Boozin’ Blog

They drink.

I’m sorry, was that too sudden? I hope I didn’t shock you too much with the amazing news that young adults in their late teens and early twenties consume alcohol. Perhaps I should have given you more warning. I could have suggested that you sit down before going on but statics show that 87.6% of people sit down to read blogs. (The remaining 12.4% of blog readers are sprawled out on the floor or on their couches with a laptop.)

Anyway, where was I going?

Oh, right, the shocking revelation about alcohol consumption amoung college students. Yup, the revelation is that it exists.

But see, some attendees at a recent winter commencement at the University of Wisconsin – Madison weren’t properly warned. Apparently they were so unaware of the fact that college kids enjoy the occasional cocktail or beer that when they were told of this practice in a public speech they were completely scandalized. Here are some of the jarring references to drinking that they had to suffer through while listening to Savannah Ziegelbauer’s speech:

“I prefer to tell people that graduating in four years is like leaving the party at 11, and Badgers don’t leave the party at 11. We stick around until the very end, until the beer runs out.”

“Well, my friends, the keg that was tapped four or more years ago has run dry, and now it is time to quite literally sober up.”

“…maybe you wish you would have spent more time memorizing your lecture notes and less time memorizing the nightly bar specials”

“We’ve failed exams, suffered through broken hearts and have been rejected from organizations, majors and the bars when we weren’t 21.”

“But with the help of our peers, professors, advisors and better fake IDs, we’ve picked ourselves up and climbed to the top of the hill with abandon.”

Open up, Ziegelbauer, its time to wash you mouth out with some LifeBouy. Language like that simply won’t be tolerated by the good folk of Madison.

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Malt Advocate, a whisky magazine, has named its pick for the microdistillery of the year. Before I tell you who the honoree is, take a guess where it’s located. Scotland? Ireland? Kentucky? Nope. Nope. And Nope.

The big winner for 2008 is Penderyn Distillery in Wales. Who knew there was good whisky made in Wales? Well, besides the Welsh, I suppose.

But what’s a microdistillery? This word caught my eye because I’ve been amused to watch the rise and of a similar term – microbrew. Beginning sometime in the 80’s and then getting big in the 90’s were the now virtually unheard of microbrews. Ever wonder what happened to them? Many slipped out of existence thanks to their own success.

See, the word micro necessarily implies smallishness. At the time they were making the inescapable comparison between themselves and the evil megabrews – Bud, Miller, Coors. Everyone loves a good David and Goliath story so it was quite a lot of fun to watch the microbrews march onto stores and take up their rightful space on the shelves. It wasn’t long, though, before beer geeks were explaining to themselves and their patient loved ones that Sam Adams and Sierra Nevada weren’t really micros. To qualify as a microbrewery one had to brew X or less amount of beer. One by one beloved microbreweries were becoming micros no more but *gasp* megas!

Fortunately the Brewers Association and others started using the term craft beer and microbrew has virtually fallen out of use. However, the somewhat more ambiguous distinct of “craft” makes the lines between the former micros and the establishment beers against which they were rebelling somewhat less bright.

But how long can a term like microdistllery last? The clock is already running. One distinction of microdistillery according to Malt Advocate is that the distillery can only be ten years old or younger. In this case micro is more about age than size which is a fascinating choice. Suppose a whisky maker remains small and innovative purposefully sacrificing growth for creativity. I guess after ten years we’ll just have to call them craft distillers.

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After last night’s historic election here in the US you might be wondering what’s on Barack’s to-do list. Well, we don’t often break news here at the Boozin’ Blog but we have an exclusive. In addition to putting together a cabinet for his new administration and picking out the right D.C. schools for Malia and Natasha he’s got some beer business to take care of.

We know that he’s enjoyed both Pabst and Yuengling. On the campaign trail he once specifically ordered a PBR. Another time he was handed a beer that he didn’t recognize. After asking if it was some sort of designer beer he was assured that the Yuengling in his hand was not only a regional favorite but an historic American brand.

So lift a can, bottle, or glass of whatever you’re having and join us in toasting Barack Obama. We wish him well in the new job.

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No doubt the results will affect many of us deeply once the votes are counted and the nation – even the world – has to find a way to deal with the outcome.

I mean, this must be decided – is it called beer pong or Beirut? A poll has been put up at CollegeHumor.com to resolve this most important issue.

Sure, Beirut has a classy flare but beer pong has a beautiful sort of utilitarianism.

And this isn’t the only dispute that this poll seeks to resolve. It also addresses issues such as 6 cup vs. 10 or 12, bounce rules, body parts on tables, and can girls blow out spinning balls. These are indeed important issues.

OK, so this will resolve nothing. The poll has been up for a while now with about one quarter of the votes going to Beirut and the rest going for beer pong. But the debate rages on in the comments section and makes for interesting reading.

So go! Vote! Debate! It’s your duty as a member of Beer Pong Nation.

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Her name was Elizabeth and I fell in love with her whilst sitting right across the table from my wife.

Here’s how it happened:
After spending a miserable day making our way through airport security and a DEElightful flight on Screaming Baby Airlines we finally found our way to the downtown Denver hotel where we had booked rooms for the Great American Beer Festival.  I was ready for a beer and I knew where to go.

As any beer lover knows no visit to the Mile High City is complete without a stop at Falling Rock. This famous good beer bar doesn’t have the most taps in the nation – although they do have a lot – but they do have some of the best beers available flowing. That plus a staff and clientele very knowledgeable in beer makes any stop there very rewarding.

I hit the hops bombs hard – Green Flash IPA, Pliny the Elder and an Avery IPA on cask (my knees still go weak at the memory of that one) all passed through my eager lips. After some pool in the basement our party, which consisted of me, my wife, her son and his wife who’d flown in from Tacoma to meet us, settled in at a table on the front patio and ordered some burgers.

After eating and with my palate crying from mercy from the hops I wanted a change of pace. But what could stand up to that line up of beers? I picked through the beer list and didn’t see anything that could do the job.

Elizabeth was waiting for my order and asked what I thought I wanted.

“I don’t know; I’m feeling something Belgian.”

“Platypus from Avery,” she said without hesitation. “It’s not on the list but it’s a soured…”

I didn’t let her finish, “That’s the one. You had me at Avery.”

And it was perfect. For those few moments while sipping the perfectly tart brew I was in love with Elizabeth. I mean, when a woman knows you that well…

My wife understood. She knows me even better that Elizabeth.

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Peggy and her mate Peter used to be regulars at the Alexandra Hotel pub in Jarrow, England. She was fond of nursing a John Smith’s bitter with some chips.

But the owner had to finally say enough’s enough. Peter was still welcome to come in but after having the pub refurbished the landlady had to tell Peggy to kindly wait outside for Peter. The carpets, she was told, were the main issue.

Did I mention that Peggy’s a horse?

Can a horse be on the wagon?

The regulars miss her. When they ask Peter where his drinking buddy is he just explains that she’s kicked the habit.

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No, we here at the Boozin’ Blog are not promoting altruism; we wouldn’t want to be associated with THAT crowd. We’re suggesting that you do yourself a big favor and volunteer at a beer festival. The big season for festivals is just around the corner and many of them depend on volunteers to make things work. (You can find a nearby beer festival by checking out the beerfestivals.org or my beer festival schedule.)

While there are lot’s of things to do at a festival most volunteers wind up pouring which is, of course, the most fun.  There’s no pay but there are perks. Most volunteers are invited to enjoy the beer within reason - you can’t be much help if you get sloshed. You will also probably get a tee shirt out of it and you get to spend a few hours with a bunch of beer lovers. Sounds like a damn good time, right?

I picked up an interesting tip from a volunteer this spring. It was at the St. Louis Brewer’s Heritage festival. I’d been walking around for a few hours and wanted to rest. I found a table with two fellows wearing volunteer badges who were probably in their seventies. They were laughing together and invited me to sit with them. I asked what job they’d been assigned and of course they were pourers.

“Have you tried the new blueberry beer from Anhueser-Busch?” one of them asked me.

No, I hadn’t. He said that that was the beer he’d been pouring. His buddy had been pouring a wheat beer from a smaller brewery.

“The secret is to try to pour a fruit beer,” he told me, winking. “That’s where all the cute girls line up. I’ve been pouring nonstop all afternoon.” He had a very satisfied air about him.

Oh, and if you must be altruistic most beer festivals are held to raise money for some worthy cause or another. So chances are that your volunteer hours will be spent in doing good…if you’re into that kind of thing.

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With the Democratic National Convention finally winding down in Denver and the Republican National Convention poised to descend on the Twin Cities next week this can only mean one thing.

Drinking games are just around the corner!

Yup, the Presidential debates or oligarchs-slapping-each-other-on-live-TV, as I like to call it, always bring out the best in our livers.

I like keep it simple:
You’ll need your favorite spirits – I’m going with bourbon - and one shot glass for each player. You’ll also need some six-packs of Bud and Goose Island 312 Urban Wheat.

Every time McCain says “My friends” take a shot.
Every time Obama says hope or change take a shot.
Anytime McCain makes a reference to his wife chug a Bud.
Anytime Obama refers to Chicago or his roots chug a Goose Island.

That’s it; but I have no doubt that this will easily do the job.

Disclaimer – We here at the Boozin’ Blog encourage responsible drinking. Don’t be a dumbass.

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The easy hook for this story is that it could seem unconventional for players of beer pong could be trying to give something back to the community. But is it really all that unusual?

Here’s what’s going on. Brooke and Sean Mulkerron’s daughter Tess has a rare liver disease. The toddler has had four major surgeries, six rounds of chemotherapy, and countless blood transfusions. Although she appears to be in remission and the doctors are optimistic her parents are now dedicated to the cause of fighting cancer and are keen to raise money for the fight any way they can.

So they contacted Brian Roseman, the owner of collegebeergames.com, and sold him on the idea of a tournament designed to raise money for their cause. From the press release:

To support the tournament, Roseman is donating $15 to cancer research for every beer pong table he sells from collegebeergames.com. He also provided a discount on some tables to help get the tournament off the ground. The tournament, 2008 Concord Charity Beirut Tourney is scheduled for Aug. 23 in Concord, N.H., near the University of New Hampshire (Beer pong is called “Beirut” in popular circles). The winners will receive a $500 prize and the top five teams will receive a beer pong table, but all the rest of the money raised from donations from participants will go towards cancer research with the “V Foundation Charity.”

Now, to my central point – beer and charity have gone together for a long time. It’s a natural marriage, when you think about it. Beer is all about enjoying life. Whether it’s a party or a quiet meal beer just lifts the mood. It’s a short journey from enjoying life to trying to improve the lives of others.

Throughout history brewers and pubs have been closely tied to their communities. Modern breweries regularly contribute money to worthy causes from supporting the troops to saving the environment. The beer festival that supports a charity is more common than those that don’t.

Call beer drinkers a happy bunch but don’t call us carefree. We care a lot.

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No, this isn’t another post about making your beer green. One was enough. This one’s about environmentally friendly beer.

Yesterday Anheuser-Busch issued a press release promising that by the end of 2009 they plan to have 1 in 7 of their beers brewed entirely using renewable fuel.

In case you didn’t know, brewing beer uses a lot of energy and water. It takes a lot of energy to boil then cool beer during brewing. And it takes a lot of water and energy to clean up after and get ready for the next brew. I read somewhere that it takes around seven gallons of water per one gallon of beer produced using traditional methods. With a lot of effort the greener brewers have been able to get that down to three to one. So any progress that A-B can make in this direction is a positive thing.

But is it enough? Can they go further? Probably not in the economic climate but one would like to see something better that one-seventh of the beer brewed using green standards. And what about all of the big Budweiser trucks we see on the highway? I’m willing to wager that they are burning fossil fuels.

There are beers brewed much more conscientiously. New Belgium is a well known example. Using a combination of innovative brewing techniques, wind power and a system like BERS mentioned in the A-B press release NB managed to go off the grid completely a few years ago. Of course NB isn’t the only brewer looking for new and more responsible ways to make beer but these are all relatively young companies and brew only a fraction of a percent of the beer that A-B makes.

So, on the whole, this is indeed good news from the big brewer.

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