Well, either the desire for dorkdome waned, or other activities put me over the vaguely defined dork threshold, because I have done neither. No catalog, and no pictures. Just vague memories that I like De Molen, La Chouffe, and Mikkeller.
After my bootcamp class this evening, I opened the refrigerator and checked to see which beer I'd chilled after buying a few randoms at the Beerkonig (Beer King - local store for beer snobs). I was excited to see that the bottle was not only an opportunity for a new beer experience - it was also a vocabulary lesson!
Hop met de gijt. My meager Dutch pronunciation repeats the name in my head a few times. "Hope met duh gchait" (the "gch" an attempt at approximating the Dutch throat clearing sound that is "g"). So, a new word. Gijt is goat. Good. Animal names are fun and easy to remember.
But no - when I double check on google translate to make sure that gijt isn't faun, or lamb, or sheep, or some other nonsense, I find no translation for "gijt." The word does not exist in Dutch. The brewer has apparently put jibber jabber on the bottle. Likely without any intention to confuse Americans who has some aspiration to learn the names of farm animals. But, still. Not a nice trick.
After pouring (into my glass with a goat on it!) and enjoying the beer (not the best IPA; a little bitter, without much aroma or sweetness, and a little flat) with pizza, I let my sleuthing skills loose google translate. Which is to say, I took the obvious, minimal step that should have followed my discovery that gijt is not a word. I translated "goat" into Dutch, and I found that the word is "geit." Which sounds almost exactly like "gijt." But it's not gijt.
So, I'm apparently still missing the humor behind the spelling. But I think that I can now say - if not spell - goat in Dutch.
All in a dork day's work.
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