FReeper Book Club: Atlas Shrugged, By Our Love

“a good local microbrewed beer or ale.”

I’ve been a good teetotalling protestant all my life, but recently I heard an episode of The Survival Podcast about brewing that actually had my mouth watering. So being an info junkie I ordered the brewer’s bible, and have assembled plans for a still. We’ve got tons of heritage apples out in the country, and can only process so many. I’m thinking aple jack and brandy will have some serious barter value in the coming medieval economy.

I have pretty much come around to the point of your previous post. no need to apologize for forthright communication. I think Baptists et al simply made it up, IMHO. (Scripture is unambiguously clear about the acceptability of consuming alcohol in moderation, but many protestants have deluded themselves into thinking it means something different in the Bible. My mother-in-law is strictly Biblical in all things, but believes the wine in the Bible is simply unfermented grape juice) I found out shortly before my dad died that when he went into full time pastoral ministry (Baptist), he gave up wine so his behavior would “never be a stumbling block to someone else.” Sad.

Personally I simply have not ever found any wine that tasted any better than gasoline. I have not tried that many beers or ales, but the heavy dark ones sure smell good. Jack Daniels is little better than paint remover IMHO, but a good cognac is another matter all together. I’m just not much of an imbiber.

My younger brother who is as devout and politically libertarian/conservative as I, declared long ago that when his kids left home he was gonna take up whiskey and cigars, and darned if he hasn’t. Of course it helps that my nephew is dating a girl from the Bahamas so my brother has a steady supply of primo Cuban cigars.

In the early days of America, the Continental Dollar, which had become nearly worthless through inflation, didn't even circulate on the frontier, which in those days was western Pennsylvania and New York. So people used barter. Farmers preserved the value of their fields and orchards by brewing beer products or distilling whiskies and brandies from grains and fruit. A barrel of beer or cask of whiskey or brandy had a known value at a general store or trading post when traded for a barrel of flour, a bolt of gingham or hemp cloth, machine tools or a side of bacon.

The frontier was on the Alcohol Standard, which was why the Whiskey Rebellion of 1794 was such a big deal. You've made good choices.

I found out shortly before my dad died that when he went into full time pastoral ministry (Baptist), he gave up wine so his behavior would “never be a stumbling block to someone else.” Sad.

No, now that I can actually see. A practical issue in which consumption of alcohol inhibits you from completing your ministry. Kind of like how Paul said that he would abstain from things which weren't actually wrong if they might stumble others.

Well, if you're taking the "wine" literally, I can't drink it either. A lot of them taste good, even very good, but I think I'm alergic to the sulfites they put in them and I'll get a splitting headache. Sometimes I can get away with a glass, sometimes not even that. I was talking about beer/ale, and mixed drinks, or straight spirits.

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