Drinking a New Castle Brown and watching more creative advertising.Check out their YouTube channel for all of the “No Bolllocks” ads. I like that they admit that they may never finish the series… pretty funny in itself.
I must admit, their website is unique and attractive – unfortunately it is not very practical. For instance, if I were looking for a list of their current available brews and a description of each I’d be searching for a long time.
Somewhere along the line I switched my soft drink preference to diet sodas. Whether the “real” stuff got just too sweet, or my body couldn’t take it anymore (or both), I don’t know
When it comes to root beer, however, diet root beer generally is awful. I was happy to find that Saranac breaks that rule with their diet root beer. It has some sugar in it (about 35 calories per 12 oz worth of corn syrup) plus some of the fake stuff (aspartame). It definitely stands above the rest of the diet root beesr I have tried. Saranac also makes the real stuff, a ginger beer and a Shirley Temple.
Of course, if you want something healthier, I recommend Saranac’s High Peak series.
[my son's skateboarding injury photo intentionally omitted]
Proof why an oatmeal stout for breakfast is both nutritious and educational…. The NY Daily News writes about a study showing that beer makes men smarter.
Beer makes men smarter.
So say researchers at the University of Illinois in Chicago.
They found that men with a couple beers under their belts were actually better at solving brain-teasers than their sober counterparts.
To reach that surprising conclusion, the researchers devised a bar game in which 40 men were given three words and told to come up with a fourth that fits the pattern.
For example, the word “cheese” could fit with words like “blue” or “cottage” or “Swiss.”
Half the players were given two pints. The other half got nothing.
The result? Those who imbibed solved 40% more of the problems that their sober counterparts.
Also, the drinkers finished their problems in 12 seconds while it took the non-drinkers 15.5 seconds.
I’ve been living half my life in Rochester NY since I started at a new company a couple of months ago. (and I will use that as an excuse for the lack of podcasts… Al can say the same) While out there I’ve been looking for a pub with some good taps and I have found many. This is a photo of the taps at MacGregor’s in Henrietta. Just check out their beer list.
Especially attractive is their selection of vintage and seasonal specialties like the 2009 Southern Tier Krampus and the 2011 Dogfish Head 120 minute IPA (being cellared for consumption at a later date…).
Equally attractive were these two 20-something year old girls that grabbed a pub shelf nearby. Both tall and dressed well, one was a red head and the other a brunette. No one ran over to serve them (which just confused me) but after a bit they went to the bar and returned with a couple of tall 24oz coppered colored ales each with a thick head of foam on them. Then, the red head took out her phone and took a photo of her beer… that’s when I feel in love 
Cheers everyone and enjoy the holidays!
Seeing this offer to catch some fish at Pike’s caught my eye and made me miss Seattle. If you’re out there, I dare you to give it a try and say those guys at Hop-Talk made me do it!
From November 1, 2011 through February 29, 2012, Henry’s fans from across the Pacific Northwest will have the ability to enter for a chance to catch fish at Pike Place, by texting the word “CATCH” to 90464 or entering through the Henry Weinhard’s Facebook page. Ten finalists will be announced in March, 2012 and will have a chance to catch fish alongside real life fishmongers at Pike Place Fish Market in May. In addition to a trip to Pike Place Fish Market, “Today’s Catch” finalists who complete a “six-pack” of catches will win a year’s supply of Henry Weinhard’s, awarded in the form of a prepaid card. For complete rules, visit the Henry Weinhard’s page on Facebook.
I’d love to try Henry Weinhard’s new IPA but I have not seen it on the east coast. (not sure if it has enough IBU’s anyway). If you’re out in Seattle, go visit all the great pubs out there and let me know your favorite.
I drink more oktoberfest style beer at our annual Oktoberfest weekend than all year long. I was amazed by how the taste of this style brought back all of those memories. It is like just like when you smell something out of the ordinary from your childhood, like the smell of your grandparents bungalow at the beach, that you remember and can picture so many details that were otherwise stored in the back of your head.
This beer from Magic Hat was not bad at all. I know that is not high praise, but this just isn’t my favorite style. The color is just right, medium amber. It is lighter than most oktoberfest in the sweetness category and the bitterness is minimal which I would then call it a classic German octoberfest (as opposed to your American variety), but they use an Alt Ale yeast…? Maybe that is why they call it “Ourtoberfest”. They also used some smoked malt in it, but apparently very little as I didn’t detect it all. Maybe I should have another.
Best part of it is that it didn’t have any of that perfume like notes that some Magic Hat beers have that I don’t like. Magic Hat continues to put out new products and are willing to try new things (although not as extreme as say Dogfish Head). Anyway, I think these guys get better every year.
I have never been a big fan of Magic Hat because every one of their beers have always tended to have a perfume aroma that bothers me to no end. However, this dark IPA was actually better than most. I think the dark roasted malts plus extra hops helped cover up that flowery note but it was still present. Consider this a kicked up brown ale with a dry finish.
Not something I’d go out of my way for, but if you are already a Magic Hat fan (which apparently many people are) then it is worth a try. Demo is 6.0% ABV and is brewed in Burlington VT.
