I typically don’t buy from this brewery. For some reason they think rather highly of themselves despite the fact they produce exactly one beer, an IPA. They just make it with a varying amount of hops, which means they get to sell them in packs of 4 for what might normally be the price of 12. Another reason I avoid them? They reside in a state whose most famous resident is a bit of a creeper and likely would be considered a racist in a sane world. That day was different and I picked it because Imperial Pilsners aren’t all that common and I remembered a book I read in high school with the same name.
My Antonia is a tale that begins when Jim, the novel’s main character, meets a woman by chance on a train that happened to have a mutual friend named Antonia. Jim and his contact agree to exchange a memoir of sorts of their experiences with Antonia. The novel is intended to be Jim’s submission to his contact on the train. This makes the novel an unusual read because it is not written to follow a discernable plot line, rather it is a collection of “books” from Jim’s point of view. Jim was orphaned at the age of ten and goes to live with his grandparents in Nebraska; the first book begins on a train to Black Hawk which also has the Shimerda’s, a Bohemian immigrant family with a daughter slightly older than Jim, as passengers. It is obvious from the start that Jim has a thing for the Bohemian girl next door.
Her family just so happens to live on the property adjacent to his grandparents. Later, Antonia meets Jim by a creek, where she inquires on several pronunciations to certain words in English. As a token of her appreciation, Antonia offers Jim a gift. The entire scene is broken up when her father awkwardly arrives and gives Jim an inquisitive look. This language barrier comes up repeatedly as a plot device as the Shimerdas are constantly screwed over by another Bohemian immigrant from whom they purchased their property. Jim and his family to their credit were always willing to give them a helping hand. Ironically, Jim’s grandparents had a bilingual farm hand, Otto, who could’ve solved most of these language issues but didn’t even bother because he happens to be Austrian.
I was 14 when I read this book, and even then, I questioned why the author wrote Otto in as a character or even made him a German speaking character at that?
Antonia herself seems almost bipolar, depending on the season. Eventually her father kills himself because nobody in Nebraska wants to hear him play his violin, Jim goes to Harvard and becomes a lawyer. Academics for some reason think of this as a tale of “the west.” It is your typical coming of age story written by an early 20th century feminist.
Predictably, the male protagonist, in a book full of terrible sexual metaphors–fails to score.
At least, I would have remembered if he did, but to be honest I didn’t finish the book. It is unclear whether Jim’s contact on the train sends her manuscript, further giving the reader the impression that Jim is an archetypal beta-male of some sort. I imagine him penning this manuscript for a random lady on a train, reminiscing about a girl he once knew while naked on a cold New England evening. Rewriting it numerous times because of the unreadable black streaks from the tears wiped away from his parchment.
Right…the beer. As you can tell from what is not my photo, is not quite amber in color. It has a nice foamy head with some citrus notes. Saaz hops which are Czech in origin are extremely prevalent, which makes no sense because the girl is not from that region. Wouldn’t Hallertau or any German variety be more appropriate? People notice details like this, Dogfish, and I only grade on a five-point scale. The Saaz hops leave a dry aftertaste on the back of the tongue. I like that they chose to go with the original Czech style, rather than the German styles that Americans are accustomed to, but for the most part these aren’t all that different. The Imperial Pilsner variety is of course similar to any Pilsner style lager, with the obvious contrast of an insane amount of hops tossed in the mix. The hop’s assault on your palate is reminiscent of this Czech SWAT team.
https://youtu.be/ygGEpl0EJRw
This video is fitting because why arm a tactical team only with pistols? Why name a libation like this after a book?
Bottom line, this book sucks and under no circumstances should you take anyone seriously that says otherwise. The beer however, is good. I give it a solid 4.2/5.
Comments
76 responses to “Review – My Antonia Imperial Pilsner by Dogfish Head”
This was a highly amusing review…and I don’t even like beer. 🙂
Thanks, MS!
A very enjoyable review! I look forward to more.
My youngest cat is named Antonia. Not because of the book, mind you – for San Antonio de Padua, patron saint of lost kittens found in Chicago alleys. (Come to think of it, there probably *is* a Catholic saint for precisely that.)
You may resume talking about beer now.
I had to read that book in highschool. Goddamn, it was annoying. Only topped by The House of Mirth and Moby-Dick as my most hated American Literature.
Moby Dick? They made a book out of that?
Only about a third of it. The rest is a treatise on 19th century whaling.
I hated MD when I had to read it in high school. I read the book again after I started sailing and found it fascinating. Leave the metaphor of the whale aside and the book is a great description of the 19th century US whaling industry. Melville had to keep that part within the realm of the known since his readers were familiar with sailing and whaling.
Yeah, a friend of mine who’s working towards being a Marine Biologist liked it too. I guess if you’re involved in the oceanic/sailing world I can see how it would be interesting, but I mostly found it dull and unfocused.
Yea, that one was a real snoozer. ~400 pages of rich people cavorting at bridge parties and Mediterranean cruises. The bulk of the book was pointless drama between wealthy socialites. It could have been a decent short story if all of that shit were removed.
Whenever people ask me how it was, my default response is “Pride and Prejudice with more drugs.”
Another forced My Antonia read here. My hate for it still bubbles.
Didn’t have to read House of Mirth. I do like Edith Wharton though.
Were Edith Wharton’s other books any less boring, particularly The Age of Innocence? I have it sitting on the shelf, but I’ve put off reading it after my negative experience with the House of Mirth.
It’s been so long since the last time that I’ve read either one, so not sure.
First! Im at a wedding this weekend so my interactions here might be few.
I got charged with being a groomsman but the best man is….special. Ill be busy, thanks for posting my drunken ramblings!
What sort of special?
“My dads a millionaire and I have a learning disability” kind.
So, trustafarian with an addy prescription?
Nice guy, but yeah.
Bayonet on CZ-75. Lol. Have heard good things about those pistols though. What makes a beer Imperial? Is it alcohol content? I’ve not heard of an Imperial Pilsner before but would try. I also typically avoid Dogs Head due to their hop fetish. I like to taste my beer.
Shit, dude, the Japanese put a bayonet on a *light machine gun.* That’s when you know your fetish for cold steel has gone a little too far.
I carry a CZ-75 Compact. It’s all steel (except the mag follower, guide rod, and grips) so it’s heavy as hell, but the flipside is that it shoots like a dream. I also like the 14+1 capacity.
Yeah, I’d like to have one.
The one in the video is the SP-01 version that has a 19+1 capacity. Its big and heavy so its a breeze to shoot.
CZ 75 is the best semi-auto pistol ever made.
That THAT Glock fanbois.
Keep telling yourself that.
*Pets Kimber Gold Cup 1911 lovingly*
I like the Czech Pilsner style, I’ll check it out today, Shopping Saturday, not at all fun, except for the picking beer part.
also, Seventh!
I do my liquor shopping after work on Friday. Fortunately I get off work at 2:30 so it’s not too crowded.
And I also like that you can mix and match to get the case discount, so I can throw in one bottle of pricier stuff to go along with the moderately-priced stuff. I’m working my way through a Bordeaux right not.
+1 I lolled
I think Dogfish Head is OK, but not great. At least my microbrew buddies don’t give me shit for it because it’s not an ‘evil’ InBev brand.
Also, would.
Would also.
Count me in. I’d also like her to keep the apple in her mouth, like a ball-gag.
I was thinking I would have something to eat.
The only Antonia I had ever heard of was the daughter of Mark Antony and the sister of Augustus Caesar, Octavia.
I believe she was either aunt or cousin to all the Judeo Claudian emperors.
Derp
https://hotair.com/archives/2017/09/09/hot-new-federal-study-probes-gender-identity-preschoolers/
Diversity and Comics, self-identified Ferengi-American, recommends that the comic book industry needs a little thing called ‘basic capitalistic instinct’.
Self correcting problem.
Now that you bring that up I have been hearing about that for a while and it makes me wonder why no one with a brain has stepped in to fill the empty niche.
Not when you’re run by The Mouse. Until Marvel movies start failing nothing will change.
No one crosses the Mouse.
Yeah, that’s the real problem: they don’t actually give a shit about the comics making money. The comics are just a prestige project and an IP farm at this point. If a book happens to create another character that they can use in their other departments, great, if not, nobody cares, there are plenty more.
More Derp
https://pjmedia.com/trending/2017/09/07/berkeley-students-want-name-campus-building-cop-killer/
The crazy left can’t get themselves enough Assata Shakur. SMDH
Never heard of her. I suppose if she ponies up a nice stack of pesos to get her name on a building, why not?
I am wondering and worried about people in Cuba with Irma making it’s way to Havana. With the state of their government, infrastructure, and poverty, there is potential for some serious problems in the aftermath. And, Cuba being what it is, we won’t hear much about it.
That has occurred to me too. I bet the body count is going to be high.
Also, the place may fall apart afterward. I would so love to see Raul and the rest of the communist party of Cuba strung up and gutted like pigs.
Most of the human damage from weather comes after, and our ability to move on is because of our wealth and access to goods (cheap supplies, and inexpensive ways to move them). I don’t think Cuba has that — even though they can “trade with every other country in the world except the US” there still isn’t the equivalent of WalMart there, and necessary supplies to weather the aftermath of Irma are probably in very short supply for Cubans.
Its really fucking sad, to me, mostly because of the capitulation to a terrible system on principle is actually hurting people.
At any rate, I hope the Keys and Miami are hunkered down. Its beginning now.
Damn you, state capitalism!!
Then you go and give them a 4.25. So, if you’re using quarters it’s actually 20 points, and if you are using decimals to the hundredths it’s a 500 point scale.
Also, third!
Its 4.2 out of 5.
Also, NEEEEEEEEEEEERD
Why would an Austrian speak Czech? And why would a German hops be better for a Bohemian pilsner? Admittedly Pilsen has a long history of German settlement, but it’s been Czech for a long time too.
I dunno. They spoke German in the book. They couldve gone with a Czech theme but they had to associate it with the book. *shrugs*
Oh! I’ve never read it. I guess I’m not missing anything.
Nope. Its on the list of books that are first to burn in the event of the apocalypse.
Sudeten hops yearn to be rejoined with the fatherland.
Rofl
YES!!
There were lots of Germans in Bohemia until after World War II. Nobody thinks they have a right of return, the way people idiotically do for Palestinians and Israel.
The Imperial Pilsner variety is of course similar to any Pilsner style lager, with the obvious contrast of an insane amount of hops tossed in the mix. The hop’s assault on your palate is reminiscent of this Czech SWAT team.
I would rather be shot by a SWAT team than drink some of what passes as beer these days put out by the hop heads brewing the stuff. It is like a competition to make a beer taste the closest to a bushel of hops.
Never heard of the book. Glad I didn’t have to read it. Good write up MS.
I put tomato juice in my beer.
But what do I know?
Tobasco or GTFO
Lol wut?
Unless I am mistaken. Its a TX thing.
No, there’s plenty of those people up here in NoDak, too.
Mt first exposure to this abomination was in North TX. I blame Texans.
Don’t blame me, that shit is nasty as fuck
Not fucking much, apparently.
I know a few Clamato and beer drinkers. They are Canadian though.
I believe Bud makes a Clamato beer, it was a thing around Ohio a few years back, popular with the Mexicans, some, I assume are good people.
The do. As well as a <a href="https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/29/37424/"Bud Light Chelada. I suppose if you like tomato juice, it may be worth trying.
*sigh*
I need to stop trying to craft a link after drinking:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/29/37424/
The Canadians I know who like it aren’t good people. They are degenerates of the highest order. People worth drinking with in other words.
Aren’t Canadians as a rule degenerates of the highest order?
I’d say it’s a bit unfair to call Dogfish Head a hop fetish brewery. They’re one of the few breweries that hired an archeologist to attempt to recreate historical beers (such as the Midas Touch, Chateau Jiahu, Ta Henket, and Theobroma), they do have some solid stouts as well, and I love the SeaQuench Ale.
To stay a bit more on topic, I much preferred the original imperial pilsner from Dogfish Head: Golden Shower. They had to change the name for the last release of it after someone complained about the name.
+1 on the SeaQuench. Great stuff!
Excellent review, MS! I will try to track it down (the beer, not the book).
You know what? This is a fair position to take.
Consider that Stone Brewery out of San Diego has also branched out with similar products that suggess their brewing prowess extends beyond that which they can sell in large volume. However, what are they known for? A borderline barleywine that literally insults their customers.
In the same way Dogfish is mostly known for their IPAs. Since they are well made it is nothing to be ashamed of.