beauty and the brew

Michigan's had a rough week, politically. Wednesday, Michigan congress used a disgusting legal loophole to bypass the democratic system by claiming that the signatures of "Right to Lifers" represented everyone in our state with a citizen-initiated bill to make women purchase what many people have rightfully been calling "rape insurance." Basically, women in Michigan now need to purchase separate insurance if they ever, under any circumstances, need an abortion, and the biggest issue people see with this is the women who, on top of being violently assaulted, find out they are pregnant after being raped. The bill is clearly proposed to try and prevent anyone from having an abortion, which I think is wrong in general. Regardless of the reason, I think all women should be allowed to choose what happens to their bodies. But even for people that have moral issues with that (and to them, I say tough shit, but moving on), you're still not making compensations for women who are pregnant from their attackers, or women who need an abortion as a medically necessary procedure because their life is in danger or the life of the child is in danger. I can't find the right words to explain how disgusted I am.

Then, literally THE NEXT DAY our senate passes a bill that would force welfare recipients to take a drug test to continue to receive government aide. This is a touchy subject I've found for a lot of people, but at the end of the day, what you have to understand is that drug addiction is actually an illness, and we need to help these people and treat them like fellow humans, not criminals. Other states that have this law actually have seen more expenses going into the actual drug testing than savings from the people they cut off from welfare because so few of them actually do test positive. On top of that, a wonderful point my friend Christina made is that we pay the salaries of members of our legislator but do we submit them to spontaneous drug testing based on suspicion? No, they refuse.

So basically, my state has marginalized women and impoverished people. Bravo.

I'm sorry, I'll get off my high horse now, but maybe that will help you understand how much I mean this when I say that after this week, I NEED A DRINK.

And a really, really good one at that. So while my boyfriend and I enjoyed The Hobbit at Alamo Drafthouse last night, saying I was thrilled to see they had Short's Evil Urges (9% abv) on tap last night is a gross understatement.

First of all, look at this label.

Oskar Blues has a special place in my heart. They make my second favorite scotch ale, after Backwards Bastard. Their tap handles look like giant cans. Their packaging is so distinctive.

But Ten Fidy has always been in my personal Top 10, and I got so lucky at the Kalamazoo Beer Exchange because I purchased the last glass they had before the tap line ran dry.

This is a flawless Russian Imperial Stout. Poured into a goblet, this beer is thick and slick and black as oil with a nice, one finger chocolatey head.

The aroma is stunning, like café cubano, dried cherry and Ghirardelli cocoa powder.

Right away you've got thick, creamy mocha on your tongue. There's an unmistakable touch of smokey wood, which I absolutely go crazy for in an RIS. It's drying towards the end because of this, otherwise your mouth would be coated with a sticky, lactose sweetness because this is a chewy, viscous beer. I almost forgot to let this stout reach room temperature before I put it all away, it's just that good. But slightly warmer you get great notes of stone fruit and vanilla bean. It definitely goes down hot if you let it sit for a minute. The booziness is perfect for a cold November day (it was November when I had this... Happy December by the way!)