This may be a cardinal sin of beer blogging, but I'm about to get political on you.
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.
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.
I mean, LOOK AT THE FACE. I just love it. It made me laugh and say aw. I love the Short's logo in the eyes. I love the evil cats on either side. It's just so great. It looks like my cat, Athena.
Poured into a tulip, this Belgian Strong Ale was completely opaque, but not quite black. The head was thick and tan, but settled into a thin, off white layer with great lacing that clung to the edges of the glass.
You can probably guess the aroma from the beer type, it was right on point. A perfect blend of roasted malt, pumpernickel bread, cloves, and banana candy.
Taste was nice and warm, exactly what you want when it's been blizzarding for the majority of the week. A lot of beautiful things going on here, but primarily I'm getting a strong triple punch of bittersweet chocolate, cinnamon and cloves, and banana esters. After one sip, I couldn't stop comparing it to chocolate covered bananas. It's less roasty than the aroma would lead you to believe, but nonetheless satisfying. I also got a lingering yeasty earthiness. There's a bit of hops and date at the finish, but overall this is like a thick, dark quad that warms you immediately from head to toe.
Definitely complex, pulling inspiration from a lot of different beer qualities. I really enjoyed it, and for a moment, I forgot the troublesome state of our state and the raging blizzard outside while escaping into Middle Earth with this beer in hand. Unfortunately, I woke up all too aware that the escapist bliss I experienced was only temporary. Now I have to shovel the driveway knowing that when I return home from work, I'll probably have to shovel it again to be able to pull the car in because the snow is seriously coming down out there.
Yep, that's outside my window.... only double that because this picture was taken yesterday.
I've lived in Michigan my whole life, you'd think I'd be used to it! Ah well, back to reality.
