Dammit

Groundhog Day came a week early for the Bills, the Bills Mafia and the Western NY diaspora in general. Kansas City simply outplayed Buffalo and got results when it counted; Buffalo did not and the refs had little to nothing to do with it. Several close calls went KC's way but none of it rose to the level of the usual Violation of Mahomes' Personal Space flag-tossing.

Hard to not be disappointed but it was another great season overall.

Watching a tough game was made easier by enjoying Thin Man Brewery's Pills Mafia, a fine pilsener with a great label:

Love the table-crashers

This pilsener is purveyed by my pals at Arlington's own Brew Shop, conveniently located nearish Courthouse Metro. Hurry in to wish them a happy ninth birthday and pick up their collaboration with Ocelot Brewing: the incredibly-named and -labeled Uninterrupted Prosperity. (Obligatory: UN-INTERRUPTED!)

Go Eagles, I guess.

I Only Used It for Medicinal Purposes

I had an obituary for the recently-deceased Leonard Nimoy in the works, but time and a lack of writing skill have rendered it unworthy of posting. Meanwhile, our own CRH introduced his own tribute at a recent social gathering, the profound wisdom of which (the tribute, not necessarily the social gathering) we will not debate at these proceedings.

Behold the limited edition Romulan Ale:

There were six phrases/sayings at the bottom of each label in the six-pack (though to be fair, CRH, knowing his audience, brought two of them):

• Wanting a beer is not so pleasing a thing as having a beer
• Drinking this beer is your first, best destiny. Anything else is a waste of material
• Sauce for the goose
• I have been and always shall be your ale
• The needs of the thirsty outweigh the needs of the few, or the one
• Live long and prosper

Although they are all wonderful, the first two on the list are in a dead heat in my mind, regardless of what the second one implies about the drinker in question.

We are eagerly looking forward to the next shipment across the Neutral Zone.

Drink. Discuss. Repeat (though not necessarily in that order).

The masthead (and possibly the readership; both show scant evidence of existence) boasts a fair number of hopheads so I thought this ranking of American IPAs would be of interest. I have had about half of the IPAs mentioned and can attest to the quality of the Racer 5 (for which I believe I have CRH to thank for introducing to me). Bell's Two-Hearted (thanks JWT!) is an admitted omission, Brooklyn IPA is also quite good, and I would have placed the Dogfish Head much higher but perhaps the unsampled beers are that much better.As Saruman would say, "We have work to do."

As always, when enjoying a craft beer, raise a toast to History's Greatest Monster for deregulating the brewing industry and making all of this possible. On a (literally) related note, I was delighted to learn recently, via cleaning out my mother's basement, that Billy Beer was produced by (among others) what became the Matt Brewing Company, whose fine products Laura, CRH, and Mrs. JJV will soon be sampling in their native environment. Circle of Life, baby!

Fourth of July, Flyover Style

We returned yesterday from a delightful long weekend celebrating the Fourth among relatives in Missouri, land of the free and home of the M-80. In contrast to most previous July visits, the weather was hot but not disablingly so, and the humidity stayed under wilting levels, so one could actually move around without penalty. Much of the time was spent either in or on Lake Lotawana, with an impressive official fireworks display launched from the lake dam and supplemented by enthusiastic quantities of locally-purchased ordnance.

Another milestone of the trip was my first taste of the fabled Fat Tire Amber, which got an initial "meh" from me. However, the next day I tried it again and understood my initial reaction. As a rule, I prefer hoppier beers to this Belgian-style amber, but having accounted for that, Fat Tire is an excellent example of the latter and it was very refreshing on a hot day. Fortunately, I had also picked up a sixpack of New Belgium's Ranger IPA which was more to my liking, so the beer exploration portion of our trans-Mississippi expedition was not in vain. Although it was too late to go back to the Price Chopper, I also heard good things about the output of Kansas City's own Boulevard Brewing Company, so I'll have to remember that for the next trip out there.

Our trip ended in fitting fashion as our plane approached National Airport from the north, following the twists and turns of the Potomac River and giving us spectacular views of the National Cathedral, Georgetown University, the Mall from the Lincoln Memorial to the Capitol, and hundreds of borderline-dehydrated tourists, all beautifully lit up by the setting sun. The few seconds between those views and the landing consist almost exclusively of the Potomac River coming up to meet you, which always reminds me of the story I had heard years before about airline pilots likening a landing at National to landing on a carrier. Fortunately the runway is long enough to preclude the use of arresting wires so we had a reasonably smooth arrival.

Is That a Stiff Upper Lip or Are You Just Happy to See Me?

Although this has already been reported here (tip o' the driving cap), erstwhile Anglophile/monarchist-of-all-trades JJV had this to say about the English beer created in commemoration of the upcoming royal wedding, brewed with, among other things, Viagra:

Beer goggles plus Viagra. Worst. Idea. Ever.

I am with him on this point, having always thought that the one side effect was meant to balance out the other.

Read This, and You'll Want a Drink. Or Perhaps Not.

The Russian government is encountering some resistance in its attempts to reclassify beer as an alcoholic beverage. Sounds as if the encouragement of beer as the mongoose to kill the cobra of vodka has backfired, though not as badly as the metaphors in this sentence.

At any rate, the goal of reducing alcohol consumption by half within the next decade or so sounds impossible, but not when alcohol is the driving force behind the projected 20% decline in the Russian population by 2050. That's almost half your goal right there!

Lest you think this is some reflection of the Putin-Medvedev thugocracy*, this kind of demographic disaster has been underway since the Soviet period, as anyone who has encountered the work of Murray Feshbach will attest. I took his course in Soviet Demography twenty years ago and the section on the Soviet medical system, which is largely unchanged and probably worse except for the upper strata of society, was the most depressing two hours I have spent in a classroom.

Na zdrovie!

*I was going to use the term "kleptocracy" but I get the sense that Putin at least is keeping his personal share of his country's wealth inside the borders so he can enjoy it in situ.

It's Australian for "Stupid"

Even though it's winter in the Land Down Under, I'll bet that a brisk run and swim would make any Bruce or Sheila thirsty. However, if you're an escaped prisoner on the lam via a run and swim, you may want to think twice about stopping for a beer.

Being a fairly butch society, it's no surprise the fugitive was apprehended at the Manly Hotel.

They Brew, You Decide

Dave P., the Man Who Would Be King of Happy Hour, passed along this Fox News piece on the World Beer Cup, whose website makes it look like a golf tournament. With beer! Mmm, beer.

Speaking of Happy Hour, it is great to have Mr. P. back but it's been hell on our blog traffic. Maybe if I transferred JCF's account to Mr. P...

Epiphany

Last night while watching Lance Armstrong shilling improbably for some crap beer on TV, Laura asked and answered a question for the ages:

"What beer does Tiger Woods drink? We'll never know."

Hitting Below the Grain Belt

JWT supplies the post title AND the text and link below. Get that man a Blogger account!

Yes, my 401(k) is in shreds, and the 529s are shells of their former selves, but I didn't know things were bad until I read this.

On the other hand the malt glut may make home-brewing more economically viable. Dust off the spiral wort chiller, CRH, the world calls!

Just in Time for Summer: Beer Pops Legal in VA

I cannot believe that JJV did not spot this, but just in time for summer and our impending move to Arlington comes word that brew pops are legal in Virginia. Although to be honest they don't sound all that appetizing. I think I'll stick to the bottled/kegged stuff.