Nano-a-Nano (v.Beer’d)

Beer’d Nano-A-Nano Belgian Style Black Rye IPA
1 22 oz bottle, $8, 7.5% ABV

Purchased at the brewery, Stonington

nanoBHere it is! Beer’d’s only bottled beer to date! Never mind that it was bottled at Relic Brewing in Plainville. It is a legit, very rare, Beer’d bottled beer.

So as I sit in my Aeron Chair and pontificate on what Aaren and Aron (and Mark) were able to pull off with this collaboration brew – oh? What? You didn’t know my wife bought me an Aeron Chair a few years ago? I love this thing. Not that I sit in it thinking about Aron (CraftBrewGuy) or Aaren (Simoncini, of Beer’d) too much. Cause that would be weird.

Not that I don’t think the world of both dudes. The Nano-a-Nano collaboration came together, after an inspired tweet by Aron. Relic Mark and Beer’d Aaren put their brewing heads together and an idea was born.

Both would brew a beer based upon the same recipe at their respective breweries. What resulted was an interesting mash-up of each brewers strengths: Hoppiness and subtlety from Beer’d, yeasts, esters and rye from Relic. What resulted was just that – a mash-up. Nano-a-Nano was very good, but a bit murky and muddled as the two styles clashed more than hugged it out.

Beer’d Says:

Inspired by Craft Brew Guy, (more here) this collaboration beer celebrates the strengths of our small but artful breweries. Belgian yeasts, rye and blackprinz malts and loads of Simcoe and Columbus hops combine to produce a resinous, spicy and toasty libation with a hint of chocolate.

nanoBeThe chocolate “hint” was more present in Beer’d effort. Aaren from Beer’d had a very limited number of his effort bottled (I forget how many, but I have the number 30 in my head) and I was able to procure one. Beer’d’s was a tad smoother and had a richer and deeper flavor. I’d give it the nod in a mano-y-mano battle, but only by a little bit.

So anyway, as I mentioned, I like to sit and think in my Aeron Chair. I love my Aeron Chair. And when I’m not thinking about Aron or Aaren, I think about the deep stuff.

Real. Deep. Stuff.

Religion is not exactly known for deep thinking, but it sure is creative. So when I read the widely distributed – I’ll call it a clever – poem, it somehow brought me to this beer.

It’s meant to be a sort of palindromic thing. Not in the classic sense, but in a holistic sense I guess. When read top to bottom, it is supposedly the atheist stance. When read bottom to top, it is the religionist view of things.

Like I said, it is pretty clever:

I live my life according to these beliefs.
God does not exist.
Its just foolish to think
That there is an all knowing God with a cosmic plan.
That an all powerful God brings purpose to the pain and suffering in the world
is a comforting thought however
It is only wishful thinking.
People can do as they please without eternal consequences.
The idea that
I am deserving of hell
Because of sin,
Is a lie meant to meant to make me a slave to those in power
“The more you have, the happier you will be.”
Our existence has no grand meaning or purpose.
In a world with no God
There is freedom to be who I want to be
But with God
Life is an endless cycle of guilt and shame.
Without god
Everything is fine.
It is ridiculous to think
I am lost and in need of saving.
Get it? Got it? Good. So somehow I got to thinking… Nano-a-Nano’s palindrome is Onan-a-Onan. And since Onan is a guy in the bible… you see where I’m going here.

(By the way, most people know that Onan “spilled his seed” instead of only achieving orgasm for procreation. But I’d bet that most don’t know the context of that “loving” Genesis story. Genesis 38: 3-10 says, in short, that God murdered Onan’s brother and then his pop told him to bang Er’s widow. Onan pulled out and “spilled his seed” instead of trying to impregnate the poor woman. Mr. “Loving” God got sore and then murdered Onan for this egregious affront. People still follow this Bronze Age mythology by the way. I know, right? Crazy. This is an actual fun page about this horrifying biblical story.)

brick-onan-gn38_10
Tamar unsatisfied, seed spilled, God murders Onan. Praise be!

Anyway, here’s the Nano-a-Nano/Onan-a-Onan beer version of the poem:

I live my life according to these beliefs.
“Great” beer does not exist.
Its just foolish to think
That there is such a thing as “great” or “craft” beer.
That delicious craft beer brings goodness and quality to the crappy beer world
is a comforting thought however
It is only wishful thinking.
People can drink any old beer and it doesn¹t matter.
The idea that
I am deserving of craft
Because all beer isn’t the same
Is a lie meant to make me a slave to my wallet
“Any ol’ beer will do!”
Our existence has no grand meaning or purpose.
In a world with no good beer
There is happiness and hops and malted grain
But with great beer
Life is an endless cycle of adjuncts and swill.
Without good beer
Everything is fine.
It is ridiculous to think
I am thirsty and lack for good beer.

I figured such a clever beer, with a clever name and clever production deserved a clever poem too. So there you go. Now go forth and multiply (Genesis 9:7), or better yet, Go forth and multiply good craft beer (Gandhi Bot: 1:3).

(You can read an entirely different analysis on my page about Relic’s Nano-a-Nano here.)

Overall Rating: B+
Rating vs. Similar style: A-

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