A beer in time of conflict, a beer of peace...but is it any good?
According to the unofficial laws of how to be “hip,” if you are a youthful fashion-conscious Israeli who wants to keep informed of the latest trends, this summer you will be listening to the Black-Eyed Peas, wearing Crocs shoes, and drinking Palestinian manufactured Taybeh Beer. A widely circulated Tel Aviv newspaper recently listed the hottest items of summer 2006, and the Palestinian beverage was high up on the list. Casting the everlasting Israeli-Palestinian conflict aside, many Israelis have taken a keen liking to this Palestinian drink, manufactured in a small brewery near Ramallah.It would be nice if beer of peace were a beer of goodness, too. This can be the case as Chateau Musar has proven. And apparently one draw for this beer in challenging circumstances is that it is considered by some to be very good...though the one review at the Beer Advocate would beg to differ. The small brewery has a website as well as an interesting importer and charitable foundation in the UK. If anyone knows more, let us know.
Comments
Evghenis - July 12, 2006 3:56 PM
The most interesting thing would be to investigate the popularity of Palestinian beer in Palestine. Afterall, Muslim doctrine supposedly forbids alcohol consumption.
Alan - July 12, 2006 5:08 PM
I thought plenty of Palestinians are Christian...lemme check...10% of the Palestinians in Lebanon are according to wikipedia.
Alan - July 12, 2006 5:14 PM
Hmmm...Gaza is only less than one percent Christian, however. There are also clearly Christian populations in the West Bank. According to this CNN article, Taybeh is a West Bank Palestinian Christian village and the brewer, Mr. Khoury, moved back in 1993 from Boston after the Oslo accord. According to this blog post, the brewery has suffered from anti-brewing protests.
Evghenis - July 14, 2006 2:51 AM
and not all Christians are beer drinkers.
Alan - July 14, 2006 9:49 AM
I can't speak for such folk.