Writer's Grove
Books and Brews!
It is no secret—or at least nothing I’ve tried to keep secret—that I like both beer and books. Coincidentally, the Denver Public Library likes both as well. And so does Fiction Beer Company in Denver. So we’re working together to make Third Eye Library & Herbs, a caraway pear cream ale inspired by the our collective love of stories and art and the Iron Druid Chronicles. We’ll be tapping the keg at a big ol’ hootenanny on Friday, September 4, at 5:30 at Fiction Beer Company. Hope you can join us for a pint! I’ll be there and delighted to sign anything you bring, and Broadway Books will also be there selling new copies if you’d like to pick up one for yourself or a friend. And Denver Public Library will be there too—if you bring your library card or sign up for one on the spot, you can get $1 off your first pour of Third Eye Library & Herbs! This collaboration is truly the brainchild of Denver Public Library and their BrewHa!Ha! for September. Turbo thanks to them for being the coolest library ever.
I went down to Fiction Beer on August 3 to help get the ale started. It was a geekout to be sure! They let me grain out the mash tun, which is a jargon-filled sentence meaning I raked the spent grains into tubs. I loved every second of it. See?
The grain is a barley and corn mixture that’s still edible & nutritious. In fact, Fiction Beer gives their spent grain to local pig farmers, thereby contributing to future bacon—which means brewing is even more holy & important work than I thought. I also got to add hops and caraway seeds to the boil kettle and that was fun too. “DO YOU TASTE THOSE HOPS? I PUT THOSE IN THERE. MWAH HA HA HA!”
If you’re wondering why an Iron Druid-inspired ale doesn’t taste like sausage or something like that, it’s because we felt it best to let sausage taste like sausage. Caraway seeds are a popular seasoning in Ireland and will give the ale a little spice, a little bite, and then the pear will smooth it out and give you a refreshing complement to whatever you’re eating. It’s a potion worthy of a brewmaster like Atticus. And the owner & brewmaster of Fiction Beer is a fine Irish lad named Ryan Kilpatrick. He does excellent work. I sampled his beers and dang they’re good. And they’re delightfully named through literary allusion, inspired by all kinds of works. “A Beer of Very Little Brain” is a Honey Wheat Common Ale inspired by Winnie the Pooh, for example. Ryan’s wife and co-owner, Christa, is the creative mind behind the beer names. She’s an English major who reads a lot and names beers, which may be the finest use of an English degree I’ve ever heard of. Here’s me n’ Ryan happy about brewing:
Also in on the BrewHa!Ha! collaboration with Denver Public Library is Denver Beer Company, which is brewing a black currant sour ale and releasing it the night before, September 3, at their place on Platte. I’m going to help them get that started as well—tomorrow (Tuesday) morning, in fact! And the same rule applies—if you bring your Denver library card you get $1 off your first pint!
BUT WAIT! THERE’S MORE BOOKS & BREWS! On Sept 12 I’ll be at an event actually called Books and Brews in Greeley, CO, sponsored by the High Plains Library District! (I’m getting the idea that Colorado libraries are incredibly awesome.) I’ll be at Zoe’s Cafe from 6-8 pm with about 40 other authors, signing and sipping! Please come see us! 715 10th St in Greeley. You can bring your own books or Barnes & Noble will be there selling new copies.
One more thing: If you follow me on Facebook, there’s supposed to be this new thing where you can go to your settings and choose my Page to See First in your feed. That way their lame algorithms won’t filter me out if you want to see what I’m up to. I post nearly every day but only a fraction of my followers see everything due to their algorithms, so it’s nice now that you have a choice to ensure you see certain stuff. As always, thanks for reading! Hope to see you!
