Oscar Brand “The Drinking Man’s Songbook” on Offbeat Records
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La Chupadita. Los De Cache.
Li’l Wally Presents “Beer & Dutchmen Polkas” By the Michigan Dutchmen.
Good head enchants. It teases the eyes, inviting the curious to explore the unknown. The texture of head varies as much as the stars in the sky. Head can be rocky and voluminous, billowing up above the edge of the glass, or smooth and creamy, made of tightly knit bubbles. At times it may be loose and foamy. It can be as white as the snows on Mount Kilimanjaro, or as tawny and tan as the Girl from Ipanema. Guinness will leave a ring on the side of the glass for every sip you take. Many Belgian beers will do the same. Still other styles may leave intricate patterns of lace that curve like opera curtains over a brightly lit stage, or they may spot the glass like 101 Dalmatians. Some head dissipates to a veil or ring, and may die completely in the presence of the smallest molecule of natural oil in foods. In beer with high alcoholic content, head may be spare.
Does it serve a purpose? What constitutes good head on beer? How does it form?
Those who analyze beer insist that head is a necessary part of the beer experience. When served in glassware that has been properly cleaned and is of the correct shape, head will hold the delicate aromatics within the beer, and release them gently for your olfactory pleasure. Gases that live within bubbles that form the head will affect mouthfeel, creating sensations that differ on your tongue. When formed as a result of the natural carbon dioxide created by the action of yeast, bubbles will feel more tingly and effervescent than the creamy ones infused with a mix of carbon dioxide and nitrogen. Each style demands its own type of head, or rather, the proteins in barley or wheat malt, coupled with bittering hops, will determine the outcome of the head for each style.
Good head retention is when one-half of the height of the original head persists for at least one minute after pouring.
(Courtesy of Carolyn Smagalski, BellaOnline’s Beer and Brewing Editor)
An early Hi Records release featuring the Bill Black Combo and the soul instrumental hit “Smokie” Part 1 and Part 2. Check out lonely girl at the piano and the giant glass of beer!
“The Bottom of the Bottle” by Porter Wagoner. RCA Records.
The John Buzon Trio “Cha Cha On the Rocks” (Liberty Records)
Soon she’ll be seeing people in her wine glass too. On the Kubaney label out of Miami, Fla.
There’s a strange sub-genre of covers capturing the artist’s portrait in glass. Reflections appearing like images in a crystal ball. Here are two examples, one from Mexico the other a polka record. The power of alcohol to summon the ghosts of performers stretches from the Rio Grande to the Pennsylvania Dutch.
What do you see when you drink?
There’s so much here. Someone really took pride in creating this cover for Lucky Louie and Juleia and their REAL Hot Polka orchestra. I like it more the more I look at it. It’s so gross it’s good and vice a versa. There’s a category here called “A glass of…” for covers like this.
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