre I have seen. But as I know your purpose is to do me good, and as I hope to live to be another man from what I was, I am prepared to bear you company, and do it with a thankful heart. Will you not speak to me?"
If I were to tell you, you were to be visited by three ghosts tonight how would you prepare? I've contemplated this question all day as I knew this is the beer I would be drinking. I probably would not believe it first of all; unless of course like the story the person telling me this was a long lost friend that passed away years ago and I knew was no longer a part of the living. I'm of the belief that there is a divine path for us to chose but that ultimately we have choices to make. I don't really want to get to deep on the subject as it can of course strike all kinds of controversy. Ultimately, we are presented choices in life and it is these choices we make that form the person we are at this very moment. The person who we will become in 1, 5, 10 years will be dictated by those choices we make going forward. Now, imagine for a minute that you get a chance like ol'Scrooge did to sit and see past, present and future; what would you do with that information. Well, most of us do not really get that chance. Its really more a perfect Hollywood story for people to have fun imagining but likely few of us will ever get to see our future and be able to consciously choose different. As I sit here reading, the quotes from A Christmas Carol, and trying to get some tastes from this beer and decide whether I like it or not I sit and I contemplate this:
How will my life be different because I am drinking this beer right here right now rather than choosing say a Miller Lite to review, or a DogFish Pangeae? Who knows, maybe this choice made little ripples in my future but what if it made a Tsunami of a difference? Now, for the fun part - how will your future be different for choosing to read this article where ever you are at whatever time of night or day you read it? OK, that is enough of that - maybe I'll sit and debate this with a few of my drinking friends this weekend over a few brews. I would love to hear what everyone's opinion is on the above theory. I would love to be able to research this more but I think I should instead drink this beer and give my opinions.On to Old Fezziwig Ale by Samuel Adams; in my opinion this is a fairly mediocre beverage. It poured a deep brown almost chocolatey color. It is definitely a thinner textured beer as it pours into the glass. The head was a heavy thick 2.5 finger high. The head was pretty solid and dissipated slowly. I am stuffy once again so my nose feels broken. As I take a big whiff in, I pick up small hints of the orange peel used in the brew. I may even get a hint of the ginger used. I take a sip and am not truly impressed. Maybe I'm Christmas Seasonal Brewed out. Maybe my palette is having a hard time tasting the subtle notes of certain flavors; I doubt it. In the front, I do not get anything amazing and huge. One nice thing that I like about this beer is the silky texture the beer has as it flows over my tongue. After I swallow and the taste sits in my mouth, I finally start to pick up the flavors a bit more. I get hints of orange and of cinnamon. I definitely am picking up the ginger. The problem for me is those flavors are a little to late and stick around a little to long for my taste. It makes my mouth feel parched and dry and needing to drink more to get rid of the taste. I would NORMALLY say this is a good thing, unfortunately for me (and this beer) the future beverage I want to drink to wash it down is not itself. It is leaving me wanting to down a glass of water or maybe another more refreshing beer. This one for me was not a hit. Though, I love the silky texture the flavors are not all there for me.
So, all in all this beer has two BIG POINT values for me - A) the silky smooth texture over my tongue (sort of like a Boddingtons texture that I remember) 2) I LOVE BEERS with stories. I love beers that attach themselves to objects/stories/history/anything. For me, I'd rather a beer company make a beer and tie it to a story and pay for the packaging of the brew - MORE SO then putting billions of dollars in marketing for commercials that talk about "Taste's great... Less Filling" - this tells me nothing. When I drink it - sure it may be refreshing but it really doesn't take me any where or any time. At least Coors drops me in the middle of the CO Rockies on a snowy winter day beside a nice fresh flowing creek. That is a good start. Don't get me wrong - Miller Lite is my "safety beer" at home. I always try to have some on hand because its what I started on and what I enjoy. But, the emotional part of it is my own history, not the history it bestowed on me. So, here's to you Sam Adams. It may not rank HIGH on my score sheet and may not be a GREAT beer in my book but I love the story behind it.
S0, I'll leave you with this thought. Think about it and see how it may to change your future as you decide what your next step of the night will be:"Men's courses will foreshadow certain ends, to which, if persevered in, they must lead," said Scrooge. "But if the courses be departed from, the ends will change. Say it is thus with what you show me!"
_Notes: the two quotes came from this LINK. I also read a little on
wikipedia about Fezziwig himself when thinking about this post.
