Available 6 April at Cheddar Ales
ABERDEEN, SCOTLAND – One of the primary perks of being editor of this letter is being able to engage with the readership. As you can probably tell if you read Capital & Conflict often, I thoroughly enjoy running polls, asking you questions, and printing as many of the responses and observations I receive in my inbox (you can message me here) as I can. But of all the fun I’ve had collaborating with the readership, the creation of beer has been an especially satisfying highlight.
It all started after an MP suggested a Wetherspoon be opened inside the Bank of England, which led to some hilarious emails from readers with potential names for such a pub and the varieties of beers it might serve. This in turn led to some brewers amongst the readership offering to make some of these beers a reality – offers which were simply too tempting an offer to resist.
So began a collaboration with the good people of Cheddar Ales. Our first endeavour together was the release of Quantitative Ease Double IPA late last year, a small-batch limited release beverage with an ABV that matched the amount of money the Bank of England had printed at that time (a level which has since been surpassed):
Quantitative Ease sold out the same day I publicised its release in this letter, and I received complaints from some readers that they hadn’t been able to get their hands on any.
But I’m pleased to announce that a second collaboration is under way, and it will be available on Tuesday 6 April (while stocks last). This one is called ₿lockhead to mark the grand rally in bitcoin we’ve witnessed over the past year – but it goes a little deeper than that.
The bitcoin symbol we know today consists of an orange circle containing a slanted white B with two strokes through it. Just like the asset it advertises, the symbol was created pseudonymously – one “Bitboy”, who may be an individual or a group, posted the images on the Bitcointalk forum way back in 2010.
That striking shade of orange – Pantone 1495 C – has led to many bitcoiners today referring to their cause as an “orange revolution”. You’ll also hear the process of discovering BTC described as “taking the orange pill” – a reference to the first Matrix film where the protagonist Neo takes a red pill in order to break himself of illusions and see the world as it really is.
With all that in mind, it seemed only fitting that if bitcoin were a beer, that it would be amber. And as many readers may remember, last May saw bitcoin’s “halvening” event, where the reward for mining bitcoin is cut in half – this time to ₿6.25 per block of transactions. And that’s what gave us our ABV of 6.25%.
You don’t need to be a fan of bitcoin to enjoy ₿lockhead of course, just as you didn’t need to be a fan of quantitative easing to enjoy Quantitative Ease. The Americanism “blockhead” isn’t exactly a flattering term after all, but a childish insult I learned reading Peanuts as a kid. This beer has been made as a monument to bitcoin as a phenomenon, which no matter what you make of it, has now become too big to ignore.
₿lockhead is still in its final fermentation process, so I’ve yet to drink some myself. However, if it’s even half as good as Quantitative Ease it’ll be a damn good beer. I am biased of course in my appreciation for QE, but I gave a sizeable portion of my stash of it to friends, family and colleagues and asked for brutally honest reviews of it. While I loved the beer, I had to be sure I wasn’t being blinded by my connection to the project and needed to know if I was barking up the right tree with this entire beer endeavour.
Their responses? Bar one Southbank Investment Research colleague who didn’t even try it and gave it away because he was too intimidated by a 7.4% ABV (I won’t name names… but what a goddamn lightweight), every one of them thought it was great – even when I pressed them to be critical. I have every confidence in Cheddar Ales delivering the goods once more, which is why I’ll be hunting down any of the ₿lockhead that isn’t bought swiftly enough (if I’m lucky enough for there to be any).
Sam Volkering and I have done our best to restrain ourselves. We’ve resisted reserving too much of this batch ahead of time, so as to leave more available to the readership. But if there’s still any left a fortnight after release, you can bet your ass I’m coming for it, so get your orders in while you can.
Just as before with QE, neither myself nor Southbank Investment Research are earning any money from this: all revenues are going to Cheddar Ales, a great brewery run by a fellow Capital & Conflict reader. If you like our little community here and fancy a nice beer, I reckon it’ll be right up your street.
So if you want some ₿lockhead, mark your calendar for just less than a week away: Tuesday 6 April. That’s when it’ll be available on the Cheddar Ales website – keep an eye out.
All the best,
Boaz Shoshan
Editor, Capital & Conflict
PS Here’s something you don’t need to mark you calendar for:
Tonight, the opportunity to join one of our most popular services under very favourable terms goes away.
So you don’t miss it, click here before midnight.
Category: Investing in Bitcoin