My Ode to Joy-Beer Pretzels

As you can probably guess, the name I use is a nod to my German heritage. My grandmother's family was German, but it begs the question, what kind of Germans were we? Were we the good Germans? Were we the kind that just wanted to drink beer, listen to Beethoven, and not kill everyone?

In the last few years, I have found myself reacquainted with the beer culture that I had grown up with. I have always felt that this is a world of joyous camaraderie. The people aren't petty or bias. Brewers usually let their beer speak for itself.  Despite personal differences, there's always a hearty congratulations when someone has made something truly special.

For this post, I made beer pretzels using The Hunter Oktoberfest from Lost Forty Brewing. This isn’t so much of a challenge, but food for thought; pun intended. I found the recipe on one of my favorite food blogs, Half Baked Harvest. Sadly, we did not make the chipotle queso. I say “we” because this time, my boyfriend joined me.  J had never baked before.

Of course, I began by drinking The Hunter while making the dough. It has a crisp with a light hoppy taste. You can feel the breadiness coming through; if that is a word. I always preferred beer with a high malt content similar to Shiner Bock. Something is comforting about it. In September, other girls can keep their Pumpkin Spice. I will take a Märzenbier. 

Märzenbier, or Oktoberfest beer, is a seasonal autumn beer in the American craft beer community. Served at Munich Oktoberfest until 1953, it was replaced with what is known as Festbier, which is lighter than it’s American counterparts.  

After the dough finished rising, we began the most active process of making them into pretzels. I asked J to shape the dough while I ran the soda bath.  Like I said, he had never baked before. Some parts of the rope were thinner than others. They didn’t twist right. He got frustrated.  Of course, his frustration made me frustrated. 

He knew how important turning this blog into something worth reading was to me and wanted the pretzels to be perfect. I tried to tell him that they didn’t have to be perfect. Most of the things I cook or bake are not what one would call pretty.  This blog isn’t about perfection. I’m not perfect, nor do I pretend to be an expert.  

Despite the many setbacks I and many others have experienced recently, I have been feeling a sense of freedom I haven’t felt in a long time. I am in control of my life and where it goes. This feeling of joy is not without its challenges and stress. I feel that too. My joy is in staying true to who I am and what I want. As weird and boring as I am, it is who I am.  I finally feel like I am surrounding myself with people that not only accept me but want me to be the person I want to be and not who they want me to be.