What’s in a name?

Names are a funny thing. We use them to help us identify people and things but what if you don’t want to be identified? What if being identified in one part of your life hurts your identity in another part of your life? Well that is where I am. I am a teacher. I teach high schoolers. I have found that high school aged kids are extremely curious. I want to be able to express myself in any way I see fit so I decided I needed a penname, a name that I could post under and feel free to exclaim my love for all things beer. Coming up with a penname is hard, let me tell you. I considered a few different things but I knew it had to be related to Johnny Cash and thus Katy Too was born. I am a huge Johnny Cash fan, even more than beer. (Even as I type that I feel like I am speaking blasphemy.)Throughout the life of this blog you will most definitely see many Johnny Cash references. One example is the name I gave my husband. (If I get a penname, why can’t he have a pseudonym?) Porter is from another Johnny Cash song. (It is also a nice coincidence that porters are one of our favorite beers.)


I also think it is interesting how different beers are named and how some beers are re-named. The former is actually a pet peeve of mine. While I have recently begun to enjoy Gritty’s beer I am upset about the current change from Best Brown to Red Claw Ale. At first I was really excited about the possibility of a new beer but completely let down by the truth. This is not the first time Gritty’s pulled one over on me. After a night of snowboarding up at Shawnee Peak a stop at the bar was a must. I was so excited they had a Moose Pond Ale. I had never even heard of that before, what a treat. Wrong! It was a Pub Style from Gritty’s with a different pull. Arrggggggg!

Normally when I have an at home beer tasting I base it around a type of beer. So far Porter and I have had a stout tasting and a fall beer tasting. In honor of the theme of this blog I chose a bunch of beers with let’s just say, odd names. I did try to keep them all in the English style, so I guess there’s that as a unifier. Hen’s Tooth, Monkman’s Slaughter, Hobgoblin and Bad King John were all purchased at RSVP. (Outer Forest Ave, Portland) They have the most amazing beer selection. If you want something that they don’t have you can ask and they will try their best to get it for you.

I find names so intriguing I am sure that this will be a theme that comes up again. We haven’t even gotten into the fact that some large scale brewers are trying to capitalize on peoples’ love for micro breweries by putting their real name in tiny letters. That’s for another day though.

For now remember: Don’t be afraid to try something new. You just might like it.

Katy Too