Welcome to the Frederick Puzzler's Corner!
This is a monthly event to encourage puzzle solving in the geocaching community.
All are welcome.
If you have a specific puzzle or puzzling topic you'd like help with, feel free to make note of it in your Will Attend log so others can prepare to help.
April 7th is National Beer Day
On March 22, 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, signed into law, the Cullen-Harrison Act. This act repealed prohibition for beer. Effective April 7, 1933, people could once more buy, sell and consume beer. The night before was called "New Beer's Eve" That night millions of Americans lined up waiting for the stroke of midnight.
On April 7, 1993, the first National Beer Day, Americans consumed 1.5 million barrels of legal beer and ale.
So, lift your mugs in a toast on this very special day. (If yours is filled with root beer, I won’t tell!)
Here’s some BEER TRIVIA (I can’t attest to the truth of all of this, but they are “fun facts”):
- Beer is the second most popular beverage in the world, second only to Tea.
- The first reference to beer dates to around 6,000 BC.
- The very first documented recipe for beer was on a 4,000-year-old Sumerian tablet containing the Hymn to Ninkasi, a prayer to the goddess of brewing. It is the oldest known documented recipe of any kind!
- 4,000 years ago in Babylon, a month after a wedding, the bride's father would supply his new son-in law with all the mead he could drink. Mead is a honey beer. This period was called the "honey month", hence the term "honeymoon".
- Before thermometers were invented, brewers would dip a thumb or finger into the beer mix, to determine the right temperature to add yeast. Too cold, and the yeast wouldn't grow. Too hot, would kill the yeast. This thumb test became known as the "rule of thumb".
- English pubs sell ale by pints and quarts. When customers got unruly, the bartender would yell at patrons to mind their own pints and quarts, and to calm down. Over time Bartenders shortened this expression to "mind your P's and Q's".
- British men have been found twice as likely to know the price of their beer as their partner's bra size.
- The world's strongest beer is 'Samuel Adams' Triple Bock, at 17% alcohol by volume. It's theoretically impossible to create a beverage over 18% alcohol by fermentation alone.
- George Washington had his own Brewhouse on the his estate at Mount Vernon, VA.
- Abraham Lincoln held a liquor license and operated several taverns.
- To keep your beer glass or mug from sticking to bar napkins, sprinkle a little salt on the napkin before you set your glass down.
- Beer was first sold in bottles in 1850. It wasn't until 1935, that beer was sold in cans..
- If you collect beer bottles you're a labeorphilist.
- A beer lover or enthusiast is called a cerevisaphile.
- A barrel contains 31 gallons of beer. A keg is 15.5 gallons, or a half-barrel.
- To get rid of the foam "head" at the top of beer, stick your fingers in it.
- In the Middle Ages, monks brewing beer were allowed to drink five quarts of beer a day.
- Medicinally, beer helps prevent kidney stones.
- There are two basic categories of beer: lager and ale.
- Hops add bitterness to beer.
- Methyphobia is the fear of alcohol.
- Cenosillacaphobia is the fear of an empty beer glass...heaven forbid!!
And now, for the usual spiel…
This event is open to all geocachers, no matter what your statistics say or whether you even like puzzles! Newbies and addicts, socialites and lone wolves, mark your calendar.
If you've got a puzzle or mystery cache that's currently got you stumped and you'd like to pick some brains, this event is for you! Zombies are not welcome though, so please leave your pets at home - we want everyone to leave with the brains they brought.
This event is an unstructured think-tank assembly where you can collaborate on the latest tantalizing quizzler on your radar. Much of the learning comes from working with others to solve a targeted teaser, and there may be a short tutorial thrown in once in a while. You don't have to work on puzzles to enjoy this; there are always good stories to be heard and told. However, you'll have plenty of others to commiserate with, and you might discover someone has solved a puzzle using a similar technique. We continue to see successes and progress at each gathering.
For the puzzle junkies, bring your puzzle paraphernalia - flagged caches, laptop or tablet (Wi-Fi is available), theories, library card, worksheets, (sp)eye glasses, flight plans, Enigma machine, abacus, scratch paper (don’t forget your writing instrument) - you never know who, or what, will show up, and from whom you can gain an advantage. Maybe you’ve recently cracked a tough one and want to see others’ wheels spinning - that can be loads of fun! Yes, we have regular head-slapping moments!
When & Where:
Tuesday, April 7th, 2020, 6pm - 8pm
Panera Bread
1700 Kingfisher Drive, Suite 1
Frederick, Maryland
All food and beverage costs are your own responsibility, though no purchase is required.
Field trips not included.
(But it's a good time to plan them!)
If you drop any trackables into this event, make sure they have all been claimed or reclaimed before you leave. We don’t want them getting lost in the muggle world!