Hearts, stars and clovers!

Yesterday was every Irish-American's favorite holiday to get completely hammered, and I'll admit I'm one of those yanks who drunkly sings "traditional" drinking songs on March 17th and have a pint of Guinness in my hand all day. Doing car bombs late into the night, telling every cute guy that walked by if he'd like a kiss from an "Irish"girl. It's fair to say after generations of breeding with true Americans, my blood is more red white and blue then green white and orange. But every March, I truly embrace my mixed heritage, and so do thousands of Americans. We are a country of immigrants, even the "true" 'Mericans are just watered down foreigners. And there's nothing wrong with that, it's what makes the USA what it is, a giant mix of cultures. With that said, Kiss me, I'm Irish-American!

But back to St. Patty's day, it was to be the most commercialized holiday of mixed heritages in America. Saint Patrick's was first celebrated with going to church, for it was a Christian holiday. Drinking was apart of it, for the day fell shortly after Lent restrictions were lifted though the drinking was not as excessive nor as profound as it is now. But over the last century, March 17th is not really remembered as a holy holiday, but as a day of binge drinking, similar fate has befallen the Hispanic holiday Cinco de Mayo. I'm not saying we should stop the drinking on "green day", but maybe we who claim to be Irish-American's try to learn more about why we celebrate March 17th and learn more about out heritage. From it's Catholic origins to why the shamrock is St. P's religious symbol.

As a future (hopefully) brewmaster, I have only one thing to say about green beer that is served on the 17th, NO! Do not drink watered down, food colored, overly priced cheap beer! There is nothing truly Irish about ruining beer with food coloring! Beer is NOT supposed to be a dark shade of green, instead it's supposed have a beautiful amber color, a nice golden blonde shade, or a perfect dark brown of a great stout. Barley and hops do not naturally produce a shamrock shade of green! A true Irish-American should have a pint of cold delicious REAL beer in their hands and a smile on their face knowing that they are drinking something that would make their ancestors proud. So do me a favor, if you see any left over green beer, pour it into the streets as a way of social protest! Real beer rules!

Check out this hilarious video about the "brewing" process of green beer staring my favorite actor Sean Patrick Flannery, star of Boondock Saints.

I spent my St. Patty's day the way everyone should, surrounded by friends at a great bar, Stout Brothers , enjoying a few pints, laughing and having a great evening. If you ever have a chance to go to Santa Rosa's Irish pub in downtown Rosa, do so! A great selection of whiskey and beers on tap, corned beef that would put my Grandma's to shame, but seriously don't tell her I said that. A small pub, but the atmosphere is amazing. The bartenders are quick and know their stuff. Perfectly measured car bombs, even when the bar was packed, pints pulled so well that there wasn't large heads on beer, and friendly (and cute) smiles. After the "traditional" bar crawl, I went home and watched Boondock Saints, a movie which has been my St. P's tradition for years.

I hope everyone had a safe and fun Saint Patrick's day! It's also now officially my Spring Break, so expect a review about Sonoma County's biggest beer festival which is this friday, March 25th, Battle of the Brews 2011.

How it all began...

Hi, My name is _______ (insert what ever nickname you have given me) or if we have never met and since this is the internet, we most likely haven't, you can call me Claire. I want to be a brewmaster, to be clear, a brewmaster is someone who makes beer. Sounds like an odd career choice for a girl huh? I didn't always want to brew beer, actually I was quiet a normal little girl with typical career goals. A teacher in grade school once asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, and I told her with the most serious face a 5 year old can muster, Godzilla. I had wild dreams of becoming a giant mutant lizard, destroying cities and saving Tokyo from radioactive moth creatures, which to me was normal. But reality set in when I was told that was impossible. At that very moment I decided to never let someone tell me something was impossible, (I know now that the closest thing I can do to becoming a large reptile is on Halloween) but I never let the impossible stop me from my goals. And in the last few years, my largest goal has been to be a brewmaster.

“Never tell a young person that anything cannot be done.

God may have been waiting centuries for someone

 ignorant enough of the impossible to do that very thing.”

 ~ G. M. Trevelyan

My love of beer started young, with my mother. Mommy, as I affectionately call her (or during my teenage years "the women who destroys my individuality") has a very sophisticated palate. She raised me from an early age to know the difference between quality and "piss water". Once, during my rebellious teenage years, she caught me drinking cheap beer. I will refrain from naming big brands (I don't like lawsuits, my lawyer is cranky), but the label said "LITE" in very large letters. Her reaction was far from the typical American mother, instead of being grounded for drinking, she lectured me on the fact that I shouldn't be caught dead drinking that type of beer, that she raised me better, and no daughter of hers drinks "lite" beer. Now, I'm not saying my mother condoned under age drinking nor do I, but she had a point.


 I don't know my exact age of when I had my first sip of beer, but I do remember it was from my Mother, and I do remember it was a microbrew from Sierra Nevada. "Clairebear, beer is special, when your older you'll find more enjoyment from the better tasting beers then the cheap ones. Life is too short to be wasted on bad tasting beer." ~Alice Andrus, to me the smartest women alive. She sparked my passion for cooking too, which for years was my career of choice, Chef Claire. But as I grew into an adult and I experienced the joy I was told about when I was just a snot nosed brat, beer became a true passion. When I found out it was possible to actually make brewing a career, my mind was blown. I quickly started researching homebrewing techniques and gathered a few friends to brew my first batch of beer. Like my first batch of cookies I made by myself when I was 7, I failed horribly. I didn't properly sanitize nor was I patient enough and I opened up the keg before it was time. Batches after that improved, but were still far from what I wanted. Since brewing beer at home is expensive and I'm a poor college student, it has been a few months since my last batch. But this summer's goal is to brew at least 3 beers. My long term goal is to transfer to Oregon State in Corvallis to get a BS in Fermentation Science. 


I started this blog to chart my journey and to write about my passion of beer. I hope you will continue to read from here on out and that you will support me on the road to becoming a great brewmaster. Like my mother said "Life's to short" so I'm going to do what I love. 

"Brewers enjoy working to make beer as much as drinking beer instead of working."

-Harold Rudolph