Thursday, January 01, 2015

Süffigkeit for the new year!

Beer From the Expert's Viewpoint 
What makes beer so popular? Why is good beer in such demand?

[...] Many attribute this popularity of fine beer to the amiability which it fosters, but the ability of a beer to engender sociability is made possible by that precious flawlessness found only in the better beers, which the Germans have termed, "SÜFFIGKEIT."

There is no exact equivalent for this word in the English language, but it means that upon drinking one stein of any beer possessing "SÜFFIGKEIT," a second is invited, and these whet the appetite for still more.
—Arnold Spencer Wahl, Robert Wahl:
Beer From the Expert's Viewpoint. 1937.

Here's to a new year, of precious flawlessness, made merrier with süffigkeit.

Naujųjų metų sveikinimai!
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  • The phrase above is Lithuanian "Happy New Year. My surname, Cizauskas, is of Lithuanian derivation. [Pronounced, approximately: "No-YAY-yay MA (like "map" without the 'p')-tay].
  • Beer From the Expert's Viewpoint is one in a "Classic Reprint Series" from BeerBooks.com, in Cleveland, Ohio.

    With the repeal of National Prohibition in 1933, the Wahl Institute in Chicago sprang to life Chemist Robert Wahl, along with son, Arnold Spencer Wahl, resumed the in-depth study of brewing science for which the Institute had become famous before Prohibition. In 1937, the Wahls published this book, the first of what was intended to be a 4-volume set designed to educate a new generation of American brewers.

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