Complex Numbers

The ABCs of Beer

Make an A-Z list on a topic of your choosing. Stretch your creativity! After you finish your list, write a short narrative describing why you chose the list you did and how it relates to you.

A is for Ale, the finest of yeast
B is for Beer, the best kind of feast
C is for Craft, on tap at the bar
D is for Drinking it out of a jar
E is for Ethanol, organic compound
F is for Firkin; let's all drink one down
G is for Growler that you can take home
H is for Hops, which are useless alone
I is for Isinglass, for clarity's view
J is for Juice, a citrusy brew
K is for Keg, container of ale
L is for Lager, most of them pale
M is for Malt, the grain that's so dear
N is for Ninkasi, goddess of beer
O is for Oats, a flavorful grain
P is for Prohibition, a real shame
Q is for Quaff, what you do with a stein
R is for Real Ale, a British design
S is for Sour, a popular style
T is for Tap, which I see with a smile
U is for Unfiltered, filled with a haze
V is for Volatiles, scents all ablaze
W is for Wort, which starts the beer job
X is for Xipe, the Aztec grain god
Y is for Yeast, and all of its strains
Z is for Zymurgy, the knowledge we gain

...well, did anyone really expect me to pick a subject other than beer? Still, I'm willing to bet everyone gets hung up on X and maybe Z. The trick is to start there and work backwards. Nevertheless, X is always tough unless you're willing to cheat and use something that starts with Ex.

I considered it myself because of time limitations, but then I remembered Xipe (actually Xipe Totec) who was the Aztec god of, among other things, agriculture. Hey, that counts. And I had to use Zymurgy, of course.

Beer is, of course, one of my favorite subjects. I probably could have gone with science, too, which is easier (especially because science isn't afraid to start words with X), but a guy's gotta have standards. Like forcing rhymes to make couplets work. I didn't have to do that. I hope at least some readers are amused.

Probably, I should have bolded all the first letters of each line, but come on - I have video games to play.