There isn’t a drink we cherish more than a pint of beer. And it looks like we aren’t the only ones who share this passion for some local brew.
History is filled with stories of how people’s love for beer has helped shape economies and led to the creation of all new beer types, just for the sheer love of the drink.
But there were a few-famous-few who took their love for the glorious drink to the next level.
Niels Bohr
Before you say Bohr-ing, and write the great scientist off, we’d have you know that he might just be the coolest Nobel Laureate yet. Yup, that’s right. Equally famous for his keen love for beer as he was for his keen understanding of atomic structure, the Carlsberg brewery decided to honour Bohr by gifting him a house next to the brewerywith a direct pipeline of beer leading to his place. You know, so that he could have free beer on tap whenever he wanted within the comfort of his home.
If that isn’t motivation enough to win a Nobel Prize, then we don’t know what is.
George Washington
The original POTUS, good old George also happened to be quite the brewing enthusiast. So much so that he created his own recipe between his many presidential duties. It was quite the task to extract it from the CIA archives, but we managed to get our hands on it just for you:
“To Make Small Beer:
Take a large Siffer [Sifter] full of Bran Hops to your Taste. Boil these 3 hours then strain out 30 Gallons into a cooler. Put in 3 Gallons of Molasses while the Beer is scalding hot or rather draw the Molasses into the cooler & strain the beer on it while boiling hot. Let this stand till it is little more than blood warm, then put in a quart of Yeast if the weather is very cold cover it over with a blanket & let it work in the cooler for 24 hours. then put it into the cask. Leave the bung open till it is almost done working.”
Hanson
Don’t lie. You just involuntarily sang “Mmmbop” before social convention took over, didn’t you?
Well, the long haired, scrawny teens of the band-full-of-brotherly-love Hanson grew up to appreciate the finer things in life and ended up creating a beer called the “MmmHops”an American Pale Ale in partnership with Mustang Brewing Company.
And before you write it off, it’s received a pretty decent rating of 78% by Beer Advocate.
Time to dig out that mixtape of the 90’s top hits and throw back a couple of these.
Flann O’Brien
No points for guessing this writer’s favourite beer. Widely known for writing everything from comedies and parodies to political and scientific pieces, this true-blue Irishman also immortalised his love for his favourite Stout through the written word, in this poem-
When things go wrong and will not come right,
Though you do the best you can,
When life looks black as the hour of the night,
A pint of plain is your only man.
When moneys tight and hard to get
and your horse is also ran,
When all you have is a heap of debt,
A pint of plain is your only man.
A most moving piece of literature, in our opinion.
Iron Maiden
Oh yeah! The only thing more legit than a metal band that’s kept it real for over three decades now, is a metal band with a signature brew of its own. After all, the coolest metal band in the world had to have some association with the coolest drink in the world.
And so Iron Maiden’s frontman Bruce Dickinson in collaboration with the brewery Robinsons, decided to convert his love for ale into an iconic beer, named after the band’s iconic single, Trooper.
We don’t know about getting high, but rumour has it that you’ll definitely be hungover from being a bad-ass after drinking this one.
There you have it. Approval from the higher ups, the cool ones, the bad asses and the straight up geniuses. And even if it’s hard to imagine Neils Bohr head banging to a Maiden song (or the equivalent of his time), or Flann O’Brien writing the next pop hit for Hanson, if there’s one thing they can agree on, it’s that beer is definitely a drink worth investing in.
