Since we are in Ireland right now, I have been thinking more than ever about St. Brigid. Something I haven’t talked about much is my connection with one of the most beloved saints in Ireland. Known as ‘the Mary of the Gael’, St. Brigid is known for a great many things, including her generosity, her compassion toward the poor, and her ability to turn bathwater to beer.
When I was in the 10th grade, I went through the necessary hoops to become a confirmed Catholic. The saint name I chose was Brigid. I even added it to my name at my high school graduation. I don’t remember why exactly I took that name, but I do remember looking through a book to peruse my choices. Little did I know at the time, the depth to which fate would have led me to choose St. Brigid.
The first connection is the love affair I would eventually develop with Ireland. When I was younger, I had no concept of travel. No one in my family ever traveled abroad and it was difficult for me to think much beyond California, even. But, as you know, Ireland is one of our favorite countries to visit. As a sea faring girl (my name means protector of the sea and I grew up on the beaches of Carmel), the west coast of Ireland calls to me. In the rugged beauty and harsh existence, I find comfort and coziness. To me, the rough Atlantic Sea sounds of music as it hits the rocky shores.
Next, Brigid is known to have been generous and compassionate toward the poor and disenfranchised of her day. A social worker of sorts. This included providing staples to the poor and care to the sick. One of the primary myths (or miracles, depending on how you view it) associated with St. Brigid is how Ireland became the Emerald Isle. The story goes that Brigid approached a miserly king to request aid to the poor. He sarcastically responded to her that he would provide as much as her green mantle (cloak) could cover. Thinking that the cloak would barely cover the few feet in front of her, St. Brigid threw her mantle out and it miraculously spread throughout the entire countryside, cloaking the land in green. This, of course, came as a great shock to the king. As a social worker, I find these stories of her generosity and compassion very inspiring.
Most recently, I have become aware of St. Brigid’s miracle of beer. She worked in a leper colony and when the people of the colony implored her for beer to drink, she found there to be none. By the sheer power of her blessing, she turned water meant for bathing into beer for all to drink. She was also said to have turned her own dirty bathwater into beer for clerics visiting her monastery to drink. Another story endearing her to beer drinkers is that she was reported to supply 18 churches from just one barrel of beer.
A poem attributed to St. Brigid and often quoted by beer lovers, states ‘I would like a great lake of beer for the king of kings; I would like the people of heaven to be drinking it through time eternal.’
What more could a beer loving social worker aspire to be than a woman who wishes upon all the people of the world, rich and poor, sick and well, a steady supply of beer.
Saturday, Chris and I drove to Doolin, County Clare. Doolin might be our favorite place in all of Ireland. A certain travel personality, whose initials are ‘RS’, describes it as ‘touristy’, but we decided that “international” is a better word for it. There are a lot of tourists, but not the usual ‘eat at McDonalds while in Europe’ kind. People from all over the world come to Doolin for the hiking, biking and other adventuresome things to do in the West of Ireland. Of course we met a few cool people while there over the weekend.
Saturday, a winter-type storm hit the area. A steady gale force wind blew all night and the rain came down in buckets! Maureen said it was hardest she had ever seen it rain there.
When we got to Biddy Early, three Irish lads were sitting at the bar. These guys proceeded to play video clips on their phone and play a selection of music including “Eye of the Tiger” multiple times at loud volume. And the best part, they did it while drinking a Baileys, a cider, and the third guy was drinking Budweiser with a straw. And they burped loudly, too. Oh yeah, and the ‘Budweiser with a straw guy’ sprayed air freshener into his mouth. Some would call it local color but we thought they were local eejits.
Sunday night, our last night in Doolin, ended on a good note. Back at Gus O’Connors, they decided to play Sunday night’s football match between Spain and Italy. We took our seats at the bar and spent four hours watching football, listening to Irish music and enjoying conversations with the other punters.
Yesterday we started our first North Bay beer excursion in 10 years, and so far it has not disappointed. We took the 3 hour drive up to Fairfax for our first stop, Iron Springs. You may be familiar with their beer ambulance that boasts,”Saving lives one beer at a time”.
It’s amazing that this was our first trip to Lagunitas. We hung out in their loft overlooking the brewery, which the bartender affectionately called the “man den”. It felt like hanging out in someone’s attic. That’s me lounging, drinking Censored while reading Nancy Drew. The bartender went on to tell us that she went to high school with Winona Horowitz, better known as Winona Ryder. Our friendly bartender said that she should have known that Winona was destined to do big things, as she had a green mohawk in high school. Where is Winona these days anyway? Maybe one of you out there has an update for me…
Next we went to Bear Republic in Healdsburg. This was a must for us, because our friend Matt Venzke (Beer Drinker of the Year) went there a few months ago and autographed his picture for them. Matt told us it was behind the bar, so we had to see for ourselves! Sure enough, the bartender Ryan proudly showed it to us. It’s even laminated! We had great fun with his picture, but it made us miss him and wish that he was there drinking a Racer 5 with us.
A weird thing happened at RR…when we walked in looking for a place to sit, one of the bartenders said “Hi beergeeks”. Chris had a beergeek shirt on (go figure) with a small logo and I had my sweatshirt on concealing my beergeek shirt. I’m not really sure, but I would like to think that he recognized us. Who knows? He did mention that the video taping of Chris walking in the door was a dead giveaway. The place was busy, so I’m not even sure how he saw all that. Then he brought us each a sample of Pliny. Wow, life is good!
The time around summer solstice might be the best time to visit the Emerald Isle. “Why?”, you ask?
And we have a special theme for the trip… “Nitro-Free Ireland”. Chris got the idea for this from a discussion on the 
On top of the breweries, we will also show you some of our favorite pubs across the country.
In my recent 
Mother’s Day brings me to another reason I like the Berg; it’s family oriented. This can be good or bad. It’s good in the sense that you can bring in your own picnic, water, etc. People even bring table cloths to put down as they pull out their picnic spread. The bad part is that the kid factor can be a bit much for non-breeders like us.
Overall, we had a great time at the Berg. The beer was plentiful, the people were friendly, and the weather was exceptional. All and all a recipe for a great beer festival.