The Horny Old Goat

This evening I stopped by the tasting room at Left Hand Brewery. There are other good local breweries in Colorado too, but Left Hand is on the way home from the grocery in the neighborhood where I live, and I had been wanting to do this for a while. Glad I did. They have a few flavors there that are not available in six packs, so I tried one of these, a Rye Bock. It was delicious and gave a pleasant buzz.

I like the idea of supporting a locally owned business that makes a good product and employs people right here. I like to buy locally produced fruits, vegetables, milk, beeswax, weed and honey too.

After a day's work, sometimes a good beer is the perfect thing. When I was growing up in Chicago, there had been a long history of independent breweries and beer gardens, but it changed when the last independent, Meister Brau, was bought by Miller. Miester Brau used to make a bock beer every spring, and traditionally, bock is only a spring beer. They had also created Lite Beer, which has been a big winner for Miller, although I think they quit making the bock beer years ago, or maybe I just haven't been living in parts of the country where they sell it.

Yes, I am enjoying the renaissance of microbreweries.

This may seem strange to you, but in old Europe, February 1 signaled the beginning of spring. Groundhog Day originated in Germany. The Celtic celebration of Imbolc also comes on this day. So here we are at the first day of spring, celebrating with a drink of bock beer. I still miss the daffodils that would always be in bloom by this date when I lived in Georgia. As a harbinger of spring, what could be better than a sun yellow flower with a sweet scent?

The legend on the Rye Bock bottle says that it was traditional for farmers to feed their goats rye in the spring to make them a little more randy. I didn't know they needed help with that. They say the Bavarians originated the idea of putting rye in beer along with the hops. How's this for a beer label? "Will our Rye Bock exacerbate your spring fever? Maybe not, but trying out old folklore never tasted so good."

Don't know about you, but this felt like a great way to welcome in spring, especially following this gorgeous full Wolf Moon. Here's to all you old goats and goatesses!