$10.00 is all it takes to be safe. Completely staffed by volunteers, RideOn Portland will take you (and your car) from the bar you are at to your home.
I hope this is an idea that spreads around the country because in our car first culture it just isn’t as easy to go out and enjoy a beer without always having to monitor how you feel. Now I don’t suggest going out to get wasted. I never have. But if you want to try to big, flavorful beers you need options transportation wise so that you can be safe and have a good time.
Sad story about the vanishing English pub
Things are tough all over. But there should be something that can be done to save the famous English pub. Read this story…
3 Sheets
The Travel/Drinking show “Three Sheets”, hosted by Zane Lamprey, is back on Television on the Fine Living Network tonight (July 20) at 10 eastern, 9 central, and as is the case with cable will repeat later. This show has bounced around networks so let’s hope it sticks here so that more people can find it.
Yoga & Beer
Bristol Brewing’s yoga-and-a-beer sessions.
The brewery’s resident Bristol Beer Ninja leads Sunday yoga-plus-beer classes described as guy friendly, geared toward beginners and focusing on “the healing power of yoga and beer.”
Ten bucks pays for stretches, a bottle of water and a post yoga beer.
Widmer Brothers + charity
from Draft Magazine.…
Expressions of brotherly love usually involve punching, wrestling, or some kind of potentially dangerous physical activity. Widmer Brothers Brewing Company is celebrating Brother’s Day (Tuesday, August 11) in a slightly more healthy way.
Their collection of sarcastic e-cards are a great way of conveying brotherly affection while helping a good cause. One dollar will be donated to Big Brothers Big Sisters for each card sent before August 11. Widmer Brothers has pledged to raise $10,000 in an effort to recruit more volunteer Big Brothers.
“Our effort to support Big Brothers Big Sisters is a personal commitment,” Kurt Widmer said. “We know firsthand the value of strong role models and of course, the importance of brotherhood.”
So before that friendly sibling boxing match results in a pleasant trip to the emergency room, send your bro an e-card. And help give community kids an opportunity to experience the joy that can only come from getting matching casts with their brother.
Great Beer + Food article
This is a very astute article about how sometimes one hand doesn’t know what the other hand is doing.
Beer for Troops
I saw this tidbit in Draft Magazine….
Thanks to a Chicago-based group called Pizza 4 Patriots, American troops at VA hospitals around the country will receive another shipment of beer and pizza this fall. The organization, which sent 2,000 pizzas to soldiers in Iraq last July 4th and helped them drink Schlitz during the Super Bowl, has gotten donations of over 6,000 beers to spread around the country on Veteran’s Day.
Troops serving on active duty are banned from drinking while on base — with the exception of the Super Bowl — but vets in hospitals can imbibe accordingly.
Price is relative
I want to get something off my chest. I do not care what beer costs. There, I said it. And I don’t regret it.
I just had Magic Hat # 9 recently. It was one of the best beers I have had in a while. It really made an impression. I could have been charged $8.00 for it and it would have been worth it.
How can I say that when I am “at liberty” employment wise. Shouldn’t I be going cheap. NO. I want to taste the best beer, not any beer. The point is not to get drunk. The point is to savor and explore. That is part of the reason why I started this blog. I want to guide people to better beer.
I firmly believe that it is better to have one really awesome experience of 16 ounces than it is to get a sixer and feel woozy.
The esteemed Garrett Oliver explains via cheese and bread this same theory. Are you going to buy white bread and pre-packaged cheese slices or would it be better to have great farmhouse cheddar on a baguette from the local bakery?
Same goes with beer. I’ll skimp elsewhere.
Great Beer articles from both coasts
Beer usually does not get enough press outside the outstanding beer publications (that you should subscribe to like Celebrator, All About Beer, Imbibe and Beer Advocate). So it is good to see that the New York Times talked about beer & food and that the Los Angeles Times had a great piece on Sour Beers by Joshua Lurie of Food GPS.
Beer DVD reviews
Today, I watched “Beer Wars” and “The American Brew” back to back. I think that they both have their strong points but American Brew wins my Beer Oscar.
The American Brew is way too short (in a good way) and I really enjoyed the clips left on the cutting room floor. It shows the basics of making beer along with a brief history of beer in America. And it has great commentators including Daniel Okrent, Charlie Papazian, Fritz Maytag and Dick Cantwell among others. It has a specific aim and it hits it straight on. Since, I love educating people about beer and its turbulent history in America, this is a great tool to use.
Beer Wars on the other hand has a major beer flaw in it, though it is not a dramatic flaw. The focus is on Sam Calagione from the wonderful Dogfish Head and on the creator of Moonshot Caffeine Beer and Edison Light, Rhonda Kallman. To a lesser extent it is a screed against the three-tiered distribution system and the dominance of ABINBEV / SABMILLERCOORS.
Both Sam and Rhonda have wonderful entrepreneurial spirit. But Sam understands that he is a brewer first and second and third and a salesman fourth. Rhonda is all sales all the time and that hurts her. She becomes a product not a craft. I totally understand why the beer community is so mixed on this movie. On one hand it celebrates creative beer and then extols the wonders of marketed beer. It is good drama but not good beer.