There are so many many reasons why. The sports. The geography. The people. (Visa has been sharing some classic stories in their current ad campaign, which you can see here. I don't work for them, I just really like the stories!) I love that so many countries can ignore their differences and just play together nicely for a few weeks. And, in the case of these Olympics, I LOVE CANADA!
My friend Amanda took this lovely picture in Sunset Beach Park in Vancouver at the end of our roadtrip across Canada in summer 2008. This excitement has been a long time coming!
A few weeks ago, my friend Cheryl and I realized our mutual excitement for the Winter Games, and decided to have a party to celebrate the opening ceremonies. It was great! We had multicultural foods-- rice and beans, spanakopita, cous cous, harira, Tim Tams, maple cookies, spring rolls, cheese blintzes, Irish creme puffs, etc. etc. We also served a somewhat multi-cultural themed punch discovered by Gurzo (including vodka, Cointreau, Galliano, Midori and champagne, with other fruit juices and fruits... yeah, I didn't know what most of those were, either. Which brings me to the beer that this post is leading to...)
I got myself a Dogfish Head World Wide Stout to sip at while helping set up and prepare the party. I had really built this up in my mind. This really seemed like a beer made for me. I mean, the title is geography-themed (making it perfect for an Olympics opening ceremony party). The word "ridiculous" is in its description (really)! Did it live up to my expectations?
Yes. A thousand times yes. This stout is really, really, ridiculously strong. I bought a 2008, which was 18% ABV. (I'm willing to bet I wouldn't be able to tell apart the 2008 from any other year, but aparently the alcohol content varies from year to year.) Definitely got some coffee aftertaste, definitely drank this one slowly. Cannot see through it at all. It really wasn't sweet, just strong. And awesome. This is a good beer if you're just planning on sipping one slowly all night.
Of course, I was over at Cheryl and Gurzo's house for quite a while enjoying the opening ceremonies and the good company, and started that one early and took a big break afterward. Several hours later, I tried another beer we had bought for the occasion, Tyskie, a Polish lager. Gurzo has a theory about having somewhat standard, crowd-pleasing beers at a party, but from brewers that no one's heard of. Tyskie is owned by SABMiller, the same group who brews Pilsner Urquell and Miller beers. More importantly, it matched our multicultural theme. This was a nice lager, very straightforward, very drinkable. I'd serve this to others again.
Toward the end of the night, I tried Otter Creek Spring Ale, a Kölsch style beer. This was a little bit hoppy, but in a strangely sweet and fresh kind of way. I liked it. It was very crisp, without a strong aftertaste. It tasted light and springy. I thought it was funny that I transitioned to increasingly light beers all evening.
Colleen 203, Paul 192. Happy Olympics, everyone!
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