Happy Bloomsday!

Dear Citizens of The Ferment Nation.  Today is Bloomsday, and while it is not an official drinking holiday, we here at the Nation have deep roots in the Emerald Isle, and since Bloomsday is a celebration of the urban perambulations in Dublin Ireland of one Leopold Bloom, from James Joyce's Ulysses, it has been adpoted by drinkers and Irish-Americans and of course Irish-American drinkers as a day to drink and celebrate the brilliance of Ulysses and Irish literature in general.  So, be sure to drink a drink and salute James Joyce, Leo Bloom, Stephen Dadelus, and Molly Bloom!

Facsimile edition of Ulysses

I started off by wandering around Philadelphia.  It's no Dublin, but there are plenty of Irish pubs in the city of brotherly love, as well as a literary connection to Ulysses.  I found myself at The Bards, at 20th and Walnut, and what could I do but have a Guinness?

Guinness @ The Bards

From there I stopped by at The Rosenbach Museum on Delancey Street.  The Rosenbach is home to Joyce's manuscript of Ulysses.  Why?  Find out HERE.  Every year, The Rosenbach has a reading of Ulysses, featuring notable Philadelphians and Irish literary figures.

At the Rosenbach Museum

Bloomsday @ The Rosenbach

From there I wandered to 17th Street and found myself at The Black Sheep Pub, where, no big surprise, I had another pint of Guinness.

Guiness @ The Black Sheep Pub

So, having wandered around a city, pondering political and literary notions, and enjoying a pint or two, I feel like I have paid tribute to the spirit of Bloomsday.  I have read Ulysses, and I will admit that I enjoyed it, but I have no plans to read it again.  But, I will be sure celebrate it every year on June 16th!

James Joyce

Irish Stout Round Table

Sorry for the delay, dear citizens, but technical difficulties have delayed the release of the St. Patrick's Day video footage. Never fear, however. This shall not keep McPresidente from his appointed rounds. Or from his appointed duties, for that matter.


Slater's Pub in Audubon, NJ provided the backdrop for this roundtable discussion/blind taste test between the three most standard and popular of the Irish Stouts available in this area. Several other stouts can be found in bottles, and some others only appear on draft. These three are the ones we could find in the pub-draught cans: Guinness, Beamish, and Murphy's. Each of the three rounds was brought to the participants without their knowledge of the brand. Each was ranked according to the standard rankings. Finally, after all three rounds were finished and ranked, we guessed at the brands. Not to brag, but we nailed it.

Round One:
This stout is pretty tasty and pretty smooth. Quite drinkable, but lacking some pizazz. Overall, a darn fine brew. We guessed Murphy's. We were right.
Representation: .80
Accessibility: .85
Style: .75
Personal Preference: .80

Total Score: 3.2 Flags

Round Two:
Definitely not our favorite. Different from the rest, yes. But not necessarily in a great way. I really like Irish stouts, so my personal scores would have been a bit higher. But the other participants were not so forgiving. We compromised and settled on the following scores for the second stout, Beamish.
Representation: .70
Accessibility: .70
Style: .80
Personal Preference: .70

Total Score: 2.9 Flags

Round Three:
Yeah. There it is. Nobody second guesses himself now...Guinness. We tried to explain the rankings at this point to an observer who wanted to know what Accessibility was. When I explained it in terms of, "Could you drink it all night?" my cousin Bud (a.k.a. Buddy Love, a.k.a. J.T.) responded simply, "I have." Thanks, Bud, for setting the record straight.
Representation: 1.0
Accessibility: 1.0
Style: 1.0
Personal Preference: 1.0

Total Score: 4.0 Flags.

So there you have it. The first family wishes you and yours a happy St. Patrick's Day (although a bit belated). So many stouts are out there (not jus the Irish ones). We love them, too. So keep your eyes open for some more round table discussions. We had fun doing this one, and hopefully you enjoyed the reading. Citizens, if you get one going for yourself please share the results with me at president@fermentnation.com. I would love to post your results as well.