I got this idea from Stacie, who wrote, "Please tell me, do you name your homebrew batches? Because it would be wicked (haha) to have some sort of naming contest for the Sierra Nevada clone in light of the reason you are cloning it in the first place. Provided you actually do get around to brewing it. Or maybe in addition to the name, you could have a label design contest. Whaddya think?"
I think it's a capital idea. And there is plenty of time to come up with both a name and a label because I first have to brew the porter ingredients I have on hand. It will have to be a two-part contest. To have a unified theme, I will first pick a name and then open it up to label entries based on that name. Just submit names in the comment box of this post. I'll put a permalink to it in the rail so it'll be easy to find. When it comes time to submit label entries, just e-mail jpg files to the address in my profile.
Be creative and imaginative! Sandra Miesel has already suggested Prompt Succor, inspired by Our Lady of Prompt Succor, to whom is attributed two miracles: one is saving the New Orleans convent where her shrine is from a devastating fire in 1812; the second is Andrew Jackson's victory over the British in the Battle of New Orleans in 1815 -- of which today, January 15, is the anniversary. "Think of the possibilities as a name for beer!" Sandra wrote. Indeed!
Ideas like this -- our Lady and other saints -- are what I'm looking for. But please: no depictions of Mary hoisting a frothy mug or as a busty beer wench. We have some standards at The Blue Boar. Make the labels big, because I want to put them on my mini-kegs.
For the winners? Stacie suggested prayer, and I like that too. I'll add your intentions to my daily rosary for a week. I'll also send each winner a six-pack of the beer (with the labels affixed, of course).
Get your entries in! And thanks!
Thursday, January 15, 2009
The Blue Boar Beer Naming and Label Contest!
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19 comments:
St. Wenceslaus has a fun carol to his name, but he also happens to be the patron saint of brewers. So you should brew a St. Wenceslaus Bohemian (Lager, Wheat Ale, etc.) There's a fascinating article here about the history of Bohemian beer, so you can pick from a variety of historical Bohemian drafts.
For whatever reason, "Damascus" immediately came to my mind.
Am I allowed to enter?
St. Pantaleon's Tonic
(he was a doctor, in fact a physician to one of the Emperors of Constantinople) There are lots of icons of St. Pantaleon or St. Panteleimon, as he is also known, that could be a basis for a label.
Golden Heart
(aka Our Lady of Beauraing, a Belgian apparition from the 1930s) There is a statue of this apparition that could be used as a starting point for a label.
St. Brigid's
(I found a St. Bridget's Porter online, but none with the variant spelling St. Brigid's) A label could involve a picture of one of St. Brigid's beer-oriented miracles, or simply a St. Brigid cross.
How about Thomas Aquinas? Thick and heady.
I think that this protest beer should be named after John Raggley, the character from the Father Brown story "The Quick One." Raggley had a big speech about the politics of alcoholic beverages, and ranted about the fact that most beer "didn't taste of hops" anymore, and Raggley only drank the beverages that met his cultural, social, and taste standards.
Another saint with possible beer associations is Gertrude of Nivelles, patronesses of the stirrup-cup (which surely was beer rather than wine in 6th C Belgium?). Given that she's also the patroness of mice, this suggests a mouse with a foaming mug label. (To be strictly accurate, St. Gertrude is invoked against mice but the mice don't realize that. She looks quite chummy with mice in later medieval
art.)
And I seem to recall a water-into-beer miracle by St. Columbanus.
Stacie: yes you are, of course!
All of these are excellent suggestions. I'll have to deal with them in a post on the main page, rather than the combox.
I'm also wondering, how do I judge? Should I get an impartial panel? This is too big a decision for me alone. And I want to be fair.
Since it's your beer, why not get a few people to judge and you have the final say over the name. So far you've gotten some very good names.
That's what I was thinking, sheep. but for judges I need people who haven't submitted any names. And I notice you haven't submitted any names yet.
Ok. Here's my entry:
Que Serra, Serra
Junipero's Pale Ale
A play on the phrase que sera, sera (spanish for what will be, will be)
Named for Bl. Junipero Serra who started many of the missions in California, Sierra Nevada's home state. He didn't support beer from what I can tell since he was heavy into self-mortification, but I think that fits with the boycott theme here. And Serra sounds a lot like Sierra.
May we enter more than once?
That's what I was thinking, sheep. but for judges I need people who haven't submitted any names. And I notice you haven't submitted any names yet.
LOL Because I can't think of a name. However I can appreciate the names other people here have posted and I can appreciate a good beer.
I had heard somewhere that St. Arnold was a/the patron saint of brewers, so there's an option.
Another might be "Sierra Madre." There are several allusions from which you can draw; from Mary (Madre de Dios) to "The Treasure of.." The later could work for the color of your brew as well as for the selfishness/greed and murderous zeal exhibited by Bogart's character and so prevelant in the abortion movement.
Bill, I've changed my vote to "Sierra Madre."
Hmmm....try saying Blue Boar Beer ten times real fast!
Since voting early and often are now the law of the land, here are my humbly submitted suggestions:
"Sagrada Familia" ...as a poke in the eye to Sierra Nevada's grave sin.
"El Cristo Rey" ...since the Blessed Miguel Pro travelled by train through California (and would have seen the Sierra Nevadas) while in exile from Mexico, where later he'd be accused and executed---rosary in hand--- as a Cristero.
And (drum roll please, Maestro...)
"The Old Ship" for Chesterton's Flying Inn.
All of these are very good, but I won't say what I like yet. I need judges.
Ven. Braveheart Bitters. He started a revolution for independence. Can you say "Freedom!" from Sierra Nevada. A Raging painted face would look good on the label. (is Venerable too presumptuous)
Chestertonian Stout.
That's my 2 cents.
If you lighten up on the black patent malt a touch it could be "Father Brown Ale."
Or sub in Vienna malt, a little pils, add some nobility to the hop bill and utilize Wyeast 2124. You could lager a "Don John Märzen"
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