Tag Archives: rant

NFL vs. Cable… We Lose, Pubs Win

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Anyone who reads this beer blog and is an American football fan has undoubtedly already heard about the big game this Thursday, Dallas (10-1) vs. Green Bay (10-1), and the sad situation that most fans will not be able to watch the game because it is being broadcast on the NFL Network which most cable companies have refused to carry and thus is only available on satellite.

farve-sportsbar.jpgYou might think this is a no win situation, but the sport bars and pubs across the nation are rejoicing and preparing for their version of Black Friday. Football and beer go together and you can bet that there is a pub nearby with satellite where you can go and watch the game with food and beer specials all night long. Ravenswood, a pub local to me, is having specials on pitchers and it also happens to be all you can eat Beef on a Weck night.

That sounds like a good time to me, and I might just do it, though it is not something I can do regularly, especially on a weeknight. I prefer to watch football in the Barley Room – that’s what I call my family room with the pub table, comfy couches and home theater. Some friends, some beer, some snacks, and a close football game is a sure fire great time; an atmospheric condition worth making the time for. But why do I have to leave my home to watch this game?

The NFL has been very vocal about how the big cable companies, with their ever increasing rates, are playing hard ball because they want to charge their customers for the NFL Network channel while the NFL insists that fans should not have to pay more and that it must be included in the regular line up. That confirms what we have known all along, the NFL is watching out for us and cable companies are run by greedy people who continue to add channels we don’t want, claim a higher level of service, and increase our rates.

Not so fast my friend!

Reality is that the NFL is throwing its weight around and is making a money grab by charging the cable companies a premium price to carry the channel (similar to what HBO would charge) but requiring the cable companies to carry the channel in the standard tier. Would they do that to just to make some extra cash? Possibly… but really it is to make a boat load of money from sponsors in advertisements for the increased potential viewing audience. I’ve know this for some time now, but most people I talk to have no idea and are only familiar with the NFL’s spin on the issue, not the cable companies’ spin. I suggest reading this well written article by Aaron Barnhart as it explains the situation quite clearly.

Now, from a consumer’s point of view, I bet most of us would not mind paying for the NFL Network if we could buy all of our channels that way. In other words, we only pay for the channels we want, and we don’t pay for the ones we don’t want. Call it, channels a-la-cart. But that’s not how the cable companies do it because no one would pay for half the channels out there and then they couldn’t charge as much as they do for their included “free” services, not to mention the loss of advertising.

Pubs may win, but we, the consumers, lose. We end up paying in every which way… we pay more for our beer (because we have to go to the bar to watch TV), we pay more for cable, and we pay the price for having to deal with this bullshit.

Import snobs?

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The New York Daily News recently had an interview with a Beer Sommelier to talk about what some restaurants are serving to celebrate Oktoberfest.

The Daily Grind: He has a head for beer

Admittedly, the article is brief and not really to educate anyone. But what struck me is that every beer mentioned is an import. Every one.

Any beers you love that we can’t get here yet?

Maybe a real, serious barley wine – a Scottish barley wine. Those are generally very, very strong beers that you sip almost at room temperature as a nightcap or as dessert or with dessert. They’re sweet. They’re strong. They’re winey. They’re winey beers. There are several of them that are imported, but not a real one in the traditional style.

So…there are no American barleywines that would fit the bill? I’m not being Nationalistic here. How is it possible that a so-called beer expert doesn’t consider any beers from the United States?

Somebody give this guy Garrett Oliver’s business card.

Dear restaurateurs: Stop icing the beer glasses

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I know you think your customers want it, but they don’t. The ones that are beer geeks (like me) just wish you wouldn’t, while the others are missing out on the flavor of their beer just because they don’t know any better.

I’m not the only one who thinks so. Ask around anywhere in the beer blogosphere and we’re all pretty much on board. Just ask Jim Zebora of the What’s Brewing blog about the worst Stella Artois he’s ever had.

I ordered the brew and neglected to pay attention to the bartender, who poured it into a frosted pint glass before I could protest. This Stella tasted bad – way too bitter, unbalanced, metallic. I switched to a margarita, leaving half the beer in the glass.

My word! You forced the poor man to a sweet girlie drink!

Thankfully, ol’ Jim wasn’t content to let this dog lie, and consulted with no less august an authority than Jim Koch, the founder of Samuel Adams.

“If you have beer at 33 degrees – a tongue-numbing temperature, you taste less of it. What you get is the sting of the carbonation, and a little bit of the bitterness of the hops.”

The rest of the beer experience – the sweet malts, rich body or smooth mouthfeel, hop perfume and more – is missing when a brew is too cold, Koch says.

Like a good geek, Mr. Zebora conducted an experiment by drinking two Samuel Adams Brown Ales, one straight out of the refrigerator and one warmed up to a more proper temperature.

But on the second evening, when the brown ale was nearing 50 degrees, it hit the tongue like a symphony of malt and hops. The brew was rich with distinct flavor tones ranging from a hint of black coffee to light molasses. It was moderately bitter on the sides of the tongue, and faded slowly to a long, sweet finish.

Are America’s megabrewers chanting the “ice cold” mantra so much because that’s the only temperature that their product becomes palatable? Perhaps. Then I’d ask that you restaurant owners save the frosted glasses for those types of beers. If someone orders something a bit more flavorful, please do them a favor and use a glass that is at room temperature.

Oh, and while I have your attention: Please add a bit more variety to your beer selections. I have had this exchange far too often:

Me: “What kind of beer do you have?”

Server: “We have Bud, Bud Light, Coors Light, Miller Lite, Heineken, Corona, and Sam Adams.”

That’s bad enough, but it doesn’t end there.

Me: (Knowing that the Boston Beer Company has upwards of 20 styles on the market.) “What kind of Sam Adams?”

Server: “The regular one.”