Of all the things I’ve come to love about the South, the way people talk is certainly high up on the list.
The southern accent is great, whether it’s a country twang or a sophisticated drawl. My brother once told me that a southern accent can make anyone sound stupid. To some people I suppose it might, but – to my ears – a Yankee accent can make anyone sound like a jerk.
Southern people also say things that you just don’t hear anywhere else. A heavy downpour is a “gully-washer” or a “frog-choker.” A good looking woman is “hotter-than-a-$2-pistol.”
I used to work with a bunch of good-old boys (and girls) from Eastern North Carolina, and they schooled me in the finer points of Southern-Speak. I picked up enough colloquialisms to last me a lifetime.
Woven into the southern accent and local terminology is an ever-present hospitality. One of things I loved about going to college in the South was that you could walk into a party where you didn’t know a soul and you’d be welcomed – most of the time anyway.
You knew you were okay when somebody said, “Get ya a cold beer, man.” That’s pronounced as one word – colebeer. I like that – “cold beer” – as if someone would offer you a lukewarm beer.
Even though I’ve graduated from keg beer in plastic cups and 16-ounce cans of Natural Light, there’s still something appealing about really cold beer in a can. I once had a friend in the distributing business that would slip me free cases of Coors Light every now and again. After a hot day spent working in the yard, an ice-cold Coors Light tastes mighty good.
Nowadays I get my canned beer fix with Dale’s Pale Ale from Oskar Blues Grill and Brewery. Although I can’t quite bring myself to actually drink it out of the can, I do enjoy cracking one (or two) open after work – even if my work mostly occurs in an air-conditioned cubicle.
Dale’s is certainly in the running for the best beer available in a can. It has a nice balance between malt and hops with an earthy citrus flavor. I’ll definitely be trying the other beers from these folks.
It’s Friday. Get ya a cold beer (or other libation).
4 comments:
Its good to see your embracing the can and the south. Both good things!
Since cans are undoubtedly superior to bottles in regards to filtering light and oxygen damage. As well as not needing any special tool to open the can plus events, parks and beaches appreciate or insist that no glass be brought in.
I expect (hope) to see most every good beer especially the ones with precious hope floras that we hope to be intact when that can opens and releases that citrus resinous smell of west coast hops or noble hops with that rich spicy earthy aroma from our friends across the ocean.
I think a similar battle is going on with natural cork wine to that of screw tops or other non traditional wine caps. As the debate continues on how best to preserve that wine, many folks like myself at one time thought that anything with a screw top must be close kin to that of Mad Dog, Boones Farm, and Night Train. Big fat wrong, in fact while you were enjoying that fine can of brew I opened a bottle of Woop Woop, and it had the strangest cap on it, I had to ponder for a moment on how to get that wine to my glass.
Maybe some day wine will be as straightforward and consistent as a can of beer to open, and who knows maybe when that shiraz is just at the right drinking temp, the grapes will turn blue.
Cheers to cans,
mrT
I knew you'd like this post.
I hadn't considered the superior preservation qualities of cans. Bottles must be much easier to work with for most breweries, however.
Screw caps are indeed the future of wine closures. After opening too many corked bottles, I am a big supporter of the switch to alternative closures.
Even if they are perplexing at times.
Here's to easy-open shiraz.
I took a six of their Scotch Ale in cans to the pool this year, completely confusing my neighbors and with their Coronas. No slam on a nice cool Corona on a 100 degree day though, but I'll stick with Yuengling as my daily staple.
A fine pool-friendly selection, I must say (being a fan of Mexican beer in general myself). I can't wait to try some of their other brews.
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