Thursday, June 24, 2010

Only one firkin of "USA vs Ghana – Former Colonies Bitter" for the match on Saturday at Bank Street Brewhouse.

In preparation for USA vs. Ghana on Saturday afternoon, I’ve done long minutes of diligent research, and found these five fascinating coincidences.

1. The United States and Ghana both are former English colonies.

2. In both the USA and Ghana, Dutchmen were there before the English – and Netherlands also has advanced to the elimination round in the World Cup.

3. Heineken, a brewer from the Netherlands, stole its red star from the Bolsheviks, whose superstar striker, Karl Marx, wrote his best material while living in England. NABC stole back the red star from Heineken, and in Ghana, there is a Star Beer. But the stars don’t stop there …

4. Prior to independence, Ghana was called the Gold Coast, and both then and now, the national football club has been the Black Stars. America has never been called Ghana, but its Gulf Coast is no longer Gold. It is Black, and the official team colors of the New Orleans Saints, its football team, are ... that's right, black and gold.

5. Ghana has Jerry Rawlings, a former flight lieutenant and longtime dictator. The USA has Jerry Lewis, formerly relevant, who is loved by the French and is the one-time performance partner of Dean Martin, who sang Italian songs. Neither France nor Italy remains alive in the World Cup, but the USA, Ghana and NABC still are.

Here’s the scoop for Saturday.

Obviously, three days isn’t enough time for a special beer to be brewed, but there remains one last cask-conditioned firkin of USA vs England – Ordinary Bitter. It will be tapped Saturday afternoon around 2:00 p.m. at Bank Street Brewhouse, and for the occasion, redubbed: USA vs Ghana – Former Colonies Bitter.

It won’t last long. Saturday also is the first of three summertime beer walks in New Albany: NA 1 Night Stand Triple Up Beer Walk.

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