Saturday, January 28, 2006 AD

Drink Up! It's Carnival Time!


Fellow purpose-driven drinker Terrible Swede hosts Lutheran Carnival XVI. Grab a cold one (or a warm one, if that's your bag) and see what's up in confessional Lutheranism.

Friday, January 27, 2006 AD

Carnival Deadline Looms


The Terrible Swede purposefully hosts the next Lutheran Carnival.

Submissions are due this (Friday) evening at 7:00 p.m. CST. Make sure you have the proper format before sending to lutherancarnival AT gmail DOT com. Remember to send reviews in the third person.

Saturday, January 21, 2006 AD

"Move over, Pabst Blue Ribbon...

...You're no longer the hipster beer. That honor now goes to St. Pauli Girl beer."
So says The Philadelphia Weekly. Since when was Pabst Blue Ribbon ever hip? What is Pabst Blue Ribbon any way?

More...

If you drink (American) Budweiser, Coors or Miller, you are a dick. If you drink Bud Light, Coors Light or Miller Lite, you are a dick on a stick. These fizzy beverages can be considered beers only in the same way toothpaste can be considered food. Try drinking one at room temperature if you don't believe me.

If on the other hand you're spotted quaffing (Czech) Budweiser, Timothy Taylor, Anchor Steam, Grainstore Rutland Panther or Theakston's Old Peculier (sic), this immediately marks you out as a god among men-knitted twat hat with spazzy earflaps notwithstanding.

Finally, have you met the new St. Pauli Girl?
She's our new patron saint for 2006!

Here's last years, just in case you forgot...


Notice a theme? The beer, right?

Cold Beer Outlawed?

Missouri legislator:

Sen. Bill Alter introduced a bill that would keep grocery and convenience from selling beer colder than 60 degrees. He said his goal is to cut down on drunken driving.


Wow! I don't think this is the way to curb drunk driving. The law ought to be because cold beer may destroy the taste of stronger better beer.

I don't have an update on this - I know it's old news.

Sam Adams Has A Pilsner?

I just found out that Sam Adams has a pilsner. I'll drink pilsners but Mrs. Swede won't kiss me because they smell horrific. I guess I get used to it.

Anyway, there was a vote for either Sam Adams Brown Ale or Bohemian Pilsner. And the Brown Ale won by about 1500 votes.

I have yet to try them - they're on my to do list...

So I've Added...

...Real Beer Dot Com and its blog Beer Therapy to the blogroll. Beer Therapy is a noobie blog, but I don't know why I never added Real Beer. Dumbass.

Thursday, January 19, 2006 AD

The history of beer


The History of Beer

The two most important events in all of history were the invention of beer and the invention of the wheel. The wheel was invented to get man to the beer. These were the foundation of modern civilization, and together were the catalyst for the splitting of humanity into two distinct subgroups: Liberals and Conservatives.

Once beer was discovered it required grain, and that was the beginning of agriculture. Neither the glass bottle nor aluminum can was invented yet, so while our early human ancestors were sitting around waiting for them to be invented, they just stayed close to the brewery. That's how villages were formed. Read on..
.

Originally read on the Garage Logic radio show on 11/6/2005 by Joe Soucheray, one of the funniest men I've ever heard.

Monday, January 16, 2006 AD

This One's A Keeper...

...LUTHER'S LIFE
While studying at the University of Erfurt, Luther lived in a dormitory that was commonly known as Biertasche or 'Beer Bag.'

HT: Lutheran Tidbit of the Day.

Saturday, January 14, 2006 AD

Light Beer Inventor Dies...

...This brilliant man of Ukrainian blood has given us many favorites. I hope he had a peaceful death. I wonder if he was Lutheran?

Friday, January 13, 2006 AD

Lutheran Carnival XV

Lutheran Carnival XV is now up at Drowning Myself Whenever I can. As you can see, Chaz wasn't kidding when he said he had to get this done before Symposia.

Wednesday, January 11, 2006 AD

Moose Drool meets Apple Spice

Also posted at Purpose Driven Drinking blog...




This past weekend I spent in Winona, Minnesota with my 14 year old son at a Bantam hockey tournament. Youth hockey tournaments are interesting events for many reasons. The kids, as with most kids, are not as interested in playing hockey as they are in doing things they cannot do at home. Those activities include swimming in the hotel room with their buddies, relaxing in the hot tub, roaming the hotel halls searching for exciting moments, watching movies and playing group videos games in someone's room and sneaking in a little food fight if a mom lets down her guard. The kids do want to win their games, to be sure, but the imagined excitement of the sleepaway tournament is far more exciting. If they win some hockey games, all the better.

Parents also have a few highlights to look forward to. We can meet at a downtown coffee cafe, roam antique shops together and gather for meals. And if we are very lucky, we get a chance to meet at the hotel bar or around the pool to share a beer and talk. These moments are wonderful to me. Your son's teammates parents are usually people that you don't otherwise sit down and talk with and after an enjoyable evening you are often left regretting that fact.

My son is in his second to last year of youth hockey; after that is high school sports and I don't know that the parent comeraderie is the same. Many of the parents on my son's team are the same parents from several other teams of past years. This past weekend, I found myself looking forward to these familiar faces. They looked out for the moms that were solo for the weekend (dad is with child 2, 3 or 4 at some other event) and made us feel welcome. We are all becoming a group of people that could walk up to each other at the grocery store and easily start a casual conversation. This weekend it occurred to me that I had never sent anyone of these good people a Christmas card. I will remedy that soon with a card and a photograph of good times.

Another benefit of my hockey weekend was enjoying two new beers. At the local juicy lucy hamburger bar, I enjoyed a Leinenkugel's Apple Spice beer. It was surprisingly delicious. It lasted through talk at the bar as we waiting for several tables to open for our group of twenty. We had to break into groups and as I enjoyed my meal with two other parents, it's sweetness complimented our tales of how we met our spouses. I wanted to have another, but since I was driving I savored my single treat.


Back at the hotel pool as we gathered around a table, one of the dad's handed me another treat: Moose Drool Brown Ale. Much less sweet, it was also a pleasant surprise. As I enjoyed it, he told us a college days tale of running a campus "seniors only" bar. I like brown ales and always have. I have never enjoyed thin beers past my freshman days of wasteful drinking (and I never "enjoyed" those beers, but mindlessly followed others). My adult rule of drinking is to drink the best of beers and enjoy slowly.

Monday, January 02, 2006 AD

The Lutheran Carnival XIV...

...is up at Intolerant Elle (that's Dan the Geologist's girlfriend). Enjoy!

Sunday, January 01, 2006 AD

29th Beer: N'Ice Chouffe...

Shared this pint with Dan. His X-mas gift to me. I was supposed to evaluate it but forgot.

Overall very good - smokey strong flavor and smell.

Belgium Ale brewed with Thyme and Curacao peel.
10% ABV


















From the back label:

N'Ice Chouffe, limited edition, brewed only each winter by Brasserie d'Achouffe in the heart of the Ardennes forest of Belgium. Brasserie d'Achouffe began brewing this intensely complex bottle conditioned ale in 1993.

This deep dark winter warmer is rich in taste, spicy, full of complex fruity, berrylike, vinous flavors that are complimented by malt overtones.

N'Ice Chouffe, is brewed from: springwater, malted barley, hops, thyme, and dried orange peel and a lot of dark candy sugar.

Beer enthusiasts may wish cellar this bottle immediately for enjoyment in the years to come or serve at 60 F as an after dinner drink. The scene depicted on the front of the bottle features a typical winter vista of the village of Achouffe with the chapel of St. Joseph and the brewery in the background.