Shortly after the doors opened on the 27th Great American Beer Festival, a crowd congregated at the booth offering that and other pours from The Lost Abbey of San Marcos, California, where the tap handle is a Celtic cross and the legacy of beer-brewing monks endures.
Standing under a banner promising “Inspired beers for Saints and Sinners Alike,” proprietor and former altar boy Tomme Arthur had a confession: He’s using God to sell some beer.
“It’s the oldest story ever told ”” the struggle between good and evil,” said Arthur, 35, a product of Catholic schools in his native San Diego. “There is a battle being waged between those who make good beer and those who make evil beer.”
“Beer is living proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.”
– Benjamin Franklin
Here is a teaser for an article with 25 interesting relevant facts:
[blockquote][b]Puritans To Prohibition[/b]
The Puritans loaded more beer than water onto the Mayflower before they cast off for the New World.
http://www2.potsdam.edu/hansondj/funfacts/PuritansToProhibition.html%5B/blockquote%5D
“The Puritans loaded more beer than water onto the Mayflower before they cast off for the New World”
Alternative energy?
Heh, Irenaeus. The truth is probably that the beer, containing alcohol, wouldn’t get contaminated sitting in vats on the voyage. But it does rather challenge the impression of Puritans. 🙂
the Franciscans have been associated with beer going back to the 14th century:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Franziskaner_Weisse_16.9_OzGlass.jpg
It’s good stuff, trust me….:)
Of course, it was the Pilgrims on the Mayflower, not the Puritans.
The Mayflower had intended to go further south but they landed where they did because they ran out of beer. Had great fun as all four of our children all made this point in school essays on Thanksgiving. Some teachers wanted to mark them down until I proved it to them from Puritans own records. Never teach history unless you have checked the actual records of the time.