Back in August we had a post about what lists we should keep along the way. Two of these lists, books and beer (beer was suggested in the comments of that post by my brother-in-law Jeff), have been the most active in the first 6 months on the road. I wanted to write about this now because throughout Vietnam there were many local brews, and these numerous lagers have recently caused my beer list to exceed my book list in length. As of today I have read 28 books, which is pretty much on track with my 1 book a week goal. However my beer list is at a robust 31. And while I do not have a beer goal for this year, I am pretty astounded at the variety of beers I have sampled despite spending the first 2.5 months in Muslim countries.
Below is a cool Amazon widget that displays my 10 favorite books I have read so far. They are a mix of fiction and non-fiction, with even a couple of business books thrown in for good measure.
And here is a picture album of some of the beers I have had along the way. The asterisk captions are my 1-5 star rating of the beer pictured, one (*) being reminiscent of a warm can of Natural Light and five (*****) being a perfectly poured Belgian ale. As you can see, while I have had a good representative sampling, the majority of the beer in the Middle East and Southeast Asia leaves something to be desired. Enjoy the pictures and if you disagree with my rankings lets hear it in the comments below. Here is to better beer in the next 6 months!
*If you click on any of the links above and purchase something from Amazon, we will get a tiny amount of money – hopefully enough to buy another paperback book from Amazon at the end of the year. I’m just telling you this because the FTC thinks you aren’t smart enough to figure this out for yourself.Related posts:
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Did you guys see the NYT article on the beer trail in Vietnam? Read Confessions of an Economic Hitman a few months back; certainly worth a read to at least get people thinking about these issues, but I ultimately found it disappointing (especially when I searched around for criticism/rebuttals and found it in respectable places).
Robyn – could you post some of those links here? I was also very disappointed in the end of the book. His recommendation on how to solve the problems he outlined was to hold discussion groups about Economic Hitman seemed a little self serving. I would like to read more about this as we will be meeting with someone from the IFC in Bejing in May. I want to have as much background as possible.
And I did not see the NYT article. That is to bad because I think I must have followed most of it from Hanoi to HCMC.
But you haven’t had any of my home-brew yet! Of course, neither have I as I received the equipment to do it yesterday, but I figure I’ve got some time to practice before I see you again. Hopefully by then it will be tolerable.
Home brew with some ribs and brisket sounds like a perfect welcome home dinner in 6 months. Consider my order placed.
Finally, a truly inspirational post. Saving the earth and whatnot is cool I guess, but if humanity is to be truly saved, it will be through our common love of fermented grains (and fruits, for my gluten-free friends).
If you want to marry your lists, try: “Beer School: Bottling Success at the Brooklyn Brewery.” It’s a fascinating look at doing a start-up in a relatively young industry written by the two founders of the brewery. And it’s about beer. Enough said.
Thanks for the book reco, and I was sure you would like this post. I will have to look forward that when we are in the airport this afternoon. Airports are the best bet when traveling for English language books. The other option is audio from iTunes.
Love this post. You’re in for better beer times, I guarantee it.
While you may not love the beer served in your current locale, they’ll all taste like five-star beers if you consider a 40oz. of OE. It’s all relative!
Amen to that!