When your mug never runs dry, you're irresistable!

Photo credit: Thanks to Heather Villasana (shown) for sending me the great picture!

I do have an alter ego aside from my stints as host of The Malt Show. I appear occasionally as St. Arnold in support of Saint Arnold Brewing. Their Saint Arnold (Arnulf) was the Bishop of Metz, France, from 612 to 627 A.D. His relationship to brewing comes from his advocacy of drinking beer instead of the contaminated water of the day. Beer, having been boiled, was naturally far more healthy than the water. There are two versions of Saint Arnold's miracle... Both versions relate that when his body was being returned to Metz for burial, his cortege stopped at a tavern for some ale to refresh them. In one case there was a single mug of beer available, so the mug was passed around and never ran dry. In the other story, no beer was to be had at the tavern and when this became known, beer shot forth from the casket, filling the mugs of all who thirsted. Frankly, I prefer the first version.

There's some debate over who's the real patron saint of brewers though, as evidenced by these entries for a Belgian St. Arnoldus and St. Augustine of Hippo. ( I have also heard St. Nicholas referred to as a patron Saint of brewers as well, by noted brewer / historian Fritz Maytag of Anchor Brewing. )

The costume is homemade. My wife Crystal made the robe, I did the mitre. The whole ensemble is based on the Saint Arnold logo. I got the idea after having been asked many times during the Saint Arnold tour whether that was me on the logo. The Saint's main job seems to be blessing those who drink Saint Arnold beers, passing out the occasional "beer-ring" and having his picture taken at events like the Aeros game. I'm slowly collecting a few interesting shots like this "Two Saints for the price of One" shot. It's a tough job, but somebody has to do it, and the mug NEVER runs dry!

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