I’m a day late on this announcement, but only because the internet was a day late on drawing my attention to this news. According to Craftbeer.com, the official home of American Craft Beer Week (ACBW) …

ACBW will be recognized May 14 – 20, 2012 and offers an exciting opportunity for small and independent craft brewers and the community of better beer retailers to celebrate the ever advancing beer culture here in the U.S. Plus, tens of thousands of today’s beer beginners, beer enthusiasts, and hard core beer geeks make time to toast the week.

What the f**k did I tell you last week? Drinkers- especially those of beer- looove to celebrate things. Can’t say they’re reaching for it in this case, either.

Though I once worshipped the cheap stuff, smaller breweries with more complex- and admittedly slightly pricier- beers have held my hand along the transformation from frat boy to frat responsible adult.

As the focus is not only on American beer, but truly local American beer, the celebrations will obviously differ depending upon what part of the country you call home, but do a little googling and I’m sure you’ll find a bar or brewery throwing a little somethin’-somethin’.

My favorite part about ACBW isn’t the beer if that’s possible, but the surprising discovery that the United States House of Representatives has passed TWO resolutions in support of the week of recognition. And they aren’t just resolute. They are patriotic, passionate, vibrant declarations of the importance of craft beer in the United States.

True or not, embellished or maybe embellished, I don’t care. If you have ever doubted your beer love for a second, you check out what House Resolutions 753 and 1297 have to say TO YOU:

109th Congress, 2d Session, House Resolution 753 (Commending American Craft Brewers, passed in 2006):

Whereas American craft brewers are a vibrant affirmation and expression of American entrepreneurial traditions, operating as community-based small businesses and providing employment for more than 33,000 workers;

Whereas the United States has craft brewers in every State and more than 1,300 craft brewers nationwide;

Whereas American craft brewers promote the Nation’s spirit of independence through a renaissance in hand-crafted beers like those first brought to colonial shores by European settlers and produced here by the Nation’s founding father, including George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, for the enjoyment of the citizenry;

111th Congress, 2d Session, House Resolution 1297 (Supporting the goals and ideals of American Craft Beer Week, passed in 2010):

Whereas in 2009, 110 new breweries opened, creating jobs and improving economies in communities across the United States;

Whereas American craft brewers employ nearly 100,000 full- and part-time workers and generate more than $3,000,000,000 in wages and benefits;

Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the House of Representatives-
…(3) encourages beer-lovers of the United States to celebrate American Craft Beer Week through events at microbreweries, brewpubs, and beer stores across the United States to appreciate the accomplishments of craft brewers.

Now, those were just excerpts (download the full versions at the ACBW website, but you get the picture. America, Beer, America, American Beer, Beer is America, Congress says drink beer.

So what are you waiting for?! Drink beer or else the FBI is coming for you! (And I know these things- I got a 4 in AP Gov (If you got a 5, I don’t wanna hear about it.))

~Don Julian

REFERENCES

CraftBeer.com & American Craft Beer Week: http://www.craftbeer.com/pages/news-and-events/american-craft-beer-week/aboutNo Tags

Now those are all good and fun, but I like a positive spin when picking my adjectives, so I just refer to our community as immensely celebratory.

St. Patrick’s Day, Halloween, Independence Day, Memorial Day, Bastille Day if you’re feeling cultural. Any time of the year, drinkers will find a reason to justify their habit.

Most of the time, it’s a stretch (“Columbus day? Really?”) But every now and then, things work out so perfectly- line up so very precisely- that you shouldn’t even feel a twinge of guilt for day drinking.

Ladies and gentlemen, we are on the eve of one such time.

Tomorrow is:

• Cinco de Mayo: A celebration of heritage commemorating the Mexican army- outnumbered 2-to-1- against the occupying French army’s attack on Fort Puebla in 1862. Also a celebration of tequila, Mexican beer, and strong margaritas-often 2-for-1.
• The Kentucky Derby: “The Most Exciting Two Minutes in Sports”, a 137-year-old horse race marked by seersucker, floppy hats, and mint juleps. Oh- and a complete disregard by young drunks for the class, tradition, and heritage associated with the event (see Cinco de Mayo).
• Mayweather-Cotto: Non-boxing fans may consider this a stretch, and those who know me well may be puzzled by the fact that a pacifist, fairly non-sporty guy as myself is hailing this as a reason for celebration. To that, I say two things: (A) I thought I made it clear that I am completely willing to stretch for a holiday. (B) In his last fight, the undefeated Mayweather won with a “technically wasn’t, but totally was a” sucker punch and then nearly came to blows with the almost sixty-something announcer. Plus, he’s going to jail in like four days. Something worth seeing will happen at this fight.

Anyways, my point is, Cinco and the Derby will happen every year, and assuming he doesn’t punch any septuagenarians tomorrow, Mayweather will fight again. But three such booze-fueled events may not fall on the same day any time soon. Opportunities don’t come along every year, maybe not even every decade. Make. This. Count.

Mix of a Julep Margarita. Play some Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots while doing Tequila Rapidos. Throw on your boxing gloves, eat some tacos, mix up a mint julep (probably best done in reverse order).

I could leave you with more suggestions and try to whip up a recipe or two, but I’m honestly on vacation and need to figure out how I’m going to figure out this MegaZord of a holiday myself. Be creative. You can do this.

Happy Seersucker, Sombreros, and Sucker Punches to all.

~Don Julian

REFERENCES

Wikipedia. Seriously, I’m on vacation. Gimme a break.No Tags

As you may or may not remember, I posted about 5 weeks ago about a series of viral videos that poked fun at- as the video itself calls them- “Today’s Beer Geek”. It’s a clever little series that seems to have one unifying message: “Quit getting so high-and-mighty about your beer, people.”

A few days ago, I was delighted to find that the creator of these videos, under his pseudonym “John Smith”, left a thorough explanation of each of the videos (including 2 new ones: http://vimeo.com/38795581) along with a bit on why he made the videos to begin with. (UPDATE: He copied and pasted an explanation he’d written in his Vimeo profile, but still, worth the read. John Smith, if you’re out there, message me. I’d love to do a phone interview. We can keep you anonymous)

I’ve included the post below because I doubt many of you read the comments; check it out. I agree with him 100%, but the only thing I’ll point out is that websites like BeerAdvocate and RateBeer are not evil in and of themselves (nor do I think John Smith is accusing them of being so). I personally have never rated a beer, and though I may be a bit guilty of seeking out those that are rated highest, I most often use BeerAdvocate to discover new styles and the beers that are representative of those styles. Just as often, however, I will go to the store with no direction, wait until something catches my eye, and hope it’s delicious. Even if it’s not the best thing I’ve ever tasted, I’ll make sure to enjoy the hell out of it because, after all, it is beer.

~Don Julian

JOHN SMITH’S POST

So this is where I come in and tell you exactly why I made these “Today’s Beer Geek” videos. For one, because it’s funny. And two, to really give these “internet beer geek” types a reality check.

Do you remember the days before BeerAdvocate and RateBeer? Remember going beer shopping? You would buy something because it looked and/or sounded good. You explored. You had mostly no clue what was in the bottle until you tried it. You purchased everything your local bottleshop(s) had to offer because there were no biased beer-consumer rating websites and smartphones to access those websites at retail to influence your purchasing decisions (which, these ratings progressively become more biased due to the fact that newer ratings are influenced by previous high ratings, and these guys consume these beers under the pre-conceived notion that it MUST be good and that they should give it a good rating).

What ever happened to purchasing a beer SOLELY for enjoyment? These “beer geeks” can’t enjoy a single beer without a.) posting a picture of it to Facebook, b.) logging that beer in on Untappd, c.) rating that beer on BeerAdvocate, and d.) copying and pasting their BeerAdvocate rating onto Ratebeer. I’ll tell you what, nothing beats leisurely enjoying a good beer in your backyard on a beautiful day. What happened to that? I wouldn’t doubt if most of their beer drinking takes place at their desk all alone in front of their computer or something. I feel these “beer geek” types have completely lost themselves and have strayed too far from what enjoying a beer is all about. Who cares how many IBU it is, who cares how high the ABV is. How does it taste? Like it?

I am going to vaguely break down for you each video I made and why I made them:

1.) TODAY’S NEW WAVE OF SO-CALLED “BEER GEEK”:
This is just a general outline of the process this “new wave of beer geek” takes to get into craft beer. He is on a lazy quest to become a beer expert; he has no intention of learning how to brew at home, and he has no intention of genuinely educating himself on what beer actually is and/or what certain brewing practices and techniques contribute to beer. I like to equate it to following major league baseball, but without actually ever playing catch or even having the intent to throw a ball around. My advice to consumers looking to dive in to craft beer … “stay off the internet.” Taste is completely subjective and you will find, on your own, what you like, and also what you don’t like. I feel that the process taken to “get into beer” in this video can be damaging to an enthusiastic craft consumer the perception of the beer industry/community. Also, the Cicerone exam is stupid, pointless, a false accreditation, and nothing but a GENIUS business venture. If the Cicerone program was created solely to promote and grow beer education, it would be an NPO, and fees would be limited to only covering administrative costs. However, I am all about capitalism, and so I commend Ray Daniels.

2.) TODAY’S “BEER GEEK” GOES BEER SHOPPING:
Self-explanatory. We’ve all seen this happen at retail one too many times. It cracks us up, but at the same time I think I can safely say “that guy” irritates the hell out of us. Why discriminate and disregard all of the other fantastic liquids other brewers produce just because it’s not Pliny? Try something new instead if no Pliny is available.

3.) TODAY’S “BEER GEEK” GOES TO A BREWFEST:
If it’s not hoppy and boasting a high ABV, “beer geeks” don’t want it. Often times at these festivals, these guys will immediately dive into consuming IPAs. And here’s something that shows just how uneducated these guys are … they do not realize just how much of a palate killer IPAs really are, and that’s basic knowledge. After one or two, everything tastes the same (which is another reason why “IPA fests” can be pretty pointless to attend). I was at a brewfest recently in which Russian River was attending (it was actually a distributor pouring that day), and the first five guys in line to get in kept talking about “Pliny Pliny Pliny …”; and immediately when they opened the gates to the festival, they bolted, at full speed, to the Russian River booth to get a taste of Pliny. If there were any other beers there that could have potentially struck a chord with each of them individually, they would have missed out because they had began their day consuming palate-killing imperial IPA.

4.) TODAY’S “BEER GEEK” LEARNS HOW TO HOMEBREW:
He actually doesn’t learn how to homebrew because he spends all of his money (which could go toward brewing equipment and ingredients) buying expensive “top list” beers and spends all of his time (which could be spent on a good ol’ fashioned brew day and BBQ with friends) blogging and rating them online. A high count of beer ratings on your BeerAdvocate and RateBeer profiles does not make you cool, it is meaningless. Sunglasses, however, make you cool.

5.) TODAY’S “BEER GEEK” OBTAINS A GLASS OF PLINY THE YOUNGER:
Self-explanatory; it’s just beer.

The videos I made were created with no intention of malice or hate. They were simply created to poke fun and, to an extent, deliver a bit of a reality check to these guys straying from what beer is intended for. It is merely a consumer product intended to promote social activity, fun, and flat-out enjoyment. It is never to be taken too seriously. I became a little curious recently and ended up doing a little digging to find some consumer feedback on these videos in some favorite consumer beer-centric sites, and WOW … these people really dissected these videos and some even took great offense. Often times I wanted to chime in and say “alright guys come on now, they were just created for fun. Simple as that. If you can’t laugh at yourself, then you should probably try and lighten up a bit. It’s only beer.”

Each video I made took weeks of producing written scripts, storyboards, editing, etc. I put my blood, sweat, and tears into those videos, and I hope you enjoyed them. I use the name “John Smith” because knowledge of who created these videos could be damaging to my professional career.

Cheers, guys.

No Tags

In Bavaria, two dukes passed the Reinheitsgebot- or purity ordinance- to impose regulations on the creation and selling of beer. The crux of it, or at least the bit which it’s famous for today, is this:

Furthermore, we wish to emphasize that in future in all cities, markets and in the country, the only ingredients used for the brewing of beer must be Barley, Hops and Water. Whosoever knowingly disregards or transgresses upon this ordinance, shall be punished by the Court authorities’ confiscating such barrels of beer, without fail.

I know you’re upset by the talk of confiscation of beer, but let’s backpedal for a second.

Barley, hops, water. Nothing else. Anyone who knows a thing or two about brewing (or science) may notice an important ingredient missing: yeast. Now, I don’t know anything about science, but I’ve only heard of yeast because of listening to people talk about beer, so I was curious myself.

The thing is, Pasteur didn’t come along to figure out fermentation until the 1800′s. It was still happening, but completely by accident, as brewers generally used a bit of sediment from the last batch of beer to make the next. Just enough yeast was saved in this sediment to work it’s magic (again, I’m not a science guy) on the beer.

So, that’s cool, right? We care about people caring about beer. And that’s what this “purity ordinance” was. It was people coming together to say, no shortcuts, these are the ingredients that make good beer, so don’t use anything else to make them. Right?

Wrong. According to Wired’s “This Day In Tech: April 23rd, 2010″, it had little to do with beer and more to do with bread. Betsy Mason reports:

Ensuring cheap bread was critical in times of food scarcity, a real problem for 16th-century Bavaria. While barley is not very digestible and consequently does not make for good eating, grains like wheat and rye are great for bread. The Bavarian leadership wanted to head off competition for those grains, in order to keep the price of food down.

So the purity (and let’s be honest- simplicity) of the beer was really a side-effect to the dukes wanting their people to eat well. I can dig that. Bread tastes great, especially when you’ve had a few beers  (“Hey, Julian. What kind of sandwich are you- oh. Okay. You’re just eating bread plain.”)

According to the article’s beer historian Maureen Ogle, the pure beer angle was taken post World War 2, when Germany’s economy was in bad shape. Exporting beer was one of their best bets, and the Reinheitsgebot was an excellent advertising ploy (“OW-AH AH-MEES MAY HAF BEEN INFURIER, BUT OW-AH BEE-AH ISS NEIN!”).

Of course, the other thing about the “purity” of the “purity ordinance” is that sticking to these four ingredients is constricting and not necessarily resultant in a better brew. Especially with the experimentation of American Craft brewers, many adjuncts are necessary to create the fun, limit-pushing beers we enjoy today. Check out this article from Brewpublic which highlights 5 of the best Reinheitsgebot rule-breakers.

BOTTOMLINE: Beer drinkers love to celebrate, so of course you should celebrate the anniversary of the Reinheitsgebot. You should know, however, that it was a moment in history more than a revolution, and that it was not all about the beer. Now who wants to confiscate some beer and eat a bread sandwich?!

~Don Julian

—

“April 23rd: Bavaria Cracks Down on Beer Brewers” Wired.  http://www.wired.com/thisdayintech/tag/reinheitsgebot/\

“Germany’s Purity Law” http://www.brewery.org/library/ReinHeit.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reinheitsgebot

“Five Beers The Reinheitsgebot Doesn’t Want You To Try… But You Should” Brewpublic. http://brewpublic.com/beer-reviews/5-reinheitsgebot-no-nos/

BONUS READ: http://patto1ro.home.xs4all.nl/reinheit.htm (I really only scratched the surface on this issue. Check out this article on why the Reinheitsgebot is “a load of bollocks”)

 No Tags

I don’t always drink beer. But when I do, it makes microscopic lacerations in my esophagus on the way down.

Less than 24 hours ago, HeinekenUSA announced a voluntary recall of Dos XX Ambar and a handful of other brands they handle. They posted the following to their facebook page:

Recall Alert: Through routine quality inspections, we found a defect on some of our Dos Equis Ambar brown bottles. As a result, we have made the decision to issue a partial, voluntary recall of these affected products. Please view the following video or visit www.HeinekenUSA.com for more information.

It’s no reason to panic as the number of affected bottles is believed to be below 1%, but we at Boozin Blog advocate safe drinking and would hate for any of our fearless readers to try to enjoy a beer with “small grains or particles of glass … [separated] from the inside lip of the bottle and [fallen] into the liquid.”

Here are the affected bottles, from the Heineken website:

• Carta Blanca 12-ounce brown bottles in 6-packs and 12-packs
• Dos Equis Ambar 12-ounce brown bottles in 6-packs and 12-packs
• “Best of Mexico” 12-pack variety package (which contains the impacted Dos Equis Ambar brown bottle and Indio 12-ounce bottles; this pack is sold only in Texas)
• “Beers of Mexico” 12-pack and 24-pack variety packages (which contains the impacted Dos Equis Ambar brown bottle

Affected Product by State

PACKAGE	Dos Equis Ambar (6-pk;12-pk)	Carta Blanca (6-pk;12-pk)	Beers of Mexico (12-pk)	Beers of Mexico (24-pk)	Best of Mexico (12-pk)
State	1. AL 2. AR 3. AZ 4. CA 5. CO 6. CT 7. DC 8. FL 9. GA 10.IA 11.IL 12.IN 13.KS 14.KY 15.LA 16.MA 17.MD 18.MI 19.MN 20.MO 21.MS 22.NC 23.ND 24.NE 25.NH 26.NJ 27.NM 28.NV 29.NY 30.OH 31.OK 32.OR 33.PA 34.RI 35.SC 36.SD 37.TN 38.TX 39.VA 40.VT 41.WA 42.WI 43.WV	1. AL 2. CA 3. CO 4. CT 5. FL 6. GA 7. IL 8. KY 9. LA 10.MD 11.MN 12.MO 13.NC 14.NE 15.NJ 16.NM 17.OH 18.OK 19.PA 20.TX 21.WA	1. AZ 2. CA 3. WA 4. OR	1. AL 2. AZ 3. CA 4. FL 5. GA 6. IL 7. LA 8. MI 9. MO 10.NH 11.NY 12.OR 13.PA 14.TX 15.VA 16.WA	1. TX

Affected Production Codes (refer to first nine digits of the 13 digit code on the bottle)

1. 2068484AC 2. 2069484AC 3. 2070484AC 4. 2071484AC 5. 2072484AC 6. 2073484AC 7. 2074484AC 8. 2075484AC 9. 2076484AC 10.2077484AC 11.2078484AC 12.2079484AC 13.2080484AC 14.2081484AC 15.2082484AC 16.2083484AC 17.2084484AC 18.2085484AC 19.2086484AC 20.2087484AC 21.2088484AC 22.2089484AC 23.2090484AC

24.2091484AC 25.2092484AC 26.2093484AC 27.2094484AC 28.2095484AC 29.2096484AC 30.2097484AC 31.2098484AC 32.2099484AC 33.2100484AC 34.2068484FE 35.2069484FE 36.2070484FE 37.2071484FE 38.2072484FE 39.2073484FE 40.2074484FE 41.2075484FE 42.2076484FE 43.2077484FE 44.2078484FE 45.2079484FE 46.2080484FE

47.2081484FE 48.2082484FE 49.2083484FE 50.2084484FE 51.2085484FE 52.2086484FE 53.2087484FE 54.2088484FE 55.2089484FE 56.2090484FE 57.2091484FE 58.2092484FE 59.2093484FE 60.2094484FE 61.2095484FE 62.2096484FE 63.2097484FE 64.2098484FE 65.2099484FE 66.2100484FE 67.2086484FE 68.2086484FE

 No Tags

Though the name might imply red velvet ropes and disapproving looks from wealthy people, Exclusiv, from Moldova, is actually well within my price range (which means it’s definitely within yours) at just over ten bucks for a fifth.

Here’s what I know: It was smooth and tasty, even enjoyed straight. I could take a stab at picking apart the flavor minutia, but I wouldn’t be half as skilled as our friends at WineAnthology.com:

“Clear. Faint aromas of anise, dried citrus, and pastry with a soft, silky light-to-medium body and smooth milk, pepper, and herbal honeycomb notes on the long finish. Excellent smoothness and liveliness.”

Since I stopped making jokes about the word “anise” at least three months ago, I’ll conclude instead with a note on their personality. I dig it. Check out their facebook page and website. They’ve got drink recipes, fan pictures, and even a recipe for bacon-infused vodka, which is clearly the reason I’m okay promoting them. Here’s a picture!

As I always say, if you’re gonna sell out to something, make sure it’s tasty and a promoter of bacon. Now back to our regularly-scheduled programming.

———————————————————-

There’s no such thing as too much Bond (perhaps unless you’re Q*), so I wanted to take you guys down a wiki-tangent I explored while “researching” the last post.

With all this blind rage about 007′s drink of choice, I was moved to investigate something groundbreakingly unorthodox, something few others in the journalism world dared delve into: what did 007 actually drink?

I touched on it a bit in the last article. The martinis were there, yes, but he’s also had his share of bourbon and champagne, among other things. But let’s go all the way to the way back, the classic, the OG Bond drink.

It’s called a Vesper. Not a martini, not a vodka martini, but a Vesper. And it was invented by Ian Fleming- also the inventor of James Bond- for his first Bond novel, Casino Royale

‘A dry martini,’ he said. ‘One. In a deep champagne goblet.’
‘Oui, monsieur.’
‘Just a moment. Three measures of Gordon’s, one of vodka, half a measure of Kina Lillet. Shake it very well until it’s ice-cold, then add a large thin slice of lemon peel. Got it?’
‘Certainly monsieur.’ The barman seemed pleased with the idea.
‘Gosh, that’s certainly a drink,’ said Leiter.
Bond laughed. ‘When I’m…er…concentrating,’ he explained, ‘I never have more than one drink before dinner. But I do like that one to be large and very strong and very cold, and very well-made. I hate small portions of anything, particularly when they taste bad. This drink’s my own invention. I’m going to patent it when I think of a good name.’

— Casino Royale, Chapter 7: Rouge et Noir

First of all, what a confident alcoholic. He basically said, “When I’m… supposed to be getting sh*t done, I fool my brain by making one big-ass, strong drink. It thinks I’m drinking in moderation, but I still get to feed my liver it’s daily allocation of poison.”

Secondly, that was the first Bond drink! Some sort of Vodka-Gin bastard swill. He calls it a martini, sure, (he later dubs it a Vesper, after Casino Royale Bond girl, Vesper Lynd), but that’s not a martini! It’s something 007 made up himself. And while I love the “shaken, not stirred” tagline, I would also find it fan-fricking-tastic if he just went around to bars making sh*t up:

“I’ll need… seven parts bourbon, two parts Grape Four Loko- you have the Grape flavor, right? Good, good. And then three and a half parts- roll with this- Marshmallow Fluff. Stir that, microwave it, stir again, and put in a highball. Boom Shakalaka.”

But let’s refocus. The creator of the suavest dude in fiction also created a bomb-sounding drink. Go grab some Gordon’s, some vodka (might I suggest… Exclusiv?), some Lillet (the aperitif wine has dropped “Kina” and goes simply by Lillet or Lillet Blanc), step into your mixology lab, and give it a try!

One more thing: though I think it’s certainly worth trying the drink exactly as Bond did, Esquire’s David Wondrich gives a couple tips and variations on the drink here, adding some perspective and alleging that 007 might not know everything about inventing a cocktail.

~Don Julian

*SERIOUSLY go watch a Bond movie if you didn’t get that joke.

—

Special thanks again to Exclusiv for the vodka and the bacon recipe!
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/ExclusivVodka
Website: http://www.exclusiv-vodka.com/

WineAnthology.com’s overview of Exclusiv: http://www.wineanthology.com/p-3649-exclusiv-vodka.aspx

Here’s the Wikipedia page for the phrase, “Shaken, not stirred” (Yes, the phrase has its own Wikipedia page): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaken,_not_stirred

Bibliographic info for Casion Royale: Fleming, Ian (1953). Casino Royale. Glidrose Productions. p. 45.ISBN 0-14-200202-X (Stolen from Wikipedia)

Esquire.com’s ”The Wondrich Take: Vesper” by David Wondrich: http://www.esquire.com/drinks/vesper-drink-recipe No Tags

Okay, cool. I know you’re upset for two reasons:

(A) I’ve been away for a second.

(B) James Bond. Heineken. What gives?

As for A, my apologies. I had a beerathon last weekend and it was canceled and it left me distraught. FYI: If you’re ever signed up to take part in a seemingly unorthodox beer tasting event (26 different beers at 26 different bars), shoot the event organizer an e-mail to make sure they’ve squared away the proper permits. In this case, they hadn’t. They pulled the event the day before. It was devastating (and also totally the thing I was planning to blog about last weekend).

As for B, I know, right?! For those of you who aren’t beer geeks or Bond nerds- shame on you- there has been quite the internet ruckus over a recent article in AdAge, where Eric Schultz reports:

In the movie, Bond will swap his trademark martini for a sip of the brew — at least in one scene.

The movie he’s talking about is Skyfall, the newest of the Bond franchise out this fall. The brew is Heineken, who has struck a product placement deal to have Bond drink a Heineken at least once during the film. People are pissed! They’re up in arms! And they have no idea what they’re talking about… yet.

The “shaken, not stirred” martini is, of course, a necessary staple to any Bond film and to omit it from the new film would leave most Bond fans a sour taste of the Daniel Craig bond taking himself too seriously. Can he drink one beer, though? I’m okay with that. As Robert Fure of Film School Rejects points out in a recent “Boiling Point”, Bond never survived on a strict diet of martinis.

You see, in the books James Bond isn’t much of a martini drinker. Various people have counted up the incidents, and he drinks 19 vodka martinis and 16 gin martinis throughout the books … Bond drank champagne more than sixty times in the books, and also guzzled Scotch (with soda) and Bourbon (neat). Combined, his whiskey drinks amount to 99 beverages.

The bottom-line is this: we don’t know enough to be up in arms yet. If Bond has in fact given up martinis entirely, that’s a bit of a problem. But the man is allowed to drink other stuff. I mean, imagine if he didn’t.

“This is the best spy we have: 007!”
“Is he good?”
“The best!”
“Let’s get the man a beer, then!”
“Eh, well- eherm. Actually, he only drinks martinis.”
“…”

It would be pansy-ish. So relax. I will keep my Ear to the Beer (BoozinBlog’s unofficial local news-esque motto) and update whenever possible.

~Don Julian

P.S. For those of you wondering if there’ve been any updates on Ludacris’ ATL airport restaurant, I’m still waiting and even following him on Twitter in hopes of announcements.)

—

AdAge article: “Heineken Plans Major Integration with Bond Flick”

Film School Rejects article: “Chill Out: James Bond Even Drank a Mint Julep Once”

BONUS READ: Forbes article by Larry Olmsted on the evolution of other Bond trademarks (car, gambling, gun, etc.): “James Bond Ditches Martinis for Beer – 007 Fans Cry Sell Out”

 No Tags

Yeah. That’s me right now.

Because at midnight last night, Stephanie Stark, senior at Ohio University, concluded her week-long documentation of a spring break challenge: The Bicentennial (Visit the blog here).

I’ve expressed my love for running back when I let you guys know how overjoyed I was that such a big-name brewer as Sam Adams acknowledged the unspoken tie between beer and running. And if you read that article, you know that I have a minor masochistic obsession with mixing the two (beer mile, 24-24-24).

With all this in mind, The Bicentennial is something I’d heard of before. Kind of like the 24-24-24 on steroids (or maybe just on alcohol), it requires the challenger to consume 100 beers and run 100 miles in one week’s time. I’ve seen it discussed on running blogs and it’s even given a nod in Beermile.com’s list of Beer Mile variations (see other variation, “The Protein Boost 4 Mile Burst”, WARNING: wtf-inducing). But Stephanie’s account is the most thorough, personal, humorous account I’ve ever seen, and is therefore quite notable.

One thing to note: die hard beer runners may take issue with Stephanie’s decision to modify the challenge for her “120 lb. female body”, lowering her beer count to 70 for the week (her two 200 lb. male cohorts did not modify the routine at all). At first, I found this customization disappointing, but upon pondering, I remembered that I haven’t been 120 lbs. for at least ten years, and haven’t been a woman for even longer, so I really have no idea what she’s dealing with. 70 beers and 100 miles in a week still adds up to a sh*t-ton.

So put down The Hunger Games and read about another fearless female warrior figure. I mean Katniss is great, but can she down 70 cold ones?

~Don Julian

P.S. Stephanie- if this ever reaches you… Damn you. Damn you, you awesome, funny b*tch.

—

Special thanks to DraftMag’s Beer Runner for originally reporting, article here (file also under things I hate to love/ love to wish I’d done first).

Stephanie’s Blog: The Bicentennial

Let’s Run thread: “100+ Miles, 100+ Beers… Death Before Dishonor” (Running Forum)

BeerMile.com’s FAQ Page (Beer Mile Interest Website)

Bonus link for reading the references (via BeerPulse via Beerit): http://i.imgur.com/DOloo.jpgNo Tags

Finding the task unmanageable on March 18th (happy day after St. Patrick’s), I went internet hunting for more -taining, less -edu things that would require less thinking on my part. I’m glad I did, because without my laziness and willful narrow-mindedness about beer, I never would have found the below series of videos that pokes fun at beer lovers who are… lazy and willfully narrow-minded about beer (Thanks to John Smith for creating the videos and Beer Pulse for  finding them).

Enjoy.

[I'm having trouble embedding, but do yourself the favor and click through. Don't let the numbers scare you. They're all just links to vimeo]

“Today’s New Wave of ‘So-Called’ Beer Geek.”: 38527325

“Today’s ‘Beer Geek’ Goes Beer Shopping”: 38581012

‘Today’s ‘Beer Geek’ Goes to a Brewfest”: 38649844

~Don Julian

REFERENCES

http://vimeo.com/user10854696

http://www.beerpulse.com/2012/03/a-video-commentary-on-todays-beer-geek/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lager

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ale

 No Tags

As with every year, I picked mostly at random, only letting myself justify a decision when I really, really wanted a friend’s favorite team to lose.

Even though I’m not quite as into sports as I know I’m supposed to be (I write a damned beer blog, after all! Manly things! Tim Allen!), I do love March Madness. It’s a time for people to get irrationally competitive, distracted from other facets of their lives, and generally hilarious to be around. Watching a good friend get exceedingly upset over something entirely unimportant is surely the eighth wonder of the world.

All this being said, I get caught up in the competition myself because… well, there’s just something about brackets that makes everything more exciting!

So imagine my ecstatic yelps of joy when I discovered The Washington Post’s…

Beer Madness.

For the sixth year in a row, The Washington Post is holding their blind taste test to determine the best craft beer available in the D.C. Metropolitan area (I knew I was proud of my DC Metro roots, but I just wasn’t sure what for).

Already into their first round, the beers- starting with 32 brews divided into the styles Crisp, Hops, Roast, and Fruit & Spice- have been whittled down to 16.

Out of the Sweet 16 match-ups, I’m most interested to see how two California powerhouses match up when Stone’s Sublimely Self-Righteous Ale takes on Sierra Nevada’s Stout. It’s also worth noting that last year’s victor, Flying Fish Brewing Co.’s Exit 4 (an Americanized Belgian tripel) is one of the few returning brews and has made it past the first round.

And since brackets are only fun if we pick ‘em, here are my (mostly arbitrary) picks for the rest of the tournament:

Elite 8

Elliot Ness Amber Lager (beats Fordham Helles Lager)
Coney Island Sword Swallower (upsets Victory Prima Pils)
The Bruery’s Saison Rue (beats Troeg’s Dreamweaver Wheat)
Siamese Twin (upsets returning champ, Exit #4)
D.C. Brau’s The Public (upsets New Belgium’s Belgo; home court advantage)
Founder’s Red’s Rye PA (beats Dogfish Head’s Burton Baton)
Allagash Black (beats Maui CoConut Porter)
Sublimely Self-Righteous Ale (beats Sierra Nevada Stout)

Final 4

Coney Island Sword Swallower (beats Elliott Ness Amber Lager)
Saison Rue (bests Siamese Twin)
The Public (upsets Red’s Rye PA)
Sublimely Self-Righteous Ale (beats Allagash Black)

The Championship

Coney Island Sword Swallower (beats Saison Rue)
Sublimely Self-Righteous Ale (finally unseats The Public, which I honestly kept around because it’s a newbie and from DC)

CHAMPION

Sublimely Self-Righteous Ale – Stone

I’d love to rep the East Coast, but I just have a feeling Stone has put forth the strongest contender in this race.

What do you think? Anyone tried enough of these beers to have a legitimately informed opinion? (Of course, if you have, I wouldn’t hear a thing you said since that goes against all that is holy in the world of brackets.)

~Don JulianNo Tags