Dia de los Muertos, translated in English to Day of the Dead, is a holiday celebrated on November 1st and 2nd. The holiday is celebrated throughout Latin America and has grown in popularity in parts of the United States.

Those that celebrate Dia de los Muertos would tell you that the dead would want us to replace mourning and sadness, with festivals and celebrations. Families typically will celebrate the memory of a deceased loved one with food, drink, parties and activities that he or she enjoyed in life.

Every year, for Dia de los Muertos, the dead are thought to be awakened from their eternal sleep to share in the celebrations. As I celebrate my loved ones that are no longer with us, I sometimes wonder what other deceased may think when their spirit is awakened to see that their name and stamp on the craft beer industry, is celebrated every day.

I wonder what Gaius Plinius Secundus, also known as Pliny the Elder, would think about the craze created by the beer named after him. People travel from near and afar to taste the beer that Russian River Brewing Company brews in Santa Rosa. Almost 2,000 years after his death, the name Pliny lives on stronger than ever.

Gaius’s nephew/adopted son, named Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus is better known as Pliny the Younger. What would the younger Gaius think when being told that people wait the better part of a day, sometimes in the cold and rain, just to be able to taste the beer named in his honor?

Happy Dia de los Muertos to you and your loved ones. Let’s never forget and honor those that have passed before us.

-Peter Lopez Jr.

(Visited 3 times, 1 visits today)