There are beers you understand almost immediately.

They arrive, make a clean first impression, and tell you exactly what kind of relationship you’re about to have with them. Crisp lager. Juicy pale ale. Dark stout. A quick handshake, a little eye contact, everyone knows where they stand.

And then there is Orval.

The public bar was communal, loud, democratic in theory. The snug was contained. Designed for those who did not fit comfortably into the room’s unwritten rules.

A quiet celebration of slow hours, drifting afternoons, and Skyward Slow.

Would a Porter by any other name taste as sweet?

From Seáns Bar, to Spirit Grocers, to having a pint (or seven) with yer mates after a particularly rowdy footie match, the Irish Pub is a quintessential landscape of drinking culture that has spread worldwide.

and why are you so obsessed with me?

Who or what gets to decide when something is made “deviant” in society?

“Ok, I'm no science whiz, I guess what I’m saying is why should I care about foam when it comes to drinking my beer?”

Medicine Hat Brewing Company came into SP a while back and gave us a sample of their “Sest Pivo”, a Czech-style Pilsner, to celebrate their 6th anniversary. We are no strangers to spiels, but when Kaiden, of Med Hat Brew Co, told us about how they traveled to Pilsen…

A slow pour is just that, a beer poured slowly. It’s not slow in the way that you might immediately think …

… ‘And how, before its invention, we had to go around hunting for animal skins or foraging for intact seashells to bring light into our living quarters, or through tireless trial and error discover the correct proportions to dry clay in a kiln to make a food and drink vessel. Do you know how hard that is when you don’t live anywhere near a seashore? Or have a kiln? Talk about quiet quitting…”

Then, at some point during these 48 long hours, one of us began quietly pouring over material about the “Slow Movement”.