Every year, I do something that fellow beer geeks rarely do voluntarily: I swear off beer for eight days. Why? Because I'm Jewish and it's Passover, the annual celebration of the liberation of the Israelites from Egyptian slavery (cf. Charlton and Yul squaring off in Technicolor). Aside from sitting down to at least one long dinner called a Seder and stuffing ourselves silly, those of us who are at least somewhat observant also try to forgo the consumption of chametz, which my buds at Chabad concisely define as "any food product made from wheat, barley, rye, oats, spelt, or their derivatives, which has leavened (risen) or fermented." This prohibition is why Jews eat that unleavened crappy cardboard cracker stuff called matzah (also known as the "bread of affliction"). In addition, for the eight days of the holiday, there's no bread, no bagels, no pizza . . . and no beer.So what's a Jew to drink if he or she doesn't want to subsist on bad kosher wine? Well, Ramapo Valley Brewery of Hillburn, New York, makes the only beer that is certified kosher for Passover. Called Passover Honey Beer, the drink at first glance appears to be mead because it's made with honey. However, mead is not normally made with hops, and the Passover Honey Beer is. The beer is also gluten-free, so people with celiac disease may freely partake in it.
While the Passover Honey Beer hasn't received glowing reviews, I'm willing to give it a try because it is described as having a character similar to that of hard apple cider, and I love hard cider. So, beer sleuths, I put this question to you: may I find this beer in Indiana?
