We Celebrated Inaguration Day With A Glass of Ol' Po'

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I meant to mention this yesterday but forgot (brain too full of endorphins, no doubt...) Last night we toasted President Obama (how sweet are those two words?) with Old Potrero 18th Century rye. The stuff is expensive, so although we always have a bottle on hand, we save it for special occasions. Certainly yesterday was one, but it also seemed the appropriate tipple given that the president quoted George Washington, an 18th century fellow if ever there was one, during his speech.

Full disclosure: Ol' Po' is made by my friend Fritz, so I'm a bit biased toward the stuff. But even leaving him out of the equation, it's still a heckuva great drink.

More Thoughts on Beer In A Bad Economy

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First, an additional thought on declining beer consumption. As I noted in a previous post , the giant global beer companies are confronting declining sales in so-called "developing" and "third world" nations/regions. The ripple effect, however, will likely play out in the so-called "first world" countries/regions, like the U.S.

Why? Because companies like SABMiller and A-B InBev function on behalf of shareholders, and shareholders want healthy share price. So if demand for product drops in Croatia or Brazil, company managers will try to compensate for that decline in some other market. To do that, they'll devote more money to advertising in, say, the U.S., or use price-cutting to woo consumers.

Bottom line? Declining beer sales in China, Brazil, or Poland will spark beer wars in the U.S, Canada, or western Europe. And when the Big Brewers go after each other, small brewers get caught in the crossfire. (A matter I discussed in detail in two blog series I ran this summer, one here, and one here.

The second thought about beer-in-a-bad-economy concerns homebrewing. In the 20th century, interest in homebrewing soared during hard times, and then declined during good times. So we can expect to see traffic increase at brewing supply shops, on and offline.

But before you get too carried away with the do-it-yourself stuff, the always entertaining Patrick Emerson of the Oregon Economics blog studied the numbers. You may be surprised at the result. Read his thoughts here.

A New Age Now Begins

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1. My face almost hurts from smiling.

2. The speech can be summarized in three words: "Bush? Cheney? Begone! (Alternative interpretation: "We can't let these past few years destroy our better nature. Let's join hands and move forward.")

3. Did anyone notice how much the wheelchair-bound Cheney resembles Mr. Potter?

4. My main emotion at the moment? Relief.

5. Is Roberts a better justice than he is a swearer-in?

6. Yes, we can.