Constants and Variables: SMaSH Brewing and Bioshock Infinite

"There's always a lighthouse, there's always a man, there's always a city." -Elizabeth, Bioshock Infinite

"We brewers don't make beer, we just get all the ingredients together and the beer makes itself." --Fritz Maytag, President, Anchor Steam Brewing

WARNING, this post and the links contained herein contains spoilers. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

It's probably no lighting bolt from the sky for me to say that beer and video games go together. Nothing says, "have a cold one" like tearing through a few levels of your favorite shooter or role playing game. The choice you have for beer as a consumer is almost as infinite as the the worlds described in quantum physics. In the end there are constants and variables.

The constants:
There is always a game
There is always a beverage

The variables:
What game to play
What beverage to drink

It's all about constants and variables. You never row, you will always just sit there until you move. You will always be confined to enjoy commercial beer until you try brewing your own. The only way to that city is to be cleansed in the sweet baptismal waters of brewing your own beer at home.

In Bioshock Infinite you are asked to, "bring us the girl and wipe away the debt." While it's not clear until the end what debt you need to clear and why you need to bring the girl, that choice that was made for you before the game started is what sends you on the wild ride up the rabbit hole.

Do you throw the ball at the couple or the announcer?

Heads or tails?

These are some of the perceived choices the game gives you but in the end, whether you chose the bird or the cage, the choice has no impact to the overall story.

There is always a lighthouse.

The state of beer right now also gives the consumer the perception of choice. The problem is, unless you do your homework, your choices sometimes have less impact than you think. I willingly choose to drink craft beer. I look for the independent local producers to try but now there are big brewers hiding behind fake labels that look like independent brewers. Beware these false shepherds.

Constants and variables...there are always IPAs, Pale Ales, Stouts and Lagers each brewery puts their own spin on it.

The light in the dark that leads you to doors of infinite possibilities is learning to brew your own. You never have to worry if that pale ale is made by an independent or a big brewer because it's made by you. You can find great, easy to follow guides to beginning home brewing on YouTube and at the American Homebrewers Association. It's not as hard as you think. I'm not going to regurgitate how to brew here. Go look it up, we'll wait.

Beer is made from malted grains, hops, yeast and water. These are the constants, the variables lie in what grains, yeast, water and hops you use.

This is what SMaSH brewing is about. Constants and variables. Single Malt and Single Hop. Choose and learn the secrets. Brewing this way will teach you how flavors interact with each other. It will teach you what the true flavors of different malt types are when paired to different hop varieties. Use the same yeast for different batches with different hops and malts and you get to see how the yeast interacts to develop the flavors we all love.

Once you learn how the ingredients interact you have the keys to the universe. No matter what choice you make, remember one thing is true; There is always a beer, there is always a person, there is always a choice.