Everyone wins in a Paddle War!
I searched through the encyclopedic enclaves and the dusty tomes that are the cranky old central library. In the back of my mind’s eye I could see it as clear as a Cape Breton rolling fog during a ski mishap induced concussion, the classic treatise on mortal conflict. I found it on my own, no Dewey decimal system required. There it was, in the reference section, subsection “Wars”, right next to the “Play Nice” subsection. Nestled in between P.J. O’Rourke’s controversial “Give War a Chance” and Shapiro’s “The Power of Nice” was the reference read I was looking for, Sun Tzu’s “The Art of War….With Paddles”. *
The wisdom of Sun Tzu seemed perfect for my review of Nickel Brook’s Paddle Battles. Sun Tzu tells us “the wise warrior avoids the paddle battle”. Of course, I’ve never been accused of being particularly wise, unless it was an adjective preceding “guy”. ST goes on to say “know yourself and you will win all the paddle battles”. According to the Department of Corrections she knows me far better than I know myself, which may explain why she wins all the battles on the home front. I think there is too much thinkin’ and not enough drinkin’ going on in this beer review. I’m Battle ready.
A very clear beer, light golden with a light white Mount Everest snow covered peak of a head. ** A big-time juicy aroma with no hops or bitters in the background. The first taste is a nicely juiced body with a very crisp dry finish. The finish borders on acerbic but doesn’t quite cross the line. A big ol’ swig juices things up a bit while easing up on the dry crisp for a very tasty and fruitful pils. Definitely a big swigger, you could (I know I could) big swigger this whole brew on my way to the beer fridge to grab another. It’s very easy drinking not because it’s so smooth but because it’s so tasty.
Sun Tzu said “The greatest victory is that which requires no paddle battle”, but if he ever tried this tasty NB brew he’d change his tune.
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