Heavy info

As a public service announcement to the internets, please continue reading for the caloric content of your my favorite brews! The blanks are for beers that don’t share that kind of information with me. If you have a lead on it, let me know. If you have a beer you’d like listed, tell me. I’ll update as time goes on.

~*~Updated in August 2008, and again in January 2008 to include the **estimated** Weight Watchers point values of all the beers for which I have nutritional info. Some I calculated, some I found via many many internet searches. I credit DietFacts, Dottie's Weight Loss Zone, RealBeer, brewers' individual sites, and too many others to name.Some might be the "old" WW points system, but guess what? It's close enough. Use those flex points wisely, chickadees.~*~

If you have info of your own, regarding beers not listed here, please share!!

Beer Name	Calories	WW pts.
Amstel Light	93	2
Anchor Steam	152	3.5
Beamish Red
Beamish Stout	146	3
Beck's Light Beer	105	2.5
Beck's Oktoberfest	140	3
Beck's Orginal	292	6
Beck's Premium Light	64	1.5
Blue Moon	171	3.5
Boddington’s	154	3
Boulevard Bully Porter	194	4
Boulevard Irish Ale	182	4
Boulevard Lunar Ale	157	3
Boulevard Nutcracker	224	4
Boulevard Pale Ale	163	3
Boulevard Stout	149	3
Boulevard Unfiltered Wheat	155	3
Boulevard Zon	153	3
Bridgeport Black Strap
Bud Light	102	2.5
Budweiser	143	3
Chimay
Coors	148	3
Coors Light	102	2.5
Corona	148	3
Corona Light	109	2.5
Delirium Tremens
Demon Hop Yard IPA
Dos Equis XX	145	3
El Presidente
Fosters	125	2.5
Goose Island Honker’s Ale
Goose Island Nut Brown
Guiness	125	4
Harp	153	3
Harpoon Ale
Harpoon Summer
Harpoon’s Octoberfest
Heineken	160	3.5
Heineken Light	99	2
Holy Grail Ale
J.W. Dundee Honey Brown	145	3
Kalamazoo Two Hearted
Killian’s Irish Red	163	3
Leinenkugel's Honey Weiss	149	3
Leinenkugel's Red	166	3
Magic Hat #9	215	4
MGD	148	3
Michelob Light	133	3
Michelob Ultra	95	2
Miller	152	3.5
Miller Chill	110	2
Miller Lite	96	2
Murphy’s Irish Red	171	3
Murphy’s Irish Stout	150	3
New Belgium 1554
New Belgium 2 Below
New Belgium Fat Tire	159	3
New Belgium Skinny Dip	108	2
New Belgium Sunshine Wheat
Newcastle Brown	150	3
Orval Belgian Pale Ale
Pete’s Strawberry Blonde	160	3
Pete's Oktoberfest	189	4
Pete's Summerbrew	163	3
Pete's Wicked	174	3
Pete's Winterbrew	170	3
Red Stripe	153	3
Rock Bottom
Rock Bottom
Rock Bottom Red
Rogue American Amber	176	4
Rogue Imperial Stout	363	7
Rogue Shakespeare Stout	201	4
Rolling Rock	142	2
Salvator Doppel Bock	251	5
Sam Adam’s Cream Stout	195	4
Sam Adam’s Light	124	2.5
Sam Adam's Ale	160	3
Sam Adams Octoberfest	165	3
Samuel Smith’s Nut Brown
Schlafly's Pale Ale	155	3
Schlafly's Pilsner	170	3
Shiner Bock	143	3
Shiner Light	120	2
Sierra Nevada Pale Ale	171	3
Sierra Nevada Stout	210	4
Smithwick’s
Stella Artois	140	3
Warsteiner Dunkel
Warsteiner Verum	152	3
Widmer Bros Hefeweizen	159	3
Yuengling Lager	135	3

O'Dowd's STILL wants you to come have lunch

Social Networking, old school

Tonight, I'll be at Draws for Paws at the Town Tavern. $15 at the door goes to an excellent, furry cause, and gets you 2 beers and pizza. Dude. I am so there.

Tomorrow I have been invited to attend the American Copywriter KC ad blogger people meeting coffee thingy. (Because the regulars, like Jeremy & Celeste, were asked to bring new people.) At 7:30. AM. Those that know me are laughing out loud. This is probably not going to happen. Do you know that we only have one shower in our house? One shower. Two people that work in advertising. One shower. And are not morning people. At all. We shall see. I know that I can make it somewhere early, but I am not pleasant. Which means maybe it is best if I do not make it anyway. Hmmm. Debating.

What are YOU doing next Friday?! You should be at the Ad2 Battle of the Bands, PART DUH! It's at the Brick, April 6th, doors at 9:30 pm, battle at 10:30, and it will be a blast! The bands rock, the DJ between sets is awesome, and all the cool kids will be there. Click on the pic for more details:

Miller should call me

Can you say ouch? The poor CMO at Miller. That's cold.

When Crispin Porter & Bogusky President Jeff Hicks called Miller's CMO Randy Ransom to quit the brewer's advertising account last week, a surprised Mr. Ransom tried to talk the agency president out of resigning. "Is there anything we can do to stop this?" he asked. Mr. Hicks replied that he'd already issued a press release.

And now the marketing dept of SABMiller has to face distributors in Vegas without an agency, an ad strategy, or clever TV creative to get them excited about the brand, headed into peak beer sales season. I don't envy that.

They should give BARKLEY a call. That would be the coolest.

When I grow up...

This story hit my radar today. Now I know what I want to be when I grow up. Whenever that happens...

Four Points by Sheraton announced the winner of their search for a Chief Beer Officer today, kicking off the week by ringing the bell at the NYSE. The hotel chain started it's search in November 2006, and expected to have someone in place by mid-January. As it goes with these sorts of things, it is late March, but hey, at least they have someone!

Scott Kerkmans, the "Beer Director" of Draft Magazine, will act as an independent, part-time consultant for the hotel chain’s newly launched program, Best Brews. In this role, the CBO will be responsible for sharing his in-depth knowledge of the wide world of beer on a monthly blog and help cultivate, curate and promote Best Brews’ offerings at brewery tours, beer festivals, and on bar stools across the country.

Over 7,500 aspiring CBOs applied for the position - predictably enough came from beer capitals like St. Louis, Milwaukee and Boston, but also South Korea, Dubai, and the Maldives. In all, citizens of all fifty states and 31 different countries on six continents applied for the CBO spot, which in the view of the folks at Four Points by Sheraton reflects the unifying love of lagers and the passions unleashed by pilsners.

Maybe the buzziest isn't the best

Ad peeps already know this, but my beer peeps might not. The agency (Crispin, Porter & Bogusky) that has handled Miller Brewing's account for the past year or so, handling all of the Miller Lite and High Life work, quit. My summary is that basically the agency got sick of their creative being watered down by too many "approval processes" (and I am completely conjecturing here) and having all the teeth pulled out of a monster idea by a committee of brand people over at Miller. The problem is that while Man Laws were great fun, but didn't sell the beer. (Kind of a key issue in any advertising relationship.) The spots we've been seeing during the NCAA games, the ones that compare Miller Lite to the competitors, were actually made by Miller themselves. The High Life ads, with the gruff talking delivery truck driver revoking High Life privileges from places that charge $11.50 for a hamburger, are Crispin work, and unfortunately will die with this "F that account," announcement.

Ad people admire and want to be CP+B, for lots of reasons. They're creative, they're kooky, they get tons and tons of press, and they only have to exhale differently to set everyone to chattering about their model-breaking business. Today it is because most of us don't have the ability, the financial security, the chutzpah or the balls to tell a difficult client to shove off. (Assuming that Miller is actually a difficult client.) Ahh, to be an industry darling. Call it paranoia, but when someone is on top, the only long term direction I can see them heading in is down.

Full AdAge article here.

The Phoenix rises

Thanks to Dustin for being quick on the email forwarding. There's an announcement for you all in KC. 75th Street Brewery is re-opening, post fire, tonight!


Ashes to Ashes?
Dust to Dust?
More like KEG to PINT!
WALDO HAS ITS BREWERY BACK!
Thanks to the patience and support of the community and a LOT of overtime by our crew...
THE 75TH STREET BREWERY OPENS TONIGHT AT 6PM!
The Brewery is bringing it all back to the neighborhood - amazing food & award-winning hand-crafted beer - TODAY!
So come by, we can't wait to see you either.

Cheers, beers & a few sentimental tears
Your family at 75th Brewery.

**************************************
So last year I lamented the fact that my favorite little brewpub closed, and they were the only ones that I ever knew to brew actual Birch Beer. And in exploring the 75th Street's site, what do I see? Monarch Root Beer. "...handcrafted from birch bark, almond extract and brewer's malts. " I am almost afraid to ask if it is indeed BEER, or if it is just regular old Root Beer.

Like I could leave it at that?

No, can't leave the St. Pat's stuff alone. Not yet.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Planning on doing some partying this St. Patrick's Day? If you are, remember to take this number with you. The St.Joseph Medical Center and Yellow Cab will provide cab rides in the St. Paddy's Wagon for those who've had too much to drink. They won't take you to another bar - these rides are only good for a "take me home," trip. The first $25 of the fare is on the house. Rides start at 3 p.m. Saturday and end at midnight. To catch a ride, call (816) 943-3949.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You don’t have to drink cheap beer with green food coloring tomorrow. It will make your tongue a really ugly color, never mind the taste. Of course you could go for a Boulevard's Irish Ale, which you already know I adore, or a Guinness, which has done an excellent job "owning" St. Patrick's Day. But there are other loverly Irish brews out there from which to choose. In case you weren’t aware, I’ll elaborate.

The top and/or most popular Irish pours (besides Guinness) are Beamish Stouts and Reds, Harp (a lager from Guinness), Murphy's Stouts and Reds (owned by Heineken) and Smithwick's, another red.

Guinness is DARK, like all stouts and has a thick mouthfeel. Surprisingly to some, stouts actually contain quite a bit less calories than their lighter looking cousins. Guinness tastes more like coffee and grains than the others, at least to me.

Beamish Stout is all about unsweetened chocolate and strong espresso. Same stout consistency overall, however. I’ve only had this a few times.

Murphy’s Stout is more roasted malts and a lighter mouthfeel, despite looking very thick and dark. It smells like coffee & chocolate as well, but somehow manages to go down in a way I can only call silky. I *heart* Murphy’s.

Harp is a lager, meaning it is lighter in color and mouthfeel. It is clear gold in color and tastes more ‘crisp’ and smooth than the others.

Beamish Red is red in color, duh, and focuses on malty, caramel flavors. Of the reds listed here, I think it is the mildest/sweetest. Second only to Boulevard’s version.

Murphy’s Red is similar, but with slightly stronger hoppiness. If you aren’t a huge hop fan, this might not be your favorite. I don’t consider this to have much of a kick, but I like Pale Ales and other high-hop beers, so take that with a grain of salt.

Smithwick’s is also an Irish Ale, but it is brown, not red in color. (Don’t pronounce the “w” in that when you order it. Say “smitticks,” or “smiddicks,” unless you want the smart ass 22 year old waitress to correct you. That won’t make you feel very beer snobbish.) This is balanced between malts & hops, but definitely the most bitter of the reds, in my opinion.

Don’t know what to have? Order a Black&Tan or Half&Half, with Harp & Guinness (or Guinness and Bass). You don’t have to struggle with a decision, it looks cool, and certainly makes you more sophisticated than your bar mate, who is chugging something indescribable with green foam on top. Blech.

I love this week!

It's March Madness, St. Pat's is on a Saturday, and today it was almost 80 degrees. Beers were drank on the rooftop deck of the office in the mid-afternoon. Ahhh. Springtime.

Obviously there are a ton of options for celebrating on Saturday. Come to the Parade. You don't have to skip school or work for the first time in years, and it just happens to be one of the largest in the US. I'll be marching in it. Or possibly being dragged thru it by a large ballon. We'll see. Heh. If you're up for it, come to Lew's in Waldo on Friday, to get in the spirit of the holiday. There will be live music & tomfoolery. And me. Plus, it is a fundraiser for the KC St Patrick's Day Parade and Old St Patrick Cathedral. And my last bit of "do as I do," directives, let me add this...GET A CAB! I don't care if you've only had one. GET A CAB. Off my soapbox now.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

I also wanted to plug something else here, post St. Pat's. You can make it, it is more than a week after whatever craziness ensues on your St. Pat's adventures. A friend & co-worker of mine is a total dog dude. Pitpull advocate, to be more specific. I'm on his side, for the record. And he's part of this KC Dog Advocates Group , that happens to be hosting their first ever fundraiser in 2 weeks. He posted this on his blog:

Tower Tavern, a newcomer to Martini Corner in Kansas City -- and a rival to Waldo Pizza and Minsky's for the best pie in KC, is hosting the event for them. If you can make the time for Happy Hour, stop in on March 29th. It'll be a great time, great food, great beer, and the money will go to a great cause. The best deal is to let them know in advance that you're coming.

Total Eclipse of the Heart

I feel like I should apologize to someone over at Boulevard Brewing. Jeremy, perhaps? I stole the #1 search result on Google for "Lunar Ale." And BeerAdvocate owns the #1 listing on Yahoo! for "Lunar Ale Boulevard." Not that this SECOND post here on the topic is going to help much. So sorry guys. If you'd like me to post anything specific about your new brew, I'd do so gladly.

Today there will be a Lunar Eclipse

And last night I tried Boulevard's new beer, Lunar Ale, a Dark American Wheat. It won't be widely released until April, so it was kind of a sneak peek. The guys down at Rimann Liquor had already tried it & gave me the run-down, though, so don't think that I am too special. And no pictures, b/c my ancient blackberry has no camera phone technology. Sorry! Here's what I posted over at BeerAdvocate:

The Boulevard Brewery hosted a happy hour for the local KC chapters of the AdClub and PRSA, and opened up the Boulevard bar at their new event space above the brewery. (Very cool space, btw. If I wasn't already married, I totally would have held a wedding reception there!) I had one pint glass of Lunar before drinking anything else, but I didn't take notes. This is from memory. Such that it is.

The glass was handed to me with a light head of cream-colored, fat-bubbled froth that dispersed quickly. The beer was murky, and in color and consistency, reminded me of unfiltered cider. It smelled strongly of malt, and the first sip had a definite bite to it, with light carbonation, followed by a sweet tang. I couldn't place the flavors at all, and somehow it seemed an unexpected combo. The tanginess could have been like cilantro, or maybe cloves, and the sweet seemed a bit fruity. A friend insisted that there was a banana flavor underneath it all, but I can't agree. She also insisted that the beer was called Lunar because it is, "out of this world." Complete with just-Jack-style jazz hands. That's talent, right there, all while holding a beer.

I am a huge fan of browns, and Boulevard, but this seemed a strange combination. It may be a good summer beer, when served ice cold, but it wasn't what I expected. (Probably because someone had told me a rumor that the new beer was going to be some sort of Belgian. Which is not really like a Dunkel.) I guess I'll stick to stockpiling the Irish Ale while it is available, to enjoy beyond March.

****edited to add****
The Lunar Ale is a version of an American Dark Wheat Ale, which is an Americanized version of a Dunkel Weizen. Per BeerAdvocate, hop characters will be low to high with some fruitiness from ale fermentation, though most examples use of a fairly neutral ale yeast, resulting in a clean fermentation with little to no diacetyl. Flavors of caramel and toasted malts might be present. German Weizen flavors and aromas of banana esters and clove-like phenols will not be found.

The aroma of banana esters should not be found in an American, but they are expected in a German beer. So perhaps they were there afterall.

February is almost over

I am SOOOO ready for winter to be over. SO READY. I need some sunshine, to hear the birds singing and spend way too much time cleaning up my poor neglected yard/gardens. But the cold wind still blows and all I know is that I can look forward to St. Patrick's Day with certainty. Ahh, yes. It's on a Saturday this year, so there will be no need to burn vacation to attend the parade and partake in festivities. And my favorite local brewery has already released it's seasonal Irish red ale. Hurray! I love Boulevard's Irish Ale. I think I have reviewed it, half-assedly, before, but I think I owe a true report on one of my fave's. Perhaps tonight. Ooh! Now there's another thing to look forward to.

O'Dowd's still wants to feed you

Drink to Valentines Day

I read this article tonight, and I had to share. I am a beer fan and all, but this cracked me up.

"For years brewers and beer lovers have paired beer and chocolate," says Ray Daniels, spokesperson for the Brewers Association, a national trade association for craft brewers. "During a week when many Americans celebrate with chocolate, we want to introduce them to the sensual and romantic marriage of beer and chocolate pairings."




You can read it all via the link above, but the nut is that porters and stouts do well with chocolate because they have toasted, roasted, almost coffee like flavors. The other types of beers that pair well are hefeweizens, and strong Belgian ales.

**edited because someone ate my chocolate cake pic **

I am a Chemical SUPER Freak

Say yeah for chemical explosions. Say yeah for not really realizing what all of those warehouse, industrial-type areas just north of downtown have going on until something explodes. Say yeah for really black skies, stinky air, and mild, momentary panic. I started to imagine that I had a headache & sore throat. Maybe I did. Or maybe I am highly susceptible to suggestion. I lifted this pic straight from KansasCity.com. Just to spread the love, you can read the story via MyFoxKC.


Me & a few others had a scheduled dinner with a rep who was in town. Most everyone bailed after our company excused everyone early to escape the smoke, going home to theoretically save their own lungs, with the outside air circulation vent turned off in their cars. Being a fool, I decided that it wasn't that bad, and met the rep for dark stouts at McCoy's Public House. The stouts were tasty, the company was good, and the raging chemical fire seems to be less of a threat now.

When it thunders, I go outside to look. When the tornado siren wails, I go straight to the nearest, biggest window. If I had been standing on the beach in Thailand, I'd be the idiot pointing and exclaiming, look, something crazy is going on with the water. Whoosh. Keep your fingers crossed for me that nothing truly freaky was burning. I think my throat is getting sore...

O'Dowd's New Menu

O'Dowd's Little Dublin on the Country Club Plaza just got a new chef, revamped the entire menu, and are trying to promote it with a buy one get one for lunch. If you want the emailed offer, hit me up & I'll forward it to you. I hope to get there for lunch this week - the offer expires 2/12, next Monday. I really hope that they didn't remove a single boxty from the menu. They are my favorite!

Happy 5 Years to Us!

Super Bowl

This year will be my first Super Bowl with a DVR. I am more excited than a normal person should be about that.

Last year the Super Bowl contained a record number of ads, clocking in at 47 minutes of advertising. This year's rate for one :30 spot is a reported $2.6 million dollars. CBS is still pushing to sell the last 25% of available inventory, but it's clear that they should top $100 million on Feb 4th.

Anheuser-Busch has been the exclusive alcohol advertiser in the Super Bowl since 1989, and they will remain such for CBS broadcasts of the Super Bowl from 2007 until 2012. Now THAT'S owning a franchise. They typically buy up at least 5 minutes of ad time to hawk their beers, so they are dropping about $25 million dollars just to buy your EYEBALLS, never mind the money they spend in producing ads that they hope generate some chatter afterwards.

My question for you is - what will you be drinking while watching the game?

**edited to add that I beat eMarketer to the posting, but their data is WAY more acurate**

Straight from the article linked above, the top five SuperBowl advertisers, ranked by ad spending over the past 20 years:
Anheuser-Busch $250.8 million
Pepsico $190.0
General Motors $ 65.7
Time Warner $ 63.4
Walt Disney $ 43.5
Top 5 Total $613.4 MILLION

Storm Preparedness

Winter decided to arrive. And in this area of the country, a 50-60 degree day in the middle of January is almost always followed by a blanket of ice. Yesterday was gorgeous. I am glad that I got to enjoy it a little. Today it is 18 degrees.

In 1996, lots of people lost power. I was at college, in an apt., and managed to escape any damage. In 2002, hundreds of thousands lost power and my wedding was almost cancelled due to "dangerous weather." It wasn't, we celebrated, and promptly ran away to French Polynesia, where ice storms are as foreign as tsunamis are in Kansas. But now we live in a neighborhood with overhead lines and massive trees. I'm not sure we are going to escape this weekend with both heat and light. It seems a lot to ask.


I haven't been to the grocery store, go I guess I will be skating by there on my way home. And stopping by the beer store. Because a weekend like this requires both a porter AND a stout.

Monday, Monday

The new Blogger is ok, but now that we have the ability to tag posts (hey! welcome to 2003!) I am compelled to go back thru my archives and tag content. Ugh. It's like less of a present and more of a to-do list. I know how my evenings this week will be spent.

We had a birthday party to attend this weekend, at The Bulldog. I love The Bulldog for the following reasons:
1) It is across the street from the office.
2) They serve excellent beers on tap.
3) The piano player in the evenings can switch from John Mayer and Snow Patrol-esque tunes to Ice Cube's "Today Was a Good Day."
4) The people watching is fabulous, what with a strip club located right next door.

Anyway, this was a birthday party, and they had reseved the back room. The birthday boy's wife warned the staff that they would need more than one bartender, as they expected a large group. They only supplied one bartender for the party, and while I hope that his tips were good, I bet he wished that he had some help! When I got up to the bar and ordered a Bass & a Harp, he informed me that the group were great drinkers - he hadn't served a domestic beer yet, and the pace was astounding.

Happy New Year!

Omygod, I have to go back to work on Tuesday. It's been too long. I haven't gotten out of bed before 9 am in a long long time. Tuesday morning is going to be a little unpleasant.



We had a small Festivus shindig on Friday. The Feats of Strength were abandoned, and I was glad, because I really didn't want to see a bunch of late 20 to early 30 year old dudes wrestling in my living room. The Airing of Grievances were too late in the evening for me, and I was already nodding off. Or not speaking well. Or both. But it was fun, and I am so glad everyone came. Trey brought me a whole six pack of the New Belgium Brewery's 2 Below, which was really quite tasty. It was my first beer of the night, and I dug it a lot. I had tried to pick up some more Nutcracker Ale, but the store down the street was out, and the deadline for hiding the dishes was looming, so I thought I was out of luck. BeerAdvocate classifies 2 Below as an ESB, or Extra Special/Strong Bitter, which just means that it is a little more aggressive than your average beer in terms of hops and alcohol content, but nothing overpowering. It is really not bitter at all, but balanced between hops and malts. I drank it right out of the bottle, like a classy broad, so I didn't really look at color or head, but it is a basic copper colored ale, and it was quite quite tasty.



Mel & Nate (Melanie & Nathan? Sorry, I have an obsession with nicknames, because my name is nickname-averse...) brought me a bottle of this. Delirium Tremens. I cracked it open and immediately drank it all. (Except that little bit the Husband snagged.) Yummers. It is a Belgian Pale Ale, with 8.5% alcohol content. Whoo, but it didn't taste as strong as you would think. But I should have had more food at the party, this is for certain. I had to pour it into a pilsner glass, since that is what I had handy, and I had to share. The beer is straw-colored, almost golden, and the flavor is smooth, almost fruity. I thought that the mouthfeel was extremely light, but the Husband, who had been drinking Bud Light, called it a "thick beer." The head on this was super fluffy, and I caught some crap for bad pouring. Deserved, I am sure, but it had one heck of a head!


Nate/Nathan brought something dark and fierce and reminiscent of motor oil, from the Great Divide Brewing Co. I stole a sip and it was delish. Ah, here it is : Yeti Imperial Stout. I've seen their stuff pop up in KC stores lately, so I guess that will be my beer next adventure.


PLEASE be careful tonight, if you are headed out. It's amateur hour out there, so take cabs, be safe, and I hope that you greet 2007 with a tall glass of water and some quality time on the couch.

A Festivus! For the rest of us!

I'm bringing out the aluminum pole, preparing my list for the Airing of Grievances, and strength training for the Feats of Strength. Festivus is among us. Our celebration will be Friday, December 29th. It will be awesome. And there will be festive beer, like the Nutcracker Ale I bought last night. It is delicious. Mostly a warm, caramel tinged amber ale, this version gives a little sense of the season with pine, and maybe even citrusy twangs. The head on this beer is decent (thick & frothy) if you are lucky enough to find it on tap, but out of the bottle it tends to be weak and light. That's ok, if you never pour it OUT of the bottle, you kind of miss that part anyway!

Where Is My Mind?

I'm geeking out to The Pixies and The Flaming Lips. How you doin'?

Seeing my brother for an hour this weekend made me realize how much I miss the punk. I hate that half of my family lives 2,000 + miles away. We didn't even get to have that beer. No beverages, no conversation, no time. I wish I had more frequent flier flights. I'd be up there far more often. Far too often, I am sure. Holidays are making me very sappy. I rocked out with John Denver & the Muppets while making grandma's fudge recipe this weekend. And drinking a lovely thick porter. Hell to the yes, that's me. Shut up.

Random.
Ready?Set.Go!

I think that this is cool.
I ordered this for the husband at the last minute.
Who else wants to go do this?
I am going to be here in one year.
I got these fancy chocolates today, and I'd prefer to look at them than eat them.
Anyone else noticed that holiday sweaters are everywhere?

XXX-Mas

Mondays are hard. You deserve a beer for actually making it to work today. Since I can't make it, someone should enjoy this opportunity.

The 75th Street Brewery is holding a Sneak Peak Preview Party TONIGHT for their new seasonal brew, XXX-Mas Ale. 75th Street propaganda says that XXX-Mas Ale has a warm mahogany color and is brewed with five different spices. It has a malty-sweet taste and is a winter warmer at 7.2% alcohol. XXX-Mas Ale will be available for good on Friday, December 15th after 5 pm. So even if you don't make it today, you can have a glass starting Friday. (That's when I'll be there, after completing my shopping, on my day off. Yeah.)

75th Street Brewery
520 West 75th Street
Kansas City, MO 64114

Sniff, Cough, Sneeze, repeat

I have a gross, nasty, annoying cold. I have had a cold for a week and a half. I picked it up in Vegas, which just sounds disgusting. I'm living on pseudoephedrine, cough drops and Airborne. I can't taste anything. I needed to whine about it for a moment. Thanks.

B Side

Are we on the flip side yet? I'm exhausted. One more week until we do the Vegas thing, which I am SO looking forward to, I can't even explain. Fall used to be my favorite time of year, as a kid, what with the start of school and Halloween and my birthday. In high school and college it meant crunchy walks and football games. Now it means bagging 60+ bags of leaves and wishing it wouldn't rain again so I could paint the porch. Ah, adulthood. On the plus side, our kitchen is awesome. So awesome. I think I am going to have to learn to actually cook now. Baking and fixing dinner are not the same as really knowing how to cook. When things are happier, we'll have a party of some sort. Post-Thanksgiving, pre-holiday, perhaps? Dark beverages, fattening food, and the like.

I'm gonna sip Sam Adams like it's my birthday

My father-in-law and step-mom-in-law gave me beer for my birthday. A whole lot of beer. This beer. Because they had read my review. How crazy is that? I laughed and laughed. And I drank one last night. So lovely.

What I Want For My Birthday

YouTube and Blogger appear to be having some sort of lovers' quarrel. Click here to see.

Cool Liquour Stores

The Husband has been traveling a lot. Like gone all week, every week. And I've been working late. (It is fall, after all. The life of a media chick doesn't change that dramatically.) Add to that the fact that the Husband's 92 year old grandma is in the ICU, my mom comes to visit on Friday, my house is a wreck, the contractors will actually be destroying the kitchen AND bathroom on Halloween, the day before my 30th birthday, and well, I guess I am trying to say that I've been a little busy. So I haven't been drinking well. But I stopped by Batson Mission Liquor on my way home, and found out that they sell good beer, by the bottle, right up by the register. Tons and tons of cool beers. So if one wanted to try one Chimay, for example, one could. I dig it. I plan to return to grab a selection. Like, maybe in November. See ya on the flip side!

Why I Drink Shit Beer

Too many glasses of wine is typical with an expensive dinner. Ti many martoonis is ok when having a chicks night out. And a thick, dark, micro-brewed beer or four is cool when you can just chill. But some evenings call for something light, thin, not too alcoholic, and above all, familiar. I HATE getting hangovers. Every year I age, they become easier to acquire. So when I am settling in for the long haul, when I am drinking with people who drink fast and lots, I order shit beer. I have no idea how many I had last night. Lots. But I woke up feeling just fine. The other options spell trouble for me.

Wine drunk is fast, I get stupid, and I get hungover in the morning.
Gin also gives me a headache, usually before I even get to sleep.
Rum, tequila and whiskey drunks make me believe that I am always right.
Good beer makes my stomach churn & burn after too many. And I get full.

I think of excellent beer like, say, a good milkshake. I can absolutely LOVE a good milkshake, but it isn't appropriate for every time of day, or every place I go. Sometimes I just want an iced tea. I don't LOVE iced tea, but it has a purpose.

On some nights, I just know that there will be too many drinks going down the hatch, and depending on the company, or my plans for the following day, I plan my drinking accordingly. Shit beer is cheap. (Or at least cheaper than multiple cocktails.) It isn't heavy, I can keep myself from getting out of hand, and I know that if I go home at 2 am after drinking too many, I won't wake up feeling like a Mac truck ran me over.

So I say thanks to the makers of macro, light, tasteless, watery lagers. You made my morning not suck. And yes, I know what you are thinking. Shut up.

Date Night is Beer Night

I haven't seen much of The Husband lately. We've both been a little busy. I've been out of town when he is around, and he's out of town or in town and working 15 hour days when I am home. Saturday we were both in town on the same day, so went out for beer. We were both so tired that we didn't stay long, but we managed to grab the last freakin' Sam Adams Octoberfest that Tom Fooleries had in the house. They didn't expect it to go so fast, the bartender said. Not so fast? Duh. I love this stuff.

This beer ours a redish/orange brown with a white head. The smell is mostly of malt and almost sweet. The flavor is rich and bold and is of mostly malt, with hardly any hops to be found. It has a great balance of flavor and carbonation. It is very smooth, medium body but the beer has a thick flavor. It has a long, lingering aftertaste that some sweet notes that just add to the character. I wish I could get it all year round.

The Search for the Holy Grail

A friend of mine sent me a link to this last week, thinking that she had trumped me. “I bet you never had this beer!” Sorry, girlie, you can’t trump the beer girl. But really, I have to credit my youngest brother for introducing this one to me.

The label is all about Monty Python, stating that it is tempered over burning witches. If you are as dorky as me and most of my family, this is enough to make you buy it, regardless of taste.

BEDEVERE: What makes you think she is a witch?
VILLAGER #1: Well, she turned me into a newt.
BEDEVERE: A newt?
VILLAGER #1: I got better.
VILLAGER #2: Burn her anyway!
VILLAGER #1: Burn!
CROWD: Burn her! Burn! Burn her!...

Thankfully, it tastes pretty darn good, no matter your opinion of Monty Python. This is solid example of an English style pale ale. The English pale ale can be traced back to the city of Burton-upon-Trent, a city with an abundance of rich hard water. This hard water helps with the clarity as well as enhancing the hop bitterness. This ale can be from golden to reddish amber in color with generally a good head retention. A mix of fruity, hoppy, earthy, buttery and malty aromas and flavors can be found. Typically all ingredients are English.

This is a very drinkable beer, with enough character to be interesting, but not so complex as to remind you to drink it slowly. It is a copper colored ale, that pours with a frothy white head. It is a very balanced malt/hop combo, in my opinion, and has a very welcome snap, almost peppery. My husband’s exact words after taking a sip were, “Ah, fall beer! It is almost October, isn’t it?”

If you don’t like it, you can just go cut down the largest tree in the forest. With a HERRING.

When Irish Eyes Are Smiling

I am starting to love the beer podcast. Is it just me?

I saw an article yesterday, and it got me thinking about how Coors has a strange stable of beers. They produce all of the following:

Coors/Coors Light/Coors Extra Gold Lager
Molson Canadian
Keystone/Keystone Light/Keystone Ice
Killian's Irish Red
Zima (in 5 flavors)
Blue Moon (Belgian White & Pumpkin)
Winterfest (limited, seasonal)

So for the most part, they do cheap, light beer, targeted to the masses, who plan to drink a lot of beer, probably in a can, maybe while standing in a driveway. Right? Oh, and Zima for the girls who don't like beer. Because who drinks wine coolers these days, anyway?

The seasonal Winterfest is likely brewed to attempt to win awards and justify a handcrafted claim on anything they sell. And that's cool. But Killian's and Blue Moon are the odd balls, requiring completely flipped marketing and support. Coors Light or Keystone drinkers are not microbrew drinkers, but microbrew drinkers don't drink Blue Moon and Killian's. Which means they have to walk a fine line down the middle of the road. And the middle of the road is never a FUN! EXCITING! place to be.

Killian's has an identity crisis, being a dark beer brewed by a macro brewer domestically, but with a faux Irish heritage in the name. Coors will probably continue to postion it as a microbrew in order to justify higher price tags, but it could be a stand out at the lower end of the cooler.
BeerAdvocate reviewers were disappointed with it's super-filtered, clear appearance, quickly dissapating head and sweet aftertaste. Regardless of packaging or shelf positioning it may recieve, it is plain to the real beer snobs that this stuff is mass produced in the same way that Coors is done. My absolute favorite review comment was, “The 'exotic' beer you can find at your local dive bar when only other choices are Bud and Bud Light.” He followed this up with this, "Also, if being consumed at that same dive bar, be prepared to get crap from your macrobrew drinking pals or old college roommate about being a “Beer Yuppie”… (Don't feel bad for them, they have NO idea what real beer is.)"

You know I bounce back & forth from beer snob to crap-beer-lover, so some days this is fine for me, and others, not so much. It's kind of like everything else in life. Sometimes I like oatmeal, sometimes I don't. But fall is coming. The temperature is dropping, leaves are blowing, and I am remembering how much I love wearing hoodie sweatshirts. Thick dark beer happens to also represent my favorite season of all, so I suspect the reviews will get darker, as do the days.

Gallup Poll Notes from Big Shot Bob

Big Shot Bob posted this on his blog and I found it (and him) thru our trusty friend Google. I had to be a fan of anyone who names himself Big Shot, but really, it's all about the beer, and I like the info. Stolen directly from his blog...

10 reasons beer is better than wine

Wine's brief moment of glory in the sunshine of the Gallup Poll is done. After inexplicably tying beer last year as America's drink of choice and exciting the napkin-waving emotions of newspaper food editors across the nation, wine has slipped back into its proper subservient place.In the annual Gallup booze poll for 2006, beer reigns supreme once again – the first choice of 41 percent of Americans – and continues to be the biggest seller in volume and dollar sales, accounting for almost 60 percent of all booze sales. Anyone want to take bets on how fast the newspapers won't be to report this crisp, hoppy smack to the merlot-hole?In celebration, a list of reasons why beer is better than wine.

ONE
If you drink beer from the bottle instead of pouring it into a glass first, you’re just a guy. If you’re necking a bottle of wine – doesn’t matter how expensive it is, doesn’t matter how "exquisite" it is – you’re a drunk. Why do you think they call them “winos”?

TWO
Beer’s cheaper. Don’t tell me that’s not a good reason. You can’t pay much more than $25 for a single bottle of beer, maybe $40 in a good restaurant, and that’s going to be a big bottle of some rare Belgian specialty that’s so good your toes will curl. You can easily get two glasses of exceptional beer for under $15 anywhere. A $40 bottle of wine in a restaurant? At best it’s drinkable, but it will probably peel the paint off the walls when the waiter unscrews the cap. Wine is so stupid pricey it can even cost you your job.

THREE
Germans make beer; the French make wine.

FOUR
People know beer’s good without having to be convinced of it by some snot with a wine column. Easy to figure this one out: What do more people start on, beer or wine? Beer tastes like bread and spices and snappy citrus zest and a hundred other things, depending on how it’s made. Wine? On first taste, good wine tastes like fruit gone bad. You need someone to explain to you what it is about wine that’s actually pretty good. Because it is, I’ll admit it, but … it took me a while of wanting to like it before I did.

FIVE
Beer makes you sing AC/DC. Wine makes you sing opera.

SIX
Beer comes in smaller bottles; opening one is an easier decision. That seems like a trivial thing, but wine marketers are pushing smaller bottles lately. Smaller bottles cost less and there’s not as much in them, so people will make the decision to buy wine more easily. Beer’s already there. And we’ve got the whole draft thing, too. Point to beer.

SEVEN
Five percent of wine corks are undetectably bad and turn the wine in the bottle to crap. That’s why the waiter will give you the cork to sniff – or he did until too many ignorant people made fun of the practice. But that’s not the real reason that makes beer better than wine. That’s because even if a bottle of wine is corked, most people will drink it anyway, because they know wine’s not supposed to taste "good." Beer doesn’t usually go bad, but when it does, it turns skunky or sour or has floaters. This is nature’s way of letting you know that the beer is not good. Thanks, nature!

EIGHT
Wine drinkers always go on about vintages and great years and wines of the past. Hey, too bad for them. Vintages run out; the brewer can almost always make more beer that’s just as good as the one you loved.

NINE
Beer goes better with barbecue. And Thai. And ham. And cheese. And salads. And sausage. And bread. And crabs. And tomatoes. And waffles. And so on. In fact, if you read most wine books, there are a lot of foods an honest wine writer will admit just don't go well with any kind of wine. You can always tell when beer goes better with a food than wine does, because there’s an easy test. Ask a wine expert what wine goes best with the food. If they say “Riesling” or “Gewürztraminer,” beer tastes better than wine with that dish.

TEN
Beer is a much more direct drink: When a brewer wants beer to taste like fruit … he adds fruit. If he wants it to taste like smoke, he smokes some malt – with real smoke – and he adds that. Winemakers get different flavors by adding suggestions, imagination and hints: “You’ll taste smoke and hints of fresh herbs, with a flinty, mineral backsplash of firmness.” And if you don’t, goes the unspoken subtext, you’re stupid. Surprise, surprise – everyone says, “Yeah, I can really taste the herbs! Fresh herbs, wow!”

I found this because I was trying to decide what beer I would be having with spicy Thai noodles tonight. I still haven't decided

Once in a Blue Moon

I have a couple of friends who are obsessed with Blue Moon. It is one thing to always order the same thing where ever you go. (Ahem. Not unlike the total poser who writes this and orders a Miller Lite most of the time.) But to only go places that serve Blue Moon? That's a super fan.

Blue Moon is a Belgian White beer. What a Belgian White beer? BeerAdvocate says that it is:
A Belgian Style ale that's very pale and cloudy in appearance due it being unfiltered and the high level of wheat, and sometimes oats, that's used in the mash. Always spiced, generally with coriander, orange peel and other odd ball spices or herbs in the back ground. The crispness and slight twang comes from the wheat and the lively level of carbonation. This is one style that many brewers in the US have taken a liking to and have done a very good job of staying to style. Sometimes served with a lemon, but if you truly want to enjoy the untainted subtleties of this style you'll ask for yours without one.

It is manufactured by the macro-brewer, Coors. Beer snobs find this horrifying. The assumption is that anything mass produced by the big dudes must be watered down, middle of the road, boring stuff for the unwashed. I think it just comes down to your own personal beer snobbery. I love a good beer, but then again I love almost all beer, so I think this is pretty good. Does another, small brewery make a better, more interesting White Belgian? Absolutely! But that isn’t available everywhere, is it?

When you pour the beer into a pint glass, it shows maybe a ½ inch white head that dissipates quickly. There isn’t any of that fancy lacing sticking around the sides of the glass like you get with thicker beers. It appears cloudy, and has a light yellow color. It smells like citrus, oranges, maybe coriander? It is very mild, in both smell and taste. Everyone drinks this with a slice or orange, and it isn’t unlike the more common lemon/wheat beer combo. It just works. It is fruity, light, and often called a summer beer. Translate: chick beer.

You got a dry Martini, thinking you're cool

I DVR'd the HBO stuff - now I have something to watch tonight. Last night The Husband & I went on a Sunday night date for overpriced raw fish and beer. It's ok that it was overpriced, because we factor in the added value of free entertainment. We people watch. And not really in a smooth or unobtrusive way, either. The martini-swilling, faux-society-set are not quite as intelligent, well-spoken or entertaining as Al Swearingen and crew, but it was still worth the price of admission. Although I really would have preferred to have been ready for this steamroller Monday when I crawled out of bed. Don't Mondays at the end of summertime after a night with beer always feel like steamrollers?

Beerfest

Doesn't this look like one of the stupidest movies, ummm, ever? Even the website is borderline retarded. It makes disgusting little farty noises when you select different areas. I'll probably see the movie, at some point, but I still have 100 free movie passes I haven't used and will probably expire before I drag myself to a theater.

There's a Tear in My Beer

It's like a divorce. Only with 300+ kids. If anyone needs someone with whom to drink a beer after this, y'all know who to call.

Go Inside And Get My Pickle

We had a party two weekends ago, to celebrate the new deck and The Husband's b-day. We bought volumes of beer, and some people made some comments about the state of our fridge. Primarily the fact that it contained no food, a few condiments, and lots and lots and lots of beer. We also had buckets of ice full of beer on the deck. We had a bit leftover, but it's been going quickly. Tonight will contain a trip to the liquor store. Sure, we have tequila and rum and vodka and mixers. But I am running out of beer. I am thinking about a novelty label like Black Sheep's Holy Grail, or maybe Bell's Oberon summer ale. Whatever it is, I need it to be kept really really cold. Weather.com says that at 6 pm, it will still be 93 degrees, and feel like 98. Better than yesterday - it was still 106 at 7 pm.