fermentarium » Random

Happy Rapture Day!

DJ Spiess — Sat, 21 May 2011 02:00:46 +0000

I think there’s been some type of clerical error upstairs. I should have been left behind with my beer.

I guess I should have listened to the prediction more. The guy predicting the rapture has experience predicting raptures.

Happy Rapture Day!

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Fan Page on Facebook

DJ Spiess — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 04:49:36 +0000

So I finally got around to creating a Facebook Fan page. This will give you yet another way to keep up to date with Fermentarium articles. It’ll also give you a way to have your say, without having to post to a particular article.

Right now the fan page consists of a few popular homebrewing articles, but in the future it will contain all new articles, interesting articles from other sources, and anything everyone wants to share.

If you’re a fan of Fermentarium, you will want to hit the like button below. And be sure to share any articles you like. This is a great way to spread the word about Fermentarium.

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Beer + Cake = AWESOME!

DJ Spiess — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 04:31:35 +0000

A friend of mine, Erin Schaefgen, makes very cool cakes. These cakes are so cool in fact, she should have her own TV cake show. Her cakes could easily compare to Ace of Cakes or Cake Boss. She just started her own cake business called Three Little Blackbirds, and as you can see from her cakes, she is going to be VERY successful.

It's like Willie Wonka decided to become a brewer! (Image from Three Little Blackbirds Cakes)

So, how could you possibly top one of her cakes? Add beer of course!

Check this cake out! This was one of Erin’s recent cakes for a Guinness fan. The glass of Guinness beer, napkin, and even the wooden bar top are all edible. She also has a really cool cheeseburger cake she made for her husband complete with fries.

She recently won three ribbons, two first place and one third place, in the Sugar Art Show in Denver, Colorado. Go check out all her cakes now at Three Little Blackbirds Cakes! When you’re done drooling over the cakes on her website, remember to send her some digg/twitter/stumble love!

It's a burger cake! Yum! (Image from Three Little Blackbirds Cakes)

(Source: Three Little Blackbirds Cakes)

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Canada rules: 23 strikes and you’re out

DJ Spiess — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 03:09:07 +0000

Really? His twenty-third drunk driving offense, and Terry Naugle is complaining about a 8 1/2 year sentence.

His lawyer, Luke Craggs, thought the sentence was 3 1/2 years longer than Naugle should get, since the maximum sentence is 5 years. I’m pretty sure law makers didn’t think someone would have 23 drunk driving offenses when they were constructing the law. If the maximum sentence is 5 years, I think he’s been getting off lucky in the past. 23 x 5 is 115 years.

Not only was he arrested for drunk driving for the 23rd time (did I mention he’s been arrested 23 times?!?), he fled the scene of the accident, and had no license since he just got out of jail three weeks ago from his 22nd offense. The cops know him as “Super Naugle, because he’s super at what he does – drinking and driving”.

I think after 3 arrests, you should never be allowed near a car again. The guy clearly has a problem and is a danger to society. However, it’s clear jail isn’t working either. What would you suggest as a punishment for Super Naugle?

This guy gets the beer nut designation for “lifetime achievement”.

(Source: The Globe and Mail)

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Photos from 2010 Great American Beer Festival

DJ Spiess — Sat, 23 Oct 2010 21:40:13 +0000

This year at the Great American Beer Festival, there seemed to be many more oak infused, oak aged, and oak fermented beers. Most of the beers were very strong and aged in whiskey barrels. I think this might be why the night seemed to go like this:

sober
buzzed
buzzed
buzzed
who turned out the lights?!?

Luckily I took pictures of the brewery banners for the beers I liked, because I’d never remember them otherwise.

Me sporting my pretzel necklace before the GABF

I do have to give a special shout out to Kristen at Baby Brewing for giving me an awesome “Daddy needs a beer t-shirt” in exchange for one of my pretzels. We found each other on twitter before the Great American Beer Festival when I posted pics of my pretzel necklace. I found her booth during the night, gave her a pretzel based on the awesome pretzel recipe from BeerSmith’s website, and I scored a cool t-shirt. Who says Twitter isn’t great for networking!! If you haven’t seen her shirts, you should go check them out. They also have very cute shirts for the girls too!

Most of what you remember in past years was still there. They continue to have the Silent Disco (a cute joke years ago). They also had cooking presentations, but the festival is so large I had difficulty finding anything other than beer. Luckily the beer is what I was there for!

I laughed hard when I saw this ad.

I thought this was the most unique form of advertising I saw at the show. I don’t think too many of the women saw this one, unless they were hitting the whiskey barrel brews more than I was! Kudos to Cascade Lakes Brew for this clever ad.

The costumes at the show are getting fewer and fewer. I’m not sure why this is. My guess is the number of attendees is growing each year, which makes it harder to find the people wearing costumes.

Well these are better late than never, right? Here’s what you missed at the 2010 Great American Beer Festival.

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Proof beer and video cameras exist in Europe too!

DJ Spiess — Thu, 20 May 2010 20:07:05 +0000

This actually looks fun (minus the end part), but I’m sure the idea was conceived after a few pints!

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PSA: Don’t drink beer in a police car

DJ Spiess — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 16:20:33 +0000

Another drunk who is gosh darn happy to be arrested

Tasha Lee Cantrell’s, 19, friend had just been arrested in Fort Walton, FL. for a DUI, so she asked the arresting officer for a ride home. On the way to her house the officer heard a can crack open. You’re thinking “oh no she didn’t”, but oh yes she did.

Apparently she was so overcome with thirst, she decided to crack open a can of Steel Reserve (classy choice) right in the back seat of the squad car. The officer heard the can open, and noticed she was drinking something. He stopped the car, found the beer can, and arrested her. Not only was she rewarded with a quenched thirst, she also received an express ride straight to the police station for underage drinking. All of this was captured on the squad car video system. (will this be on the next episode of COPS: Ft. Walton?)

When Tasha was asked by the officer why she thought she could drink the beer in the back seat she replied, “I have no right answer for you.” I’m pretty sure the correct answer is “because I’m stupid”.

She was having a great time in her first mug shot, but it looks like the evening wore as she sobered up. It’s a great beer nut story, but I’m not sure the “guess how stupid I was the night I was arrested” story is really one she’ll want to tell her friends.

(Source: TheSmokingGun)

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Beer run in a “mow rider”

DJ Spiess — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 01:19:35 +0000

Apparently when trying to avoid a DWI, several beer nuts out there think it’s ok to drive a lawnmower instead of a car. It’s not.

It doesn’t matter what alcohol you’re buying either. Last time it was a wine run, this time it’s a beer run. Both ended with the same results – an arrest.

Joseph Simme of Lancaster, NY, lost his license for previous DWI convictions (that’s plural). You’d think he’d learned his lesson by this point, but it seems he still doesn’t get it. He knew he couldn’t drive his car so he allegedly moved on to his next vehicle of choice, a lawn mower.

After attempting to cross a busy street in his “mow rider”, police caught up with him and arrested him for driving under the influence. According to police reports, Simme blew a 0.14 which is well over the legal limit.

Law says you can't drive one of these drunk. Even bicycles are out in most places.

His only comment was he didn’t know it was illegal to drive a lawnmower intoxicated. When later questioned by a judge, he only replied “no comment”. When you’re caught driving while intoxicated on a lawn mower, I guess there really isn’t anything you can add.

There seems to be some confusion about whether a lawn mower should count. The reasoning is you do not need a license to drive a lawn mower. Still you can cause damage and put yourself and others in harms way if you’re driving a mower drunk. What do you think? Does Simme get his DWI hat-trick in his grass Zamboni?

(Source: WIVB.com)

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Police: Our bad, here’s some beer

DJ Spiess — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 18:55:21 +0000

Beer seems to solve all kinds of police problems. Here in the USA, when police arrested a Harvard professor in his own home the policeman, the professor and President Obama settled the differences over a beer. Now in the UK, Hampshire police are using beer to smooth over one of their own screw ups.

The police busted down the front door of Kayleigh Hill and Anthony McVey in a drug raid gone wrong. The drug peddler they were looking for had long since moved out, and the couple now lived there with their two young children. Apparently someone hadn’t done their detective work.

The officers later returned with flowers and a nice beer worth about £1.79. They also offered to pay for the door.

I would have been happy with the nice bottle of beer and I thought it was a nice gesture, but apparently things are different in the “nanny state”. The officers were given a stern talking to about the “inappropriate” gift. I’m not sure why that was inappropriate, unless they expensed a whole case and the other 23 beers went missing?

(Source: bbc.co.uk)

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Brandy missing from time capsule

DJ Spiess — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 03:16:56 +0000

Where in the world is Somerton, AZ. Yeah I had to look it up too.

A time capsule from way back in 1985 contained letters, photographs, something called a VHS tape, and even a picture of the late President Reagan. The time capsule in Somerton, Arizona was however missing a bottle of Mexican brandy.

Pancho Soto, the Somerton street and solid waste supervisor, says he was part of the crew that buried the time capsule and he expected the bottle to be there when they dug it up from Main Street. He was surprised it was missing.

I’m surprised that

They dug up a “time capsule” 25 years later. What was the rush?
Mexico has brandy? I thought Mexico was tequilla-land.
There’s a Somerton, Arizona?! I went to high school in Scottsdale, AZ, and I’ve never heard of the city. Hooray for public school education!

(Source: Arizona Daily Star)

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11 bizarre beers you probably won’t find at your pub!

DJ Spiess — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 05:01:39 +0000

Smoked beer (bacon beer)

When I was at the Great American Beer Festival this year, I only came across one smoked beer. There may have been other smoked beers, but it’s easy to get lost among the thousands of other beers. The funny thing was, the server did not want to pour the beer for me. He said the beer tasted like an ashtray. I already knew what I was in for and requested a pour.

Actually I thought the beer tasted much more like bacon than ash. The beer was a smoked Märzen, similar to the Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier Märzen from the 500-year-old brewery in Bamberg, Bavaria, Germany. It’s made with Rauchmalt (smoked malt). If you haven’t tried this beer, it has a VERY smokey flavor and will remind you of bacon. People either love this beer, or they hate it. I haven’t met anyone who didn’t have a strong opinion of this beer.

Lambic

Lindemans Framboise goes great with turkey

Lambic really isn’t that unusual until you’ve seen it ferment. Normally you would ferment a beer with yeast, but lambics also include any random bacteria that happens to be floating by. The bacteria creates some very ugly and scary looking fermentations. The resulting beer is sour and often is accentuated with tart fruits like raspberries or cherries. Many people have tried Lindemans Lambic, which I think tastes like liquid sweet tarts, but other lambics have a more unique flavor (sometimes good, sometimes not so much).

Fish Beer

Drink like a fish, not drink a drink that tastes like a fish!

This is as horrifying as it sounds. Usually when I’m thinking of interesting ingredients to add to beer, fish is not the first ingredient to come to mind. I’m not sure it’s on my list of top 100 ingredients to add to beer. Tosa Kuroshio Karyudo Beer, located in Konan City in Japan’s Kochi Prefecture, created a beer only the Japanese could love.

The fish beer is a 5% ABV beverage created with rice flour and hops in a 4 to 1 ratio. The brewers then added dashi, a fish stock also used in miso soup. I’m not sure if they decided to create this beer after drinking too many normal beers, or as a challenge from Iron Chef Brewer Edition. The dashi is made from dried konbu seaweed and dried Bonito, a fish similar to tuna. So if you like the aftertaste of fish in your beer, this beers for you!

Beer for kids!

It's a beer for kids. It's not alcoholic, but it still would never fly in the USA

The Japanese will remarket just about anything for kids. In a move which would shock the alcohol control boards in most countries, Japan’s Sangaria Beverage Company introduced a beer for kids. It’s not alcoholic, but the beer was designed so children could join in the fun while their parents were getting hammered. Sangaria has a whole line of the fake alcoholic beverages sold individually or in 6-packs, and marketed for children. Some of the “near beers” are golden in color while others are dark brown, and both produce a nice head of foam.

Blue beer

I’ve seen green beer served at St. Patrick’s Day celebrations, but that beer is usually some light beer like Budweiser with green food coloring added. This beer (again created by the Japanese) starts out blue. They also have a lime green and bright red beer. These beers are brought to you by the Abashiri microbrewery located Japan’s northernmost island of Hokkaido. They are also the came company which brought you great beers like Scallop Beer and Bilk.

Bilk

Speaking of Bilk , this beer might turn your stomach a bit. I think when Abashiri thought of this beer the conversation went something like this:

“We need more women buying our beer. What do women like drinking?”

“My wife drinks a lot of milk.”

“Lets make a beer that tastes like milk!”

“What do we call it?”

“BILK!”

And after the conversation bilk was born. Bilk is a beverage one-third milk and two-thirds beer. The idea actually was suggested by a liquor store manager who sought to use large surpluses of milk from a local dairy. The drink is reported to have a sweet flavor, probably from the lactose in the milk which brewer’s yeast cannot ferment.

Boza for boobies!

There’s a rumor going around that beer will increase the bust size of women. One beer called Boza beer from Bulgaria claimed to be the best beer at turning “sweater kittens” into “watermelon-sized cats”. There is no science behind the claim, but it didn’t stop European men making the drive to Bulgaria for the breast-enhancing beer. I guess they figured, “just in case”.

Pizza Beer

Someone orders a few too many beers at a pizza joint, and the next thing you know someone at the Pizza Beer Company is throwing pizza into the beer. Mamma Mia! Pizza Beer includes oregano, basil, tomato and garlic as adjuncts in the beer. The reviews seem to be quite mixed for this beer, ranging from “very pizza-like” to “pizza flavored Pringles”. I’d love to hear what others think of this beer.

“The Thing” beer

You’ve probably heard of aging beer. How about making beer from old yeast – really old yeast? The Fossil Fuels Brewing Company, having never seen a sci-fi movie about reviving ancient micro-organisms, harvested yeast from inside a Lebanese weevil covered in ancient Burmese amber which lay dormant for up to 45 million years. That is some very old yeast! Tasters say the beer is actually good, and has a very spicy aftertaste.

Cock Ale

I once made a clone beer of Old Speckled Hen and called it Old Freckled Cock. Luckily this beer isn’t what it sounds like. Not that cock. Cock Ale is made with chicken. It starts out sounding innocent, adding hops, malt and sugar. Then you take a third of a well-crushed chicken, presumably the meat parts, and add it to your fermenting beer on the second day. The recipe does specify the chicken should be cooked. I can’t imagine this tastes anything other than fowl.

OPB – Original Pussy Beer

This beer is what it sounds like. Put enough drunk guys together, they will eventually try to merge their two favorite things. Scary thing is it was a girl’s idea! A Seattle woman donated a small amount of her own yeast for the fermentation of the beer. Her site claims ancient Sumerian beers made by women inspired her to add her crotch yeast, but her added yeast isn’t even the same family let alone the same genus or species as beer yeast. A completely different yeast is used for beer and bread. It is likely her yeast was quickly out-competed by the brewer’s yeast. I don’t think her yeast would give it that ‘tang-y taste you’re expecting. Still it’s very odd someone would even consider this. Is this a beer you’d want to try?

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Great AZ Beer Festival Pub Crawl

DJ Spiess — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 04:59:35 +0000

WHAT: The 2nd annual Light Rail Pub Crawl by The Great Arizona Beer Festival features some of the Valley’s best destinations for craft beer, food and drink specials and prize drawings for tickets to the upcoming Great Arizona Beer Festival presented by azcentral.com, as well as other merchandise. Participation in the pub crawl is free. Guests must be 21 or over. Participants ride the Light Rail to each designated location. A food or beverage purchase at each venue during Pub Crawl hours qualifies guests to enter the raffle. One pair of General Admission tickets to the upcoming 22nd annual Great Arizona Beer Festival presented by azcentral.com will be drawn at each location. The Grand Prize of VIP festival tickets will be given away at the final destination.

The VIP Experience at The Great Arizona Beer Festival is presented by 944 magazine. Festival tickets are ordinarily $40 in advance/$50 at the gate for general admission, $80 in advance/$90 at the gate for VIP admission, and $20 (or $30 in VIP) for designated drivers. Festival tickets are also available for purchase at advance prices at each location along the pub crawl as well as at other participating pubs and retail outlets and at www.azbeer.com . The annual Great Arizona Beer Festival presented by azcentral.com is the primary fund-raising event for Sun Sounds of Arizona, a reading service for people who are blind or whose disability prevents them from reading printed material, such as newspapers, magazines and best-selling books.

Follow the Great Arizona Beer Festival on Twitter at GreatAZBeerFest and also on Facebook and MySpace for pre-event contests and opportunities to win free Light Rail passes for the Pub Crawl.

WHEN: The Great Arizona Beer Festival’s Light Rail Pub Crawl will be held on Saturday, Feb. 20th from 2:00 – 7:30 p.m. with the following schedule of stops.

WHERE: First stop: 2 – 3 p.m. @ SunUp Brewing (f.k.a. Sonoran Brewhouse) – 322 E Camelback Rd, Phoenix, AZ 85012, (602) 279-8909 Second stop: 3:30 – 4:30 p.m. @ Coach & Willie’s – 412 S 3rd Street, Phoenix, AZ 85004, (602) 254-5272 Third stop: 5 – 6 p.m. @ Gordon Biersch – 420 S Mill Ave # 201, Tempe, AZ 85281, (480) 736-0033 Final stop: 6 – 7:30 p.m. @ Dave’s Electric Brew Pub – 502 South College Avenue, Tempe, AZ 85281, (480) 967-5353

PUBLIC CONTACT: For more information visit www.azbeer.com or e-mail gazbf2010@gmail.com

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LA St. Patricks Day Charity Event

DJ Spiess — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 04:53:37 +0000

St. Patrick’s Day meets Hollywood at the 2010 LA St. Patrick’s Day Festival in Hollywood.

Live music, folk dancing, sing-a-longs plus great food and entertainment, and did we mention the Beer, Wine and Spirits!

When: Sunday, March 14, 2010 2pm – 7 pm

Where: Taglyan Complex 1201 N. Vine Street Hollywood, CA

What: A Beer, Wine and Spirits festival in the heart of Hollywood at Sunset and vine. Featuring Beers, Wines, and Spirits from all around the world paired with cheeses, sausages and other great foods. Great entertainment including Beer Pong and Live karaoke band, 80’s bands and more…

Why: St. Patrick’s Day Festival is produced by Barcelona Enterprises to raise funds for the Children’s Tumor Foundation and the Irish Center of Los Angeles.

LA St. Patricks Day Charity Event

Breweries, wineries, spirits and great snack foods…. A selection of Sausages, Cheeses, Gourmet deli Meats and breads to recreate a typical Irish meal

Tullamore Dew Irish Whiskey
Feckin Irish Whiskey
New Belgium Brewing Company
Asahi
Asahi Black
Ventura Limoncello Company
Feckin Irish Whiskey
Firestone DBA (Double Barrel)
Firestone Pale 31
Buckbean Beer
RND Vodka
Marani Vodka
Barefoot Wine & Bubbly
Fireman’s Brew
Hamilton Cellars (wines, champagnes, and dessert wines from California Italy and France)
Cabot Cheeses
Edison Beer and Moonshot
Ballast Point Brewing Company
Karl Strauss Brewing Company
ARGCA Imports (Argentinean Malbec)
Krol Vodka
Pacifico Sur Tutunjuan Wine and Talin Cellars
Pig N’ Whistle
Tequila Capaz & Tequila 55
Angel Bendito Tequila
See’s Candies
Teteo Tequila
Boar’s Head
Nakhon Beer
Everybody’s Nuts Pistachios
Pyramid Breweries
For more information on the many special activities planned for the weekend, visit www.StPattysfest.com or call (213) 915-8003

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The Grand Days of Prohibition

DJ Spiess — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 17:19:37 +0000

When you hear about prohibition (in the USA during 1920-1933 alcohol was illegal) , people tend to glamorize how the sneaky partiers were always one step ahead of Johnny Law. You hear about the glamorous secret parties, the underground tunnels between establishments, and the bathtub homebrewers. It was a time where the little guy thumbed his nose at the law. Unfortunately it was not all fun and games. Prohibition was serious business.

The Italian Job

My great-grandfather, Louis Circo, was a poor Italian worker living with his family in Garcia Plaza (the tent city near Trinidad, Colorado). He had worked in the coal mines, but at the time he was out of work. Like so many others, he was desperate to make ends meet for his family. Circo was approached by another Italian man for a “job”. This story almost sounds like something out of a Godfather movie.

Louis Circo didn’t tell his family what he was doing. My great-grandmother Josephine knew something was up, because men would come to the door and my great-grandfather would leave with them. Josephine did not like the men and could tell they were up to no good. She wasn’t happy about the situation, but stayed quiet.

My great-grandfather was going up into the foothills to make bootleg whiskey. To this day, no one in the family knows exactly how the transactions went. We know there was one man who was the contact, and two other men who were not seen. The trio and Louis Circo were making bootleg whiskey in the foothills, but we’re not sure who was buying it. It was most likely the local underground bars in the neighboring towns or possibly organized crime. One day while travelling to the foothills, the bootlegging business did not go as planned.

The Aftermath

My family thinks Louis Circo was sold out to protect a bigger operation. He might have just been unlucky. It’s a piece of the story we will never know. For some reason, the police followed him to the whiskey site. He was the only person arrested, and the only person of the group convicted of illegal bootlegging. Louis Circo spent six months in Canon City Penitentiary.

Naturally my great-grandmother was very upset and horribly humiliated. She was left to fend for herself during the depression with three children. She stayed with my great-grandfather, because no one divorced back then. My grandmother remembers going with her brother and sister to visit her father once a week while he was in prison.

When Louis Circo got home, things changed. He stayed at home and did the cooking and caring for the kids. My great-grandmother would work all day because it’s hard for ex-cons to find work, especially during this harsh period of American history. When she came home she would leave soon after. Their marriage didn’t end in divorce, but for all concerned it was over. The crime, the shame of the arrest and prison, and prohibition wrecked the family.

I can’t say he would not have run afoul with the law if prohibition did not happen, the times were hard. Prohibition provided the situation, and Louis Circo made a poor choice. I can see how the seriousness of the crime could be trivialized when the amendment banned alcohol. I do not believe I would give up homebrewing, especially since I’ve brewed for so many years. It is hard to think of alcohol as a crime.

When you raise a glass today, celebrate your right to a drink. Also remember the lives Prohibition harmed because someone thought to cure a headache with decapitation. The right to drink is a serious right, so make sure no one takes it from you ever again.

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Russian swig swine flu (H1N1) non-cure

DJ Spiess — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 01:27:42 +0000

The Russian H1N1 flu remedy

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Kingdom has 16,556 confirmed cases of the H1N1 virus (can I still call it the swine flu). Models by UK’s Health Protection Agency estimates there are currently 110,000 people infected with the swine flu (+/- 50,000 people). The Russian soccer team is traveling to the UK next month for the World Cup qualifying round. How does the Russian soccer supporting organization, VOB, feel about this?

“We don’t want our team to be without any support for such an important match so we urge our fans to go to Wales despite the health warning,” spokesman Alexander Shprygin said.

Good plan.

Maybe the soccer organization should focus on soccer and less on anti-science

The soccer organization [read NOT a health organization] does offer suggestions for their soccer fans to prevent infection from the virus, a virus to which humans currently have no immunity. They suggest drinking Welsh whiskey. The irresponsibility of this suggestion does not stop there. VOB head Shprygin also goes on to say drinking the whiskey “should cure all symptoms of the disease.” People around the world are dying from the H1N1 virus, and the Russians were holding out on a cure all along. Just drink Welsh whiskey.

“Russian fans don’t fear anything or anybody so this virus will not stand in our way of supporting our team.”

The Russians will bring home some interesting souvenirs with this attitude, most notably the H1N1 virus.

Does alcohol prevent colds?

Well, sort of. If you are rubbing it on your hands it will help prevent colds. Drinking Welsh whiskey, however, is not likely to help you. An alcohol-based hand cleaner will probably work better (as a hand sanitizer, not as a beverage!).

This belief probably comes from your grandmother’s remedy of a hot toddy. The idea is the alcohol destroys germs in your bloodstream. Unfortunately, there are no scientific studies showing alcohol will help you repel cold infections, however, there are plenty of studies demonstrating too much alcohol will make a cold worse. Too many drinks will weaken the immune system, making it much more difficult to fight off your infection.

There are some studies showing positive effects from moderate drinking of alcohol, but nothing conclusive. There are many studies showing alcohol has a negative effect as well. Alcohol dehydrates your system, which could prolong your symptoms. Until a study comes out with rock solid evidence, I’d abstain from alcohol when you are sick.

Is there anything red wine can’t do?

Red wine seems to be an exception. Moderate amounts of red wine will help keep you healthy (2 glasses a day), but it is not the alcohol helping you. Red wine contains high amounts of antioxidants, which help to keep you healthy. Of course you could also drink grape juice or some other beverage with high amounts of antioxidants, but that is not nearly as much fun.

(Source: Reuters)

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Great American Beer Festival 2009 Photos

DJ Spiess — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 04:31:11 +0000

Here’s the breakdown of this year’s festival (from the back of the t-shirt):

3 Days
460 Brewers
2,086 Beers
3,374 Beers in the competition
2,712 Volunteers
31,500 People attending
28 Years and still going strong
0 Larger festivals in the nation!!

These images are resized, but these and other photos are available in their full size in the flickr account. If we took your picture and you don’t see it here or on the flickr page, it didn’t work out. Sorry! And without further delay, here are the pics. Links will take you to the flickr page.

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Drunks expecting deposit get withdrawl

DJ Spiess — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 22:02:03 +0000

Beware of beautiful women who are interested in you!

Three sexy women were arrested for scamming drunk men out of their money. The young women in their 20s targeted drunk men outside bars offering rides home or after hour parties. Once the man was lured into in the car, the sirens would slip their hands into the men’s pockets removing their cell phones, cash, and wallets.

The three women slipped their hands into the pants of more than 50 “victims” before the law caught up with them. The vicitms included lawyers and NYU professors. One drunk lost $5000 to the three women. There was no word on how many men were “repeat victims”.

The sexy sting worked like this. Tiffany Rasberry, 21, and Barbara Labady, 22, lured men into a car offering to take the man to an after hours party. One lawyer got into the car, and then needed to stop at an ATM machine on the way. The two girls watched him punch in his PIN, then when they got back into the car they ran their hands into his pockets removing his wallet. The third woman, Subhanna Beyah, 21, feigned illness. He stepped out of the car to let her out, and the car sped away with his wallet and PIN. Within thirty minutes the women had removed $1600 from his account.

The lawyer has apparently never seen X-Men 2 or he’d know Magneto’s famous line, “Never trust a beautiful woman, especially a beautiful woman who’s interested in you”. Luckily for him, he noticed his wallet missing and called the cops right away. The three vixens were arrested for multiple counts of grand larceny and possession of stolen property.

The women’s defense was “it was an alternative to turning tricks”.

(Source: New York Post)

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Drunk and naked

DJ Spiess — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 05:27:08 +0000

Drunk and naked seems to be a theme. Usually these people are found robbing quickie stores or getting stuck in chimneys. Here are a few different naked drunks.

Not a burglar, just a drunk naked lady

Wearing white fishnet stockings and nothing else, Sherry “Cougar-in-training” McNeal, 47, repeatedly slammed herself into a Ridley Park, Philadelphia home. The neighbors heard the ruckus and thought she was trying to break into the house. Well technically she was trying to break in, because the door was locked.

A re-enactment of the naked "burglary"

The police arrived to arrest the naked burglar, only to discover she was a guest at the home. She didn’t know how she got outside, and she didn’t know why she was naked. Her equally inebriated host had no clue either. They were both cited for disorderly conduct and told to stay inside. No word if the police needed eye bleach after the incident, or if the President will invite her over to the White House for a beer.

(Source: philly.com)

I’m not sober, but I stayed in a Holiday Inn Express last night

An Australian man also wearing nothing down under, lost his way in a New Zealand hotel. Undaunted by being lost, he crashed in the first available hotel room he could find for a night’s rest. Unfortunately for him, the couple currently occupying the room had a problem with this.

While the intruder was passed out, the couple called for help. Actually the man phoned the hotel staff, while the woman hid in the bathroom. When the police arrived, the drunk man of course had no idea how he got naked or where his friends were. He was given a hotel robe and a ride home. No charges were filed against the man, because everyone involved had a good laugh over the incident. If this happened in the USA, he’d probably have to register as a sex offender.

(Source: Reuters.com)

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Badger cherry bender blocks traffic

DJ Spiess — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 21:34:19 +0000

Badgers? We don't need no stinking (drunk) badgers!

Here’s a beer nut you might not expect. A badger, the animal, in Germany got drunk on over-ripe cherries and passed out in the road.

A motorist called the police to report a dead badger in the road. When the police arrived, they found the badger was not dead and was in fact drunk and passed out. They prodded the badger which would not move. Eventually they were able to move the badger out of the road by poking it with a broom.

(Source: Reuters)

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Slippery when wet!

DJ Spiess — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 21:00:37 +0000

Any kid or adult who has experienced Wham-o’s Slip N’ Slide knows they are FUN! Personally I find them irresistible, so I can sympathize with this beer nut.

Forty-one year-old Margaret Bachop from La Crosse, Wisconsin, saw her five year-old neighbor enjoying his Slip N’ Slide. Can you blame her for wanting to join in the fun? She didn’t have a swimsuit available, so she did what any drunk with a 0.30 percent blood alcohol content would do. She stripped down to her underware (bra and thong) and attempted to join in the fun. A neighbor ran over to cover her with a bed sheet.

The drunk woman, who was under court order to abstain from alcohol, was arrested on her front porch. She was charged with disorderly conduct, and lewd and lascivious behavior. I can see the disorderly conduct and an additional charge for drinking while under court order to abstain, but the lewd behavior charge is silly. If the woman was wearing a smaller and more revealing bathing suit, would she still be charged for lewd behavior? I’m betting this charge will be dropped quicker than she dropped her pants.

(Source: LaCrosse Tribune)

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Brazilian Ice Wine?

DJ Spiess — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 01:34:26 +0000

For the first time, well the first time in modern history, the temperature dropped low enough in Brazil to create ice wine. Temperatures in Santa Catarina, Brazil reached -7.5 C (18.5 F). Ice wine requires a hard freeze of -7 C to -8 C. The Pericó Winery claims to be the first winery in Brazil to produce ice wine. There are great pictures of their frozen vineyard on their Portuguese website.

Ironically NOAA announced May 2009 was the 4th warmest in 130 years of record. Apparently no one told Brazil May was supposed to be a warm month.

Here’s the Google translation of their press release.

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Beer Wars reviews around the net

DJ Spiess — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 14:33:46 +0000

To tell you the truth, I didn’t see the movie so I can’t say much about it.

The only details I know are from the hype-machine. I react adversely to hype, you can blame George Lucas for that (besides, Thursday night is the night when I wash my hair). I’m also not really interested in anything Ben Stein says that is not strictly economics related. I figured I’d skip the crowds and watch it on my TV with friends and beer.
That didn’t stop me from looking at the reviews from other bloggers:

Did you see the movie? Let me know what you thought about the movie in the comments below!

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It’s a bird… it’s a plane… It’s a S#!^-Faced Ruskie!

DJ Spiess — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 02:34:57 +0000

Alexei Roskov slammed three bottles of vodka. I think one bottle would have me praying to the porcelain god for the rest of the night. Three bottles of vodka is just amazing (or stupid). For his next trick the Moscow man opened a window from his fifth story window and, to the horror of his wife, he jumped out. No parachute.

The man somehow survived (Darwin fails) and walked back up to his apartment. You’d think his wife would be ecstatic he survived the fall. She wasn’t. He was greeted with a stern lecture about alcohol and gravity, in Russian no less.

The 22 year old man decided he could not take the nagging, so he went with the first idea he could think of. Well actually it was the only idea he could form that night.

His quote says it all. “I have no idea why I jumped the first time but when I came back up and I heard my wife screaming angrily at me I thought it was best if I left the room again – out of the window.” Again with no parachute.

Paramedics were called to the scene to attend to the drunk. Amazingly the man had minor scratches (Darwin fails again), and I have a new found respect for Russian drunks.

The man claims he is now sober and no longer drinks.

(Source: The Star)

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The Apple DWI defense

DJ Spiess — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 01:04:41 +0000

The Apple DWI Defense

Newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza reported last week Marek Latas, a Polish lawmaker, was pulled over for a DWI. The legal blood alcohol content limit in Poland is 0.2 units. Latas was pulled over with a blood alcohol content of 0.7 units. I have no idea how units translate to the US blood alcohol content percentages, never less, it is clear by just comparing the numbers, he was drunk.

“I have been involved in no accident, I underwent a routine roadside check. I was confident there was no chance I had alcohol in my blood,” said Latas, a member of parliament for the conservative opposition Law and Justice Party.

Of course since I’m writing about this, you know he had a pretty interesting excuse for his intoxication.

He ate an apple.

A couple apples in fact. That was his excuse and his defense. The politician denies having any alcohol earlier in the day.

Can apples make a diabetic person seem drunk?

Does an apple a day keep the DWI check away?

Here’s the kicker. My first thought was this guy is full of cider. Turns out a diabetic can give a false positive.

The reason is a breathalyzer doesn’t really detect alcohol. The breathalyzer detects any molecules in the methyl group. If there is a large amount detected, the assumption is the breathalyzer is detecting alcohol (ethanol).

Another chemical which shows as a positive is acetone. It’s not too common to have acetones on your breath, unless you have ketoacidosis. According to wikipedia, “ketoacidosis is a type of metabolic acidosis which is caused by high concentrations of ketone bodies”. Ketoacidosis makes your breath smell like fruit or nail polish remover. Why is this important? Ketoacidosis is a known symptom of hypoglycemia, or low blood sugar. This is the tie to diabetes.
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Hypoglycemia is common for people with diabetes. Someone who is hypoglycemic will appear to be shaky, nervous, sweaty, dizzy, confused, anxious, and will have difficulty speaking. Sound familiar? These also happen to be the symptoms of a drunk at a DWI checkpoint. This was demonstrated in Diabetes, Breath Acetone and Breathalyzer Accuracy: A Case Study, 9(1) Alcohol, Drugs and Driving (1993).

The only question is, could several apples trigger hypoglycemia in the Polish politician? Apples typically are ok because the carbohydrates in apples are digested more slowly than other fruits. Enough apples could cause a sharp blood sugar crash later in the day however. His story is plausable.

There is one other substance which can trigger hypoglycemia. Alcohol.

The breathalyzer can be inaccurate and give false positives. It also catches many real drunks. Only a blood test will be able to say for sure.

Tough call for the judge.

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Giant Cosmic Space Clouds of Beer

DJ Spiess — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 03:29:13 +0000

Every now and then you hear something which grabs your attention. This captured my attention: There is a cloud of alcohol (ethyl alcohol – the happy juice found in beer, wine, and spirits) floating in space. This isn’t a small cloud either. There is enough alcohol in this cloud to make 400 trillion trillion pints of beer. That is one hell of a keg party.

That’s the good news.

Imagine a whole space cloud filled with beer. An intergalatic kegger!

The bad news is it is 10,000 light years away in the constellation of Aquila. It’s unlikely we could get to the cloud any time soon. The booze cloud, known as G34.3, is so large (1000 times the size of our solar system) our solar system could drown itself inside many times over.

Space alcohol was discovered back in 1975 by Dr. Ben M. Zuckerman of the University of California at Los Angeles, so it’s not a recent discovery. The booze cloud was found in 1995 by Drs. Tom Millar, Geoffrey MacDonald and Rolf Habing. What makes this cloud so interesting is the massive amounts of alcohol in the cloud. There are other compounds in this cloud, 32 in all, but alcohol is the most abundant.

Scientists theorize simpler compounds collect on bits of dust. When these compounds get close enough, they are able to react with each other forming more complex molecules like alcohol. These reactions can take place over 10,000 years, thus beating the longest fermentation you or anyone else has ever experienced.

In the center of the cloud is a young and very drunk star (not Paris Hilton). Scientists believe the grains of dust carrying the alcohol drifted near the young star, and were warmed up enough to cause the alcohol to turn into its gas state creating the massive clouds of booze. That or space aliens are planning for one crazy Oktoberfest!

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Sergeant Sloshed

DJ Spiess — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 01:45:58 +0000

An 18-year-old drunk British soldier stationed at Camp Hohne in Germany decided to go for a 4 am joyride after his night of binge drinking. The soldier chose a “safe” ride, at least safe for him. His vehicle of choice was a tank. Two tanks in fact.

His vehicle wasn’t a full tank; it was a Scimitar which is an armored reconnaissance vehicle (or light tank). The soldier jumped into one tank, drove it around a bit, but got the tank stuck. Once stuck the soldier must have decided “hey, I know where I can get another one”. He returned to the camp and stole a second tank.

Well I guess this is a safe choice for the driver if he's going to drunk drive. He still crashed two of them.

The soldier attempted to drive the tank to Bergen, Germany. I can only imagine the fun he could have with a tank in city limits. A few years back, I saw a great video on the nightly news of a rouge tank driving through a San Diego suburb (and I mean THROUGH)! On the way the drunken soldier ran one car off the road, ran a military police vehicle off the road, and then lost control of the tank crashing it into a tree. Apparently the Scimitar is not powerful enough to run over a tree. The soldier was arrested.

“We all got the giggles when we read this,” British Army spokesperson Helga Heine told The Local. “But stealing a vehicle is a serious offense it will be dealt with accordingly.” I see the brig and a possible court martial in the soldier’s future. When he gets out, he’ll have a very humorous “what I did when I got drunk” story!

(Source: The Local)

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Beer pong player unleashes lethal shotgun attack on furniture

DJ Spiess — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 16:03:19 +0000

A college sophomore in Boulder shot a bed with a shotgun after playing beer pong. Alex Grayson, 20, walked into a bedroom at a house party, found the shotgun, and for some inexplicable reason he shot the bed.

While Grayson claims the furniture-cide was accidental, police say the sophomore faces possible charges of reckless endangerment and prohibited use of a weapon. The gun owner was also subjected to a stern talking to by the police, since leaving loaded weapons lying around during house parties is not a great idea.

Here’s what I find interesting about this random story. The headline for the story was “Police: Student shoots bed after beer pong game”. The story is exactly the same if you eliminate “beer pong”. What does this story have to do with beer pong?! If you answered nothing, you are correct.

Beer pong can be serious business, but why shoot a couch?

The fact the person played beer pong before unleashing a single shot fury of tiny beads of lead on the unsuspecting bed really doesn’t matter. It doesn’t even mention alcohol as a factor, but I’m assuming he was at least a bit buzzed. Still the story sounds more scandalous if he’s playing the evil beer game, and the media knows it (I know it too!!).

Personally I think beer pong gets a bad rap. I wonder how soon until we get the “beer pong” ruined my life stories.

(Source: 9news.com)

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The great beer granny panty heist

DJ Spiess — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 14:06:01 +0000

Graham J. Nickerson, 27, pleaded guilty for entering the home of a senior citizen and stealing a pair of her Depends underwear. To say alcohol may have been a factor in the heist is an understatement.

I'm not sure he would have been better off going for a pair like these

Nickerson was returning from a party and got lost in the woods. Not only did he get lost, he lost his pants. At least he didn’t get stuck in a chimney. While traveling over the river and through the woods, he stumbled upon a house. Not his gramdma’s house, but probably someone’s grandmother’s house.

The home belonged to a 92 year old woman. He walked in, stole a pair of her underwear, put them on and then passed out on the floor. Not only will he have to pay a $250 fine and abstain from alcohol for a year (probably a good thing), he will have to live with the fact he was found by police drunk, passed out, and wearing granny’s Depends™ underwear.

The best part was his reply when the judge asked Nickerson how this made him feel. His reply was inaudible.

(Source: EdmontonSun.com)

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Drunk man sucks ash v3.0

DJ Spiess — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 20:16:40 +0000

When this happened in September 2007, I thought–wow this is so crazy, it would never happen again, so I should write about it. Then defying all odds, it happened a second time in August 2008. Now it’s February 2009 and guess what happened? A drunk man was found stuck in a chimney for a third time. The trifecta is complete!

Yet another man lucky the fire wasn't on!

In Burlington, Vermont, police and fire fighters rescued an unidentified man stuck in a chimney. The man had been screaming for help for hours before police arrived. Rescuers could not pull the man out of his ash prison, so they were forced to dissemble the chimney one brick at a time until they could free him.

Here’s where the story gets weird. The man obviously was drinking. He did not need to volunteer this information for us to know he was drinking. Sober men do not get stuck in chimneys during the wee hours of the morning. The man claims he was drinking with his brother and he has no clue how he got into the chimney. He didn’t even know how he got on the roof. Yeah, no kidding alcohol was involved.

The question left unanswered is where did his brother go? He was stuck in there for hours. You’d think his brother might sober up enough to find some help.

The man was taken to the hospital to treat his injuries, but his next stop might be jail. His story seems a bit shaky. You don’t just fall into chimneys and not remember how you got there. And your brother isn’t likely to leave you stuck without getting help (unless of course, he is a jerk).

My guess is the drunk men decided to attempt to break into a building, got stuck and his buddy took off after he couldn’t get him out. Of course this is speculation, but if the police figure out what he was doing in there, he may find himself in prison getting stuck with a different type of ash pipe.

(Source: wptx.com )

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Beer Pong – Career choice of the new generation?

DJ Spiess — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 16:07:54 +0000

Why didn’t my guidence counselor tell me about beer pong?

Eight hundred contestants, mostly college aged, descended on the Flamingo resort in Las Vegas for the mother of all beer pong tournaments. The beer pong tournament, called the World Series of Beer Pong, lasts for three days. The winner gets $50,000 USD. Not bad for three days of drinking and playing with balls.

Can you make a career out of beer pong?

The tournament in Las Vegas is the largest beer pong in the world. The game, sometimes called Beruit, was created back in the 1980s, but has enjoyed a dramatic growth in the past decade. The game has become so popular, many schools and governments have attempted to ban the game (that always works soooo well).

The game is played on an eight foot long table, with 6 or 10 cups on each end. Each team takes turns attempting to toss a ball into an opponent’s cup. When a ball lands in a cup, the other team must consume the beer in the cup.

The three days of competition consist of six games played during the two days of preliminary rounds. Each game is tracked by who won and by how many cups. The highest-ranked 128 teams move on to the finals. The finals are elimination rounds where the winner continues, and the loser is off to find better beer.

The beer not only tastes like water, it is water!

The interesting part of the competition is you are not aiming to get drunk. In the competition, only two of the cups are filled with beer. Each player can drink only one. The other four cups are filled with water. Utah State University uses root beer for all cups in their games (sure they do). I’m not sure if there is a penalty for the first person to “break the seal”. The point is to keep the players sober, but they are free to use any other distraction including crazy costumes and insults.
What I find most interesting about this is beer pong’s ability to endure. For a fad, the game is going on 20 plus years and is showing no signs of slowing down. It could be the next “career” like professional video game player. This is only the fourth annual tournament. Future tournaments could have even more players and more money.

What’s next? I’m predicting a rise in the game Cornhole. Your heard it here first!

(Source: Las Vegas Sun)

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Beer Air

DJ Spiess — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 15:14:57 +0000

Flying for many is very scary. Just a few weeks ago a plane in Denver, Continental Airlines flight 1404, crashed while taking off. None of the 107 passengers were killed, but 38 were injured and the other 69 required a change of underwear. That’s pretty scary, but imagine being on an airplane filled with Irish drunks!

A re-enactment of what might have happened if he got the door open.

That’s exactly what happened on a Thomas Cook flight from London Gatwick to Cuba. Forty revelers ran amok on the plane, their children hit other passengers, and one drunk tried to exit the plane mid flight. I hope the drunk was a good swimmer, because there isn’t much land when you’re flying between two islands on opposite sides of the planet. One woman was so frightened, she hid in the galley with the crew for five hours.

Thomas Cook is a British airline, and in true British form the airline is looking into possibly pressing charges. The British are so polite. If this happened on an American plane, the passengers would have landed in Gitmo (Guantanamo Bay) for some sobering up and serious felony charges.

The drunken group caused more trouble in Cuba at their all-inclusive hotel in the resort of Playa Pesquero. Seventeen of the drunks were refused reboarding on their return trip. No clue why they all weren’t given permanent Cuban citizenship. The remaining 23 caused trouble on the flight back.

(Source: MailOnline.co.uk)

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No MILFs Allowed

DJ Spiess — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 22:27:19 +0000

When a group of moms and daughters went out for a “girl’s night out”, the moms were refused entrance. The Leeds Courtyard Bar told the moms their daughters could come in, but any moms over 35 years old had to make other plans for the evening, even the MILFs.

No MILFs allowed? Really? What if you just look older?

The women first thought it was a joke, but they quickly realized there was nothing funny and they were tossed back into the cold (literally – have you seen the temperatures in the UK lately?). To paraphrase Kevin Klein, “kicking out old ladies isn’t nice”.

Of course they asked for the manager, but the bouncers just gave them old stares. A woman did come out to apologize, but apparently the bouncers just enjoyed the moment. They must have felt big holding back a hoard of little old ladies.

The last time I heard of anything like this was my roommate’s fraternity. They had “whale gates” at the door, and subjected many young women to horrifying humiliation. Apparently some bouncers don’t grow up.

The pub company Mitchells & Bulmers was notified, and they are looking into the matter and added ‘The Courtyard is enjoyed by customers of all ages. We are committed to treating our customers equally and fairly and do not tolerate discrimination in any form, whether in terms of age or otherwise.”

As long as you’re young and hot.

(Source: DailyMail.co.uk)

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Is the IPA myth a myth?

DJ Spiess — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 16:18:43 +0000

I try to stamp out every beer myth I come across, so when Virgil G. another beer blogger pointed out I may be perpetuating a beer myth in my Thanksgiving, Pilgrims, and Beer Myths article I was surprised (and somewhat embarrassed). It would be pretty bad if I wrote an article about myths and perpetuated one of my own – especially in the same article. Damn.

The IPA legend

The IPA legend goes like this. Beer brewers were looking for a beer to take to India. The trip to India is hard on beer, since the beer is exposed to dramatically high temperatures including crossing the equator twice and a very long journey over time and distance. Time and high heat can be very harsh on beer.

George Hodgson of the Bow Brewery stepped up with his variation of the popular pale ale. He increased the gravity of the pale ale beer (high alcohol) and added a ton of hops (highly hopped). This new creation not only survived the trip to India, it seemed to improve the beer. The India Pale Ale style was born. At least this is the beer legend.

You’ll find this story in some form in just about every beer book and beer website out there.

My troublesome quote

So in my original article, where did I go wrong? It was an article about pilgrims right, so where did IPAs come in?? IPAs came about in 1790, while pilgrims are sooo 1600s. Here’s the questionable claim I made in the previous article:

“India Pale Ales (IPA) were created later in history specifically to make the long journey to India.”

Created is a bit of a strong word, and I think this is where I got into trouble.

How much of the IPA "invention" is myth vs. history

Where’s the myth?

Earlier this year, articles on The Zythophile titled “Myth 4: George Hodgson invented IPA to survive the long trip to India” and “IPA: Incredibly Poor Article” spread across the blogsphere. These articles make the claim the IPA style is just an evolved style from the time, and suggest the Hodgson creation/invention/formulation is a myth. To support this thesis, Zythophile makes the following claims:

Other beers, like porter, could make the trip to India
The October beer is similar to the IPA, and other brewers knew how to make strong, highly hopped beers
The market was very small before 1830, so why bother?
There is no evidence Hodgson created the style

It all seems so convincing, it makes me wonder why no one has said this before? Even Michael Jackson (RIP) references this story in New World Guide to Beer. Well I am not a beer historian, but there are several questions I have which would need to be addressed before claiming the story is debunked.

Let’s look at each point in detail.

Can other beers make it to India?

For the first point, yes other beers could make the journey. Zythophile points out in a journal entry from Joseph Banks (on the Endeavour with Captain Cook in the South Pacific) the author enjoyed a porter stored on the boat for a year. Banks’ porter is one example of a beer making it over a year on a boat. Unfortunately this is what we call a sample size of one. Actually I am sure a much higher percentage of beers made the journey (otherwise why bring beer at all), but the point is valid. Just because Joseph Banks’ pint of porter made it to the South Pacific ok, it does not demonstrate there isn’t a problem shipping beer.

A beer won’t sour if it doesn’t become infected, but the odds of infection are greatly increased if the beer is exposed to heat. Heat can also make beer go bad, which is why we go through so much effort to keep beer cool. Heat will caramelize sugars and amplify and off-flavors in the beer, even if you chill it again. If you doubt this, take your favorite beer and put it in the oven for an hour at 120 F, re- chill the beer and then tell me if it tastes like the same beer. My guess is you will get aromas and flavors of cooked vegetables.

Even Joseph Banks made a point to note the recently tapped porter was surprisingly good when he wrote “a cask of Porter tappd which provd excellently good”. It doesn’t really matter which way you travel to India from England, you must cross the equator twice. A beer can make it (and many did), but the chances are not in your favor. Because other beers can make the journey (in some percentage) is not a reason to claim there is no problem to solve. If you ship 100 barrels and you lose some percentage of that beer to spoilage, you have a problem you need to solve.

On a tour through the Budweiser brewery, the tour guide noted very little beer was ever spilt (by design and significant effort) which resulted in thousands of extra cases of beer saved each year. While comparing a modern Budweiser to the industrial age Bow brewery is not exactly fair, it does show small changes can make a large effect on the bottom line.

The October beer and the India Pale Ale ABV

This point is a bit confusing. Zythophile knows the IPA was not a strong beer at the time (and states so), but then compares it to a barley wine called October beer which he lists with a starting gravity of 1.140 or higher (somewhere around 16% ABV depending on finishing gravity). I guess the reason was to make the point a beer can last two years or longer, or to show other brewers were making stronger beers.

I doubt any beers on ships were very potent brews (I’m still looking for a historical recipe for ship’s beer). The reason I do not think it would be a strong beer is drunk sailors do not work well, they fight, and tend to fall off ships. Giving strong beer or barley wine to a group of men who are bored out of their mind on a boat for six plus months does not seem like a good idea.

The counter point to this argument is the beer was consumed in India, not on ships. This is a fair point to which I agree, but it still suffers from the same problems. Drinking a high alcohol beer in high heat (such as India) invites dehydration. If they were shipping an October beer to India, I do not think it was a high alcohol beer.

October beers had OG of 1.140, much too high for an IPA
High alcohol beers cause dehydration when over consumed

Part of the evidence offered by Zythophile is an advertisement which states “select investment of prime London goods just landed from the HC [Honourable Company] ship Sir David Scott”, including “Hodgson’s warranted prime picked pale ale of the genuine October brewing, warranted fully equal, if not superior, to any ever before received in the settlement.” I’m not sure what the advertisement means by “genuine October brewing”, but it does not sound like a barley wine. The advertisement says pale ale.

The beer at the time served two purposes. First the beer served as a healthy source of water. Second the beer served as a source of vitamins and nutrients. This is why the nutritional porter was so popular at the time, more popular than the pale ale. The intoxicating properties were pure bonus. Unfortunately beer is also a diuretic. Both health benefits (water and nutrients) drop off dramatically as the beer becomes more potent.

The problem with all this attention on the alcohol content is it doesn’t matter either way, and it contributes to the IPA myth. The IPAs of the time were rarely over 1.070 for good reasons I’ll discuss later. High alcohol IPAs are part of the myth. If October beer had a starting gravity of 1.140, this was not the IPA shipped to India.

The East India beer market was very small before 1830

This is true. The first three decades saw little increase in the market with only about 9 to 10 thousand barrels shipped a year. It didn’t grow to 20,000 barrels until 1840, long after the disputed “IPA discovery” in 1790. But doesn’t this support the George Hodgson claim?

Only a small time brewer could take this market. Larger brewers would not be interested in the market until there was a higher demand for the product. This just shows fewer breweries were involved in the East India beer trade, and thus reduces the number of people who could have stumbled upon the ideal recipe.

How much beer really was sold in the East Indies? Not much.

A smaller brewer would also be much more susceptible to product loss. If Hodgson lost any percentage of his product, he would feel it much more than a larger brewer. As a smaller brewer, the Bow Brewery was under more pressure to solve any shipping problems.

The last thing to note is, while the market was shipping only 9 to 10 thousand barrels a year, nearly all of it was by the Bow Brewery. The Bow Brewery only produced 11 thousand barrels a year for the first 16 years of its existence. Few other breweries were shipping beer to India in the 1790s. There was no India beer market before 1790, because Hodgson saw an opportunity and created the market.

The market was small, but so was the Bow Brewery’s production
Smaller brewers feel the financial pain of beer loss more
In the early years, most beer to India came from the Bow Brewery

There is no evidence Hodgson created the style

This is a negative proof. It basically states there is no evidence X is true, so X must be false. That’s a logic error. To show Hodgson did not create the style, you would need to show another true IPA existed before Hodgson’s India Ale and was sold as such, Hodgson never produced the ale, some point in history much later where the legend changed (like the pilgrim myths of the early 1900s), or some other direct contradiction.

There were similar beers at the time, the IPA is an evolved style, but Hodgson’s India Ale had two distinct alterations to reduce spoilage. The first is the addition of hops. Hops are a significant anti-microbial agent, and adding more hops will preserve a beer for longer periods of time.

The second change will surprise you. The second IPA change was not to increase in alcohol, but as I alluded to earlier, the recipe actually was created with a lower starting and finishing gravity than other beers of the day resulting in a much drier and lower alcohol beer.

IPAs were rarely created with a gravity higher than 1.070, because higher gravity beers will have more residual sugars. The IPA beer at the time was a much drier beer. Residual sugars are what attract spoiling microorganisms. Contrary to popular belief, studies show alcohol (ethanol) levels less than 10% do little to prevent microorganisms. The hops and polyphenols in the beer prevent spoilage, not a stronger beer. A brewer at the time might not know microorganisms were spoiling the beer, but the brewer would know dry hoppy beers spoil less than sweeter maltier beers.

I think Zythophile is probably right that Hodgson did not create a beer style. I do not think anyone came to Hodgson and asked for him to create a beer which could make it to India nor did he market the beer as a new style, but I do think he modified the pale ale recipe to extremes to reduce product loss.

Can’t negatively prove something, with an absence of evidence i.e. – I can’t prove he didn’t kill her, so he must have killed her
IPAs of the time had lower alcohol compared to other beers of the day
Alcohol does not provide protection against microorganisms at low ABVs (<10%)

So where do we stand?

Hodgson was successful for several reasons: his beer, his brewery’s proximity to the ship ports, and his shady business practices. IPAs probably succeeded other beers in India because it was lighter and dryer, both good qualities of a warm season beer (who likes porter on a hot summer day?). He moved into the India market due to an imbalance in shipping costs, and though shady business practices he dominated the India market.

Hodgson did not create a beer style, but he likely reformulated an existing style to reduce product loss. Whether he created a style, modified an existing style, or just got lucky it really doesn’t matter. His beer had two qualities other beers shipped to India did not. His India ales were hoppier and much drier. Sure other brewers probably knew this combination would work to reduce spoilage, but Hodgson was the brewer who did ship this beer to India.

For these reasons his name is associated with the history of the IPA.

Yes other brewers were producing similar ales, but Hodgson’s beer was the pale ale shipped to India. The market for beer in India was small, but as a percentage of Hodgson’s revenue the India market was huge. If October ales were barley wines, I do not believe the IPA is a modification of this recipe nor has any relevance to the discussion.

Hodgson’s beer was known through lore and legend to be the first true India Pale Ale, if not actually documented anywhere. So when the legend becomes fact, print the legend.

What do you think? Myth or not? Let me know in the comments!

[EDIT: Zythophile had a rebuttal on the old site. I included it here so the comments were not lost]

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Thanksgiving, pilgrims, and beer myths

DJ Spiess — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 15:52:18 +0000

The Thanksgiving story

When the pilgrims came to America they were running low on provisions, specifically beer. The crew was concerned about provisions for the trip back so they dumped the pilgrims on Plymouth Rock, packed up and left. The pilgrims immediately built a brewery and had a happy Thanksgiving dinner with the locals.

Did the Pilgrims really stop in Plymouth to build a brewery?

That is the story, but is it really true? Would religious puritans really drink beer? Did they build a brewery? What was the brew choice at the first Thanksgiving? Here’s what I found out.

Did the pilgrims drink beer?

Water is essential to life, but at the time of the Mayflower water could also make you sick. You’ve heard “don’t drink the water” when traveling to Mexico or you’ll get Montezuma’s Revenge. Back then, you didn’t drink the water anywhere. This made beer an important commodity at the time, because beer was a much safer beverage than water. To survive the trip across an ocean, you needed some source of water. During the Mayflower times, that source of water was beer and wine.

The reason for beer’s advantage over water is harmful microorganisms cannot survive long in beer (or wine). Of course you can boil water to make it safe, but in the 1600s no one knew microorganisms were the source of their health problems. People just knew beer was safe and water was not. So yes, the pilgrims drank beer.

Beer was the main source of water at the time
Ships carried wine and beer for long voyages
The Mayflower was a wine vessel capable of carrying 180 casks of wine

So what kind of beer did the pilgrims drink?

Were the party pilgrims getting drunk on the way over to America? Beer does not need to be strong for its anti microbial effects. The polyphenols (not alcohol) in beer and wine act as an anti-microbial agent and prevent bacterial diarrhoea. Small beers were common at dinner time during Colonial times.

These small beers were usually consumed soon after brewing. The reason is small beers tend to spoil quickly. So while the beers were much better than water, they didn’t survive long. This is true even now, which is probably why Budweiser advertises their “born on” dating system so often. A small beer would most likely not make the trip to the Americas and back.

I could not find a definitive word on the exact type of beer the pilgrims drank, but it most likely was some type of bitter. The beer couldn’t be a pale ale since pale ales arrived on the scene in England around 1700. Porters are very nutritional and would have been my first guess, but the beer style didn’t show up until 1722. IPAs came even later, however the recipe construction of IPAs do give us some insight into the beer the pilgrims might have been drinking.

India Pale Ales (IPA) were created later in history specifically to make the long journey to India. Brewers added hops to these beers to travel to much warmer regions of the world over longer periods of time without spoiling. Hops act as an anti-microbial agent, which is why these beers tend to be very hoppy. However these beers rarely had initial gravities over 1.070, and most were between 1.050 and 1.070. These gravities correspond to an alcohol content around 5% to 7.5% ABV. IPAs were actually brewed lower in gravity to have less residual sugars. Any remaining sugars would attract spoilage organisms. This is why IPAs are traditionally dry.

Any beer the pilgrims would be carrying on the Mayflower most likely would not be too strong. You don’t want people getting drunk on a ship, especially when you are going nuts anyway from sheer boredom. A stronger beer would also run the risk of more residual sugars. Spoiled beer is a bigger problem than drunk puritans. I’m guessing the beer was a very dry, slightly over-hopped, medium strength bitter. If you know for sure the beer they brought (with a reference), let me know.

IPAs were developed later for long trips, but they were rarely stronger than 7% ABV
Higher alcohol beers contain residual sugars, a target for spoiling microorganisms
Ethanol is not anti-microbial, but hops and polyphenols are

Were they dumped on Plymouth Rock due to low beer supplies?

Many websites point to the ship logs of Captain Christopher Jones as proof the ship’s crew was concerned about beer supplies. The only problem is Captain Christopher Jones either didn’t keep a log, or it was long lost. Other accounts of what happened were not written until many years later.

Here’s what likely happened. The Mayflower was supposed to leave England much earlier and with another ship, the Speedwell. The puritans had an initial delay negotiating debts with their investment company, and then when they eventually set sail the Speedwell took on water. The ships had to go back, cram pack most everyone on one ship, and set sail for the Americas again on September 6th.

They reached land in the Americas on November 9th, but they didn’t make for shore until a few days later. When they arrived they realized the Mayflower was no where close to where they needed to be (Virginia Colony) and many colonists questioned if they had the legal right to settle in Cape Cod. The last thing you wanted to do was colonize the land and have another group of settlers take the land from you over a legal dispute. That was ok to do to the natives, but not so cool to each other. That’s why they wrote the Mayflower Compact. It was to alleviate the legal fears of the settlers.

The pilgrims got the heave ho from the Mayflower because they were out of time, not out of beer. And they really didn’t get the “heave ho” as many would imply. The Mayflower set sail for England April 5th the following year. That’s five months after reaching America. If the crew was worried about supplies, they would have left much earlier. The ship had at least half of their beer left at this point, because they needed it for the return trip. They were not low on beer.

The pilgrims wasted five weeks running around New England, robbed a few Native American graves for buried corn and beans, and eventually landed on Plymouth Rock on December 17th. They picked the spot because the ship needed to get the colonists established before winter really set in. Three days later, December 21st, they agreed on a site to settle and set out on their first task.

The pilgrams were forced to land at Plymouth rock because they were out of time
The crew had beer through the winter, and left with enough supplies for the voyage back
The Mayflower set sail for England in April of the following year

Was the first pilgrim structure a brewery?

If you’ve been on a ship for two months, winter is already here, people are dying, and someone told you the first building was going to be a brewery you would laugh at them, probably after beating the silly person senseless.

The first structure was not a brewery, it was shelter. The pilgrims planned on building nineteen structures, but they only made four common houses. Only 45 people of the original 102 settlers survived the first winter. A brewery was the last thing on anyone’s mind.

Only 45 people survived the winter, a brewery was the last thing they would think to build

Was the first Thanksgiving happy with beer?

The first real Thanksgiving most likely wasn’t until July of 1623 when more colonists and supplies arrived. The famous dinner with the Native Americans happened in October 1621. The “harvest festival” lasted three days, and probably didn’t have beer. Any beer from England was long gone, the Mayflower was long gone, and the grains in New England were not suitable for beer.

When the pilgrims landed at Plymouth, surviving was their only goal

The colonists did plant some barley the first year, but there is no evidence it was used for beer. Barley wasn’t grown in large amounts in the Americas until the late 1700s to create a brewing industry. In short, there was no beer at the first dinner with the locals.

President Washington declared the first Thanksgiving Day, but it wasn’t a regular national holiday until Lincoln
The first Thanksgiving was really a harvest festival with the natives
There was no record of beer served

Who lied to me?

Budweiser, who else. Well not just Budweiser, but all the breweries collectively as the United Brewers Industrial Foundation. The brewers before and after prohibition were scared silly of losing their industry, with good reason. They wanted to paint beer as American as apple pie in an effort to improve beer’s image and prevent prohibition.

The brewers ran ads stating “the pilgrims drank beer” and created the myths surrounding the beer habits of the early settlers. These ads ran before prohibition and after prohibition. The ads are the source of many of the pilgrim myths, and unfortunately what many know about early American History.

“Pilgrims drank beer” was a marketing campaign to help beer’s tarnished image during prohibition

Sources

Beer and the Pilgrims
Designing Great Beers by Ray Daniels
Thanksgiving (United States) Wikipedia.org

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Sydney is a mean drunk

DJ Spiess — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 22:20:54 +0000

You often hear about the random story about someone smashing a bottle over someone else’s head in a bar fight. I guess we can thank John Wayne Westerns for this. In Australia, there is a significant rise in “glassings”.

There's a gene that makes some drunks angry drunks

I never saw this behavior while drinking with other Australians in the United States, but apparently they are very mean drunks down under. One of the most popular stories on Fermentarium last year was about a mean drunk Australian girl who didn’t like kiwis. This time it’s all-out bar fights. Smashing bottles and glasses into other patrons, by men and women, is so out of control in New South Wales the government is stepping in.

The New South Wales government will no longer allow pubs to apply for 24-hour liquor licenses, last call will be enforced after 2 am, and after midnight drinks will be served in plastic cups. If you want to face someone with a bottle, you’ll have to do it before 12:00 am.

The violence in New South Wales has risen 7% annually, and recorded 21,000 incidents of alcohol-related violence in the past year. There are only 4 million people in Sydney (6 million in New South Wales), so 21,000 is a pretty high number.

(Source: reuters.com)

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iPhone Beer Battle

DJ Spiess — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 19:17:28 +0000

There is an application which turns your iPhone into a pint of beer. As you tilt the iPhone, the beer on the display “empties”. Keep tilting the iPhone and eventually your iPhone looks like an empty pint of beer.

Here’s the rub. There are two applications which do this. One is Hottrix’s iBeer and the other is Carling’s (Molson-Coors) iPint. iBeer costs $3 for the application, while iPint is free. The problem is why would you spend $3 for a silly app when you can get it for free?

Is this really an application to be fighting over?

Who poured first?

Both applications were released July 11th in the iPhone application store. Hottrix claims they demonstrated a video of the application back in August 2007. Their lawyer says Coors must have gotten their idea from the video. They filed a $12.5 million dollar lawsuit and Apple removed the application from their store. Apple also has the power to remove it from all iPhones, but there are no reports it has happened yet.

When iPint (Carling version for those keeping track) was removed, iBeer sales shot up to the top 25 most popular paid applications. But really, isn’t $12.5 million dollars just extortion? I looked for the Carling app before writing the article, but it was already removed.

I did notice there was another application, 40cozy.com’s pour1out that also does the same thing. Another free application, but they’re not even in the battle. The reason? Because Coors is a major corporation with marketing power, and 40cozy.com is just some small company that sells cozys for your beer.

Is this really as cool as a free light saber?

Personally I think $12.5 million dollars is a stretch even if they can prove they had the application first. $12.5 million dollars buys 4,166,666 copies of the application. Apple hasn’t sold 4 million iPhones yet, so Hattrix is suing for more sales of their beer app than Apple has sold phones. Of course Hattrix is most likely adding pain and suffering too because no one was buying their beer application.

Of course Coors is a major corporation (translation: super evil bunny killers), so there may have been some idea stealing. I’m not sure Hattrix has a case however. If I decided I wanted to create a word processing program, Microsoft can’t sue me for stealing the idea (or Lotus or WordStar or whoever first created the first word processor). So why can Hattrix sue Coors for writing a competing program? Seems like the case is on thin beer to me (was that just a jab at Coors beer??). Of course I’m not a lawyer; I just play one after a few beers. Should be interesting to see who wins.

I hope its Coors. I’m not paying $3 for a silly application.

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Surviving the Great American Beer Festival in Denver, Colorado

DJ Spiess — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 22:40:26 +0000

If you haven’t heard, the Great American Beer Festival (GABF) is one of the largest beer festivals ever. Oh sure, the one the German’s throw in Munich in late September might be bigger by a few million people, but the GABF is the largest beer festival in the United States. For a modest price of $50, you get unlimited one ounce samples of over 1,800 beers!

When you go to the festival they hand you a tiny 2 ounce taster cup. You take this cup to a booth where someone will pour it with one ounce of beer. You’ll drink it quickly and think I’ll never even get a buzz drinking one ounce at a time. By the 50th taster you realize you’ve been had. If you’re not prepared, drunkenness will sneak up on you like a beer ninja. I’ve been there, well from what people tell me I was but I don’t remember. Here are a few tips for surviving your first Great American Beer Festival.

The Great American Beer Festival - The largest beer festival in the USA

Don’t Drive

It’s the biggest beer festival in the United States. The police are aware of the event. They will be everywhere looking for people who can’t drive, and you don’t want a DWI. If you’re not staying in a hotel near the convention center, find a near by park and ride. You can park your car and take a bus into the city. If you’re coming from the south, you can even take the light rail. Beer and a Disney ride, how cool is that!

Eat Before Attending

There will be food at the festival, but you’re not going to notice. You are going to be a kid in a candy store sampling the best beers America has to offer. Drinking on an empty stomach is a bad idea, and you will pay dearly the next day. I’d eat something big before going. The longer you stay standing, the more beers you can sample.

Leave the bag at home

Unless you have a baby with you (and I never understand why you’d bring an infant to this festival) you cannot bring a bag or backpack into the event hall. I have no idea why. It’s not like you’re going to sneak alcohol into the festival. In any event, don’t bring bags or backpack. They won’t let you in with one.

Pee before entering

There are about 10,000 people attending each session. Almost everyone is drinking and about 8pm the lines start to grow. This is not a festival for people with small bladders. As the night progresses, the lines will get much longer. MUCH longer. You might find yourself waiting 20 minutes to use the restroom. Enter with an empty bladder, and if you must go, go earlier. “Breaking the seal” before your friends may cause you to lose some face, but you’ll be laughing later in the evening when you’re drinking while your friends are crossing their legs and standing in line.

Forget the map

You’ll get a map when you enter telling you where all the breweries are. Don’t travel back and forth in the event hall casing your favorite brewery. It is much easier to slowly make your way though each row. Bouncing between breweries will only slow you down. Make notes of the breweries you want to hit in each row so you know to stop when you are in the row. You usually can make it through every row by the end of the evening. Besides the point of the festival is not stay true to your favorites, it’s to discover new craft beers you may not have heard of.

Know where to twitter

If you’re tweeting your experiences, make sure you tag it with #gabf. This lets everyone who’s interested in the festival listen in. Using the tag also makes it easier to go back later to see all the tweets. Don’t forget to follow me! I’ll be tweeting and taking pictures all night for everyone, so those who couldn’t go can see how much fun we’re having without them!

Say Hi

There are going to be lots of people from the brewing world. It’s fun to meet others who share the same love of beer as you do. Don’t forget to say hi and meet people!

Drink water

Once the evening has ended, force yourself to drink water. Drinking dehydrates you and the next morning will be painful. The more you drink (and eat) before going to bed, the better your next morning (or afternoon) will go.

Have Fun!

Don't forget to have fun! See you there!

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Beer. You know, “for kids”.

DJ Spiess — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 04:05:53 +0000

This idea would never fly in the USA

I know what you are thinking. The same thing I first thought…

WTF?!?

Once again the cultural differences between the Eastern and the Western world are highlighted in a weird way. This is crazier than the Hello Kitty Virus protection software and almost disturbing as the used underpants vending machines . Japan’s Sangaria Beverage Company introduced a beer for kids. Well… it’s been out for a few years now. Before you start freaking out, I’ll note the beer is non-alcoholic. I’m sure the Churchie demographic feels much better knowing that.

It’s beer for kids

Sangaria has a whole line of the fake alcoholic beverages sold individually or in 6-packs, and marketed for children. Some of the “near beers” are golden in color while others are dark brown, and both produce a nice head of foam. The beverage is made from green tea and GABA extract. You have to see the beer commercials to believe it.

The non-alcoholic beverages are for kids to share in the group drinking at family celebrations. The social drinking is a cultural thing, and this helps the kids get in on the group drinking fun without drinking alcohol (get ‘em started early!). Of course, we would never do anything like this in the United States… say like root beer for kids.

Beer is something the whole family can enjoy... wait WHAT?!

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Zwei Maß for the road

DJ Spiess — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 22:27:25 +0000

Günther Beckstein came under fire from many groups after he suggested Oktoberfest partiers can drive home after drinking two Maß of beer. One Maß of beer is one liter, so for those of you counting along at home, he’s suggesting 2 liters of beer is ok for your drive home.

Local police suggested he might have had two before making the statement. To be fair, he said two Maß over the course of six or seven hours.

“If one drinks two Maß in six or seven hours at Oktoberfest, it’s possible,” Beckstein told German broadcaster Bayerischen Rundfunk (bring on the funk!), referring to the gigantic one-litre mugs used at the beer festival. “But naturally not if one drinks two Maß in two hours.”

A Maß is the largest glass to the right, and it holds one liter of beer.

Two liters is about 67 ounces, 4 pints, or 5 1/2 beers in the can. Two Maß in 1 hour will give you a blood alcohol content (BAC) of 0.1327, but in 6 hours your BAC is 0.0577. While this is below the limit in the United States, you could be arrested as impaired in Germany. Since 1998, a BAC of 0.05 is driving impaired in Germany, and 0.11 is a criminal offense.

Luckily, according to German police, 99% of Oktoberfest partiers use public transportation.

(Source: TheLocal.de)

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Budweiser Beer Truck Explodes

DJ Spiess — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 16:02:36 +0000

A Budweiser beer truck exploded outside of Toronto Tuesday night. The truck reportedly swerved into a guard rail to avoid a car before catching on fire. The driver had serious injuries, but none were life threatening. He was pulled from the truck by a citizen shortly before the truck burst into flames. The bottles were exploding from the truck, and the smoke and flames lit up the sky. People reported seeing the blaze for miles.

The beer bottles were empty, so no beer was lost.

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8 drunk driving lessons we can learn from beer nuts

DJ Spiess — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 20:44:58 +0000

Keep your clothes on when caught

Take Holly Kay Highfield from Jacksonville, Florida for example. She was driving drunk in a Honda filled with children, deliberately tried to crash her car into a cyclist, carjacked another car after the crash with the bicycle, and then crashed the stolen car into her Honda. At this point you can assume she’s in a ton of trouble. So what does she do at this point? She starts taking her clothes off. Taking your clothes off at the scene of the crime will not help you, nor will it get you out of a DWI. So if you’re pulled over, keep your clothes on.

(Source: First Coast News)

Do not attract attention to yourself while driving

Gail Powell from the UK learned the importance of not being seen while driving drunk. She was seen swerving in traffic with her broken leg in a cast hanging out the driver’s side window. Her blood alcohol content was 1.5 times the legal limit, so you could say the woman was plastered. A police car driving in the opposite direction noticed the woman and her leg, and pulled her over for a DWI.

(Source: Metro.co.uk)

The best way to avoid becoming like these drunks, is just don't drink and drive

Don’t attempt to erase your high BAC with wite-out

Juan Briceno, 33, of Omaha, Nebraska was busted for his fourth DUI/DWI. He was in the police station with a blood alcohol content of .287 percent, so you could say the evidence was stacked against him. No matter how bad your DUI situation is, drinking Wite-Out the correction fluid for typing errors will not erase the high BAC. The police officers administered a blood test instead of the breathalyzer.

(Source: LiveLeak.com)

Don’t drive school buses into poles

He’s Otto and he’s blotto. Ok his name isn’t Otto, but his actions will not win him any babysitter of the year awards. When driving drunk, driving a school bus filled with children is not going to help your case. Even worse, drunk driving a school bus of children into a pole will not get you any leniency.

(Source: ksl.com )

Alternate modes of transportation will not avoid a DWI

When you are drunk, driving something other than a car is still drunk driving. Police from Queensland, Australia arrested a 64-year-old man for drunk driving his wheelchair. The man was found passed out in the turning lane of a highway.
(Source: News.com.au)

Make sure your designated driver is of driving age

Holly L. Schnobrich, 24, of Lafayette, Indiana was drunk and needed a designated driver. Does she call a friend, her mom, or even a taxi? Nope. Her choice of driver, her 5-year-old son, landed her in jail for public intoxication and child endangerment. Choosing an underage driver will not prevent you from running afoul with the law, and you certainly will not win mother-of-the-year awards.

(Source: IndyStar)

Don’t ask a drunk friend to help you

A man crashed his pickup into a parked car and had troubles freeing his truck from the car. His drunk friend helped him separate his truck from the car and attempted to drive him home. Since his friend was drunk too, he crashed the pickup truck into another parked car on the same street. Both men were charged with DUIs.

(Source: LoHud.com)

Don’t try to outrun the cops

If you are busted for a DUI, just accept the situation and don’t make it worse like Stephen Ray Castor, 53. Like all ideas when drunk, Castor’s idea of escape from the law was failed from the start. Castor was driving a lawn mower (see Alternate modes of transportation will not avoid a DWI above). He led the police on a 3 mph “high speed” chase before a police office grabbed him.

(Source: KomoNews.com)

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Second drunk man sucks ash

DJ Spiess — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 20:23:18 +0000

He was trying to rob Santa's Headquarters by entering through the chimney. Really?

Yes it happened again! Almost 10 months after the Munich incident , I am again writing about a drunk person stuck in a chimney! Not only is this another story about a drunk stuck in a chimney, this is another story about a naked drunk stuck in a chimney. Richard Kline, 48, was rescued by police and emergency workers from a chimney in Warren, Ohio naked.

Kline was released from jail earlier in the day for attempted breaking and entering. Naturally the best thing to do under such circumstances is to get stinking drunk and break into another building. Police say he was looking for a place to sleep, so he decided to enter the building by sliding down a chimney Santa-style. The story gets better.

The building in question was a log cabin used as Santa’s Headquarters.

There is no word why he was naked. It could be he took off his clothes in an attempt to get free like the previous drunk . It could also be he likes to sleep in the nude.

(Source: MyFox Cleveland)

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10 drunkest people ever

DJ Spiess — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 20:33:20 +0000

Here is a list of some of the drunkest people on the planet. It is surprising half of the record holders here are female! Even more surprising, if not really sad, is all of these drunks except one were found driving while intoxicated. They are lucky to be alive in several ways.

When your blood alcohol level is 0.500% or higher, you’re considered dead. 0.500% is the lethal limit (not legal). Most people die when their blood alcohol levels reach these insane limits. To get your BAC levels over 0.400%, you need to drink over sixteen 12 ounce Budweiser beers in one hour. Keep this in mind when you read these next few drunks .

You really need to drink hard to get as drunk as these people

The Bulgarian miracle (0.914% BAC)

An unidentified 67-year-old man was brought to a hospital after getting hit by a car. In fact this is the only drunk we found who wasn’t trying to drive! When doctors tested his BAC, they thought something was wrong with their instruments. After 5 separate lab tests, doctors finally confirmed the ridiculously high blood alcohol content. The man was able to speak/slur to the doctors. I normally wouldn’t consider him without a name, but 5 tests and multiple news sources reporting this lead me to believe this story is true.

(Source: CBC.CA)

The breakfast drunk (0.720% BAC)

Terri Comer, 42, luckily drove her car into a snow bank in Oregon. Police found her slumped at the wheel at 11:30 AM. That’s in the morning – almost noon. Either she starts early, or she was coming home from one hell of a party the night before! Police had to break her car window to retrieve her and take her to a hospital.

(Source: The Smoking Gun)

The beer hunter (0.690% BAC)

Willard Ashley III, 32, was found sitting in his car. He claimed he was hunting and waiting for a friend to call a tow truck, but it was clear the car was wrecked not stalled. He was arrested for public intoxication in Indiana. I’m assuming he didn’t get a DUI since the car was not running at the time of arrest. His “hunting buddy” did show up a bit later, drunk as well.

(Source: The Smoking Gun)

Hanging at the pizza joint (0.550% BAC)

Meagan Harper, 30, was found by police outside a pizza joint passed out in her car. The Oregon woman’s story is kinda lame, but the blood alcohol content in her system is impressive.

(Source: The Smoking Gun)

Blasted but not belted (0.532% BAC)

Cloyd Joseph Dull, 49, was found passed out at the wheel of his 1989 Plymouth. Not only was he charged for drinking and driving at a ridiculously high blood alcohol level, he also got charged with not wearing a seat belt.

(Source: The Smoking Gun)

Tacoma County record holder (0.500% BAC)

Rebecca G. Lingbloom, 45, was seen swerving all over the road and almost ran over a pedestrian. The Washington state woman scored a 0.500 two hours after being arrested. I’m guessing she was at 0.530 at the time of arrest assuming normal metabolism rates.

(Source: Boston.com)

Stanley, Destroyer of Billboards (0.491% BAC)

Stanley Kobierwoski, 34, drove his car into a highway billboard when police arrested him. He had troubles getting out of the car (I’d have troubles moving at that BAC), and then refused to leave his car. Cops had to carry him away.

(Source: SF Gate)

How many drinks do you need to consume to get your BAC this high?!?

The ex-cop (0.470% BAC)

Deana Jarrett, 54, was driving and hit two cars before police caught up with her. She hit a Volkswagen, tried to convince the other driver to not call the cops, and then she drove away into a second collision – this time with a Lexus SUV. She was an ex Seattle police officer. It’s interesting she was arrested, booked, and then released four hours later. You’d think with a BAC so high they would take her to the hospital first.

(Source: Associated Content)

The Queensland record holder for women (0.446% BAC)

Toni Apperton of Queensland, Australia, was found unconscious at the wheel of her car. She has the current record for Queensland for women. This implies there is at least one man in Queensland who has equaled or surpassed her feat.

(Source: ABC News AU)

The lawnmower man (0.441% BAC)

Jerold Earhart, 29, drove home drunk on a lawnmower. Ironically this isn’t the first time I’ve heard of this. He drove in circles in an intersection, passed out at the wheel, and then was thrown from the mower. The mower continued into a tree where witnesses turned off the mower.

(Source: MLive.com)

If you find a drunk that tops 0.441%, let me know and I’ll add them to the list.

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Places not to live if you like to get pickled

Petra Spiess — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 21:24:12 +0000

The 21st amendment ended prohibition against alcohol, unless, a local law exists that restricts its sale, transportation, or use (section 2 of the amendment). Basically, local laws around alcohol supersede federal laws (this however, is most assuredly NOT the case with the many state laws passed relaxing rules around drug use—specifically marijuana—as the DEA likes to remind everyone). As a result, there are some bizarre differences across the U.S. in the legality of alcohol, the weirdest, arguably, is the existence of the “dry” county or town.

It might look like a nice place to live, but if it's somewhere like Texas, Kansas or Oklahoma you might want to check the local laws first.

Dry counties and towns are entire counties or specific towns that forbid the sale, and usually the production, marketing, transportation etc… of alcohol. In half of the counties in Mississippi, even driving across these places with a beer in your car (unopened of course) is illegal. The law stands even if you do not plan to stop. In some Alaskan communities, possession of beer is also crime. You read this paragraph right. In some places in America, it is illegal to have a beer in your possession.

To make things more confusing, some counties are “moist” which has multiple meanings including: they restrict the sale of alcohol to restaurants, bars, or “private clubs”; you can buy low alcohol content beer but not hard spirits; there’s a cap on the ABV of beer sold (sorry Avery). There are also wet towns inside dry counties; although I’ve yet to come across dry neighborhoods (towns seem to be the finest scale).

Getting wet or dry

Either a location has traditionally been dry and no one ever cared enough to change it, or it’s come up for a vote at some point and the majority of residents have voted to make it dry. Arguments for banning or maintaining a ban on alcohol include creating a “family atmosphere”, reducing crime, and maintaining property values. Considering most dry counties are in Bible-belt states, one has to acknowledge the religious ties as well.

Some towns and counties have voted to change from dry to wet or moist. In 2005, Rockport, Massachusetts residents voted in a majority to allow restaurants to sell liquor, but still ban bars and liquor stores. Sometimes the alcohol issue has come up multiple times and towns have switched back and forth along the wet to dry continuum.
Communities going from dry to wet or moist usually do so to encourage tourism (as the case in Rockport), to increase revenue, or to just make life easier for residents.

Where are the dry counties?

The greatest number of dry counties can be found in Texas, Kansas, Oklahoma, Kentucky, Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, and Mississippi.

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Beer at the Pinnacle Peak Patio

DJ Spiess — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 21:43:31 +0000

After two places with bottled beer only, we decided to go have one last beer at the Pinnacle Peak Patio. The steakhouse has been around since 1957. For me, that is forever and then some. The Pinnacle Peak Patio has decent steaks, but it is really a tourist place.

I lived in Scottsdale, Arizona during my high school years, but as a “local” it didn’t have much draw for me. It was just another “authentic old west steakhouse”. The steakhouse has a very casual atmosphere, and if you come in wearing a suit and tie they threaten to cut your tie off. There are hundreds of neck tie corpses hanging from the ceiling as “proof”. I can name at least 5 places in Colorado, Arizona, and Texas which have the same “no tie” rule. The Traildust Steakhouse in Denver used to cut your tie off too, before the restaurant bit the dust. I am sure there are many more “authentic and original” steakhouses who share this violence against neck ties.

No ties allowed

I forgot to bring a tie for the wedding, and this weekend is the only time I planned on wearing a tie this summer. My usual casual dress means I will always be “safe” in these restaurants.

We decided to go to the Pinnacle Peak Patio because we were not ready to call it a night, and we wanted to go some place that accepted my credit card. I was expecting another “bottled beer joint”.

Then I saw the sign (cue hosanna music). Apparently things have changed since I was last in Arizona. They have a brewery now. I can’t find out when the brewery was added, but they produce beer onsite for the restaurant and a few other local establishments. The brewery is owned by the Sonoran Brewing Company. The brewery was established in 1996, so I’m assuming some time around then is when the brewery was added.

It's not just a tourist trap, it's a tourist trap with a BREWERY!!!

The brewery has a wide variety of standard and seasonal ales. Their website claims they don’t make a pepper beer because “We make real beers for real beer drinkers. No novelty beers here.” They do however make a sour cherry ale, a mandarin orange Hefeweizen, and a white chocolate ale. Go figure.

I ordered a “Barbed Wire Brown” ale. It was ok. The beer was smooth and flavorful, but I was expecting nut brown ale and got something more like a porter. The beer wasn’t a bad porter, so maybe the fault is just the name. I also tried the sour cherry ale and the mandarin orange Hefeweizen. The sour cherry ale was quite good. I was expecting to be overwhelmed by the cherry flavor since cherries are so strong and difficult to work with. The taste was quite mellow, and reminded me of some good Belgian sour ales.

The mandarin orange Hefeweizen was really good. So good in fact, I’m going to try to replicate the beer when I get home. The Hefeweizen had a really smooth creamy mouth feel, and the orange flavor was well balanced with the rest of the beer. I’d never thought about putting mandarin oranges in beer, but it makes sense since most people add oranges to the Hefeweizens. The citrus flavor goes well in the beer. The mandarin oranges go even better in the beer. I highly recommend the beer.

There's outdoor seating and a stage for music. No music while we were there though.

The Pinnacle Peak Patio has good beer and live music. If you’ve made it out to Greasewood Flat , you should also make a stop at Pinnacle Peak Patio and try their beers. I’ll be back to try the other beers, but for now I can recommend the mandarin orange Hefeweizen.

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Drinking Cowboy-style at Greasewood Flat

DJ Spiess — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 19:12:34 +0000

My next stop in the beer Arizona beer drinking trip was going to be the bar at the Four Seasons resort. My first question to the bartender was “What’s on tap?” I’m sure you’re wondering what possible delectable beer creations would be available on tap at the swank resort. Here’s the list.

*
Yep. Nada. Zilch. Nothing on tap. Every beer offering was in the bottle. The best beer offerings (for me) were the Pike’s Kilt Lifter and Unibroue’s nihilistic La Fin Du Monde (translates to “the end of the world”). The bartender described the Monde beer as a “light beer” and Kilt Lifter as a “red beer’. The beer list was so boring, I won’t say more about it. After I had one of each beer, my friend and I decided to hit the road to a few other bars.

Our next stop was a really cool bar oddly placed very close to the Four Seasons Resort at Troon North. If you’re high-browing in Arizona, you will miss Greasewood Flat. Greasewood Flat is the extreme opposite of the Four Seasons Resort. Still I think Greasewood Flat is a bar you don’t want to miss.

If you're looking for a cool random place to have a beer in Arizona, look to Greasewood Flat

Surrounded by high price homes and expensive resorts, Greasewood Flat is one of those “off-the-path” bars where supposedly “only the locals go”. The bar is in a 120-year-old bunk house. It is hard to believe that anyone came there before air conditioning. I used to live in Scottsdale when I was in high school, and at the time there was nothing near this place. We used to camp a few miles from here to “get away”. Now the camp spot and this bar are located next to the Four Seasons resort and many expensive Pinnacle Peak homes.

We walked into the bar, and my first question was “What’s on tap?” Surprising enough I got the same answer. “Nada, zilch and nothing”, so I got a Beck’s Dark in a bottle. My friend got some foo-foo drink special that looked like a Shirley Temple with vodka. I cringed. My first thought was ordering a drink like that gets you violently tossed out of bars like this, but the bartender assured us it was ok if the beverage was the drink special.

The bar inside is small, but it has a cool dive bar ambience

You might wonder why I’d recommend the bar. The bar has a great atmosphere. It has a cool “off-the-beaten-path” vibe. Greasewood Flat has a huge open area outside with benches which can accomidate 1000 people. There is nothing like drinking beer, regardless of the style or brand, outside in the hot Arizona nights (it can get over 100 F at midnight in the summer).

Inside the bar the first thing you notice is the money. Lined across the ceiling and many of the walls are autographed dollar bills stuck with a thumbtack. The bills are all signed from previous visitors. After ordering the beer I presented my Visa card to settle up. It was “unwelcome”. For someone who never carries cash, this was a surprise. I could use my Visa for food one window (2 feet) over from the bar, but for some reason I could not use it for beer. Apparently the food and alcohol are different establishments. Luckily my friend had cash.

The Greasewood flat bar is in a 120-year-old bunk house

It was a surreal experience having no cash for beer in a bar completely lined with dollar bills signed by various patrons. The bartender says the dollar bills are an old cowboy tradition. The idea is a cowboy would stick a few dollars into the wall with his name on the bills. That way the cowboy knew when he came back to the bar, he’d have money for a few drinks. I don’t think I want to stick my Visa card on the wall.

I hope the cowboys listed more on the dollar than “John from Phoenix” or they will have troubles locating their dollar. I’d guess there were several hundred (if not thousands) of “cowboys and cowgirls” who left a signed dollar. The funniest thing was an old local man at the end of the bar in a cowboy hat who said “a cowboy would never leave his money on the wall”.

Don't even think of trying to take a cowboy's last dollar

If you are in the Scottsdale/Pinnacle Peak area, you might want to take a trip out to the bar. When you do go, make sure you designate a driver. It is a long haul out from Scottsdale, and one common theme from every bartender I’ve talked to so far is the hostile DUI/DWI laws in Arizona. If they think you’ve had a beer, it might be enough to jail you. Every bartender I’ve talked to in Arizona says the drinking laws have really hurt business. My guess is the fact you must drive EVERYWHERE in Arizona without mass transit is really the problem.

Still if you have the time and a driver, it is well worth the trip to have a beer and hamburger at Greasewood Flat.

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Orwellian Drinking At Four Seasons Troon North

DJ Spiess — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 21:35:54 +0000

I’m in Arizona for the weekend at a friend’s wedding. The wedding is going to be one of those crazy big deal weddings, big enough to land a spot in Platinum Weddings (a reality wedding show on the WE channel) next season. So you’re probably wondering what it’s like drinking at the four star resort in Troon North.

The first stop in this article series is the room itself. You’re probably thinking it’s an expensive resort, of course the drinks are expensive. Well… you are right. The beer in the fridge is $6.75 USD per Corona, Amstel Light, or Heineken. Not outrageous, but not exactly a deal for the macro swill imports.

There is also your token red wine and white wine. Their selections are a 2000 De Loach Estate bottled Cabernet Sauvignon and a Chardonnay which I cannot read for reasons which will be clear soon. Both wines are $28 USD for a 375 ml bottle (two equal a full 750 ml bottle of wine).

Here’s the fun part. You touch it, it’s yours. I’m not kidding. You take one of the beers out of the fridge a sensor registers it and you are billed for it. Gone in thirty seconds, from your bank account that is. Since I cannot remove the bottle of wine from the fridge, I cannot see the Chardonnay. It’s in a slot in the mini fridge, and touching means ownership.

You can’t even drink the beer, and then replace it with another before you leave. Infrared sensors have already registered the purloined beer, and someone will be by to replace it soon. How’s that for service? Creepy huh?

The front desk assured me this was “more convenient for me”, and if I was charged from something I did not consume I would not be charged for it. They will however know I looked at it and touched it.

The fun does not stop there. Even the coffee cups are tracked. If they move, they will bring you another one in the afternoon. Big brother meets fine hotel service. This way you can have your cup of java in a clean glass every time. I wish I could get this service in a bar!

The bar is where I am heading next!

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Watch out for Falling Rock Tap House

DJ Spiess — Mon, 26 May 2008 22:11:59 +0000

This weekend some friends and I caught a Rockies game at Coors Field – by some miracle they won. Apparently the New York Mets are even worse. To make the baseball game much longer than I thought possible, the suite we were in only had Budweiser and Coors (no Blue Moon). If we wanted Blue Moon, it was $24 per 6-pack or a long walk downstairs. We suffered through the game with the BMC swill, and vowed to get better beer later.

The Falling Rock Tap house was the perfect stop after the game. The laid back bar on Blake Street sports a very casual outdoor patio recessed of the street. If you’re not careful, you might walk by without seeing the bar. When you go,

Yes, that tower of beer glasses is all glass.

be on the look out for the “Watch for Falling Rocks” sign next to the hop vines.

The hop vines are a cool fixture to the side of the bar. I am very jealous how large their hops were in an urban setting. Mine currently are only a few inches tall. I have hop-envy.

With so many bars in the area, it can be difficult finding a spot with a solid selection of beer on tap. Falling Rock has more than 69 beers on tap. After the Rockies beer, I thought I had died and gone to heaven. I had troubles deciding what to choose. I was a kid in a wonderful “candy store”. The best part was the bar had Chimay white (Tripel) on tap. It was the first beer I ordered.

The Falling Rock Tap House is like being a kid in a candy store.

I did expect to get the beer in a goblet, but they served the Chimay in a wine glass. Convincing my friends Chimay was “manly” was impossible while holding the beer in a wine glass. To regain some semblance of masculinity, all subsequent beer orders were beers known to be served in manly pint glasses.

Speaking of the pint glasses, it was entertaining to watch the waitress attempt to carry 26 pint glasses. My first thought was, “this can only end poorly”, but with some direction help and cheering from the pub, she did make it back without dropping the tower.

Next time you are in Denver, definitely make Falling Rock Tap House. The beer selection alone is worth the trip!

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Free beer courtesy of the AHA

DJ Spiess — Mon, 19 May 2008 21:49:27 +0000

The AHA held a rally at the CB & Potts restaurant and brewery this weekend, and I could not pass up the chance to check it out.

Being a member has it's benefits, like the AHA Rally at CB & Potts

Attendees of the rally got a free growler with coupons to fill it at a cheap price, raffle tickets for door prizes, a chance to meet the brewers, free appetizers, and a tour of the brewery. The best part was one free beer!

The coupon for the free beer could be used on any CB & Potts beer, so I tried their new beer. Their new beer was Pilsner Noelle. It is a good beer, a bit heavier than I expected, but a good Pilsner. According to the guide, CB & Potts recently abandoned the Coors and Budweiser from their menu. I suspect this is the beer they will serve in its place.

The tour was filled with interesting gems of homebrew advice, such as the importance of using finings or using longer boils at higher altitudes. After the brief tour, the brewers were open for questions.

In the future I’ll try to keep an eye on these events. These tours and AHA rallies are interesting events that you won’t want to miss.

The AHA Rally included a tour of the brewery

There are more pictures at the Fermentarium Flickr site .

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Great AZ Beer Festival Pub Crawl

Inflatable pubs – Jumpy castles for adults!

DJ Spiess — Thu, 08 May 2008 14:03:46 +0000

Great big jumpy castle for adults

How cool is this? Amber Iris Limited in the UK makes inflatable pubs. It is like a great big jumpy castle for adults!

An inflatable pub. How cool is that?

There are 4 pubs to choose from, with the largest pub being about 1100 square feet inside with a 27 foot high ceiling. The interior is painted to look like a pub, complete with paintings, hanging fish, and an Inglenook fireplace. The capacity of the largest pub depends on if you have tables, but the company estimates the portable pub will hold 20 to 50 people. The pubs even have an internal frame for lighting and decorating. It truly is a portable pub which you can erect anywhere.

Think about how cool this would be. Just set up your own pub where ever you want to (or are allowed to).

The “Catch”

Before you get too excited, like I was, these pubs are a bit pricey. The large one, which of course is the one I want, costs £16,500. I even deluded myself into thinking the conversion rate was better. Nope. That’s $33,000 USD. Then I found the American website . It actually costs $45,978 USD (nice round number). Still, it is a really cool jumpy castle – and you can drink beer in it! It would be perfect for the park parties in my neighborhood .

The inflatable pubs come with fake pub wall art on the inside

The portable pub really is targeted towards businesses. They offer services to hook up kegs and beer lines in the pub, as well as, services to help you set up a pub business. It looks like those services are strictly for UK customers. That’s ok, because if I had that kind of money to spend on one, it wouldn’t be for business.

If that isn’t cool enough for you, they do offer custom castles. Granted these are specialized for Coors or Guinness, but imagine the wow factor if your name was plastered across it. The company says they also can design pubs to specification. If I had the money, this could be lots of fun. I can already imagine taking “Castle Deege” to my party location. I guess I better start saving up.

(pictures from the company website)

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