A Smack In The Teeth

I know Stonch has already covered this in his blog, but now I'm back from work I need to state how sad I feel that the cask beers from the USA may not make it to Bières Sans Frontières at this year's GBBF for the second year in a row.

It is true to say that one of the casks seeped beer but for some reason this led to the whole consignment being condemned and then quarantined. Apparently in America beer is classed as 'hazardous'. This I really cannot comprehend. Do they feel in the land of the free that some liquid containing hops, malt, yeast and maybe a few other ingredients might be a threat to their security in these days of terrorism and various other heinous crimes. If a barrel were to burst on a lorry on some interstate highway would they pull the lorry to one side, put the cuffs on the driver, and hold a national inquiry?

I absolutely do not blame the organisers of BSF who as I reported previously have put together an unbelievable foreign beer list. It's the unneccessarily security conscious folks across the pond I blame. This is a country that in spite of the thousands of quality beer loving people which arguably makes the best beer in the World still has some states where advertizing the alcohol levels of beer is forbidden. Such is the ambivalence seemingly held in some areas towards beer.

I still don't intend buying an English beer this year at GBBF, but it will be harder than I planned.