If you're gonna drive me crazy, drive me to drink

I am in the middle of closing out my company's fiscal year, so I've been a little caught up. (I know, it doesn't even sound cool. It isn't. Imagine spreadsheets and accounting software and budget projections and nail biting. I fear the tax man. I really do. Did you ever see Stranger Than Fiction? I wanna pull a Maggie Gyllenhaal and scream, "Get BENT, Tax Man!") Soooo, anyway...I haven't been doing the old blogging thing well. There are reviews a-brewin, I promise, so hang in there with me until October. There's a silver lining, and it happens to be good beer.

What's up with the Bulldog?

I will look over there tomorrow, but does anyone know what's up with The Bulldog on Main? The building is listed as up for lease on Block & Company's website. Screen shot of the listing above.

My name is Kiiiiiiiddddddd

Stolen from The Centre Daily Times.
Drinks Americas Holdings, Ltd (OTCBB: DKAM), a leading owner, developer and marketer of premium beverages, today announced that the Company has signed an agreement with American icon and rock and roll musician Kid Rock to develop and market a premium domestic beer. Drinks and Kid Rock will work together to develop and bring to market a product targeted to beer drinkers who appreciate value with an easy to drink, traditional, good tasting American manufactured beer.

Bwahahahahahahaha. I can't wait. They think it will be ready by spring. They are, and I quote, "interviewing breweries," now.

It's All About the Benjamins

Right outside of Wrigley Field in Chicago are a number of buildings and rooftops visible from inside the stadium, for both live audiences and those watching on TV. One of them is the "Budweiser Building," a bright rooftop that A-B has used to run a giant billboard for Budweiser since 2004. The building has been sold, and the new owners are using a paperwork excuse to kick Budweiser out, and open the space back up to the highest bidder. In 2004, A-B agreed to pay the previous building's owner about $350,000 a year for the space, with a contract that extended thru Feb 2009. I can only imagine what the new owners think they can get for the space now. From the story in the Chicago Tribune:
The new owners failed to send an invoice for September's lease payment to the Chicago office of Jef Schmidt, Anheuser-Busch's director of marketing, according to the brewer's lawsuit. Schmidt contacted the owner's attorney, who then faxed an invoice, but the letter lacked a contact phone, fax and federal tax identification number needed before a check could be cut, according to the beer maker's lawsuit.
The new owner is saying A-B defaulted because they paid their bill 5 days late, which they only did because they didn't have any information on WHERE to send the money. The building owner just wants to be able to open it up, make it available to whomever will pay the most money each month.

What it used to look like from inside the stadium:


Now the rooftop is all covered up:

Down on your knees

I know! Twice in one year. That's asking a lot.

The 4th annual Falldo Waldo Crawldo is tomorrow, Saturday, September 20th. It is almost exactly like the earlier Waldo Crawldo, except now with more Falldo. And the music on the site was cool in 1997. So apparently it is meant for people in their late 20s/early 30s. Come out! It's safe. It is in Waldo (duh), and now includes TEN of the Waldo bars - 75th Street Brewery, Lew's, Kennedy's, Bobby Bakers, Tanner's, Waldo Pizza, & the Waldo Bar. It starts at 6 pm and goes on as long as you can remain standing.

Blogging is so 5 minutes ago

MillerCoors declares blogging dead.


Discuss.

Holla!

I wanted to say thanks to Jules Crittenden. His apparently QUITE popular blog put me & my silly little blog in a post, and he's been sending me traffic. Muchas gracias! I hope he sees this, because WordPress doesn't like me today, and I couldn't comment. Boo.

I've been extolling the virtues of the Milk Stout quite heavily lately. I think I've sold a few 6 packs. You're welcome, Left Hand!

Men's Journal has an article in their Oct issue that contains the Best Beers of 2008. I haven't read it. And they haven't posted it online. But I will find it, and share what I can, whenever that is. In the meantime, let me know if it is worth the "newsstand price."

Oh No They Didn't!

I saw this on Fuggled , and it was in the New York Times, last week. All I can say is if I got a ticket for drinking a beer on my own front step, I would be angry. Drinking in public = wandering down the street. Sitting on a deck, a stoop, or in front of an open window of your own home shouldn't be considered "public," IMHO.

A 39 year old Prospect Heights resident, who lives in a four-story, 20-unit co-op building with his wife and two children was ticketed for drinking a beer on his own stoop. He had watched Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s speech at the Democratic convention on television, helped put his sons to bed and washed the dishes. The time was 11:52 p.m., the date was Aug. 27, and the beer, for the record, was a 12-ounce bottle of Sierra Nevada.

A police car slowed to a stop, and the police officer in the driver’s seat said something to Mr. VanRy. He left the stoop, walked to the car and, several minutes later, was handed a small pink slip — a $25 summons for drinking in public. The officer who gave Mr. VanRy the summons asked him what brand of beer he was drinking. “I thought it was strange why it mattered,” Mr. VanRy said.

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Like Chocolate Milk

I grew up as an allergied kid. I always had the sniffles, and had to have some dramatic surgery to make my head all better when I was about 6 which involved my nasal cavity. I know, gross. Turned out that I and my younger brothers are allergic to bovine dairy. Yeah. Milk. And all milk products. Don't tell me about your lactose intolerance, it is NOT the same thing. Children that can't eat ice cream or cheese pizza are going to live their entire adult lives feeling like something was missing.

I try to fill that void with beer, apparently, and I found one I think I heart. I picked up a grab bag of goodies from Rimann this weekend, after a co-worker asked me how she could find a beer that tasted like chocolate. Since I had it on the brain, I picked up some random chocolate stouts, and one Left Hand Brewing Company Milk Stout. I drank it, I didn't share it, and if I bought a 6 pack, I might have to protect it from the Husband like a mother bear protecting cubs. It is seriously that good. AND, it is a dark, sweet, CHICK beer. I promise.

It poured out of the bottle into a pint glass very dark brown, almost black coffee. It had puffy and cappuccino-like head. The smell was awesome, like spiked sweet coffee in a glass. Some maltiness, coffee and hot cocoa-like scents.

Taste was sweet. No joke. Not candy-cloying, but definitely sweet. What I found astounding was the real milky taste and mouth feel. I liked the ever-so-slight slight bitter finish.Overall just so smooth. Like chocolate milk. As a kid who could never, ever, drink a whole big tall glass of chocolate milk, this was like manna to me. I loved it. I will drink more.

But in the meantime, I plan to turn my attention to pumpkin and Oktoberfest brews in the immediate future. We're already well into September!

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Buckbean Brew Review

It is about darn time that I posted this review! I had a most enjoyable 3 day weekend, but I left my camera cable at work, and I wasn't about to head into the office on a holiday weekend, just so I could retrieve some beer pics. I hope you all understand. Now, on the the beer! As you may remember, the Buckbean Brewing Company sent me some free beer. This was most exciting.

I also received a large "media kit," aka a folder full of official propaganda on the company. The gist of it was that people who adore beer start their own brewery, and decide that cans are much better for the environment. Probably cheaper too. They seem to only brew two styles/flavors of beer, and I got 2 of each. My husband Paul & I sampled the first two cans on Tuesday. My friend Sheri came over last week to help me finish reviewing the last 2 cans the Buckbean Brewery Company sent to me. I wanted to see if different people had different opinions. The bottom result was not really - Sheri, Paul & I all had similar opinions.

First up was the Original Orange Blossom Ale
The materials sent by the brewing company stated explicitly that this is not a fruit beer. It is made with orange blossom water, but not oranges. Both Paul & Sheri were a bit confused as to why it is not a fruit beer. It tasted like a fruit beer. It smelled a little reminiscent of BLVD's Lunar Ale, a little zesty, like orange flowers. When poured from the pint can into a pint glass, the first can had no head, and the second resulted in a thin head that ended up with minimal to no lacing down the sides of the glass. The taste was also zesty, fruity, a little hoppy, and very much like summery, chick beer. Paul preferred the other beer, so I drank the rest of this one on our first taste test. Sheri liked it a lot, so drank it during the second round. If I lived in Reno, this would probably be my favorite.



The second beer I received was the Black Noddy Lager. Poured into a pint glass, it was suprisingly dark for a lager. I KNOW it has Black in the name, but it reminded us of a Coke pouring out of the can. It smelled like dark caramel mixed with licorice. The mouthfeel was interesting, because due to the dark color, everyone expected it to be thick, but it is not. Very smooth, however. The taste was the great divider. It tasted like malts, and licorice. The after taste was odd and lingering, almost like Good & Plentys. Paul liked it, I thought the after taste was a little too chemical for me, and Sheri despised it, being a non-fan of licorice in any form. Anything dark & chock full of flavor like this works better for me when it is cooler out. The end of August wasn't probably the best time of year to try this one on for size, but all in all, it was still pretty tasty.

Blogged with the Flock Browser