Birth of a lager

Actually, this is about the birth of all lager but, saying a lager just sounded better. The story goes this way. Beer, throughout most of human history, has been ale. When you hear anthropologists speculate that humans came out the hunting grounds and invented agriculture and therefore civilization, it was so they could make beer, [...]

Is this a fight a brewer should pick?

Beer tends to cross all lines: political, gender, national, class, race, etc. Beer lovers, passionate beer lovers inhabit every station of the human condition. So, is it wise for a brewer to take a position on a politically fraught issue? I’m talking about fracking. No, not the lame slip past the censors by the writers [...]

Beer is like… well, practically everything.

This is about one of my pet peeves. Beer is the red-headed step-child of the drinks industry. For some reason, probably the price, beer has the reputation of being the basest form of alcohol. That might have been a defensible perception 30 years ago, but not today. The quality and selection of beer at most [...]

Budweiser, champion once again

It’s been a while since Budweiser has been high on anyone’s list. The brand still sells strong but I believe that’s just force of habit on the part of many beer vendors and drinkers. As the symbol of mega-brewers, Budweiser has been on craft beer lovers’ shit list for a long time. Then, after the [...]

German beer sales on the rise

Did you feel that this morning? The world just seemed a little righter. The earth seems to be spinning a little more smoothly on its axis. Things are just a little more in order this week than last. If you detected that vague feeling of betterness this morning when you woke up, it’s probably because [...]

Dear Whiskaliburr

Dear Whiskaliburr, I still think about you. I think about the first time. “I love this beer, this Milwaukee’s Best,” I said. “And I love this whiskey, this Jim Beam. I doubt I could love either of them more than I already do.” But I could. I drank an inch of the beer and I [...]

The great buggy chase of 2011

I don’t generally blog about the law and order side of beer. I can’t deny that there are some people out there who never learned to drink responsibly and, as a result, do stupid things and break the law. It’s a fact of life but I don’t see any reason to dwell on it when [...]

Must Love Dogs

NOTE: Before reading this story, understand that I have no desire, never have had a desire, and never will have a desire to have sexual relations with any animal that does not meet the strict qualifications necessary for membership into the human race. Enjoy! I have an abrasive sense of humor. It pushes the envelope… [...]

Fast food ‘n’ beer

Remember when you first heard of beer being sold in fast food restaurants. It was probably from some buddy who’d been told by his buddy whose sister had seen beer for sale in McDonald’s in France. Maybe you didn’t believe it because it just seemed too odd. If you’re like me, you found it curious [...]

A Camping We Will Po (Po)

SHOONK-SHOONK-SHOONK! Summer is a great time for camping. Camping is a great time for drinking. Teenagers know this. Unfortunately for teenagers, cops know this too. Nineteen, cheap, and on summer break from college, my friends and I picked the campsite at the top of the road strategically. If a patrol car came through, we’d see [...]