BREWS 'N CHEWS

  



B.I.Y. (BREW IT YOURSELF)

Well, it's a sure bet that cowboys know how to drink beer
But did you ever hear of a cowboy who liked to brew?
Well, sit back and listen and a tale of such, you will hear
All about an Irish cowboy known as Suds O'Donoghue

Now Suds was best buds with a bloke who threw off the yolk
They left Ireland and came to the New World to make their score
And found themselves on a cattle ranch with no Irish folk
Livin' in a bunkhouse, miles from town, with not a pint to pour

When the need arises, a cowboy rises to the occasion 
Once a month, they hijacked the cookhouse and scrubbed it down
Nary a stray virus could find a way to make an invasion
And they were more'n ready when Cooky returned from town
 
Hops and barley and a bright shiny copper bathtub new
A little malt for color and a roaring fire and the wait began
Stir and boil, boil and stir and then cool the brew
Aye, 'twas goin' to be a beer to make proud all their Irish kinsman

But there's a lot of waitin' and watchin' and not much else to do
So the boys began thinking of special names to attach
"Cactus Juice" and "Warsh Water" were considered and discarded too
And so were "Bunkhouse Blast" and "Sud's Blood Batch"

Well, they soon tired of striking up wacky names and turned to tellin' jokes
Suds came up first with a real knee-slapper about a gal from Nantucket
Then, Cooky thought of a shaggy dog story he learned from his folks
Before they knew it, they nearly blew it and burned their beer in the bucket.

When the batch was done and properly aged to fermentation perfection,
'Twas time to taste and swirl it around to see how long the foam would last
To their surprise, it was dark brown but with nary a hint of a burnt detection
And both the boys swore 'twas better'n anything they ever tasted in Belfast

"This is so good," said Suds, "We need to give it a proper name from the homeland"
"Perhaps we should use your great great grandpapa's name, if we have it in us"
All that day and long into the evening there was merriment and good fun by all the ranch hands
And so it was that some in the West got their very first taste of a brew called Irish Guinness