I Haven't Got Anything Better To Do

Per LE's suggestion, today's beer is Warsteiner. Now, I am aware that Warsteiner has the dubious distinction of being known as "the best selling German beer." Rarely does "best selling" translate into "best tasting." So let's be honest. I am not sayint that this is the world's best beer. But it's different than the big domestic brews and ordering one it makes one feel slightly more interesting, without having to chew down a dark, thick porter that they really don't like anyway.

Most people identify the kind of Warsteiner they are drinking by the color of the label, Johnny Walker-style. The 2 most popular types in the US are the Premium Verum, aka the all gold label, and the Premium Dunkel, or the gold & silver label. They are totally different beers. I'll do both, with propaganda from the Warsteiner site as well as reviews from BeerAdvocate.

Warsteiner says:
Premium Verum is a pilsner style beer with a smooth, rich-full bodied taste wrapped in a thick creamy head and a refreshing hop finish with no aftertaste. Warsteiner quenches the beer lover's thirst for a clean, crisp, refreshing beer taste. Best when chilled to a temperature between 46 and 50 degrees.

BeerAdvocate reviewers say:
Pours a clear golden yellow, white head forms but goes quick, little lacing. Smell is sweet and malty, little tiny bit of hop presence. Tasty is sweet malt, some citrusy hops, nice clean bitter finish. Thin mouthfeel but the carbonation is nice, not bad at all. Not amazing, but a good, solid pilsner.

Warsteiner says:
Premium Dunkel "German for Dark" offers beer lovers incomparable taste satisfaction with its subtle spiciness, delicate aroma, and balance. What makes premium Dunkel distinctive among dark beers, is its thirst quenching, refreshingly drinkable flavor. This is a traditional German dark brown lager , described as being neither sweet nor roastily dry, with a slight spicy maltiness and a clean round finish. It has a reddish-black color which is almost opaque.

Beer Advocate reviewers say:
Pours a coffee brown with medium foam, no lace. Nose is malty with very faint grassy note. Taste is smooth and malty with noticable low-medium hop lingering bitterness and hints of caramel. Well-balanced and very drinkable. Would go with cheese, most meats, beer food. A little too heavy for very light fare.

Whichever suits your mood, grab a beer, pull up a chair, and let's start off the weekend!

Down In The Dark

I wanted another fall beer today, despite the weather continuing to push the limits of summertime. Today's projected high is 92 degrees. Blah. The fall sweaters are on display in the stores, I've already been trying on cute little winter coats, and the Halloween candy is already taking over the grocery store. I'm ready for fall NOW.

It's Friday, and it's Beer Friday. And today, we're drinking 1554 Brussels Style Black Ale. A Belgian Dark Ale brewed by the New Belgium Breweing Company. I love most of the beer brewed by the new Belgium Brewing Company, really, but I haven't had any in quite a while. BeerAdvocate's reviewers had quite a few nice things to say here. The company's site described the beer like this:

Phil Benstein, our resident rumpled professor, stumbled onto Zwartbier in an 1888 tome creatively named “Popular Beverages of Various Countries.” He had trouble convincing brewmaster Peter Bouckaert that such a beer existed back in 16th - century Belgium, so the pair made two trips to Belgium to research this obscure style in the archives of Belgium’s specialty brewers. The oldest reference to these black beers that our dynamic duo uncovered was in the year 1554.

Other than being dark in color, 1554 has little in common with Porters or Stouts. The beer is fermented at relatively high temperatures using a European lager yeast that imparts a refreshing, zesty acidity. Chocolate and coffee tones in the nose give way to a surprisingly clean finish. With 1554 our staff hoped to create a beer similar to what folks enjoyed nearly five-hundred years ago without ignoring five-hundred years of technological innovation.We hope you’ll agree that 1554 is the delicious result of a lot of well-spent library time.

You can't buy this beer east of the Mississippi, so this is one good thing about living in my part of the midwest. Here's a map of where you can buy this:

Hope you enjoy it. Have a great Friday & a happy weekend!

September

Beer is good, beer is great...

"They who get drunk on other intoxicating liquors fall on all parts of their body; they fall on the left side, on the right side, on their faces, and on their backs. But it is only those who get drunk on beer who fall on their backs and lie with their face upwards." -- Aristotle

"Beer is living proof that God loves us & wants us to be happy." -- Ben Franklin

I love beer. Today I love this beer: Harpoon's Oktoberfest.
Harpoon's site says this: Of all Harpoon beers, Octoberfest takes the most time to brew, adding to its complexity and smoothness. A blend of six malts imparts a smooth, medium body, balancing a medium hop bitterness. This legendary beer is brewed for celebrations. Prosit!

A reviewer on BeerAdvocate says this: Gorgeous Coppery orange color with 1/4" khaki colored head that faded a bit. Fruity malt aroma; sweet malt back is highlighted by fruity yeast smell, caramel, fresh bread, and black cherry notes. Good body. Crisp malt to start, malt is somewhat dry compared to the sweet aroma. Slightly bready but mostly toasty malt taste. Finish has a good earthy/ herbal hop twang with slow bitterness that makes the dry malt crawl off the tongue. I'd take this one over Otter Creek's Oktoberfest anyday.

Beer Girl says that I like a lot of oktoberfests, and while the above reviewer says he'll take it over Otter Creek anyday, I'm not so sure. Otter Creek was pretty darn tasty. Not having both in front of me, I can't really do the comparison, but this is good stuff, either way. Cheers!

I Think I'll Just Stay Here And Drink

Today's beer is Peachy's favorite. It is brewed in Vermont, and is not available here in the not so wild (mid) West. Tomorrow I will purchase a variety of northeastern beer at this state liquor store along the highway, on our way in from the airport. Those crack me up, by the way.
So the beer? Magic Hat #9. It's brewed by Magic Hat Brewing Co., who's website is mildly annoying. So instead I direct you to BeerAdvocate, and My Life Is Beer, who have many reviews posted of this beer.#9 is a fruit beer. What is a fruit beer? Again, from BeerAdvocate:
A generic form of flavored beer, some breweries actually use real fruit, though most use an extract, syrup or processed flavor to give the effect of a particular fruit. Usually ales, but with not much ale character to them and commonly unbalanced. Malt flavor is typically hidden with a low hop bitterness to allow the fruit to dominate.

I have a very open beer mind, and I look forward to trying this, but I still don't think this is going to be one of my personal faves. Certainly not The Husband's. We haven't been a big fan of perfume-y smelling beers in the past, so I'm going to pick out a back up, also from the great state of Vermont, which is apparently a beer sort of girl's mecca. My choice to taste will be Otter Creek's Oktoberfest beer, available only August to November.

I'm so looking forward to eating fresh seafood and drinking new beer that it's really overshadowing everything else about this weekend. That's ok by me. See ya on the flip side. Peace out.

Mad Season

The beer today is Boddington's Pub Ale, my new substitue for Caffrey's, my long lost love. Brian's Beer Belly loves it, but Beer Advocate reviewers seem disappointed in the canned variety. For that reason, I'm offering this on draught today.

Boddington's hails from England, where it has been enjoyed for more than 200 years. It was brewed at the Strangeways Brewery in Manchester for all of that time, right up until this year, when the corporation that bought the small label in the 90's turned the production of the beer into another corporate process. Boo, I know. But I'd like to believe that I am honoring the years of brewing that took place in that one little brewery. And I'm positive that I am missing something in the taste that was likely there before. But I wasn't 21 until the late 90's, so I missed my window.

It's a creamy, light, golden beer that seems to conjure up the word 'honey.' I love it. And since it's feeling a little bit like fall already, what with the kidlets in my area starting back to school already, I'm ready for a seasonal beer shake up. I hope you're with me. Here's to the first of many many fall beers at Beer Girl's Blog Bar.

Torn

Beer is no longer cool?
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/15/business/15beer.html?8seia&emc=seia

The King Of Steam

I want to taste local Cali beer. So I hope to get my hands on an Arrogant Bastard, which was featured here. But today's beer is one native to San Fran. Anchor Brewery's Anchor Steam.

From their site:
Anchor Steam derives its unusual name from the 19th century when "steam" seems to have been a nickname for beer brewed on the West Coast of America under primitive conditions and without ice. The brewing methods of those days are a mystery and, although there are many theories, no one can say with certainty why the word "steam" came to be associated with beer. For many decades Anchor alone has used this quaint name for its unique beer. In modern times, "Steam" has become a trademark of Anchor Brewing.

The reviews on BeerAdvocate are pretty good. Here's a quote from one in particular:
Clear light copper. Frothy, small white head. Dry, hoppy and clean. Loads of woody, earthy mint hop notes and a clean malt profile. Medium light body. Lager like clarity in texture with a slight apple fruitiness and hints of lemon peels. Dryish as it closes. Not overly complex but a tough style to nail. Even better on tap.

I'll give you my personal opinion either when I have a minute to post next week, or when I get back on Friday. Have a great weekend, and a good next week. I'm going to geek out at a dork conference. So you all really know I'll be posting anyway. :)

I Just Wanna Love U (Give It To Me)

Friday's finally here. Ahhhhhhhhh. It's sunny, warm but not hot, it's the end of July, and it's beer o'clock.

Today's beer is the one that so impressed me last weekend. Samuel Smith's Nut Brown Ale. Maybe it was all the hummus I had eaten earlier than evening. Maybe it was the fact that right before I drank this I had suffered through another Miller Lite. Maybe it was just THAT good. But whatever stars aligned, I became a HUGE fan of this beer.

It looks a bit strange, in a clear bottle and an old fashioned label, but it's good. BeerAdvocate's reviews rate it pretty highly. Here's a bit of history, lifted directly from this site:

The Old Brewery at Tadcaster was founded in 1758 and is Yorkshire’s oldest brewery. Samuel Smith is one of the few remaining independent breweries in England, and further is the last to utilize the classic Yorkshire Square system of fermentation solely in stone squares.

The rich Samuel Smith strain of yeast at The Old Brewery dates from the early 1900s. Hops are hand-weighed by the master hop blender, and the brewing water is drawn from a well sunk over 200 years ago.

First introduced to the U.S. market in 1978 by Merchant du Vin, Samuel Smith beers quickly became the benchmark ales for the emerging craft beer movement. To this day, they remain among the most awarded.

All Samuel Smith beers are vegan products, registered with The Vegan Society, as seen here.

Info about the Nut Brown, also lifted directly from their site:

Often called “mild” if it is on draft, brown ale is a walnut-colored specialty of the North of England. A festive-occasion beer, brown ale is one of the oldest English brewing styles, mentioned in literature in the 16th century. Beers brewed at the old brewery have a round, nutty flavor because of the Yorkshire square system of fermentation.

Walnut-like color and palate of hazelnuts. Wonderful balance of roasted crystal malt and aromatic hops. Long clean finish.

SERVING SUGGESTIONS: Stilton cheese, grouse and roasted game hen, barbecued duck, pepper steak; spicy food, paella, stir-fry, teriyaki, Thai food, Chinese food, creamy chicken and pineapple curry. Serve at 55 degrees.

Gold Medal and "Top-Rated English Brown Ale" —World Beer Championships, 2004

Truth From Fiction

What's the beer this week (ahem, last week)? Why, it's a summer classic? Hefeweizen! Specifically the Widmer Brother's brewery's Hefeweizen, which according to their own site, is the standard by which all other hefeweizen's should be judged. Beer Advocate's user reviews tells a slightly different story here, but since it's the first of it's kind to be featured on my blog, we'll start with this one.

What's a Hefeweizen, you ask? Well, one descriptions reads thusly:

A south German style of wheat beer (weissbier) made with a typical ratio of 50:50, or even higher, wheat. A yeast that produces a unique phenolic flavors of banana and cloves with an often dry and tart edge, some spiciness, bubblegum or notes of apples. Little hop bitterness, and a moderate level of alcohol. The "Hefe" prefix means "with yeast", hence the beers unfiltered and cloudy appearance. Poured into a traditional Weizen glass, the Hefeweizen can be one sexy looking beer. Often served with a lemon wedge, to either cut the wheat or yeast edge, which many either find to be a flavorful snap ... or an insult and something that damages the beer's taste and head retention.

So basically we're talking about a pale, German wheat beer. Sounds good to me. I had one this weekend, since they were some bar's special o'the day, and I rather enjoyed it. The only other Hefe I've ever had was by my old favorite micro brew guy, so I'll have to expand my repertoire before I personally pass further judgment.

Sidenote: I also had a Samuel Smith's Nut Brown Ale this weekend. It was like a little chocolate-nut beer party in my mouth. Happiness for a Beer Sort of Girl, to be sure.

Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?

Beer Post! Since this was the week of my adventures in Chi town, I wanted to pick a Chicago beer. However, I find myself really wanting to feature a beer I has IN Chicago, but is not necessarily unique to the geography. Hence, today is a double bonus Beer Friday. That's right, 2 beers in one day. Can you even stand it?

The first is a product of Rock Bottom Breweries. They used to have a location close to me, but it closed a few years ago, and so I haven't had Rock Bottom beer in quite some time. I seriously doubted it would be anything special. For the most part I was right, but it was free, and therefore much better than if I had paid my own money for it. With this in mind, I give it to the points-earners, also for free. Don't you love it? Yes, you moochers, you love free stuff, just like me.

Here are the locations of their restaurants. I had a few Erik the Red Ales, so that's what ya get. Very hoppy, a little tangy, and a little too much to drink as fast as I did. :) This picture is NOT from Rock Bottom, but it's a red, so I'm using it for illustration purposes only.

Second offering here is a Chicago beer. While I did not go to Goose Island this trip, (blame someone's wife for that,) I have been to the bar location in Wrigleyville in the past. I love these types of places, and Goose Island's Nut Brown Ale is just so damn good. Their website's description:

Brewed in the English tradition, Nut Brown Ale combines the finest domestic and imported malts to produce a chestnut-hued ale of unusual complexity. Subtle notes of chocolate, honey and fine tobacco give this world champion ale an enjoyable and satisfying "nutty" finish.

I gave up on the summery beers this week. I wonder if visiting Chicago had anything to do with that. It wasn't cold or anything, but there's something about that place that makes you feel as if everyone eats & drinks a little heartier than in other places. Not MUCH heartier, mind you. Y'all know that I'm a midwestern girl too!

I hope that you enjoy the "nutty" finish on your free beer. I'm looking forward to enjoying a nutty finish of this week. Whew. I can't believe Friday actually arrived this week at all. I'm so Loverboy.

Kalamazoo

Beer Post!

Two Hearted Ale from Kalamazoo Brewing Company is an IPA with juicy/citrusy flavor, and kind of a kick on the back-end. Excellent summer beer! AND...I found a place that serves it here, in my bad beer town. Happiness!

Their site describes it thusly:
India Pale Ale style well suited for Hemingway-esque trips to the Upper Peninsula. American malts and enormous hop additions give this beer a crisp finish and incredible floral hop aroma.

I have to comment, though, that they should really work on their labels. I'm a picky bitch when it comes to packaging, and this really ain't doin' it for me. And really? It's all about me.

Next week I think I'll be picking something from my Chi-town jaunt. I'm leaving tomorrow for the windy city, to bug a friend, crash on her couch and generally try not to be a mooch. I've been promised that I can take her out to dinner at least, to pay her back. Beer will be involved. And then I have to attend a conference to get some learnin' before I come home next week. I mean, my employer IS paying for the trip, so it's only fair that I bring something back with me besides beer, receipts for beer and memories clouded by beer, right?

I'll miss The Husband, and The Dog, and even you guys. But I promise to have fun anyway. :)

You're Pretty When I'm Drunk

I signed up to be a member of BeerAdvocate.com this week. Dear lord, how I love this site! It will inspire me for years. And in looking over our past beers, I realize that I needed the help. Some have been great, some have been horrific. I know. But I'm dealing with some demons here. I used to be a beer snob. Light anything was never good enough for me. Too bland, too nothing, too flavorless. And then I decided that I should go on a diet. And now I drink lights because I don't have the will power to only have one of anything. If I did, I would pick one excellent full bodied beer, and be happy. But that's not me. I'm still watching my oh-so-girlish figure, so I can't go all out for the gutsy, heavy, dark beers all of the time. And it's summer, so I automatically want something lighter and colder. But I just can't serve Miller or Bud around here any more. I just can't DO IT. So I'm taking baby steps into more exciting beer lands. This week's beer is what The Husband & I have been drinking all week at home.

According to the Boston Beer Company:
Sam Adams Light is not just a lighter version of Samuel Adams Boston Lager® but rather the culmination of over two years of tireless research and brewing trials to create a flavorful Light beer. And it has proved to be worth the wait. Brewed using only the finest two row malt and German Noble hops it has a smooth, complex roasted malt character that is superbly balanced with the subtle orange fruit notes of the Noble hops. Sam Adams Light® finishes crisp and smooth without any lingering bitterness, leaving you yearning for more.

In Beer Girl language, it's a light beer that tastes more like a real beer. It has flavor. Some light beer drinkers will not like that about this beer. But that's why I love it.

I'm going to try for a patriotic tie-in, what with this being the Fourth of July weekend & all. Here's my half assed attempt, in VH-1's This to That in So Many Steps Style.

San Adams used Ben Affleck as a celebrity spokesperson....Ben Affleck dated Jennifer Lopez....who was in The Wedding Planner with Fred Willard....who was in Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle with Jamie Kennedy...who starred in the Boiler Room with Sean Caan....son of James Caan...who was in Dick Tracy with Dustin Hoffman...who played in Rain Man...with Tom Cuise...who starred in Born on the Fourth of July!

See? sam Adams IS Patriotic. :) Happy Holiday Weekend!

Take It Or Leave It

First things first. Intro the beer FIRST, and then say who's drinking it in the next post. Yes, excellent idea. And as my post title should tell you, if you don't want what I'm offering, don't take it.

There used to be a tiny little brewpub in this town. It was in a weird space, in a strip mall, owned and completely operated by a guy & his wife. There was only ONE brewing vat, and it was about 3 feet away from the bar, so it was truly a MICRO-brew place. This guy made the best beer I've ever had, and his wife turned out some mean pizza. They moved to Hawaii several years ago, and my life hasn't been the same since.

One of this guys' best brews was a Birch Porter. Yes, birch beer! But not like carbonated soda junk. This was dark, smooth, and I loved it. I haven't been able to find another like it. Birch beers are not all that common, especially in the midwest. I went on a virtual quest to find a birch beer, to order from anywhere & ship to myself, or at least go buy while I am going galavanting around the country this summer. And sadly, I came up empty handed. So if you know of where I can order real live alcoholic birch beer, PLEASE let me know. In the meantime, here's what I'll be tiding myself over with:

Birch Beam
8 oz of Birch Beer (soda)
2 1/2 oz of Jim Beam

Whine. It's just not quite the same.

Wild Honey

The beer today is Leinenkugel's Honey Weiss. The site describes it:
Select malted wheat, Cluster hops and a hint of Wisconsin honey give this unique refresher a clean, crisp, slightly sweet taste. Winner of four awards (Silver in the World Beer Cup®: 2000 & 2004; Gold in 2002 and Silver in the 1998 Great American Beer Festival®) in the American-Style Wheat Ale or Lager category.


Available in cans and bottles. Here is where you can buy Leinies. Mostly mid-west, so sorry to you coastal peeps.

My Homies

Found a fantabulous recipe for grilling steak, WITH BEER! Yeah. I love you, BeerAdvocate.

Stuff you need:
*Thick-cut, well-marbled steaks
*1 bottle of Dopplebock (Thomas Hooker Liberator, Ayinger Celebrator or even Sam Adams's Triple Bock)
*Broccoli (1 average-sized head, per person)
*Parmesan cheese (half a cup or so)
*Chopped garlic (as much as you want)
*Salt and pepper
*Olive oil (a few tablespoons)
*Yellow and orange tomatoes (1 of each, per person)
*Balsamic dressing

Stuff to do:
1. Get an airtight container, drop the steak in, and pour the entire bottle of bock over the steak. Seal the container and give it a good shake, then stick it in the fridge at least overnight or up to 24 hours, re-shaking occasionally.

2. When it’s time to grill, simply slap that doppelbock-soaked piece of meat on the grill and get cooking. Personally, we don’t like our steak cooked more than medium rare; anything more is a waste of meat and its goodness. And besides, you just killed any bacteria by soaking it in alcohol.

3. While the steak is grilling, steam up the broccoli, then mix it gently with the olive oil. Shake in the parmesan cheese and chopped garlic (to your preference), then add salt and pepper to taste.

4. Chop up the tomatoes length-wise into meaty slices, then arrange on a small plate and splash on just a bit of that balsamic dressing.

5. Recommended: You can always reduce the leftover beer marinade by cooking it down on low heat, then drizzle it over the finished steak. Feel no need to add anything to it; the beer is tasty by itself and even more so when blended with the juice from the steak.

Pair with more doppelbock beer, or contrast with something light, like a pale ale or lager. Now go forth and grill with beer ...

Damn, stomach, stop your growling. I *know* it's lunchtime.

Rainy Day

Today is FRIDAY. And FRIDAY is BEER DAY. And not just to please PlatinumGirl, although I'm sure she will be happy to see it, today's beer is Sierra Nevada Pale Ale.

Beer review stolen from BeerAdvocate.com:

Pours out with a 1"head thats holds up most of the way, with some foamy lacing. Appearance is a gorgeous transparant amber color with lots of bubbles and a little yeast settlement. Absolutely beautiful. The aroma is all about the citrusy hops and piney spices. Very appropriate for a brewery located at the junction of the Cascades and the Sierras...very nice.Taste is even better....mirroring the aroma but with a slightly more bitter hop taste, some floral esters....yeast is very prominant here, even for a bottle-conditioned APA. Some grainy malts are subtle here(that's what I prefer anyway), just enough to provide some balance to those wonderful hops. Mouthfeel is great, with a medium body and the perfect amount of carbonation. Very crisp, biting finish and the best dry afteraste I've ever had in a APA or even an IPA, for that matter. This is THE preeminent West Coast pale ale, and for good reason. It's great by itself, or it pairs well with most anything. A favorite snack of mine involves paring it w/ jack, colby, and medium or sharp chedder followed by a jonagold apple when you're done with your beer. Try it, it's great!!

Holiday

Today's beer is Yuengling Lager. The only reason I have had this beer, and in great volumes, is due to the fact that one of my friends from college was from Pennslyvania, or PA, as he called it. Anyway, he would make the road trip several times a year, and make it back here with cases of this stuff, raving about how amazing it was. The Yuengling Brewery is supposed to be the oldest in the US, and I believe them. Their traditional lager is nothing crazy, zany or oddly flavored. It's just good, solid, classic beer, amber colored, and pretty mild in terms of hoppy flavoring. Great cold cold cold. I've only had it from a bottle, so I can't argue bottle vs. draught. You can't buy it here in the mid-west, so I'm sort of bending my own new rules to include it.

Story of My Life

I just got back from Puerto Rico, which was a work trip, and I am on my way to a less exotic destination now. Beer? Yes please. Lots of it.
I have zero creativity in me right now. Beer is El Presidente, from the Dominican Republic, because I liked it quite a lot. From Brian's Beer Belly: "Brewed in Santo Domingo, the capitol of the beautiful if impoverished nation that shares a border with the even more impoverished Haiti, Presidente is the Domincan’s most popular beer. Despite the spanish speaking natives of the DR the bottle proudly declares in English that Presidente is brewed "With a Fine Selection of Malting Hops, Barley, and Corn Grits." So the Dominicans aren’t that adept at advertising. At first smell the golden liquid seems a tad skunky, but so does Molsen so let’s get beyond that shall we? The pilsner type beer provides a crisp taste that is not unlike Red Stripe or Rolling Rock. Hey, this stuff isn’t a fat beer lovers dream. It doesn’t taste like anything special but that’s what is so great about it. This beer is meant to be enjoyed on a hot summer day when the temperature in the shade reaches into the hundreds."

Too Much of Anything

I'm not in a beer mood.

I know!

Drinks at Beer Girl's Blog this week are bad rum punch concoctions. Mostly Hawaiian Punch and Bacardi Gold. I've made pitchers and pitchers of the stuff to keep you all busy while I am in Puerto Rico. I hope you don't get sick. Red punch puke is not something I'd like to see or smell when I get home. As a bonus, THIS GUY will be here to help you with your drunken rum punch mission while I am gone. Doesn't he just look like he can't wait to pour those drinks for you? I bet he'll hit on all you after you've had a few!


Sorry if you know this guy, I just thought it was an awesome pic. Poor guy, it's probably just a personal photo from some vacation, and here I am using it for my own amusement.

If you're mad it's not beer, I'm sure I have some plain old Bud Light or Miller Lite in the fridge too.

Salsa de Noche

It's Cinco de Mayo. Ole! It's also my brother-in-law's birthday. Happy Birthday, little dude. I can't believe it's still going to be another year before you can have a beer on your birthday. ~sigh~ It's ok, I promise to drink one for you today.

Actually, since it is Cinco de Mayo, I am temporarily abandoning my beer platform. There are frosty margaritas for everybody right here. It's not Beer Friday yet, so I don't feel like counting up everyone's points. You lucky visitors, Margarita Thursday is for EVERYONE!


God, I could use a drink.