The world of beer seems to have changed quite a bit lately ,(or am I just  behind?). I’m talking about micro breweries, beer tasting, cider beer, spiced beer,you name it beer, it is not just Miller, Bud, and Coors anymore! It seems wine is being nudged out of our future generations preference  to barley and hops. I’ve recently had my 1st experience in the vast world of beer at a beer tasting event in Hollywood in which I enjoyed many different flavors and shades of beer about 2 months ago. This past week-end I attended a Birthday party that not only had a Chili cook off but fun games and,( take me back to my teen age years in the 70’s), a KEGGER! This was not your average keg of beer it was an IPA keg of beer!

I am not used to drinking large quantities of  beer, in fact I really only drink it when I am very thirsty and hot while at the beach or in the mountains, or with Pizza. So what did I do? I drank it like it was your average beer, you know just to quench my thirst, and the lazy beer buzz that comes along with it.BIG MISTAKE!!

All was well for the 1st few hours because I knew I wanted to eat before I got my lazy beer buzz. But after some great chili I went to it. I was having a good time! My husband promptly took a nap after eating which is not uncommon  for him,(he has this talent that he can sleep anywhere with little regard to his surroundings). Time for games, still having good time! My youngest daughter left the party rather early in the evening which surprised me. All of a sudden she was quickly making her exit! Oh well may-be she had another commitment and did not want to announce it, still out of character though. Husband is now in the house by himself watching T.V. That’s O K he seems content, still having a good time!

OH NO!!! It felt like someone came up and slapped me, and slapped me hard! I was hammered! Shit faced, f—ed up, wasted. I swear it hit me like a ton of bricks. I should have left immediately but foolishly did not, but it wasn’t long afterward. Too late though I had already started in on the B.Day boy about marrying my daughter. Truth is it is their decision and I really am only playing with him but am unaware if he realizes that. Anyways I made it home and to bed with some help. (O K a lot of help).

Next morning I wanted to get the ton of bricks off of my head! I also wanted my stomach to stop feeling like there was a Tsunami in it. Every inch of my body hurt! Someone had poisoned me and guess what? It was me!!

The nausea finally subsided at 3:30 that afternoon. The head hurt the entire day and night. I had wasted a whole day feeling awful and it was all my own doing! I tried to remember.. yes, I had felt a hangover like this before but it was long, long ago! Is this why I don’t drink beer? I was not even a happy drunk that night which makes things even worse. By the way this is why I do not drink Rum,to unpredictable with me, could go either way.

Oh well. I did learn the next day I was not the only one who felt the all of a sudden “ton of bricks and the slapping of the face”. My husband disclosed that was the reason he past out in the chair and later retreated to sober up with the T.V. by himself! Also my  youngest daughter who had left so suddenly, her too. She said it hit her out of left field and the need to evacuate was none to soon! I apologize to anyone I offended and if I did I want you to know I payed severely. The effects IPA had on me even inspired me to do a little research on it:

It seems IPA stands for Indian Pale Ale. Now I’m no expert but apparently IPA’s originated in the 1700s. You see  there was a lot of trade going on between Great Britian and its colonies, notably India. The problem with shipping beer is that it needs to be cold or the microbes in it need to be killed, or it will go flat and sour. The long journey from Great Britian to India would result in all of the beer being ruined before it got to its intended destination.

So the experiments began. Since pasteurization and refrigeration had not been invented yet the only thing to do was change the amounts of the ingredients they used to brew with, mainly Hops and alcohol.

High amounts of hops lead to greater fermentation which increases the alcohol content of a beer.  Alcohol makes an environment that is not favorable to bacteria that causes the beer to sour. A brewer took a normal pale ale recipe and added a lot more hops to it which raised the alcohol content. So, by adding more hops than normal, they were able to keep the microbes at bay long enough to reach India. They named it “Inda Pale Ale” because it was made specifically for voyages to India.

The gist of all this? Hops = fermentation. Fermentation = more alcohol . End result, IPA = one hell of a strong and powerful beer, and I don’t mean just the taste of it!

But what dopes IPA mean to me?  “INTENSE PAIN AFTERWORDS!!” I don’t plan on revisiting IPA for a long long while.

Hope you had a great day Adam, I for one will remember it for some time I’m sure!