Couches

“Few men are killed by bayonets, but many are scared by them. Having the bayonet fixed makes our men want to close. Only the threat to close will defeat a determined enemy.” -General George S Patton in notes published in ‘Tactical and Technical Trends’ No.30 July 29th 1943.

History of the Couch:

“To understand the couch, one must know its history,” said nobody ever, but I have decided to give a brief history of the couch all the same. After all, aren’t you curious about whether or not a couch is a sofa, or vice versa?

Before the use of the couch was widespread, there were still ways to sit down. The most common being the chair, or bench. Sometimes topped with a pillow here or there, this sort of practice was predominant until the end of the Elizabethan period (1558-1603) which kicked off a period (the Restoration Period) in which upholstery became a fixture of interior design for nobility and royal families and continued to develop from there falling into the commoner household.

Who, you ask, was most crucial in bringing us the couch? I would argue it to be Lord Phillip Stanhope the Fourth Earl of Chesterfield (1694-1773). Not only does he have quite the title, but if you are Canadian you may recognize Chesterfield because it is the term most of you silly Canadians used for couch or sofa until the last couple decades. I love this by the way “Chesterfield surfing” sounds so much cooler than “Couch Surfing” doesn’t it? Good ol’ Phillip was not only a politician, writer and artistic patron, why - he was a trendsetter. Today he would be a social media influencer without doubt. He bestowed his name to a distinct piece of furniture in fact! He required a piece of furniture that many people could sit on together without wrinkling their clothes as a result. He was a fashionista with a mind for innovation.

This Restoration Period brought flamboyant costuming and interior designs that focused on vibrant colors and flowing fabrics to stand in sharp contrast to the black, white, grey and overall severe Cromwellian era. Lord Chesterfield designed a leather couch with distinct buttoned upholstery, rolled arms and equal back and arm height. This was done so that the well dressed could sit comfortably maintaining their posture and manners while being confident that when they got to up walk away to something fancy no doubt they were able to do so with ease even when wearing countless layers of exquisite clothing.

Then came growing popularity of a couch being in the room of the house called either the parlor, the lounge, or the front room. In North America we call this the living room. A common area for families, members of the community and even employees to gather has been very well established since civilization began. This was made undoubtedly more comfortable by the couch!

Today the average cost of a couch or sofa is about $1000.00 or $1342.35 in Canadian dollars. It is widely defined as furniture for seating two or more people taking form of a bench with armrests and back which is upholstered often cited with springs and tailored cushions. It is used primarily for seating but it can also be slept on. People have been sleeping on couches for years. I know, I’m blowing minds with this information left and right.

Couch VS Sofa:

In reality there are not many that say a rift exists between couches and sofas, but after searching the internet for information on what differentiates the two, there just may be. Or there may not be. The internet is a deep dark void of information and miss-information. Who really can tell what is going on there?

From what I can deduce, the sofa and couch at one point in time may very well have been different things entirely. The word couch comes from the French word “Coucher” which means to lie down while sofa comes from the Arabic word “Suffer” which is a wooden bench with blankets and pillows on top. Most say they are completely interchangeable now, but oh not everyone. Some say couches either have one armrest or none with a tapered back while a sofa has two armrests and full back. I don’t agree personally with this type of distinction since the Chesterfield would then be classified as a sofa rather than couch thus breaking the space-time continuum. Maybe?

Fun Fact:

Couch is also the term used to describe the den of an Otter. It can also be called a Holt though.

Couches and Beer:

Ok I hear ya, “really Sac Beer Boy? Couches?? How is this beer related at all?” I am getting to that now.

When I first started getting into the craft beer scene years ago, I was going from brewery to brewery in search for the best beers and best place to drink them. When a nice brewery that had great atmosphere and comfort blended together with delicious beer, I was hooked. One of the first to nail this was New Glory Brewing and for a few reasons. First, they were located close to where I currently was living, second, their beer was and still is phenomenal. Lastly, they had two couches! Couches in the brewery taproom! I would grab a beer with some friends and if open, sit on the couch. How could you not sit on a couch when you see one at a brewery?

After this I always kept an eye out for a couch or comfortable chair at breweries and taprooms only to be disappointed time and time again until the fateful day I walked in to New Glory to see the couches had gone. Teary eyed I had to think where I could go that still had couches at their breweries and try to sort out why they were so few and far between in these establishments. Today I know of only a couple places that have couches in their taprooms in Sacramento: Burning Barrel brewing, and I may be mistaken but I think Ruhstaller brewing may.

I thought of how expensive they are. Averaging $1000 in the United States is quite a lot for a piece of furniture that takes up so much room, seats so few, and can be a pain to clean if spilled on. To try and save money and going with a used couch isn’t something many want to do when the alternative is cheaper chairs and tables that can seat more people, clean easier and overall are more conducive for drinking beer. I will say my least favorite part of drinking a beer on a couch is putting my beer down. Too many times a table is too far away for me to then grab my beer, and holding it between my legs warms the beer and is not a good idea. One spill and look, Beer Boy peed his pants!

So I understand why there aren’t many couches in breweries and tap rooms: it isn’t cost effective nor practical. But when these roadblocks are taken head on and there is a couch, it makes a big difference. A brewery in Turlock CA called Blaker Brewing has a location called The Tarmac and it features couches and comfortable chairs. I admit, the beer was hit and miss. One was great and the next just bad, but I am not talking about beer today so I won’t go into detail. The thing is, I will gladly go back just to sit in comfort and relax with a beer. A beer that I get a taster of first though, because wow one of the beers I had from there was bad.

There is a brewery called Couch Brewery in Pittsburgh (not California) and their about page states :

“First off - the question asked the most is “Why did you name your brewery Couch?” For us, it’s the best place to drink a beer (the beach is also a damn fine place for a beer, but c’mon, we’re in Pittsburgh). Four good friends came together to start Couch Brewery. We wanted to make a place where every seat is comfortable and you could spend hours with your friends. We love beer. We love brewing beer. We love having fun. And we love making new friends.”

The Sac Beer Boy is all about sitting comfortably drinking beer for hours making friends having fun! Look what an environment that serves beer that makes it a point to have comfortable couches is all about. The point is to have a good time, and isn’t that what we all want when going out to drink a beer?

In San Diego Acoustic Ales has a room with a few lazyboy chairs and a couple couches arranged around a table, the set up looks amazing but again is quite far from Sacramento. Why can’t there be something like that here?

Now I will honorably mention one Sacramento location, Karma Brew. Karma is a bitc… I mean a taproom on the corner of P street and 16th in Sacramento with fun comfortable chairs to sit in. From old church style benches with cushion to old movie theater chairs, the little place has an interesting selection of fun seats that I highly recommend you go check out. At the end of the day though, I recommend going to Burning Barrel if you want a good brewery with couches.

Final Thoughts:

What more can I say here. Couches brew comfort and relaxation together into a brilliant piece of furniture that we all love. It is a shame that they aren’t in more Sacramento craft beer locations but I understand all the same. The Boy can dream though, dream that one day all breweries and taprooms will have couches and comfortable chairs for the public to sit with their beers and enjoy one of life’s simple blisses.

P.S. I would much rather be called a Chesterfield Potato than a Couch Potato.