The Brethren

ABOVE: Kennebec Cider in Winthrop


Last night was the first official meeting of the Brethren of Rational Evangelical Witnesses. This is an acronym.

Through several conversations with guys at church, it became so clear how so many of us have indeed such an affinity for crafting, tasting, talking about, and brewing beer. Yes, beer.

Thus, I came up with an idea to host a regular "group" at our house--down in the "beerment"--where we could get together, sample craft brews, and just talk and hang out for a while on a Friday night. The group was named as such so it could appear in the church bulletin and not raise any eyebrows.....hehe

The Lutheran tradition (mostly taking place in Germany) is rich in beer, and in fact our very own Pastor is a brilliant home brewer (what other church can you attend where you hear the Gospel AND end up going home with a six pack at the end?)

The rules are very simple: First of all, this is NOT a dunk-fest by any stretch. Except for Seth, but he cant help it because he's somewhat girly. Rather, this is a group of "professionals" who greatly venerate the craftfulness (is this a word?) of beer.

Also, we had dip.

Present last night were me, Pastor, Glenn, Seth, Tom, Ben, and Mark. I showcased Anthony's first attempt at an IPA, and the result was overwhelming positive. They loved it Twon! Great job. They enjoyed the citrus notes AND the lack of any residual bitterness after drinking. We also got to sample some local stuff from Lincolnville (over on the coast by Belfast), a "Trappist Monk Belgium Ale" brewed by Pastor--this was awesome, some Sam Adams Double Bock, some Scottish Ale, and some delicious "Sledhead Red" Ale brewed by what I think is the best brewery within 150 miles of here--Kennebec River Brewery up in The Forks.

For a special treat, Ben brought some homemade hard cider he and his wife had concocted. Ben, a former Economics advisor for the State Department, now resides on a small farm in Winthrop where he and his wife (who, consequently, graduated with my cousins Lauren and Brian in Plymouth) have an apple orchard and are now making their living by launching a "homemade" hard cider business. It will be called "Kennebec Cider," and I am sure you will be hearing more about it! It was delicious.

Did I mention the dip from Tastefully Simple?

It was great time with some great folks with some great beer. Conversation ranged from beer to fishing to BBQ to making fun of Seth to making fun of me to pirating lobster traps to close encounters swimming with things like Barracudas, whales, and harbor porpoises

It was just what I need right now.