RSSBeer and civilization
C Brown
Sad news today about the sale of Anheuser-Busch to the Belgian-owned, Brazilian-run InBev company. Of course, you shouldn’t have been drinking very much Budweiser even before this sale. You should be drinking local beer (or making your own). But now Budweiser must definitely be booted from the fridge.
Anyway, this news story has spawned an outstanding op-ed column by George Will.
No beer, no civilization. After reading Will’s essay, I have to wonder whether it might also be true that “no beer, no church”. Did the RPCNA grow during the decades when beer-swilling was prohibited? No. Might our modest growth in the past decade be partly attributable to the fact that our elders are once again free to imbibe? Yes.
W.H. Chellis
July 14th, 2008 at 3:48 pm
I will drink to that Rev. Brown! Maybe a couple.
TJ
July 14th, 2008 at 4:33 pm
You should be drinking local beer (or making your own).
How about drinking a foreign beer (perhaps a good Irish or English beer)?
I have a question. I am an ARP pastor. It is my understanding (mistaken perhaps) that the RPCNA frowned upon the consumption of alcoholic beverages, particular for elders and pastors. Is this correct? Is this slowly changing? I believe I know of at least one RPCNA congregation that uses wine during the Lord’s Supper.
C Brown
July 14th, 2008 at 5:05 pm
TJ,
Yes, occasionally. Just try to support the little local guy, not the $52 billion global giant–that’s all I’m sayin’.
Synod of 1998 removed the total abstinence requirement for ministers. And the wine is flowing, at least in a few of our congregations.
Iohannes
July 15th, 2008 at 12:55 am
The first beer I had after turning 21 was the home-brew of an OPC pastor.
W.H. Chellis
July 15th, 2008 at 8:27 am
TJ wrote: “I have a question. I am an ARP pastor. It is my understanding (mistaken perhaps) that the RPCNA frowned upon the consumption of alcoholic beverages, particular for elders and pastors.”
TJ- a couple of cold ones has turned that frown up-side-down. Cheers!
TJ
July 15th, 2008 at 10:11 am
Synod of 1998 removed the total abstinence requirement for ministers.
Good to hear that! Cheers, my RPCNA brethren. I shall imbibe a Newcastle this evening and think of you. An English brew goes a long way toward healing those abuses that Anglicans foisted upon our Scottish ancestors in the faith. But, I guess more than a few of our Puritan forefathers enjoyed an English brew or two. Besides, if there had not been pubic houses, how might that have affected the spread of the Reformation in the British isles?!?
GRC
July 15th, 2008 at 12:35 pm
Not that I disagree, but why must Budweiser be booted from my fridge because a Belgian company now owns Anheuser-Busch? Last I heard, Belgian beers were among the best. Maybe this is the beginning of a new direction for AB?
Despite the monopolistic and authoritarian Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board, Western PA is still home to several good breweries.
GRC
July 15th, 2008 at 12:44 pm
Oh, and I meant to add: Budweiser has never shamed the shelf of my fridge, but I did go on a free tour of the AB brewery in St. Louis when I was in high school.
W.H. Chellis
July 15th, 2008 at 9:45 pm
A study of what Reformed men are such delightful beer snobs would be interesting. And I do love Belgian beers. A Leffe man- Brune or Blonde.
TJ
July 17th, 2008 at 11:55 am
Beer snobs? Must be the Scottish influence. If I’m going to fork over big bucks for brew, it might as well be good brew. Of course, I’m not really Scottish; if I were, I might just go with the cheap stuff. Like a sign I saw just the other day, that was advertising Pabst Blue Ribbon at a bar: $1 drafts all day, every day. Now that’s just plain gross.
Benjamin P. Glaser
July 23rd, 2008 at 10:51 am
This is an excellent discussion. If you are ever in the Pittsburgh area I highly recommend the local Penn Brewery beers. Penn Dark especially. In a somewhat surprising choice also is Yeungling’s Black & Tan (though the name itself may bother some of our Irish friends)…
K Endo
August 31st, 2008 at 11:37 am
I am a RP pastor in Japan, who hasn’t tasted cold ones for years.
WARNINGS to you folks: Beers do enhance your URIC ACID that can
cause GOUT.
merlotmudpies
September 1st, 2008 at 1:16 am
W.H. — really, it’s not just reformed men who pay attention to good beer. Reformed ladies have that opportunity, too. And, accordingly, it was with great relief that I read GRC’s second comment: Budweiser?? Indeed, for shame! At least you didn’t follow the “Bud Light.”
I have found this post especially amusing in light of Bud’s most recent commercial — run ad nauseum during the Olympics. The lyrics encited in me a response that sounded something like this as I hollered at my husband from the front room: “WHAT? DID you HEAR that? WHAT!?! I believe in WHAT?”
Had I been feeling more inspired, perhaps I would have written a letter like the one Jaime Doom posted in an open format to Bud’s advertising agency.
Essentially, though, owned by Belgians and run by Brazilians or not, it’s lyrics like “This is who I am, this is where I’m from, this is what I do when the day is done. This is what I believe in when the day is done” that make me REALLY crave a Guinness. Really Budweiser? Really?
Perhaps it’s not the who or the brew, but the brouhaha we would be paying attention to!