Radford - How Beer Saved the World

HOW BEER SAVED THE WORLD

An Esoteric Anthology

Edited by

Phyllis Irene Radford

Sky Warrior Book Publishing LLC.

Smashwords Edition

2013 by Sky Warrior Book Publishing, LLC.

Published by Sky Warrior Book Publishing, LLC.

PO Box 99

Clinton, MT 59825

www.skywarriorbooks.com

This is a work of fiction. All characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious, and any resemblance to real people is purely coincidental.

Editor: Phyllis Irene Radford.

Cover art by Laura Givens.

Publisher: M. H. Bonham.

Printed in the United States of America

1. 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Table of Contents

Introduction, by Phyllis Irene Radford

Below, Between, Above by Brenda W. Clough

The Band of Brewers by Bob Brown

Pacos Home Brew, by Nancy Jane Moore

End of the Long Haul, by Frog and Esther Jones

Of Hops, Malt, and Pee, by Bruce Taylor

Mad Gus Missteps, by Mark J. Ferrari and Shannon Page

A Wartime Draught, by G. David Nordley

Beer Goes to War by Joyce Reynolds-Ward

Beware the Nine by Laurel Anne Hill

Beer Today, Gone Tomorrow, by Clayton J. Callahan

On the Making of Veffen, by Barb Caffrey

One Burp to Save Them All, by Irene Radford

Uncommon Valor, by Manny Frishberg

Proof the Gods Love Us, by Chris Wong Sick Hong

Acknowledgements

Introduction, copyright by Phyllis Irene Radford 2013

Below, Between, Above, copyright by Brenda W. Clough 2013

The Band of Brewers, copyright by Bob Brown 2013

Pacos Home Brew, copyright by Nancy Jane Moore 2013

End of the Long Haul, copyright by Frog and Esther Jones 2013

Of Hops, Malt, and Pee, copyright by Bruce Taylor 2013

Mad Gus Missteps, copyright by Mark J. Ferrari and Shannon Page 2013

A Wartime Draught, copyright by G. David Nordley 2013

Beer Goes to War, copyright by Joyce Reynolds-Ward 2013

Beware the Nine, copyright by Laurel Anne Hill 2013

Beer Today, Gone Tomorrow, copyright by Clayton J. Callahan 2013

On the Making of Veffen, copyright by Barb Caffrey 2013

One Burp to Save Them All, copyright by Irene Radford 2013

Uncommon Valor, copyright by Manny Frishberg 2013

Proof the Gods Love Us, copyright by Chris Wong Sick Hong 2013

Introduction

How Beer Saved the World

Phyllis Irene Radford, Editor

And on the eighth day God created Beer.

Beer is what separates humans from animals unless you have too much beer.

Seriously anthropologists, archeologist, and sociologist seem to think that when humans first emerged on earth as human they possessed fire, language, a sense of spirituality, and beer.

Some nice folks at the Discovery Channel proved it. http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/how-beer-saved-the-world/

Hammurabi loved beer so much he codified the making of it. Today micro brews and craft breweries rely as much on art as they do science to create marvelous treats for the palate and the psyche. In centuries past people had to rely on copper kettles and patience. You too can make an approximation of the original according to this article:

http://morebeer.com/brewingtechniques/library/backissues/issue2.5/hitchcock.html

Warning there is a reason why in our first story by Brenda Clough. Suri, the ancient goddess of beer, pours her nectar through a linen sieve and proffers a reed straw. So unless you like to chew your brew, stick with more modern recipes.

Fermented grains have been a mainstay of the human diet almost as long as we have been human. Increasing barley production for beer triggered the agricultural revolution and turned hunter-gathers into farmers. Dividing fields created a need for mathematics. Recording beer production and distribution brought about writing. The need to transport beer brought the wheel into play. Ancient Egyptians fed the pyramid builders one gallon of beer a day in place of bread. Beer replaced unsanitary water in Medieval Europe. Pasteurs investigation of why beer spoiled led to the discovery of germ theory and a revolution in medicine. The need to brew lager cold created the need for refrigeration. Large scale production of beer brought about the modern factory at least a decade before Henry Ford. The list of how beer saved the world goes on and on.

The authors of How Beer Saved the World offer up a few of the instances, past, present, and future, on this world and on others. For, without beer we might still be still roaming the plains of Africa as hunter gatherers.

I leave you with another website that offers:

Our Lager,

Which art in barrels

Hallowed be thy drink

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=The%20Beer%27s%20Prayer

Below, Between, Above

Brenda W. Clough

The slope was endless and dry, a skidding descent of scree and dust that took three days. The sky above was hot as molten metal. Early on the third day he saw the streak of green in the valley that spoke of canals and crops, gods and men, but it was not until his shadow stretched out long and weary before him that he came to the first village. It was a humble one, farmers probably, but there was a single business: a brew-house marked by the sheaf of straw hanging on the wall. He ducked under the faded and tattered awning at the front, past the single crude bench set out for customers, and leaned on the narrow table that blocked the inner doorway.

Suri, he called. Im thirsty.

All bars are run by Suri, as all kitchens are managed by Cook. She came out of the darkness beyond, a buxom woman no longer young. You look like one who has traveled a long way, she greeted him. Can you pay, or do you beg?

I can pay. He had not called on his purse for a long while now, but it still clinked. He shook out a dried-clay ball and rapped it with his fist. It broke open, releasing ten small chunks of silver marked with the assay cuneiform of the treasury of Uruk. He knocked the broken shards aside and swept all but one of the pieces back into the bag. The remaining silver bit was a months wage for a working man.

She made no remark about this flash of wealtha good sign. Instead she took the largest pottery beaker from the shelf and set it before him. Sit, she said. Ill be right back.

He lowered himself onto the end of the bench closest to the table, the best seat. When he loosened his sandals, the stripes of the straps showed dark against the white dust of travel. He unhitched the battle axe from his shoulder so that he could lean against the wall. The coolness of the mud-brick was like a welcoming hand on his back.

You wont need your bronze here, she said. Were peaceful folk. Under one arm she carried a cloth strainer, freeing both hands for the dripping earthenware pitcher that smelled deliciously of yeast. He watched as she poured carefully through the strainer into his beaker. Theres the reeds. Give it a moment to settle out, and then drink your fillI have plenty of this brewing.

He was too parched to wait. He took a cut reed from the jar and stabbed it down through the foam. He sucked the brew down, cool and tangy-sour and fragrantthe food and beverage of the gods together. When he paused for breath, she was ready with the refilled pitcher. Again she poured through the strainer, and again he drank, dipping his beard into the foam.

The third time however she put her hand over the reed. You owe it to my brew, she said. Let it settle! Beer is like the world, with the wild waters above and belowthe best is always in the middle, between the froth and the lees. Besides, if you dont burp youll bloat up like a toad.