Wikileaks has gained notoriety in the past few weeks for leaking confidential journals regarding the war (that was supposed to be over by now) in Afghanistan.  I moseyed on over and checked out the documents myself.   Boring.  I supposed I should have dug deeper, because nestled in the controversy was this gem of a story.  One of my least favorite newspapers has the scoop. Mortars, Guns, Machettes....egh, the insurgents just find them all too boring of tools for killing invasive American Geologists.  Poison beer, now that's fun!  That's right, apparently the Wikileak documents purport that the ISI (Afghan spy agency) and insurgents actually intended on using the method with regularity.  Americans do love them some beer, after all.  And one American Geologists claims to have been a victim: James Yeager, an American geologist who advised Afghanistan's Ministry of Mines, tells the Monitor he returned to his residence in Kabul to find it had been burgled. The intruder took money from a drawer and left behind a bottle of Corona beer. The Corona bottle sat on his counter for the next two weeks Yeager says, because Corona is one of his least favorite beers. He finally opened it during a going away party as ...

As I glanced through my Google News Feed this morning, I came across this article reporting on a series of stings in Memphis, Tennessee in which various beer purveyors were set up in a sting by police, and cited for various infractions, namely selling beer without asking for ID.  In all, such stings as this has yielded 73 arrests in 2010 for the county of Shelby from these "raids." Reading the article made my blood boil a bit.  Why? I too, was set up by Christian County, MO police in a similar raid some years ago.  First allow me to tell  my story, and then set up the illogical nature of these raids. I was working as bar tender at a Ruby Tuesday on a VERY busy night.  I had no time to converse with my customers and was slinging drinks at a furious pace.  This is great for the patrons...in a rush I tend to over-pour.  In walked a young, attractive girl who orders something retarded like a Midouri Sour.  She ordered the drink in a flirtatious manner.  Even though I'm busy, I say, "No problem...let me see your ID." She rummages through her purse and then states, "I must have left ...

I have yet to find anything that beer is not compatible with, and festivals are no exception.  Here in Toledo, OH--a historic melting pot of elasticities--there are numerous festivals held to celebrate any given facet of the city's heritage.  The Greek fest, the German fest, the Latino fest...they're all a blast, but it is the Polish fest that holds a special place in my heart, as I grew up on my grandmother's authentic polish recipes that came to America on the ship when her parents immigrated here. About a month ago our family of seven hit up the polish fest.  The food was incredible.  The sour cabbage and butter noodle, the pirogi, and the kielbasa tasted like they came right out of Busha's kitchen; in fact, I'm sure they did.  While the only polish beer available at the festival was  Okacim--just and average beer in my opinion--it worked great with the rich food.  Besides, the ambiance of the festival made it that much better. Interestingly (but not surprisingly) nearly EVERYBODY at the polish festival had a brew in their hands.  And everybody was happy. The great thing about these festivals, is that for a few hours you forget that you live in rust ...

After defending BrewDog achievements of making a 32% and a 41% beer, I have to defend the creation of a  55% beer called The End of History, a reference to Democracy as the high human political achievement (the implication that the human political struggle reaches its terminus in democratic ideals). This is another notable achievement and landmark in the making of a massive beer.  Imagine, 55% ABV.  Wow!  Read about it here.  But the accomplishment of making a 55% beer is where I have to end my applause for BrewDog.  Here's the deal: We live in a time where all of us are more and more sensitive, more and more concerned about political correctness, and more and more readily offended at things like, say, a stuffed, dead animal with a beer running through its body.  I for one am not actually that discomfited with the idea, especially since these animals were already dead.  I've hunted for several years and am not at all uncomfortable with an animal hide.  Let me say, though, that I can see how someone might be bothered about it. Sausage jokes don't bother me either.  Rhetoric can be a fun and absolutely funny vehicle for making a point or, ...

There is absolutely nothing like coming home and finding a parcel waiting for you from UPS...especially when it contains beer...especially especially when you weren't expecting it!  Thanks for the surprise Buckbean Brewery!  Without having even tasted their beer, they made my day.  Besides the fact that Buckbean makes great beer, I like them for their humility.  I've never seen a self aggrandizing or "grovel at my ivory tower because I'm a brewer!" statement come from their twitter or Facebook feed.  Rather, they exude humility and a willingness to interact with their customers. That being said, what did I find when I ripped open the box from Reno, NV? Heck if I knew.  Buckbean really embraced stark minimalism on this one.  Two, shiny silver cans with nary a jot of text glimmered from within.  Coors has got nothing on these silver bullets!  I emailed the brewery prior to drinking to inquire as to what exactly was contained in the cans.  Maibock.  Maibock can be a great brew this time of year, but I've had a few craft versions of this German style brew that were utterly disgusting.   The point:  It's an easy style to screw up. But in all objectivity (yes the beer ...

One aspect of the beer community that I love in particular is the nature of the people in it.  Upsetting other writers by disagreeing with them is a rariety (unless one behaves flat out insultingly).  So, when I saw a post from Peter at Simply Beer discussing the disclosure of ingredients in a beer, I asked him whether my writing a counterpoint post would be okay.  Of course, he agreed. I do care what's in my beer.  I care that it's a quality product made with malts, hops, water and good yeast.  In short, I care that the beer I'm drinking doesn't have fillers and cheap production.  But for breweries to have to list ingredients like ginger, the reviled addition for Peter, is a discomfiting proposition to me.  The example I used on Peter's post and the one I'm going to use here deals with Wit beer. The exotic spices used in Wit beer are notoriously hard to pinpoint.  Some of the world's best tasters may have a guess, albeit an uncertain one, as to which ingredients are actually used.  The mysterious appeal and subtle qualities of a Wit beer are essentially based on these "secret" ingredients.  Now suppose the ingredients of the ...

About a month ago, Andrea and I were visiting my family.  I'd been about a year since we made the trek west, and we hadn't seen them in a while.  I have a beer cellar—in this case a big fridge full of beer—at my parents' house in Indiana.  I have, perhaps, 200 bottles of beer in there.  It contains anything from new cellar beers to twelve year-old brews.  Anyway, I have some very enjoyable stuff in there, including a few lambics and brett heavy beers. One night we were playing cards at the Reinhardt household, and I decided to crack some cellar beers.  A few beers stick out, but one in particular is at the front of my mind as I write this: a Kiwi lambic from Upland.  This beer was terrific.  I personally noted one slight off-tone to the brew, but it didn't really detract from the beer as a whole.  But I'm not here to write a review or get you to buy that particular beer.  Actually, I want to share something that I found particularly surprising. My brother has been pretty into beer for a couple of years now, and he is particularly fond of lambics.  He loved the ...

One of the real tricks to having a website is getting real interaction.  Let me tell you guys and gals, we are extremely thankful for the beer community on our site.  We get a lot of interaction from several people.  That interaction is substantial and amazing.  However, we want to get to know you more.  You can learn a lot about people through various exercises. You can learn a lot about how people think and what their tendencies are just by asking them to complete a thought.  Plus, I really like the idea that our readers are actually shaping and defining our content. So, I had an idea (not sure if it's going to flop or fly) that involves making a simple statement and then asking our readers to finish the thought.  I think it will be fun and all of us will get to know each other better.  Without further ado, here is the first statement. "I love hops in a beer because they..."

Well, looks like Erik made it.  Is there some hope for the rest of us moping slobs?  It looks like Nate and I have a firm hope of raising some money through a site like kickstarter.com (eventually).  Meantime, donations to Erik's project made a roaring surge into and past his projected fundraising mark.  Allow me, and Nate as well, to offer the sincerest and most hopeful congratulations that our hearts can muster.  I am personally motivatedly jealous.  What you have done, Erik, is great and it lights a fire under my arse.  I'm excited for your future and wish you nothing but the best.  We will be rooting for and promoting your success on this site. Folks, one of the great things about Erik's fundraising is that he can exceed the amount given and add it to further his success. I've personally been out of for for 3 1/2 months (I do have a temp job and have an interview tomorrow), so I've not been able to give.  However, I plan on giving some money before his fundraising ends.  Please go to his fund page and do the same.  Let's help him to more than succeed.  It's no mystery that we ...

I love beer, but I hate SPAM email, even beer SPAM email. But this email from my buddy and brother-in-law, Paul, who lives in a craft beer desert--South Korea--is radical. (No, I won't say "EPIC"...it's "RADICAL" for me until the day I die). Anyhow, enjoy this story of international intrigue and craft beer cock-eyed optimism that hails from the land that blesses the U.S. with awesome KIA vehicles. Howdy Nate, I had an adventure yesterday that I think you'd of gotten a kick out of. Seems we've talked about how rotten the beer in Korea is. Nasty stuff. The 'hamburgers" you can find out here (if you can find them at all) aren't much better. Which is fine. I wouldn't expect decent Korean food in KC, and it would be unreasonable to expect Korea to be teeming with tasty burgers and brews. Still, as a good ole, corn-fed American boy I often hanker for American food - and none more-so than a hot, juicy burger and an ice cold beer. So I did some research and dug up some info on a pub that specializes in burgers. This pub was located a good ways off the beaten path in one of the shadier neighborhoods ...