I really am Irish, I swear!

I'm going to O'Dowd's tonight, because those out of towners always think it's a good idea. Yeah, take me out and ply me with thick beer and a boxty. You know how to soften a gal up, don't ya? Happy Tuesday to me!

Fat Lip

Last night I had a Fat Tire. I haven't had Fat Tire in ages. I used to adore it. Back in my early beer snob days in college. I even have Fat Tire pint glasses in my cabinets at home. I didn't love it last night. *sigh* It felt like going back to see the town where you grew up, and realizing how small and run down and dirty everything looks. Is it that you didn't know better before? Is it that things have changed in your absence? Who knows why these things happen. Perhaps we have grown apart. Perhaps my love of browns and dark porters have ruined this amber ale for me. Perhaps we will meet another time and I will be smitten all over again.

The New Belgium propaganda page says this about Fat Tire:

Like the ageless delight of pedaling a bicycle, Fat Tire Amber Ale's appeal is in its feat of balance: Toasty malt flavors (sorta like biscuits just pulled from the oven) coasting in equilibrium with crisp hoppiness. Delicious stability - in the world of sometimes-precarious beer flavors – is perhaps what prompted one consumer who wrote us to say, "this beer just makes you smile."

I guess I am more of a fan of pronounced hoppiness now. There is still a bit of a bite to Fat Tire, but the "stability" of the hops and malts that they refer to seems more "middle of the road" than "delicious." Just my 2 cents.

Beer & a Haircut

This story caught my eye. Jude's Barbershop in Grand Rapids, MI is in trouble for providing a complimentary beer with haircuts. Jude's owners claim the practice of offering alcoholic beverages at no charge to customers is common in the hair and beauty industry. And it IS! Women get offered a glass of bubbly when they go to get a pedicure almost anywhere. Why can't a guy have a beer with his haircut? Just because the poor, deprived men of the Grand Rapids city council haven't had the pleasure doesn't mean that it is a BAD idea!

There is a new rockabilly retro hot rod hair salon in my town called Chop Tops. The whole idea cracks me up. The hairstylists wear retro duds, the walls are covered in pinups, the place has a glam-garage feel, and of course, beer in included in the price of a cut. I think that it is brilliant. If I ever decide to reclaim my bangs, I will go there to do it.