I have a question for you. Want to know how to really tell if you love food? Go 30 days without eating.
Because I can be easily tricked into over-enthusiasm, especially about beer-related things, I decided sometime in February or March to attempt something that is, granted, probably not my smartest or best idea, but a challenge that I felt I could not turn down (ironic, since I was the only one challenging myself). I had read about a guy in Iowa who was doing (or had recently done – I’m confused by the Christian calendar still) a Beer-Only Fast for the 46 days of Lent, in homage to German monks of old, who would fast for the entirety of Lent and consume only Dopplebock to sustain them (hence the name Sustainor Dopplebock). According to the article, it was a surreal and spiritual experience, and the dude lost 25lbs.
Cool.
I could not or would not wait until the next time Lent rolled around, not did I want to simply rip off the intellectual property of this no doubt now skinny and enlightened brewer, so devised an alternate plan of my own.
Day -1: On the last day of March, 2012, I sat in my basement with my brother-in-law (The Grunt), wife and kids and contemplated the rules for this potential beer project, while shoveling in pan-Asian fare as sort of a sacrilicious “last supper’. Granted, I subsequently went without food for 30 days, but this was genuinely one of the best meals I can remember having, and it came with a brilliant (if I do say so myself) pairing with Stone’s 11-11-11 Vertical Epic (dark ale with Hatch Green Chili). If you’re having anything Asian and remotely spicy, GO FIND THIS BEER. If you’re going to starve yourself for 30 days, I suggest a substantially less memorable last meal. Like I said, I’m not the brightest knife on the tree. Norman McClean is haunted by rivers? I’m haunted by egg rolls.
(to be continued)
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