Homage to Ian

One of my Calgary friends used to have an English Pub in his basement.  Probably still does.  I need to thank Ian for a couple of things .. well, probably more than a couple, but two that have to do with beer.

My experience with beer was teenage over-indulgence in prairie wheat lagers, over-indulgence in after-slowpitch 50¢ draft beer and much, much burping as a result.  Then I somewhat grew up and realized that by drinking wine I could still get a nice happy without all the gas.  So I gave up beer for  a few years.

Then Ian rocked my world with an introduction to ale.  Ian happily took me on an ale education from sources around the world .. particularly his beloved British Isles ... and gave me back a frosty mug of chilled brew to hoist to people's health.  As a matter of fact, I still keep a half dozen glass mugs in my freezer in the event that company drops by.  He also gleefully delighted in dragging all of us down to the Dog and Duck after a Friday night kungfu workout where the concoctions of Smithwick's and Strongbow ale became a favorite of mine.

He'd often host us at his house and in his basement fridge, there was usually a pony keg on tap.  We'd fill up the mugs and then set them down on one of the gazillion beer mats he had collected.  I'm pretty sure that beer mat collection took on a life of their own as friends and acquaintances made sure to stuff some in their pockets or purses to bring home to Ian.  I probably contributed to it in my own small way.

In doing some research for an Adobe Illustrator class, I fell in love with the artwork on some of the beer labels .. and then subsequently, the beer.   So here is my homage to Ian, his beers and his collection of beer mats.

Most of these are real, although a few of them are a tongue in cheek PhotoShop tribute to beer labels. You might be surprised to discover which ones are the fakes.