"Drinking beer to save the world." That's the response I got from Beer Activist blogger Chris O'Brien when I asked him to define beer activism. Hey, if drinking beer will save the world, I'll gladly do my part. O'Brien explained further: "What I write about is how the craft-brewing and home-brewing revolutions have taken an age-old tradition and part of our culture, diet and religion back from global corporations who have reduced it down to a simple commodity, and returned it to the kitchens and made it into something that’s community oriented, environmentally sustainable - and tasty - again."

O'Brien is a very busy guy, and almost everything he does revolves around social and environmental responsibility and sustainability. His day job is Director of the Responsible Purchasing Network for the Center for a New American Dream, an organization based in Takoma Park. But he also frequently writes about beer for various publications, has authored a book ("Fermenting Revolution: How to Drink Beer and Save the World"), has a cameo appearance in the film "Beer Wars," and is part owner of a brewing store in Santa Cruz, Calif., that provides Clipper City Brewing with its organic hops.

The blog is primarily focused on responsible brewing - how to do it, who's doing it, etc. Representative posts include "How Much Water Is Required to Make Beer," "Death and Taxes: The Beer We Drink," and "The Audacity of Hops." There are also posts related to regional beer events, updates on organic brewers and lots of links to local beer sites, fair trade organizations, various "greenie" sites and even beekeeping and mead sites.

O'Brien has traveled the world studying brewing techniques of many other cultures. When I asked him what's the most unusual concoction he's sampled, I gagged a little at his answer. "I recall drinking the backbone of a puppy in South Africa." Fortunately, there was more to the story.

"In South Africa, blacks were forbidden from making beer at home during apartheid. So people would come up with ways of making things that were quickly fermentable and highly potent. One of the styles (of brewing) I drank translated into English as 'the backbone of a puppy.' The reason they called it that is that they were trying to evade detection. Rather than calling it beer, they called it 'backbone of a puppy' so white South Africans wouldn’t know they were talking about home brew."

Even knowing what it was - or wasn't - I applaud Chris for giving it a try. I don't think I could have gotten the image out of my head. And I'm also a little surprised that while the South African beer cops left them alone, that country's version of the SPCA didn't crack down on them for other reasons.

Classic Beer Commercial

I'm off to Austin, Texas later this week, so I thought I'd get in the mood by dragging out this Falstaff spot from the '50s featuring Texas Swing legend, Hank Thompson.