Healing with Mocha Stout
Last weekend, soon after I got my first real cold in my new home, I found myself at a BBQ party in a ... local brewery! I searched for healing in the Assyrian tradition and ended up drinking 5 glasses of beer. Didn't work, khalas!
Carakale, taking up its name from a wild kitty called caracal (no, it's not related to Karak - or to any castle or whatsoever despite my brain's insistence on Turkish), is the first microbrewery in Jordan. It all comes down to a man named Yazan Karadsheh whose story you can read about on the company's website.
The Middle East is hardly mentioned by beer although it has been home to this social lubricant as early as 9500 BC. Similarly, there is no sign around the brewery referring to ... sshhh, haram!
Apart from the great food, sunny weather and some sweet chatterboxes, I really liked our tour in the brewery which is not a big place. It reminded me of my 10th grade chemistry class at high school when we were visiting different factories to learn about their production methods and later write a report about them. No, I will not write all those steps about how they mash the grains, add hops for flavour and yeast for fermentation. To me, the packaging was the big revelation as, contrary to the popular belief, cans are better than bottles as they prevent the sun light and keep the beer drinkable up to 30 years. To me, the glass is still more elegant though :)
There are two good news about Carakale. First, in a few months they will go on the US market, thanks to some special tax regulations between the two countries. This will definitely help strengthen the company with extra revenue. The second, some big company (no need to name it, could've been any of them) warned places serving alcohol in Amman not to put Carakale in their beer selection. Of course, the owner of B@C said "HELL, NO!" at the face of it and showed what it means to be a real businessperson to those cowards.
Sahtein to that! (Even though I'm still sick)
14.04.2016
Carakale, taking up its name from a wild kitty called caracal (no, it's not related to Karak - or to any castle or whatsoever despite my brain's insistence on Turkish), is the first microbrewery in Jordan. It all comes down to a man named Yazan Karadsheh whose story you can read about on the company's website.
The Middle East is hardly mentioned by beer although it has been home to this social lubricant as early as 9500 BC. Similarly, there is no sign around the brewery referring to ... sshhh, haram!
Apart from the great food, sunny weather and some sweet chatterboxes, I really liked our tour in the brewery which is not a big place. It reminded me of my 10th grade chemistry class at high school when we were visiting different factories to learn about their production methods and later write a report about them. No, I will not write all those steps about how they mash the grains, add hops for flavour and yeast for fermentation. To me, the packaging was the big revelation as, contrary to the popular belief, cans are better than bottles as they prevent the sun light and keep the beer drinkable up to 30 years. To me, the glass is still more elegant though :)
There are two good news about Carakale. First, in a few months they will go on the US market, thanks to some special tax regulations between the two countries. This will definitely help strengthen the company with extra revenue. The second, some big company (no need to name it, could've been any of them) warned places serving alcohol in Amman not to put Carakale in their beer selection. Of course, the owner of B@C said "HELL, NO!" at the face of it and showed what it means to be a real businessperson to those cowards.
Sahtein to that! (Even though I'm still sick)
14.04.2016
