The Bowdoin Orient

There is no doubt that we are about to embark on one of the best weekends of the college year. When this article hits press, we will have already dressed up in ridiculous '80's gear for the Racer-X extravaganza and will be filled with excitement and anticipation for a weekend of BBQ's, friends, Talib, and Naughty by Nature.

Although its consumption is rarely academic, beer is, in its most basic sense, scientific. There are many books and a number of scientific studies about the complex chemical reactions that occur to produce the "magical blend of barley hops and delicious alcohol" as it is so eloquently described by Will Ferrell in the Bud Light commercials. It might have been the science, along with the ability to be creative, and most of all, a love of beer that led me to begin home-brewing my own beer. This hobby has turned out to be an incredible way to both experiment with, and learn about, all aspects of beer.

If I had to make an educated guess, I would estimate that light beers, kegs included, make up somewhere between 70 to 80 percent of the total beer purchased and consumed by Bowdoin students.

I have to admit that this week's weather has driven me to drink; actually it has driven me to hard cider. I contemplated the theme of this week's article as I roamed the aisles of a certain local liquor store and felt a longing for something spicy, comforting, and warm. Although I have had very few experiences with hard cider, there was something enticing about the image of the warm, spiced apple flavor that it evoked, somehow well-suited for cutting through the cold, wet, slushy conditions I could see out the window. Feeling a little guilty about, for lack of a better explanation, something that might "put a little less hair on one's chest" than a beer, I reassured myself that cider was brewed in much the same way as beer, and therefore was perfectly suitable for this week's column.

At the end of last semester, I had big plans for the first Beer 101 of this year. I would kick it off with tales of brewery tours or drinking adventures I took over break. But as my break began to disappear, I realized the only two guarantees were that I would be traveling and drinking a good deal, a situation well-suited to being able to try new beers. Never without pen and paper, I chronicled each beer I drank and have compiled my list of the 10 best. None of these beers werepurchased in Maine, and therefore I am unable to provide price or location, although I am sure many of the finalists are available at Uncle Tom's.

Each morning we wake to more and more frost covering our car windows and an increasingly icy blast hitting our faces when we open a door to the outside. It begins to become apparent that yes, we go to school in Maine, and yes, it is getting very, very cold. Long gone are the days when an ice-cold Natural Light was everything we needed after a hard day of classes, a rigorous workout, or a Saturday afternoon at the library. Instead, we are left with the desire for something just as refreshing but with an added warmth, a fuller, spicier and more complex body.

It seems like every year more and more breweries, big and small, are offering pumpkin ales as fall selections. Only a few years ago, Shipyard Pumpkinhead was the only one of which I was aware. This fall, I was surprised to find a rather large selection on a recent trip to Hannaford, with contributions from every major Maine brewery and many others from around New England.

Parents Weekend affords us the opportunity to both show off our beautiful campus and impress our parents with the knowledge that we have acquired over the first few months of school.

Each year in Maine we await fall with the knowledge that it will bring colorful leaves, brisk temperatures, and shorter days. Each year in Germany fall is accompanied by what is most likely the world's biggest celebration of beer and food. I think it would be safe to say that the Germans anticipate fall with a little more intensity.