#314 – the first terrible homebrew

This one's pretty late on a Friday, yes. I spent most of the week restoring data, replacing hardware and moving a lot of things from here to there. Thankfully I got everything I needed back, but this week has been an uncomfortable ride and my productivity on the comic has suffered. Next week: NONE of this!

47 thoughts on “#314 – the first terrible homebrew

  1. Okay, just realized that eve ning's name sounds like evening, as does rushmore's name sound like morning. I've been reading this for how long, now?

    1. They're mountains as well

    2. I never saw this either, so thanks. Although now I just feel stupid…

    3. wow… I had never said the blasted words outloud

    4. And then their mum's name is Dawn Ning.

      Evening.

      Morning.

      Dawning.

  2. Considering that you make the alcohol in beer with yeast, I’d think that adding Vagisil to the mix would be somewhat counterproductive.

    1. wow. high fives.

    2. Epic comment win!

    3. You win the award for most entertaining comment. 🙂

  3. Flapper-Eve is adorable!

    1. richard schumacher

      And Flapper Julie is the fly's thighs!

  4. “Oh, that’s awful – whaddya got to wash that down with?”
    “Crab juice, and Mountain Dew”
    “Yeaghh! – gimme the crab juice!”

    1. Simpsons reference, right?

      1. Absolutely! 🙂

    2. Just don't drink too much if you're not in close proximity of a bathroom

    3. LMAO! One of my favorite Simpsons quotes ever! I always try to find an occasion to use it.

  5. ….I think Im gonna learn a lot from this

  6. Vagisil is discontinued?

    1. Yes, just like cabbage.

  7. Having seen the artwork on this page, I request, nay, demand, an Octopus Pie mini-comic with the characters set in the Roaring Twenties. Pleeeease?

    1. second @betterforsome's request!

    2. Yes. Flapper Eve and Julie are my favorite things ever I think.

  8. I am now craving some great gatsby now for reasons unknown.

  9. I don’t know if you’re aware, but you actually can make wine out of cabbage. It just takes bloody ages.

    http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/reques59.asp

  10. Bathtub Jones — any relation to * *America* * Jones?

    MAYBE IT IS A CONSPIRACY. OHMIGOSH.

    (I don't know what the conspiracy is; I haven't thought that part out properly.)

  11. Is it just me, or is Jacob in panel two adorable?

    Also, the last panel made me laugh so hard that my ribs are now aching.

  12. Ha ha, Ring Pop brew.

  13. Did I just read "Vagisil"? (looks again). Yup. I did.

    *vomit*

  14. The 'sil' in Vagisil always makes me think of 'seal', as in sealant/caulking.

  15. I guess I don't usually think of Will as bullshitting his friends so blatantly – or have I missed this aspect of him in the past? Or is this some sort of strange passive agressive throw because of the weirdness between him and eve?

    1. Maybe he just sincerely knows a lot about badly brewed beer? It wouldn't be the weirdest thing ever to happen in Octopus Pie.

      1. he's been seen bartending

        and he main job is illegal, selling weed

        none of this is really out of character for him

      2. Well, except for getting all his history and zymurgy wrong, I guess. The reason beer fell out of favor during prohibition wasn't because it's difficult to make (it no more difficult to make good beer as it is to make bread) – it's because beer takes too long (a week or two minimum) and takes up too much space. Distilled spirits, otoh, can be made overnight, and enough joy juice to light up a joint for a week will fit into just a few kegs.

        Also, Will talking about needing "something malted" (ie sprouted and dried cereal grain) is bullshit – sure malted barley is the most common sugar-starch we westerners use to make beer, but one can (and billions do) use unmalted rice, corn, even sorghum. (btw the cabbage and ring-pops Eve mentioned would be best suited to making vodka).

        The law in NY is pretty clear – you can't produce *any* alcohol for sale and consumption without a license. Much badness descends on you if you do. "Homebrewing" (which means non-sale production for one's own consumption) is allowed, but many municipalities have regs against it (don't know the score in NYC). Will should have known better than to call it "homebrew" btw – what Olly wants Eve to make is "craftbrew".

        Luckily, I live in MA, where I can make up to 200 gallons a year of beer (and an unlimited amount of hard cider) so long as I just share it with friends and don't try to sell it.

  16. Pretension Police

    Haha holy shit Jeff, that was the worst thing I ever read. durr i'm a serious homebrewer and i demand historical accuracy in my jokey jokes webcomic about jokes. how about you take the beer bottle out of your ass and try drinking it instead, maybe it would mellow you out a bit. I JUST SO HAPPEN TO KNOW FOR A FACT THAT BATHTUB JONES' PREMIUM GIGGLE WATER CAME OUT IN 1921, NOT 1920, WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU MEREDITH? I DIDN'T SPEND 4 YEARS AT HOPS UNIVERSITY TO DEAL WITH THIS BULLSHIT IN MY WEBCOMICS! HOW ABOUT YOU LEAVE BEER COMICS TO THE PROFESSIONALS, LIKE ME *puts stick figure beer comic called "Barley Legal" on keenspot*

    1. Hey, officer, in Jeff's defense, he referred to WILL making the mistake, not the author.

      If you act like cartoon characters are real people, it's that much harder to truly be pretentious, or take yourself too seriously.

      I'm glad you used the phrase Giggle Water, though – it's the most hilarious phrase ever!

      Also – Meredith! Glad your computer situation is under control now, yayyyyy! 🙂 You're so talented!

    2. This is funny because you're telling somebody else to mellow out.

  17. Giggle Water is what Abe Simpson and his pals called it back in nineteen-dickety-four ('cause the Germans had stolen the word "twenty"). They used to take the streetcar over to the speakeasy and sew old newspapers to their knickerbockers to make them look older. Abe's friend Ezekiel would lick the sidewalk to make his voice sound husky and they'd try to convince the guy at the door that they knew the score. "One-Eye Charley," he was called, 'cause he used to put one eye up to the peephole on account of he lost the other one in a Charleston accident. That was when they had the dance hall over in Irishtown, see, and every Thursday night all the flappers would go over and dance, and whoever won the contest that night would take home a shiny new penny. There was this girl all the kids were crazy about, her name was Clara and she looked just like Theda Bara, only thinner…Where was I going with this?

  18. yeah i think the folly is in taking either direction too seriously. in other words- simma' down now! though, i do think a lot of people must have pet peeves about entertainment accuracy. I HATE those spiders in aracnaphobia that make people noises… cause spiders are nifty, man. anyway, i think you can be pretentious about cartoons- but that means you probably take a lot of things too seriously- not just cartoons. either that or you're just looking to feel above others. ultimately, if you want something done right- do it yourself. don't talk shit unless you have a comic yourself that is popluar, funny, and decently drawn- oh, don't don't forget historically and factually acurate at all times (good luck with the funny on that one, buddy)

    1. Pretension Police

      Yeah, it's pretty much just gonna be Kate Beaton trolling the shit out of every other comic.

  19. Hey, wait a minute: I thought Quiet Desperation was the ENGLISH way! 😉

  20. Anyone else notice the little cowboy boot shot glass?

  21. Panels 4-6 are freakin' me out. We've been going over the 1920's for a month in my American Studies class and now it seems to be popping up everywhere!

    P.S.: I love that era, though, so it's all good.

    P.P.S.: I also love this comic. <3

  22. Will is officially the lorekeeper of randomly convenient information.

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