Why Not To Give Up Beer For Lent

The following comes from the book, Bock, by Darryl Richman:

Followers of St Francis of Paula came to Munich from Italy during the Counter-Reformation to help maintain Catholicism in Bavaria, bringing their rites and beliefs, including vegetarianism, with them. The calendar played an important part in monastic life, dictating what was brewed. Twice annually Paulaners fasted for extended periods: the forty days of Lent leading up to Easter, and four weeks of Advent preceding Christmas.

During these fasts, no solid food was allowed. However, liquids were not restricted, including beer.... The brewers of Paulaner worked hard to brew the most nutritious beer they could at these times. They produced a strong, rich beer that has come down through the ages to us as Salvator, now made in the commercial Paulaner brewery.

Darryl goes on later to say that the beer became commercially available in 1780.

It is Fat Tuesday today, and Lent starts tomorrow. Does everyone have their dopplebocks ready?

Atenveldt Brewer's Guild

The SCA is not all about armor and fighting. In fact, that is only half of the story. Arts and sciences, often short-handed as A&S, are also a part of the picture. In fact, the winner at Estrella War is determined not only by hard suit fighting, but also rapier, and, of course, an A&S competition.

The Atenveldt Brewer's Guild is one small piece of the A&S puzzle. As one can assume by the name, it a guild for the Kingdom of Atenveldt (roughly Arizona) dedicated to the art and science of brewing, particularly brewing done in a medieval fashion. I have been involved in the guild for a number of years.

This year, the guild met during Estrella on Thursday, at the Sleeping Dragon encampment. There was one small complication, however. The guild master had disappeared. In fact, last time we spoke to him, he was looking at taking a job in England. We can only assume that that is where he went.

In a furious panic, the masters of the guild discussed possibilities for a new interim leader. To make a long story short, those duties seemed to have fallen upon me. It is a job that I tentatively took, not because I have desire for political power in the SCA. In fact, the opposite is true. Hell, after 17 years in the SCA, I don't even have an Award of Arms (AoA), the first award people usually get in the SCA, giving them the title of Lord or Lady. I took the position because I did not want the guild to fall apart, and nobody else wanted the position.

I was very nervous about the idea, and of course when we met on Thursday, it fell on me to run the meeting. To make me more nervous, when we everyone got together, it was the largest meeting that I ever recall.

Trying to improvise sort of structure, we started by going around in a circle and introducing ourselves. Next, since so many people were challenging for rank and there were so many newcomers, we took the opportunity to talk about the different ranks in the guild, what each rank means, and the process of moving up those ranks. Following that, brief comments were made by the members of the guild running the competition the following day.

We then adjourned the regular meeting and went into the challenge phase of the meeting. Challenges are made by people attempting to move up in rank. They usually consist of challengers presenting their best brews to the masters of the guild, followed by the masters asking them questions about the history and techniques of brewing.

The following day, Friday, the competition commenced. While we were collecting entries, however, the people running the A&S pavilion, where competitions and classes are held, came to us with a problem. It seemed as though the gentleman teaching the basic brewing class was a no-show. In good guild manner, we offered to teach the class instead. As a result, they sent the students over to our table and the guild improvised a class, which went very well -- all while we were still collecting entries for the competition.

Following all that, the list for the competition closed, and we began judging. Competition usually consists of experienced judges paired up with novice judges. This time was no exception. There were three categories: beer, mead, and cordials. Since I was entered into the beer category, I could not judge that. However, I did judge in the mead category.

I found out later, after judging was complete, that I took first and second in the beer side of the competition, with my California Common and Oatmeal Stout respectively. I was very excited about that. However, I must say that this will likely be my last competition for a while. I do not feel comfortable entering guild sponsored competitions while acting as guild master. I will simply work behind the scenes to make sure that they happen until I step down.

That was all the guild activities in a nutshell for this war. It is all kind of a blur. In fact, it is all finally sinking in all that happened this war.

To be continued ...

Estrella War

Things have been quiet on the old website for the last week because I have been away at Estrella. Having returned this week, I have a few stories to tell. First, though, for those who have not been, let me give a brief introduction to the event.

Estrella War is an SCA sponsored event. The SCA, for those who do not know, is a medieval re-enactment organization. I have talked about them a number of times on this website, so I wont go into that too much. The Estrella War, however, is just that -- a war. In fact, it is a war between four kingdoms called Atenveldt, Caid, Outlands, and Artemisia. Those kingdoms are roughly Arizona, Southern California, Colorado and New Mexico, and Utah and Montana, respectively. Generally, it is two allied kingdoms against two allied kingdoms, and each year it changes. This year it was Atenveldt and Artemisia against Caid and Outlands.

As one would expect with a war, there are battles. These battles involve thousands of people dressed up in armor on a battlefield. Below is a panorama of the battlefield. You can click on it if you want more detail:


As I've mentioned before, it is the second largest medieval re-enactment event, behind Pennsic (another war that occurs back east, in Pennsylvania). In fact, the entire event is usually attended by between 6000 and 8000 people, all camping in a gigantic circle around the battlefield.

This year, a few of us climbed a small mountain near the site and took a number of pictures. Like above, I have mosaicked them together into a panorama of the entire event. Again, you can click on the picture below if you want more detail.


To be continued ...

A Stout in a Pilsner Glass

SCA Heraldry

Since the war is so close, this seems like a perfect time to talk about SCA Heraldry. An SCA webpage on heraldry states the following:

To enhance the medieval ambiance of SCA events, participants typically adopt... heraldic insignia with a medieval flavor, which they use on a long-term basis. An SCA device is a heraldic insignia which used to indicate that the owner of the device is present. The SCA uses the word armory to refer to heraldic insignia in general.... Every chapter of the SCA has an officer, called a herald or pursuivant to assist participants in choosing appropriate... armory.

A couple of years ago, I worked with the local herald to come up with a set of armory, a personal device and a badge. The personal device, the shield shaped one below, is for me; only I can use it at SCA events. The badge, however, is more general; I have designated it for use by anyone in our household that is a brewer. It is the round one below.

When I first designed them, I decided that both had to be brewing related, so I incorporated barley stocks into them. Following that, they went though an approval process with the College of Heralds. Finally, some months later, they passed, and got registered in the Armorial for the SCA.

It should be noted that armory in general consists of two things: a description in heraldic language, called a blazon, and a pictorial representation, called an emblazon.

Personal Device

Per pale gules and azure, two stalks of barley in saltire within a bordure Or.

Brewer's Badge

(Fieldless) Two stalks of barley in saltire within and conjoined to an annulet Or.

Visiting Us at Estrella

Speaking of Estrella, I know that there are some regular SCA readers here. If you wish to meet me in person, I will be at all the Atenveldt Brewer's Guild meetings.

Most of the time, though, I will be with my household, TageStërne, where I will be camping. We are a household of brewers, so if you want to stop by for a drink or two, look for the gate above, the entrance into our encampment. We will be right next to Twin Moons.

Estrella War Competition

The posts have been less frequent as of late, not because my brewing activities are less, but rather, because I'm busy getting ready for Estrella War. Estrella War is the second largest medieval re-enactment event in the US, behind Pennsic War. I have gone to every Estrella for the past 17 years.

This year, like most, there will be a brewing competition. As a result, I will be entering my California Common, Brown Ale, and Oatmeal Stout, the last three beers that I've done. In preparation, this weekend, I will be filling some bottles and preparing the paperwork for the competition, the last steps to get ready.

Wish me luck.