Hebrew: The Chosen Beer: Messiah Bold, Schmaltz Brewing Company, Saratoga Springs, NY

This is indeed a rich and robust dark brown ale.  Darker than brown, I'd say.  More like black.  Smoother than the Red Nose Winter Ale I had last night, but a not-too-distant cousin.

Goes well with Milton's "Paradise Lost," Book I.  Had a great discussion with my students about Milton's portrayal of Satan.      

Red Nose Winter Ale, Natty Greene's Brewing Co., Greensboro, NC

A smokey seasonal.  In fact, one of the smokiest beers I can recall.  A brewing company to watch.  

Goes well with Mary Shelley's 1816 novel Frankenstein which I am re-reading for class tomorrow.  Next to the fireplace, while a wintry mix falls outside, I could be sitting with Shelley and Byron as they try to outdo each other with ghost stories.

14'er ESB, Avery Brewing Company, Boulder, Colorado

I stumbled across this fairly lightweight ESB a few months ago.  It still strikes me as very well-balanced.  Not as sweet and carmelly as some of the ESBs I've had, but very drinkable with a nice hoppy edge.

Goes well with Cormac McCarthy's "The Crossing," the second volume in his border trilogy, which I have in the elegant Everyman Library hardback edition.  McCarthy is known for his spare prose and bleak outlook, but what pleases me most about this trilogy is the humor.  I can't describe the depths of dryness and wryness, but gems of witty dialog abound.  What makes it so funny is that the characters are never trying to be funny.  And that is the hardest trick of all to pull.    

Of Books and Beer in Beer City, USA

Here's a place for amateur book and beer enthusiasts to help each other enjoy their twin passions more fully.