A Light Beer from Iron City

Yes, my blog has been a bit quiet lately. As I have mentioned before, it is the holiday drinking season. Only a few days until it is completed. It feels like it was more of an endurance challenge than the Winking Lizard World Tour of Beer.

As I am rounding the bend to the finish line, I am taking time to go back and appreciate the beers I have enjoyed over the years. Last time, I reminisced about the Sierra Nevada Christmas Ale. Today, I am thinking about an old stand by IC Light from the good folks at Pittsburgh Brewing Company (also known as Iron City Brewing).

They do have a few other good selections such as Augustiner - it reminds me of Yuengling Lager.

Not only is IC Light one of my favorite light beers, it is amazing how innovative a company they are. Here is a list of a few I really like:

• inventors of aluminum beer bottles
• First Snap Top can, produced in conjunction with Alcoa, revolutionized the beer and soft drink industries 1962.
• First Twist Off Resealable cap, 1963.
• First brewery to print scenes honoring local sports teams and individuals.
• First draught beer available in a can, Iron City.
• First light beer, Mark V, made in 1976

Of course, I am from Pittsburgh, so there is a lot of hometown pride in there for me as well. That is amplified because I know the stories of close calls when the brewery almost shut down. If they need to sell more beer to keep brewing after 142 years, I think I can have a couple bottles to keep the production going.

Cheers!

The Long Forgotten Christmas Ale

Daily life seems to go by at a break neck pace, especially at the holidays. In the midst of this crazy pace, I have forgotten many things. Life is quite lovely in the way it reminds us of the things we have tucked away in our memories.

I attended my company holiday party on Friday. At the holiday party, there was Rouge Ale - Santa's Private Reserve and Anchor Steam Christmas Ale. Both were really good brews, maybe not as good as Great Lakes version. However, they stood up on their own.

With all of these Christmas ales hitting the market, I seem to have forgotten the first seasonal ale that started the tradition for me. As I was getting beer for my own holiday party, a lovely 12 pack of Celebration Ale was staring me down in the beer aisle. It has been a long time since I had the good stuff from the people at Sierra Nevada. How could I be so forgetful. I enjoy their Pale Ale all year long.

I even have a special connection from the days when I first graduated from college and was extremely poor. A good friend of my sisters introduced me to Sierra Nevada. She also had the good grace to bring along some Celebration Ale to a party my parents were hosting one year. (nothing better than the girls kicking the boys butts at Taboo and making them sing Christmas carols in front of the tree).

I fell in love with the Celebration ale. It was really expensive; and I didn't really have the resources to buy a case of it. I was more of a Rolling Rock for $10 a case type of girl back then. I guess people and their tastes grow up.

At any rate, I was doing some Christmas shopping at a local mall. As I walked in, I spotted a wad of cash on the floor. I picked it up and looked around. There wasn't anyone near me. I was tempted to take it to the mall concierge desk, but I was enough of a veteran of the mall to know it would never make it to its rightful owner.

I stopped for a minute. Maybe this was a small miracle - a gift. There was about $30 in the stack of cash. That was just about enough money to buy a case of Celebration Ale. In general, I didn't have this kind of money and it did happen to fall into my path.

Maybe I won't go to heaven for taking found money and buying a case of beer with it. I know I definitely enjoyed having those beer with my friends. Maybe I am OK with that when I think of these famous lines.

"In heaven, there is no beer. That is why we are drinking here."

The Holiday Drinking Season

It is true that I did not write a post to ring in the official holiday drinking season. Yes, it starts on Halloween. Think about it. When Halloween hits, all bets are off.

It quickly wanders into Thanksgiving, the mac daddy of all drinking holidays. It is a holiday that is engineered for you get together with friends, have dinner, drink wine and beer, the eats lots of left overs. I think the idea of black Friday isn't just about retailers making boat loads of dough from holiday shoppers, it might be that people are a little hung over or drink so much on Thursday night they black out by Friday.

Here is the thing that is important about the drinking season. First, it provides so many opportunities from Halloween until the New Year to go out and be social. Second, it also provides a chance to try lots of different types of beer, wine or other assorted drinks.

Over the Thanksgiving weekend, I was in Atlanta. While I was there, I was introduced to Sweetwater Brewing Company. I had the Sweetwater 420 at a local pub when I was in town. This Extra Pale Ale was a great little brew. It is Georgia's equivalent to Great Lakes in Cleveland. Although I do have to say, any beer company would not have a tough time in comparison to the local favorite, Pabst Blue Ribbon (PBR).

I have never really enjoyed drinking PBR. People are super loyal to this brand. My brother indicated it was a Southern thing. I guess my neck wasn't red enough to really enjoy it. He said if it is really cold, it tastes better. I commented that it needed to be so could you couldn't taste it.

I will say this for Atlanta, the Guinness was great. Everywhere we went, they managed to pour a good glass of the black stuff. Apparently, the bartenders in the Peach Tree State are well versed in the pouring technique necessary for a good pint.

Well, the holidays are underway (as you can tell by the Christmas decorations that have popped up everywhere). The holiday ales have made their appearance . . . and I love it.

Now, the only thing to really worry about it the amount of time I need to exercise to stave off the inevitable holiday sludge that manages to attach itself to my body during the days of eating, drinking and being merry.

Does the walking during a bar tour constitute as exercise?

Guinness Believer Event in Chicago

As I was cruising through all of the random emails I get every week, one caught my eye . . Guinness True Believer. I thought it was probably spam, but when it comes to Guinness, I am willing to take that risk.

I opened the email and it was an invitation to a Guinness event being held in several locations, none of which was my current hometown. As you know with the Irish, luck happens upon us from time to time. One of the events was in Chicago the weekend I was going to be there for business.

My co-worker and I made our way to the West Loop of Chicago. We started standing in line a couple of minutes early . . thank heavens because it was first come, first entry. I had no idea what to expect, the sign outside of the event didn't give any indication either.

We get into the venue after a few minutes in the windy Chicago evening (our event was at 9pm). When you get into the room, you take a token to the bar and great a freshly poured pint of Guinness. I was liking this event already. They told us we had until 9:40 when we would be asked to go to another room.

My co-worker and I moseyed up to the bar, waited in line for a bit and waited for the nice bar keeper to pour our pints. I was fevered with anticipation. Could there be a band inside? We had all kinds of theories.

Of course the reality was not as good as us imaging U2 was playing a super secret gig in Chicago and we were there to see it.

It was pretty cool. There was a Guinness pouring competition. Everyone learned how to pour a half and half. We got mini pint glasses and a half and half spoon. There were a few other things going on. Overall, it was definitely worth the trip and the experience.

It made me really long for Ireland. How much I miss the relaxing experience of sitting in a pub, reading a good book and having a few pints. Slainte!

Something I always knew . . beer can be good for you

So I am always excited to hear some good news about beer. I am not quite sure what I think about anyone who isn't. Before I go on a tangent, I want to share some great news that I read this morning.

According to a story in the British Telegraph, people can benefit from drinking a beer after strenuous physical activity. Now, it does indicate you need to limit the consumption to one or two (that is where the goodness of the theory falls apart).

The study talks about how Spanish researchers have determined that beer can help someone who is dehydrated retain liquid better than water. I knew those Hash House Harriers had something going there.

Personally, I had a couple of pints after I ran the Army 10 miler and I felt ducky the next day. I have to say, one of my favorite races is the Arlington September 11th Memorial Run. Not only do you get to run around the Pentagon at sundown, the sponsors serve beer and pizza at the finish line.

So there you have it folks. Motivation to run a couple of laps around the neighborhood!

World Tour . . Japanese Style

On the World Tour of Beer, participants drink beverages from all over the globe. I have talked about some of the fine brews we have had from the Czech Republic, from Trappist Monks in Belgium and from spots as exotic as Sri Lanka.

One of the countries that was not represented in this year's tour was Japan. When I was working at the Swage, we often hosted associates from Japan. Although there was a language barrier, we often found common ground in the fact that they love beer and we love beer.

I have to admit, the Japanese are not the only people in Asia who like to drink. Our friends in China and South Korea like to participate in their fair share of a good time. If you ever want to inquire, Hollow Leg and the Cruise Director have very incriminating photographs to back up my claims.

Partaking of some great Japanese beers like Ashi, Sapporo or Kirin can get you into a party mood and a little hung over. It made me wonder about the cultural experience of the Japanese. As we know, Americans like to drink. When we drink too much, most of us get hungover . . . with the exception of Hollow Leg.

I went exploring this topic on the Internet. I found a great blog entry about How the Japanese cure a hangover. Even better was the detailed explanation about the Japanese culture of the two-day and three-day drinking session.

I think they have the Americans beat here. There are actual words for two-day drunk and three-day drunk in their language. We just call it a lost weekend.

With a series of hangover remedies listed in the posting, the author rightly poses the question - what do YOU do to prevent a hangover?

My answer - have a Bailey's and coffee or just start praying for lunch hour to go sleep it off. Not that I EVER had to do that.

Buckeye Beer Extravaganza

So time is a bit tight these days, but I didn't want it to slip away without writing about Hollow Leg's Beer extravaganza. OK, so it was Beer, Corn hole, Fire Pit, OSU v. PSU and Gorgeous George's Gyros as well, but I think you get the idea.

One of the big things is that I took the Rapid to Hollow Leg's house. Yes, it is true. I am notorious for pulling the fade and heading home after a few beers. Everyone worries about me doing that (although I am generally more tired than anything else). I figured, if I didn't drive there. I couldn't drive home. It was a good plan . . . until I realized there were tons of kids staying in the house and sleeping in wasn't an option.

Mick to the rescue. A previous work mate who recently relocated here was at the party. Luckily, I swindled him into giving me a place to stay and a lift home the next morning. We had an interesting conversation about Cleveland, and his duty to participate in the WLWTOB 2008.

Yes, Mick is a gentle man and I was a lady, so don't worry you pretty little head about it. Even better, he is now a Magic Hat fan.

Good Times! Also, my corn hole playing has greatly improved and I wasn't as pathetic as I usually am.

Five Great Beer Sites

So I am taking a page from other bloggers and my cohort, Hollow Leg. Hollow Leg regularly sends his numbered list of reasons to do something.

Here is an example of his list

Hey, all you ____s! I have some questions for y'all!

1. What are we doing this week??? I'll tell you what we're doing, we're finding a day to go to WL. Tomorrow?
2. What do you think would have the faster terminal velocity if dropped from an airplane, a pumpkin or a box turtle?
3. Did Anelyn get a haircut?
4. Would you rather have a wedgie for a full year or jam a toothpick under your entire thumbnail?
5. Who's taller - Entertainment Director or an average male ostrich?

In his honor, I decided to track down some of my favorite beer websites.

1. www.mickeys.com

Not only does this website harken back to my college days, but it has some amazing content on it. Besides, you got to love the stinger and the big mouth bottles

2. www.beerhunter.com

Michael Jackson became a beer expert before anyone else I know. He has elevated the idea of drinking beer and understanding it to an art form.

3. www.ratebeer.com

If you need to find some information on a beer, this is the spot. I often refer to their compendium of beer information to get ABVs and brewery information. Careful, it can be an addictive site.

4. www.thirstytraveler.tv

Ok. He doesn't just talk about beer, but it is a often the subject. You have to love a guy who travels around the world to drink beer, taste the local cuisine and experience the culture. Can you say Dream Job?

5. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beer

I reference this website a lot. There is a ton of information about beer styles and beer. Even better, the wikipedia exists in several languages.

Cheers

New Winking Lizard . . Same Good Beer

As I mentioned in a previous post, original Winking Lizard closed its doors. Fortunately, it opened a new place literally next door. I have to admit, before I went there, I was hesitant. there were so many good times at the old place. I didn't know if it would be the same.

Low and behold, the new place is great. The layout is much better. The patio looks fabulous. Even more importantly, the good times were still there. I met up with Hollow Leg and friends for a few beers.

We fell immediately back into our usual habits with all of the same great beers on tap. It made me realize something: it is not about the place, it is about the people. It is about the beer.

Speaking of being about the beer, Great Lakes unveiled it Christmas Ale last Friday. I have to say, buyer beware. This ale is a potent one. At 7.5% abv, one pint is enough. If you are feeling crazy, maybe two for the entire evening.

On this particular night, I went with one and a quarter, then downshifted to Shiner Bock from our good friends in Shiner, TX. Anything that 7-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong will drink is good enough for me!

Cheers until next time.

The Last Cornhole of Summer

Admittedly, I have been busy. Too busy to write up a corn hole day blog? Well, yes - that busy!!

How does it all happen? One day you are drinking beast, ironically made by Miller Brewing. from a keg in some dinky apartment, struggling to get your BA/BS. The next thing you know, you are worrying that you do not have enough money in your 401(k) to live in Ireland when you retire.

With so many things changing, I have to ask myself, "What hasn't changed in my life?"

1. My ridiculous sense of competition. Yes, I love being outside and playing corn hole. No, I do not like losing or being terrible at a child's game. The fact that Hollow Leg and AneLyn are great at it - only more frustrating. I think they have experience on their side. Let's come back to this one after a couple years of practice.
   
2. I love to drink beer in the middle of the day. I know this sounds incredibly irresponsible of me. However, there is something about a sunny day that makes me want to grab a bag of Lay's Potato Chips and six pack of Miller Lite and head outside. Of course, you have to eat half of the bag (a common lays chip issue) and drink every single bottle. Good times!
3. I have a magic ability to organize an impromptu tournament. Yes, other people have this power, but I exercise it on a regular basis. Others might try, but I am so pushy, it works for me.
   
4. Work hard, play hard.
5. I realize that having good friends is the secret to staying sane in life. Everyone has crap they need to deal with, but it is better to realize that you are not the only one with a bad boss, a weird co-worker, a pain-in-the-backside parent. Misery loves company. That said, who is really that miserable when they are playing corn hole?

OK, so this has been a post more about life than about beer. Sometimes, Life is like corn hole. You throw four bags. No matter how much you play, sometimes you miss altogether, sometimes you overshoot, sometimes you land short, sometimes you land on the board and sometimes you drain it in the hole!

The Last Swigs of Summer

It is that time of year. The football teams are in action, the baseball teams are fighting their way into post season and Fall is at our doorstep.

What does that mean? Well, we are going to sneak in a game of corn hole at Anelyn's place. Of course, Hollow Leg has already started the trash talking. It is very exciting that some new members will be joining.

I am sure the standard Miller Lite will be the staple at the event. I am hoping to do a quick run to the Chop House to get some Irish Red. As I was looking for the address on the Internet, I noticed that the Oktoberfest beer is going to be unveiled.

Oktoberfest in September. Oh yes. I was once fooled by the term as well. It is a celebration that originates in Germany. They start in mid-September and have a 16-day celebration going until October 1. There are several festivals throughout Germany, but the most famous Oktoberfest is in Munich.

As fortune would have it, I was in Munich as this time last year and didn't have any business meetings. Lady luck is a friend some times. I got to go the Theresienwise - the fairgrounds where the festival is held. I had no idea what to expect. It was unbelievable.

There were over a dozen beer tents and each one was bigger and more grand than the last. I walked around a bit stunned. I was seeing names like Paulaner, Augustiner, Lowenbrau and Schottenhamel. There were rides, like at American Carnivals, and teams of draught horses.

The tradition of good German beer has its place in America. Most microbreweries, and some of the major ones, offer an Oktoberfest. The local Great Lakes Brewing Company has a very nice Oktoberfest.

I think I know what I am going to be doing after our Corn Hole Tournament this weekend!

Magic Hat and a Black T-Shirt

One of the great benefits of my new job is the very close proximity to a wide variety of drinking establishments. For instance, I went to a gallery opening on Friday across the bridge from where I work. Afterward, we went to McCarthy's Ale House for a few cheap beers.

As the group gathered we decided to play bar bowling at the Harbor Inn. We bowled a couple of rounds and I purchased everyone their own individual styled ale. I had the Celebrator Doppelbock (mostly because someone else wanted my beer).

So as the night rolled on, we ended back at the bar in the building where I work . . . the Nauti Mermaid. I had a lovely Magic Hat 9 draft. It is a lovely brew. I had a few drafts when it was on special at the Winking Lizard. I even got a pint glass with it.

I was even more encourage to drink it because I happened to meet the East Coast Representative earlier in the week when I went for a happy hour drink with a co-worker. It was pretty cool. He told me he bought me the drink. I told him I really liked the beer. After that, he offered me a t-shirt.

It is a cool Magic Hat Brewing Company t-shirt. Even better, it is an American Apparel t-shirt. Given the recent situation with Chinese imports, I was glad to be drinking an American beer, wearing an American t-shirt.

Bye Bye and a Boddingtons

As I had mentioned in my previous post, the original location of the Winking Lizard is closing. The team, which has grown significantly due to the increased number of fans, had a last meeting there.

It got me thinking about how this venture started with AneLyn and me. It was meant as a way to get through our daily work life and keep sane. OK, so we really like the beer, wings and burgers as well. Like all really good things, it just kept growing. It became a fun excuse to leave the office at 4:30. It gave us a chance to commiserate.

As I was sitting there, it was the usual cast of characters plus 1. Over the past few months, Loose Lips has been joining us for cocktails. You might be wondering why he never made it into any of the blog posts. I had been wondering about that as well. It seems the antics of Hollow Leg had dominated for awhile. I also realized I had started to shift the blog into a conversation about beer.

Loose Lips has been a very good addition in this regard. He loves a good beer. Yesterday, he was drinking Arrogant Bastard ale. That's right, it was referenced in a previous post about Hollow Leg's visit to Arrogant Bastard's brewing company - Stone Brewing.


At any rate, it seems like such a short span of time for this gathering to become such a great part of my life. It is always fun and never dull. Generally, we manage to drag it into the gutter part of the way through the evening - Loose Lips definitely is a strong contributor in this area as well. (I should mention that Loose Lips alternate name was going to be piglet.

It is hard to believe that I actually finished the World Tour , or hit the century mark as they say, back in May. At the time, Hollow Leg suggested that we should do a second round. I declined because I thought we wouldn't be able to do it . . in hind sight, football season is on the way.

Cooler heads did prevail. I finished my last Boddington's and had a shot with the Team. Sandbox bought the girls a "Last Call" t-shirt. The boys weren't nearly as organized!

So Bye Bye old Winking Lizard, hello new Winking Lizard! Can't wait to see what good time we have there.

One last Wink at The Original Lizard

So today is the day for me. It is my last trip the original Winking Lizard. Yes, it is true, the original joint is doing a last call celebration to send the fine lady out in style. They have been serving up the love since 1983.

Granted, they will be just moving next door. It is not like the current space is that spectacular. It just seems like all other things, everything is moving, changing, getting an upgrade. I work in the Internet industry. Working with my clients is like being on perpetual upgrade.

I just think back to all the good times. I think about getting my pirate from Sandbox, hanging out with the Cheerleader and her husband Bill.

I think about the birthday shot (a blow job) that I had to do the first time I went there with co-workers. Nice, eh? I drank it on the sly when no one was looking. How embarrassing!

Watching OSU play in the NCAA basketball tournament. Sitting with AneLyne and Hollow Leg and drinking so many beers I had to be driven home. Just because a girl sets off the fire alarm because she uses the back door 5 minutes after it is armed doesn't mean she is an idiot. How stupid is a place that lets you use a door until 5pm?

On second thought, maybe this new place will be better. At any rate, we are going to celebrate and remember.

I will leave you with the words of the Beatles

There are places I remember all my life,
Though some have changed
Some forever, not for better
Some have gone and some remain.

Is 32 ounces better than a quality 12?

Ok, so the team has a meeting last Thursday. I managed to arrange a covert meeting so I was able to join them. Actually, I had business with Hollow Leg, but he was out buying school supplies, so it had to be postponed until this week.

At any rate, we were at the Winking Lizard, shocking I know, having a few beers and taking advantage of the burger night. I managed to order the baked potato instead of the fries, so that just tells you things were off to a strange start.

Normally, I really peruse the beer menu and think about what I am in the mood to drink. Somehow, magically, I noticed the beer specials section of the menu. It must have been a lie because a 32 oz. Labatt was only $4.

It true that I can be as much of a beer snob as the next person, but you can't disregard a value. I am a bigger sucker for a good deal. Apparently, Sandbox (code name) thought so as well because she ordered one, too.

Maybe it was just that we were both kind of having a hard day. Maybe it is that we would have had to ordered three Traquair House Scotch ales to get the same volume of alcohol. Well, Sandbox would have had Old Peculiar (which is a fav of mine as well.)

It got me thinking, was it really a better value? Labatt was the clear winner in the volume category. However, what about ABV (alcohol by volume). Let's take a look - each of the beers are given a ABV for a 12 oz serving. (all ABVs were obtained from RateBeer to assure parity of measurement.)


Labatt Blue Lager 5.0%
Old Peculiar 5.7%
Traquair House 7.2%

Ok - based on these figures. Labatt is holding Old Peculiar hostage in the value department. So it got a little more complex with Traquair. Here is the dinger. Traquair is a hefty $7/bottle. Even if I only needed to drink 2 of them to get the comparative ABV, you are still looking at $14.

The way I see it, drinking Labatt paid for my burger and the tip. You just have to love those Canadians.

Down East Brewing Adventure

Going to a bridal shower is not necessarily what you would call a fun weekend. Fortunately, the bride and other bridesmaids are a blast and love good beer. There were so many new brews to experience. When we went to dinner in Maine (a very short jaunt from Portsmouth, NH), I had one of the local beers, but failed to get the name of it. Shame on me.

When we returned to New Hampshire, I tried the Lobster Ale from Shipyard Brewery. It was good beer. It had a nice character. Mostly, I tried it because I liked the name.

As the night moved on, I started drinking the Red Hook Long Hammer IPA. You might ask, isn't Red Hook a Seattle-based company. Well, I asked the same question. It is, but apparently, Long Hammer is batched brewed in Kittery, ME. OK, so it wasn't local, but it was fresh. As you know, I really like the IPA style and enjoyed this beers great finish and smooth taste.

The next day, I moved onto the local brews from Smutty Nose Brewing. As you might have guess, I first tried the IPA. Then I moved onto the Portsmouth Lager. It was "awarded best Vienna/Marzen larger in the Northeast" and it was a well deserved title.

The Bridal party sat on the water's edge at an area the locals call the Decks. We were at a bar named Harpoon Willy's. We got the corner spot on the deck and proceeded to drink Smutty Nose until the sun went down.

New England is indeed a great place!

Ending Prohibition

The focus of this blog has been around the team outings that are part of the Winking Lizard World Tour of Beer.

I think it might be a combination of the wicked rain storms, and the craziness of summer. It just seems like I haven't met with the team very much lately. I think it is also because I have been trying to cut down on the carbohydrates.

So, I have been unfaithful. I have been hanging out with my new work associates. You know how it is when you start a new job. You have to make friends, you have to go back to the old school ways of drinking Miller Lite.

Part of it is that Cleveland starts to shut down in the rain and the highways are crazy. The other part of it is this: I have been dating. The days of dating prohibition are over for me.

It is a weird thing to say, but it is true. Now there are two sides to this story. Side one - the uncomfortable madness of meeting new people. Side two - getting to have lots of groovy drinks and being exposed to groovy stuff.

Let me start with my latest - the Great Lakes Prohibition Pilsner. I have to mention that I did go for it because of the low alcohol content. I do have to say, I was disappointed. Here is the irony, I met with someone and I had the same kind of experience.

I needed to switch back to an old favorite - the Burning River IPA. Here is the quandary and why life and beer drinking are so similar. When you go out, do you stick with the drink that you have had before. You know you enjoy it. It is available in a lot of places and other people enjoy it. However, there is always the burning desire to try new things, to check some other things out. Maybe they will be better. Maybe it will be more engaging.

In this case, it would have been better to start with the Burning River - at least it isn't the same old Miller Lite.

Blended Guinness Drinks for All!

Well, it has felt like forever, but the team is getting together tonight. I am not sure about the status of all the members. It seems like summer is in full swing and everyone is being pulled in a million directions.

There are beers to be drank in a million other place. It seems like my intake of Miller Lite has increased dramatically. I did manage to have a Half and Half the other night. This sweet combination of Guinness and and Harp should not be confused for Black and Tan.

I had forgotten how refreshing the drink could be. Now as you might have read, I love the Guinness. However, in the summer, I just can't have more than one or two. A wee bit on the heavy side. I have to say, the Harp just makes the Guinness so snappy. It is a lovely experience.

So here is what I am thinking, a trend will continue with the blended Guinness drinks. I am hoping to have a black and gold. That is a local twist on the blended tradition. It takes the same theory of part Guinness and adds Dortmunder Gold from Great Lakes Brewing Company. I am thinking it is going to be a combination to my liking.

I am just hoping the rain has gone away and we can sit outside and enjoy the great summer weather. I am hoping that when I say "It was pouring" everyone understands, I am talking about the beer.

Sierra Nevada Summer Time Sweetness

I happened to have an impromptu meeting with AneLyn on Sunday at the Winking Lizard. We happened to be meeting up on some top secret business we were doing.

First, it is important to note that she did add a beer to her world tour. She has also come up against the road block of the last dozen or so beers. There are beers that she has been avoiding throughout the tour - ones she has NO desire to drink. Well, the time has come. I suggested starting out with one or two really nasty ones at the start of each visit and just ending with her favorite beer - even if it is not on the tour.

Speaking of not on the tour, the beer of the month is Sierra Nevada's Summerfest. I had asked the waiter about the beer, and although he was very cute, he asked "Do you drink Miller Lite?" with a crappy little edge I didn't particularly like.

At any rate, I do drink Miller Lite. I also really like Sierra Nevada Pale Ale (one of my first forays into pale ale). To be honest, my favorite beer style besides Guinness (see below) is India Pale Ale. I like the kickiness of it.

I had faith that the folks at Sierra Nevada Brewing would not let me down. Besides, you got a companion pilsner glass with the purchase. I decided to go for it. It was a great beer. It has the nice easy quality of a light beer, with kickiness of a pale ale. Sierra Nevada got it right. It was a Sunday afternoon in the sun beer if I ever had one.

The moral of this story, drink the Summerfest, and don't let cute waiters deter you.

SEE BELOW
Guinness - now I know you are thinking it is not a beer style because Guinness is a stout and that is beer style. Let all of us be honest. If you have ever been to Ireland and had a Guinness, you know that it is a category to itself.

You might be saying that you have had Guinness and the place that serves it takes a lot of pride and they serve a lot of Guinness. I am glad you are drinking the good stuff. However, anyone who has set foot in the Emerald Isle (even the British bit that is attached in the North) and put a pint of the black stuff to their lips can tell you.

Anything that rolls too far from St. James's Gate - well it is just an immigrant to that country - not a native.

Cornholooza 2007

So I managed to make it through Friday's Corn Hole extravaganza. It started with a session at the Winking Lizard. My beer selection was pretty uneventful with a Stella Artois draft. Of course, it was a solid choice - definitely a good one to enjoy in the sunshine.

Now, I am not a good corn hole player. I am not one of the three Stooges either, but I never seem to be able to win. I just lose my focus. Maybe it is me, but I think maintaining a deep focus on putting a bag of corn into a round hole in a piece of wood is a little over the edge. Then again, those folks with the brooms in curling seems to be able to take themselves seriously.

I usually would launch into a discussion about the similarities between these two sports, but the crucible version is there is beer and boredom involved in the evolution of both.

At any rate, I had some moments of glory at AneLyn's house. I started to catch my groove a bit. It doesn't really matter though because the Cruise Director, Hollow Leg and AneLyn are butt kickers. As well as being trash talkers. The other factor was the Cheerleader's husband. Let's just call him Bill.

Bill is a good corn holer. He was very skeptical of the game at first, but became entranced by it hidden complexity and trash talking allure. That is the thing about corn hole - you might not be good, but if you can talk some trash and get a couple of bags down. Life is good.

As we wrapped up at AneLyn's we headed over to Hollow Leg's for the second leg - pun intended - of our tourney. At this point, the crowd began to swell with the local Corn Holios coming to play. Instead of playing a tourney, as we had the last time, we played game by game free for all.

Now, it might seem very unlike me, but I switched onto water. Why? My birthday was at midnight and I didn't want to wave it in passed out on Hollow Leg's back lawn. Don't worry, I managed to catch up with the multiple rounds of celebration shots.

Summertime and the living is good. Cornholios pack of kids were running around the yard, the dog was merrily chasing the tennis ball, burger and chicken on the grill. It just felt and smelled like summer. No better way to wish you early 30's goodbye.

Reeling in the Last Good Times of 34

Tomorrow is a big event. The WL team is going to have the summer Corn Hole outing, aka Cornholooza. Lunch at the WL so Ane Lyn and The Cruise Director can have a few more beers. They are kind of in stop motion on the tour. A beer here, a beer there, but not significant progress.

At any rate, we are having two corn hole events. One at Ane Lyn's, then we are going to move on to the evening session at Hollow Leg's. The significant part of this event for me is that is it my last blast in my early 30s. I am going to be turning 35.

Where the heck did it go. I still remember waking up hung over when I turned 25 and thinking it was slipping away. Oh the beers I have drank between now and then. I had never even had a wheat beer - what was a dunkel. It was around that time I started to explore the world of beer - and ironically the world at large.

I had never been to Paris where I drank Kronenberg from a dirty glass in some little cafe. I had never been to Oktoberfest and partaken of the beers from Munchen's finest breweries while listening to Ompa Bands. I hadn't been to London and enjoyed glass after glass of John Smith's Extra Smooth and Boddingtons.

I had no idea the Smithwick's existed . . or that I would even need a break from the black gold I know as Guinness. I had never been to Switzerland . . I can't even remember what beer I drank there - probably something German.

I wasn't that green. I knew about Abita beers - only the turbo dog though. I discovered those on a trip to New Orleans (one of the greatest cities in the world). I had been to San Francisco and tried Anchor Steam.

I remember drinking the lovely beers from Left Handed Brewing in Longmont, Colorado - the Saw Tooth was very memorable - just ask the guy who has his pants down in a photo with me. Going to Boulder and checking out all the brew pubs there.

I guess you could say that I could trace my travels around the world with the beers I have enjoyed in those places. It is a universal thing.

There's no I in team, but there is a ME

So I have been waning on the WLWTOB blogging. Part of the reason was that Hollow Leg was been out of the country. He has been getting drunk with associates in Korea and Japan.

At any rate, a very funny thing happened. As soon as he landed back in the states, he was begging us to all go out for a team event. As fate would have it, we are going to Happy Hour this Thursday. Here is the very interesting thing . . I cannot remember the last time all of the team actually had drinks together. I think it was the day of the previous Corn Hole tournament.

I think this is going to be a good trip to the Winking Lizard because I think we need to get reacquainted with each other as a team before we have our Corn Hole Fest in a week.

Bags aways! . . . and beers away!!

A Picture is worth a 100 beers

OK. I have always found a strange intersection between events in my life. Sometimes it is more than two things, that those would be intersections among things.

However, I have been diligently logging my experiences on the WLWTOB. One of the beers that we enjoyed was from the Czech Republic. It was call Staropramen. It is pronounced STAR - O - PRAY - MEN. As we made our way around the tour, we had a couple of verbal mishaps. The crack staff at WL was very happy to help us with learn the correct pronunciations.

As you might know, Hollow Leg always managed to add a Fraternity House level of humor to several situations and outings. For this beer, he coined it as Straponman pronounced STRAP - ON - MAN. Not quite correct, but it made it very memorable.

This name was not an isolated incident. On another occasion, Hollow Leg was drinking Arrogant Bastard Ale by Stone Brewing Company. Stone is located in Escondido, CA. The evening we realized this, he called pronounced it - ESCON - DIL - DOUGH. Close, but no cigar (no pun intended Monica Lewinsky).

Irony took a hand here. Hollow Leg happened to be going to San Diego - just down the street - on a vacation the next day. He called me to let me know he was in ESCON - DIL - DOUGH.

So that brings me back to Staropramen. I am checking through my e-mail and a friend of mine - completely unrelated to the beer tour - is in Prague. I asked him to send me a few pictures. Being the beer lover that I am, he sends me the following.















Unreal. I can't believe all of the beers. Of all the silly things.

It just makes me think about all of the intersections in life. It makes me think that a picture is not only worth a thousand words, but definitely makes the 100 beers well worth the journey.

Cheers or as they say in Prague - Na zdraví (to your health)

The Last Beer as a Swage

On my last day of work, Anne Lyn and the cheer leader went our for some wings and beer with me. The awesome staff at Swage got me some chocolate and a gift certificate to the Winking Lizard.

I got two pints of the beer of the month - Mystery Ale - which included the glass. I kept one as a momento and gave the other to Anne Lyn. She had been my trusty partner in crime over the past two years. It felt like old times when we were just staring the WLWTOB. In the days before the boys had to get super competitive about it.

Anne Lyn is in the high 70s now. She is making her way to the century mark!! The Social Director has been cheating, but I think Anne Lyn can make it there first.

3rd and Last Place - Getting Dirty

Ok - so Hollow Leg and I have finished the tour. That leave Anne Lyn and the Tour Director to get through their list.

Just to level set - the Tour Director did start weeks after the rest of the team. He already took out a six-pack of beer - which we don't have confirmation he drank because he took it to a party.

Now, there is scandal. What are the rules of the tour. Drink all 100 beers - maybe just a sip - or maybe the whole bottle. However, you need to have all the beers. Inviting your friends to order off of the list and get your blanket for the beer fest is not what the team had in mind.

It didn't have to be competitive. It could just be a group of friends enjoying the beers of the world. The boys had to make it competitive. They were claiming they would 'crush' us.

Well, I did finish first - without the help of a six pack.

The Tour Director proceeded to have other's drink his beer - an not even pick up the tab. That just is plain out cheating. I think we need to add 30 additional drinks of his choice at the end of the tour just as a punishment.

Wait, could extra gin and tonics be considered a punishment?

The Century

One of the definitions of a century is any group or collection of 100. Well, I have completed the Winking Lizard Century.

When I started this endeavor in late January with Anne Lyn, I thought it would be well into the autumn before this journey was completed. I tried to envision 2 beers every week for 50 weeks. If you look at it like that, how hard would it be to get through the 100 beers?

It was never hard getting through the beers. I was even lucky enough to sneak a Guinness in as final substitute.

What was hard was getting up the next morning. What was hard is getting a cab to drive you back to the Winking Lizard because you had too many Belgian beers the day before and Mr. Hollow Leg had to drive you home.

In hind site, I am thankful for the lift and that clearer heads prevailed. It probably is not the best idea to let someone who sets off the fire alarm and just shrugs about it drive home in rush hour.

I will have to say the Hollow Leg (HL) made a valiant effort to finish before me - even getting a six pack in mid-season to narrow the gap. In the end, I had prevailed. Although HL won't admit to it, I think he did the gentlemanly thing by letting me finish first. He finished the next day before our first annual corn hole tournament (a raving success).

So where does that leave us. It means that the first half of the four man relay team has crossed the line. We need to stand on the sidelines and cheer on our teammates. We need to be there to support their efforts.

Go Team Go! Let the games continue - or maybe - another round.

A Fellow Lizard

thought you might enjoy some of the chatter from my fellow tour members.


1. Who all is attending our meeting tonight? YAY!
2. Okay, so I'm admittedly a technological moron. If the band Tool doesn't have songs on iTunes, why is that? Where can I get Tool songs? I really really really really want a couple on my iPod before the run this Sunday.
3. My neighbor left my cornhole bags outside and the squirrels ate 3 of them. Stupid neighbor.
4. I love my new running shoes. My toes are actually healing.
5. WL on the patio!!!! KICK A$$!!!!

And then there were 2 . . .

Last week when I went to the Winking Lizard, I had only planned on having two beers. I had the minuscule total of 9 remaining beers to finish. Much to my surprise, I only had 8 beers left to drink - happy day!

It all seems like smooth sailing. Well, the rough winds starting blowing when Anne Lyn did not come and Quality Expert was pushing the limits to catch up to me.

Looking back on where the tacking when wrong. There were two bad maneuvers. 1) I hate to be beaten by anyone and 2) I really don't want to let the trash talking Quality Expert drag his apparently hollow leg across the finish line first.

So, I had five beers. I tried to intermix the strong Belgian and other high ABV beers with some water and a 4.5 ABV. I will say the beers I did have were mighty tasty. I was trying to save my favorites for the last day.

I sailed through the five and had another later with a farewell group from my company. Fortunately, I had a cheeseburger to keep me from heeling over before I hit the road.

In other news . . .
Unfortunately, Anne Lyn had to observe the rule were Boats on a Port Tack shall give way to boats on Starboard Tack. She made it to the turn first, but Quality Expert seems to have caught the downwind and got the spinnaker out.

As for the Cruise Director, he seems to be stranded on a sandbar. He made some attempts to heave ho at an alternate location this weekend, but he is still aiming for the turnaround.

A Round the Last Turn

No, it is not a spelling error. It is not around - it is A Round. Getting down to the last round of beer.

Well, I am into the single digits for remaining beers. Only 9 left to go in my Winking Lizard world tour. It seems just like yesterday that I was having the first few.

I think the last set of beers will be interesting. I have a couple of the 9 ABV beers left on the list, but I have purposefully left two great scotch ales on the list for my closers. I have been eagerly awaiting the McEwan's Scotch ale.

There are many times that I would look at the list and think the McEwan's would taste lovely, but it just served as an incentive to get to the finish line. One more stop at pit row, then onto the checkered flag!

Talking Big, Talking Trash - Delivering Results

There has been a lot of trash talking on the team lately. I think my recent spike to the 70/80s in count has made the male team members a little nervous. (I wanted to say male members there, but I thought it wouldn't be appropriate.)

They came in strong with declarations of "I am going to crush you" and other similar statements. They thought their previous beer drinking experience would be enough to get them through.

Dude, you are not LeBron James. Maybe you have skills, but this is the Big League. I might not be the fastest drinker. I might not have the biggest tolerance. However, I am hungry (well thirsty), and I am willing to work at it instead of resting on my laurels.

Granted, I have thrown some verbal barbs over the wall, but I have slowly and steadily backing up my smack talk with the numbers. It is nice to hit 3 pointers, but when you can't make the layups or foul shots, you're not wearing the t-shirt with 23! You're not even wearing the Winking Lizard fleece first.

To make it even more interesting, I am the only member to complete the Belgian Beer mini tour - kind of like the All Star game for the WLTOB.

I got a wonderful glass that I am going to use as a prize for our corn hole tournament. I know I don't have the skills to win the corn hole tournament, but I also remember, it is just a game.

The Lonely Road

Lately, the team has not been doing regular meetings. We have been keeping the faith and going every week, but just not as a team.

On Monday, I went to the Winking Lizard by myself. Granted, this is something I have done in the past. It is also something precipitated by the fact that I am moving and have already packed my entire kitchen.

It was kind of strange, but not only did the team not go, but the supporters were busy as well. I was left to carry the banner. I was happy to do it as well. It just means that I am that many beers closer to finishing the world tour.

Close, I am getting close, I am under the 20 beers left mark. I have a couple of wheat beers and some big volume germans left to get through. I need to start savoring it now, because I know it won't last.

It Is Hard To Be Away

This week is going to be quiet. I will be out of town for work, so there will be no World Tour for me.

My teammates might use this opportunity to seize upon my enormous lead. I think I have created enough of a barrier, so that I can relax during my week out of town.

We are waiting for the weather to clear so we can begin some of our planned outdoor team activities.

I will keep you posted!

London Callin' You Out

So we had a little get together at the Winking Lizard with an associate from our London Distributor. Let's just call him The Jug. It isn't what you think. In Britain, you would order a jug of beer, not a pitcher.

At any rate, The Jug came with us for an outing. He was the stand in for our absent boy team members. Although he only had one style of beer, he was happy to talk about our tour and experience Annie Lyn's halfway. We had a lot of wheat beers, but with the turn to warm, sunny weather, it felt like the right thing to do.

Yes, Annie Lyn got her blanket, and the boy teammates are not halfway yet. They are getting desperate though - they resorted to getting take out six packs on Thursday. They tried to be clever and put them in the car before we got there.

No such luck - Annie Lyn busted them on the way to the car. It has prompted a new rule that Annie Lyn and I created yesterday when we were at the WL, only one six pack per tour when you are NOT with the team.

This clarification is very important because we are planning a golf outing and will need the six packs for the event. You always need to make sure you rules aren't too restrictive, but just keep others from pseudo-cheating.

So here we are calling out the boys from trying to take the easy way out - something the girls wouldn't do (unless until it comes down to the wire and gets competitive - but I doubt that).

Cheers

The Goat, The Cork and The Gecko

As with any journey, travelers tend to collect memorabilia. Sometimes it can be postcards, but often it trinkets. Things of interest you find along the way.

For the WLWTOB, our team has started to collect the trinkets. Of course, as the first to the halfway point, I have collected the first three designated trinkets.

I have a small white goat from my Celebrator Dopplebock, a cork from the Lindeman's Pomme and a ceramic stopper from the Le Meule with a gecko on the top. All three were received on different occasions and bring back great memories of sitting around, enjoying good beer and having a laugh.

However, of all three trinkets, I dig the gecko the best. I have to say the Celebrator Dopplebock was by far the best beer of the three. The Lindeman's pomme is apple infused and bit more on the cidery side for me. The Le Meule had some spice in it - maybe clove - that gives it an odd flavor.

It is kind of interesting how beers have so much personality - just like people - just like my teammates. Maybe I will have to mull that over. Is someone the celebrator? Is someone the pomme?

The Beer is Colder in the Other Fridge

I thought when I reached the halfway point, there would be a sense of liberation. It would be better to be drinking the second half instead of the first haf.

At first, there was glory. There was the halfway prize - a Winking Lizard blanket. It was very cool and had carrying handles.

Now, I am feeling the pressure. I went to have a few beers with Annie Lyn, and I started to get worried. I have two big drinking males on my heels. I was planning on relaxing. I was thinking that once I got past the halfway point, it would get easier.

It is getting harder. I made some rookie mistakes. There are a lot of wheat and flavored beers left - not really my favorite style. There are a lot of big beers (high abv) left. I need to regroup. I need to adjust the setting on the fridge and cool things off.

I need a beer!!

Holy Buckeye, Batman!

Do you remember watching Batman and Robin when you were a kid? Batman, Robin or one of their associates would get themselves into a completely ridiculous situation. You would be sitting in front of the TV thinking, they will never get themselves out!

Magically, in the last 5 to 10 minutes of the show, all the right maneuvers would magically fall into place, and - Kapow - they would win the day.

I think Ohio State's basketball must have taken a page from the Batman and Robin playbook last night. Like the past few games, Ohio State lets a huge gap open between their opponents, and then they manage to come back in the final minutes to edge out a point to win.

So maybe you are asking, what do the Buckeyes have to do with the WLWTOB? First, we had our team meeting during the game last night. Beside the Buckeyes unreal victory, I received my halfway blanket. The first member of the team to get there - with a gap of about 10 beers.

It's half time, I am 10 points ahead. I am WORRIED.

Not only are my teammates Buckeye fans, they drink like the Buckeyes. They won't have a beer for a week, then - kapow - 8 in one night or 4 in one sitting. I can't rest on my laurels, they are gunning for me.

Just like OSU, I managed to be victorious and get to the halfway point of the tour(ney), but just like the NCAA tournament, the real action is coming.

Bring it on, baby! I am running out of the locker room after half time, sprinting to the middle of the court, bringing my fists to my sides and screaming "Yeah" til my face is more red the OSU uniforms. Bring it on!

Then there were 2, and then 4

Two quick house keeping news items. I am down to my last two beers before the midway point. The team meeting is tonight at the Winking Lizard and I am going to drink the weakest and the strongest beer (probably a Belgian - yikes) left on my list. After that, I might need to drink some alternative light beers so there will not be a repeat of the Friday incident.

In some really great news, I went to WL last night with my brother. His co-workers were having a goodbye happy hour for him. The boy team member was there with another work associate who was signing up for the tour as I walked in. I immediately initiated him into the team and now there are four members. (Although our new member claims he is going to finish first - we shall see.)

We are not quite sure of his role on the team, but we are leaning toward events procurement. We don't want to rush to judgement or pigeon-hole his capabilities, so we will be watching to see over the next few weeks to see how things will brew.

Maintaining the Team Spirit

While at a team meeting - with only girl members - we started chatting about how close I was coming to my halfway point. As the logistics person, it was on my mind that I might potentially get to 50 during a meeting when everyone on the immediate team was not in attendance.

We made an executive decision, which we later ran by our boy team member, that the two major milestones of halfway and final beer can ONLY be done with all team members present.

This decision was to help maintain the team spirit as we are venturing to participate with different groups of friends. The Tour is not meant to be restrictive, but encourage the consumption and enjoyment of our favorite malt beverage.

The team will be getting together on Thursday to celebrate my 50. When will the next midway celebration be?

Where Beer, the Team and Art Meet

As I was looking through some online drawings, I came across two very interesting comics.

The first one reminded me of Anie Lyn - our team analyatics representative. She was appointed to this position because her social style is Analytical, Analytical.

What does that mean in real world terms?

Here is the scenario - you ask Anie Lyn a questions. She says, 'Let me ask you a question about that question.

Here is the analytical comic that eloquently demonstrates Anie Lyn's team participation.

The second comic reminded me more of the other team mate - The Quality Expert. This cartoon might be a little overboard, but I could see him bartering for his work to get done and beer being the coinage of choice.

Maybe it is because he is our overall quality ranking expert, but we seem to have to taste every beer to help him out.

The next official team outing with all members will be next week, by which time I should be reaching the half way marker (50 beers) by the time we meet.

St. Patrick's Deployment Meeting

Well, the holiday drinking season (starting on Halloween and running through St. Patricks) has O'fficially concluded. It felt a little weird that our third team member was not even in the country.

We managed to coral some other WLWTOB supporters for a meeting on Friday. It was quite mellow, and I have a few theories about why.

1. No one from the team was saying he was going to 'crush' us
2. We skillfully avoided the Belgian beers
3. I was embarrassed that I am a mere 7 beers away from the halfway point
4. The session ran a brief 2.5 hours

I have an odd feeling about the team. I think I will be the first to make it to the halfway point, but then I am going to watch the other team members start getting fierce.

The biggest danger is that I am clipping through the ales - leaving the big Beligian beers and the fruity wheats. I think I need to re-evaluate the ales only tactic. I don't want to be choking down fruity beers and watch my team mates motor past me . . . or do I?

The St. Paddy's Team Event

The WLWTOB Team has been on a bit of a hiatus this week. We had a meeting on Monday, although we were down a member, and there hasn't been much activity this week.

Today, we are brigging out the green and getting the community involved. Our boy is still not in town, but I think we will manage to struggle on without him.

Since I am half Irish, today's world tour meeting has me in a bit of a quandry. I want to keep working toward my goal of 100, but there is only one Irish beer our world tour list.

Maybe it doesn't seem odd to you, but No Guinness, No Smithwicks, No Harp. The Winking Lizard sells the dark stuff - why isn't it on the tour?

I guess we will have to soldier on an enjoy some other beers today. Luckily it is only the eve of St. Paddy's!

Drunk as a Monk

In Belgium, Trappist Monks have a long tradition of brewing beer. Not just any beer - some of the best beers in the world.

As part of our World Tour, there is a mini tour of the Belgian Beers. Specifically, Achel, Chimay, Koningshoeven, Orval, Rochefort and Westmalle. What do you get for finising the mini tour (that only costs $1)? You get a lovely glass.

Well, the real answer to that question - drunk. The amount of alcohol is these beers is dangerous. (psst, abv = alcohol by volume)

• Achel - 8 abv
• Chimay - 9 abv
• Koningshoeven Quadrupel - 10 abv (the strongest on the tour)
• Orval - 6.2 abv
• Rochefort - 9.2 abv
• Westmalle Tripel - 9.2 abv

Big deal you say, consider that Miller Lite about 4.2 abv and you generally drink it in 12 oz bottles.

In my valiant attempt to make my way around this mini tour, I managed to have two beers at the end of the evening. Well, I didn't have a prayer against these heavy hitters.

Yes, I said prayer. No wonder the monks don't speak at the monastary or speak in tougues. I was able to replicate that experience. Have no fear, I didn't drive home.

Me, I have never seen a skunk drunk, but I have a sneaking suspicion, there have been a couple of monks in Belgium in that condition.

The World Tour of Beer

I have recently began a world tour at the Winking Lizard. However, this is no ordinary world tour.

I am seeking to understand the different cultures of the world by drinking their beers. I have 50 weeks to drink 100 beers.

At first glance, 100 beers seems like an excessive amount. However, if you break down the total over a period of 50 weeks, it is a meager two beers a week.

As with any extended venture, like the time I trained for a half marathon, success is much more attainable and fun with a team.

The team started off as a team of two members - me and the girl who sits over my cube wall. We have managed to add one more - very enthusiastic - member. So now, we are two girls and a boy.

In additional to the team, we felt there was a need for a support staff. Lance Armstrong didn't win the tour without the support vehicle. We are establishing a long list of supporters. Even managed to convert a non-beer drinker in the past few meetings.

This blog is going to talk about the exploits and cultural experience of doing a world tour of beer.

Cheers!