Beer and Brewer Magazine

Hair of the dog that bit you? Sure, but first you've got to catch the damn dog.

The Hair of the Dog

‘THE hair of the dog' is an age-old expression. It's ironic that one of the earliest written records relates back to a brewer, Ebenezer Cobham, who wrote The Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898), and recorded that "in Scotland it is a popular belief, that a few hairs of the dog that bit you, applied to the wound, will prevent evil consequences". This is now used to suggest that the best cure for a hangover is more beer.

You can imagine my surprise when I discovered a group of men who appear to live by this fable. While most of us spend our Monday evenings indoors, flicking from channel to channel or just taking a remedial early nightcap to refresh from a hectic weekend, these gentlemen head out into our neighbourhoods, irrespective of inclement weather, and endure a gruelling run, just to find beer.

One could be forgiven for thinking that these Monday night runners were werewolves, as they howl to the rustic barb of a brass bugle under the light of the moon. While this structured form of reckless abandon has a phenomenal number of adherents, few are willing to comment on the motivation underpinning their weekly activity.

As I scratchily try to broach the subject that this is an elaborate case of men needing the hair of the dog after a big weekend, I am gramatically corrected by a small pack, who question if I mean "hare and dog". It's then revealed that this pastime is known as Hare and Hounds. The entire foray of the evening is centred around the notion of a runner (the hare) leaving paper or chalk markings behind. Half an hour later the rest of the runners (hounds), set out to chase the hare. False trails and markings are set by the hare to stall the pursuing hounds, which if successful, should see all of the pursuing runners arrive en masse at the finish, a comfortable distance behind the hare. A celebration ensues with all of the hounds taking a drink from the ‘bucket' (a drum of shandy), followed by beer.

I am informed that Hare and Hounds dates back to Victorian times, and as I start to believe that maybe I'm on the wrong trail, research brings me back; Hare and Hounds is also recorded in articles, including one published anonymously in Harper's Weekly, 23 May, 1874. That's around the same time as the expression ‘hair of the dog' was first recorded.

Regardless of my tenuous links, these men deserve respect. Running under the guise of the Hash House Harriers, a club founded in Malaysia in 1938, this elaborate network boasts clubs in every state of Australia, and in more than 178 countries worldwide. Affectionately known as ‘the running club for drinkers and the drinking club for runners', if you have an appetite for running and drinking, I recommend a visit to the Hash House Harriers website to find your local club and experience this historical ritual.

For me, well I've heard of a beer chaser, but I admit there are easier ways to pursue happiness. Upon a quick review of the Sydney Hash (or Posh Hash), I did notice that the club on this bedraggled evening boasted approximately 70 members, with few far under this same number. Maybe this is the secret to life: camaraderie, exercise and the great reward of beer.

SMALL BEER

NOT since the milkbar sold boxed lollies called Fags and shaped like ciggies complete with a lit tip has Beer & Brewer been so gloriously offended by a kids' product.

Kidsbeer sells 100,000 bottles a month in Japan. The fizzy, frothy, non-alcoholic soft drink used to be an average fizzer called Guarana until restauranteur Yuichi Asaba renamed it Kidsbeer and saw sales skyrocket.
With the government watchdog asleep at the wheel, Asaba then farmed out production to drinks giant Tomomasu who made it less-sweet, frothier and more beer-like in taste and sealed a deal with the devil by putting Kidsbeer into brown bottles bearing labels resembling those of early Japanese brewskis.

The ad campaign featuring Japanese toddlers and pre-teens guzzling Kidsbeer has spawned an imitator: Sangaria now makes a sparkling wine for kids! See here for more.

BEER PIZZA?

IN WHAT may be the most explosive combination since nitro and glycerine, an American homebrewer has made a beer that tastes like pizza.

Suburban homebrewer Tom Seefurth of St Charles, Illinois, is the man behind an invention promising to underwhelm the worlds of brewing and baking. "It's pizza and beer in a bottle," he explains, dropping a couple of intact pepperoni slices into the fermenter.

Seerfurth and his wife had too many tomatoes in last season's crop so they created a tomato garlic puree then, using wheat Seefurth ground himself and picking their own oregano for flavouring, made pizzas. Then they added them to homebrew.

Eureka! The end result is Mama Mia beer, a spicy brew currently sold only at the esteemed Walter Payton's Roundhouse in Aurora but soon going coast to coast in the US, or so Seefurth hopes.

"The only people who know the recipe are me and my cat, Jethro," he says. We'll take ours like Jethro has his - no anchovies.

POOCH FOR HOOCH?

FATHER of the Year nominations have officially closed with news an unemployed German man sold his step-daughter's dog for beer.

Daddy Drunkest offered to take the six-year-old's pet beagle out for a walk but stopped at a bar and there convinced the barkeeper to extend him 40 credit in return for the dog.

But this story has a happy ending. After discovering what had happened, the bar owner returned the dog to its young owner.

WHERE THE GLASS IS GREENER

WE'VE all done it at some stage in our lives: built a sculpture, wall or tower out of beer cans or bottles.
But where we grew out of it, one man has kept on and on and on.

Philip Muspratt, 54, is the proud architect and owner of a beer garden which boasts an 11-metre-long beer bottle wall, a bottle and can-lined fish pond and a beer can caravan stand.

Currently, the father-of-four is working on a Fosters can lining to his porch and a Carling can wall in his front garden.

Ale-based architecture is thirsty work, of course. Luckily, Phil's son Barry, 33, is happy to help.

"It only took me about six months to do the wall, and the bottles are neck to neck so it's double-glazed.
"I haven't drunk the majority; everybody else has joined in. Every time I go round friends' houses they have got cans at the ready and I just glue them together."

We hear that's how Emperor Nasi Goreng got the idea for The Great Wall of China too.
Click here for more info.

BEER SAVES WORLD ... AGAIN

YOU know it. We know it. Now the planet knows it; drinking beer is good for the environment.

A study by Kobe Pharmaceutical University in Japan has told New Scientist that ale itself doesn't have green credentials but the waste product does.

Brewing from barley creates a beer bran which can soak up potentially fatal and cancer-causing chemicals often used in paint and glues, which seem to end up in rivers and lakes.

Up to now, environmental agencies have used expensive and non-green carbon filters to clean up polluted waterways. Beer bran is cheap, natural and good for everyone.

A seperate study by the University of Singapore revealed that the turmeric used in curry contains an antioxidant which improves cognitive performance and prevents Alzheimers disease.

No wonder we're so witty after a vindaloo and a six-pack.

MORE USES FOR BEER

MARINATE MEAT. Beer is slightly acidic and that makes it an excellent meat tenderiser. This allows you to enjoy leaner cuts that otherwise might be too tough, saving valuable cash which can then be spent on more beer. Beer won't alter the meat's flavour as much as wine either. Simply poke a few holes in the meat, put it in a Tupperware container, and add beer. English ale is great for beef. Marinate in the refrigerator for a few hours or, better yet, overnight. Do not drink the marinade.

ELIMINATE COCKROACHES. Soak bread in beer for them. They won't be able to expel wind and will blow up. Messy but effective, we promise.

PASS KIDNEY STONES. Beer's a diuretic and helps flush the kidneys and bladder, handy if you're lain low by a bladder infection or kidney stone. Although water and cranberry juice work, beer is best to dilate the ureters (tubes connecting kidneys and bladder) and help you pass your stone quicker and easier. Don't drink beer if you're taking antibiotics or narcotic pain medications; you'll render the drugs useless and make yourself sick.

SHAMPOO HAIR - Beer is the remedy for dull, lifeless parties and dull, lifeless hair. Boil a cup of lager or stout into a small saucepan, letting it reduce by half (thus removing the alcohol which dries hair). Let the beer cool, then mix it with a cup of your favorite shampoo and pour it into an empty shampoo bottle. When you next wash and rinse with Beerpoo you'll find your hair shinier and more lustrous. Really.

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