Beer and Conversation with Pigweed and Crowhill

The boys drink and review Pigweed's homebrew clone of Steady Eddy IPA, then discuss a novella from John Steinbeck as part of their "shortcut to the classics" series.

After a brief biographical review of Steinbeck, the boys discuss the basic story, then their impressions of the book and its characters.

The novel begins with a description of Cannery Row in Monterey, California, during the Great Depression. The row is a small, tight-knit community centered around sardine canneries, inhabited by colorful characters.

Most of the story centers around Doc, a marine biologist, and Mack and the boys, who are collection of good-natured ne'er-do-wells.

P&C drink and review Crowhill’s homebrewed Tavern Ale, then discuss evolution. 

They start with a quick review of Darwin and his times and how scientists were slowly coming to the realization that the origin of the earth and life spanned a far longer time span than the Bible seemed to allow. 

There are still a lot of things we don’t know about our history, but there are some things we know for sure. 

* The earth is old. 

* Life is old (maybe a billion years). 

* Most creatures that have lived have gone extinct. 

* Creatures have changed over time. 

* Evolution seems to explain certain things about modern biology. 

Other things remain debatable, such as the question of what drives the changes. Modern evolutionary theory seems to be struggling with this question right now. P&C have their doubts about the modern consensus that random genetic mutation is the stuff of evolution. 

P&C try to work through the issues, balancing philosophy, science, and common sense.

The boys drink and review Perni Haze IPA from Wicked Weed Brewing, then discuss Trump’s options for a running mate. 

Trump is faced with a unique challenge because he can only serve one more term, so whoever he picks is likely to be the presidential nominee for 2028, and that person could potentially serve for eight years. 

Christi Noem – P&C think she’s probably torpedoed her chances by writing in her memoir about shooting her dog. 

Elise Stephanik – An unknown quantity to P&C. Not willing to recommend. 

Vivek Ramaswammy – He was an early favorite of P&C, but his performance in the debates moved him down the list. He would make a great cabinet official. 

Kari Lake – Seems to have gone off the edge a bit. 

Tulsi Gabbard – P&C like her, but the fact that she’s been a Democrat for so long makes her too much of a long shot. 

Marjory Taylor Green – She’s good as a firebrand / bomb thrower, and that role suits her, but she has no place in the White House. 

Greg Abbott – Does he even want this job? Crowhill doesn’t trust him based on past behavior. He seems to be a johnny-come-lately on many conservative issues. 

Sarah Huckabee Sander – She would work well with Trump, and P&C are impressed with her. But Crowhill is concerned she 

Tucker Carlson – Why is he even on this list? Why would he be considered? Recently he’s started to show his wacky side. But he would make a good press secretary. 

Tim Scott – He’s okay, but not exciting. No thrill here. 

JD Vance – Let’s let him rock and roll in Ohio. He doesn’t help the ticket much. 

Nikki Haley – She’s out. She’s burned her bridges with Trump and 

Ron DeSantis – DeSantis is the top choice for P&C. But can the DeSantis - Trump feud heal? Probably. 

Crowhill’s picks. 

#1 – DeSantis 

#2 – Tim Scott 

After they finish with the VP picks, Pigweed has a burden he needs to take off his shoulder about the legitimacy of the 2020 election. 

The numbers don’t seem to add up. Biden’s “rallies” were pathetic. There was no excitement. He was the most uninspiring, lame presidential candidate of P&C’s lives. He was worse than the little Dukey. Still, he managed to get more votes than any president ever. 

The boys drink and review Sunshine Pilsner and Springtime Lager (both by Troeggs) while they discuss beer styles. 

There are only two main categories of beer: lagers and ales. They are distinguished by the type of yeast used (not by color or strength). Lagers use a bottom-fermenting yeast that ferment at lower temperatures while ales use a top-fermenting yeast that ferment at slightly higher temperatures. 

Lagers tend to be more crisp in flavor while ales tend to have more complex flavors. 

Generally speaking we think of light-colored beers when we think of lagers, but there are dark lagers like a bock or a schwartz beer, and there are dark-ish lagers like Octoberfest or Dunkel. Lagers take longer to ferment. 

Ales tend to be quick-fermenting beers that can be ready to drink in a week or two. Historically, ales were served at cellar temperature. (Warm by U.S. standards.) 

Most modern craft beers are ales. 

Some of the contrasts that make up the various beer styles are … 

* Ale vs. lager 

* Dark vs. light 

* Malty (sweet) vs. dry 

* Hoppy vs. mild 

* Strong vs. weak 

Ales were the more traditional beers in America, but when the Germans came over with their clean, crisp lagers, they won over the American palate, and American-style lagers became the standard.

The boys drink and review Tsingtao beer, then discuss the threat posed by modern China.

China is deliberately undermining America. They don't even hide it. And we don't seem to do anything about it.

There are many ways to defeat an enemy. According to Sun Tzu, the wisest approach is to defeat them without fighting them.

How are they doing this?

* They sow division

* They discourage people from joining the military

* They poison us with TikTok

* They get our youth addicted to fentanyl

* They're encouraging people to hate the U.S. government

* They encourage campus radicals

* They encourage everything that undermines the family

China is also challenging us overseas with their belt and road initiative.

They steal our technology, and require U.S. businesses who deal in China to share technology.

The PRC has publicly declared that they consider every aspect of our infrastructure as fair game.

And what do we do? We let millions of people spill over our border.

The boys drink and review Chocolate Cherry Stout by Firestone Walker Brewing, then discuss an alternative history book about the evolution of humans. 

In this view of human evolution, a different group of humans – the Floyds – took over Beringia and then migrated into America. When Columbus came to the Americas, he didn’t find Homo Sapiens. He found the Floyds. 

The book starts by introducing us to this alternative modern life, where modern man and this other version of man are living side by side. We learn the history – from Beringia until the conflict with Columbus. 

First contact took place in Florida, which is why they’re called “Floros,” politely, or “Floyds,” derogatively. 

The Floros are very compact and strong, and very useful in close-in fighting. They were captured en masse and taken to Europe to serve as infantry in everybody’s armies. 

They integrated into society to some extent, but remained second-class citizens. 

Once warfare modernized, and close-in fighting was not prized to the same extent, the Floros lost some of their utility in the infantry. They still did manual labor, which they were very good at, but they didn’t bring particularly good skills. 

Modern man (homo sapiens) tried to integrate them into society. 

One flaw in the book is an unrealistic expectation that there was no interbreeding – because the Floyds were not very attractive. 

The Floridius Rights Movement advocates for the Floros and tries to help them, but the Floros don’t want the help. 

The book pokes fun at a couple modern themes. 

After the end of the book review, P&C discuss some of the issues raised by the book, such as why are we the only version of “man” left on the planet? Why did the Neanderthals and Denisovans die out? 

P&C go into an extensive discussion of differences between Neanderthals and modern humans, and why we may have replaced them. 

P&C drink and review Experimental Black IPA from Bell’s, then discuss Christian Nationalism. 

First, what the heck is Christian Nationalism? Pigweed started with three theories. 

Were Christian nationalists behind Jan. 6, and do they want to create something like The Handmaid’s Tale? That’s what the left wants us to believe. 

The opposite is the case. The left is trying to eliminate the influence of Christianity. The Amy Coney Barrett nomination process showed that clearly. We’ve come to the point that being a sincere believer might disqualify you from public office. 

Four separate Supreme Court cases – that have never been overturned – say that the United States is a Christian nation. 

What does that mean? Is it contrary to pluralism? Does it mean that we round up unbelievers and make them second-class citizens? 

Quite the opposite. It’s because we’re a Christian nation that we give rights and respect to other people. 

The fact is that all law is based on some system of morality. The only question is what morality you are going to use. 

***

Here's a link to the Florida Man episode.

https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/XcC185ICaJb

P&C drink and review Hell or High Watermelon from 21st Amendment Brewery, then, with special guest Longinus, discuss the cost of professional sports. 

Why are we, in the words of Pigweed, willing to spend so much money to watch grown men play children’s games?  

But that’s not to the point. The boys are focused on the cost of a baseball or football game. Why has it increased so much? Is it worth it? 

From 1970 to the present – in today’s dollars – the cost for a family of four to attend a baseball game is about 4x. Who pays this, and why? 

Along with this increase in prices, we have an increase in coverage. When Pigweed was a lad, there was one, one-hour show on sports. Now, we have several 24x7 sports stations talking about sports all year long. 

There’s also the moral question. In a world that can’t decide what a woman is, sports provides some clear guidelines. The player is either in or out. The ball is in the strike zone or it’s not. 

Another angle – people can’t sit quietly with their own thoughts. They need a distraction. Every bar and restaurant has constant sports.

Is sports filling a hole left by the lack of religion, or community? Also, to what extent is this a public question? Is it in the local government’s interest to get people involved in local sports?

The boys drink and review Pigweed's homebrew Irish Stout, then invite John Wayne Jew onto the show to speak about the month in woke (at about 4:00).

The silliness of woke-ism is almost unbelievable. P&C and their special guest discuss some of the obvious lunacies, including the following.

Some Canadian police recently encouraged residents to leave their car keys outside so thieves can steal cars without any violent confrontation.

After the destruction of the Key bridge in Baltimore, some wokesters want a name chance, since Francis Scott Key doesn't meet modern moral standards.

A Democratic representative says black should be exempt from taxation to make up for past injustices.

NPR hired 50 new interns. Only 5 of them were white males.

On the positive side, some companies are pulling back on DEI and other woke policies, but it's not clear if that's a significant trend.