For the first time in their 17 year history

New Belgium has new tap handles. I know, its breaking news you'll only hear at B&B, and it impacts your life more than you know.
Gone are the traditional wood handles. Enter, recycled bike rim modern sons'-a-bitches. Just don't get ripped and fall on them.

Battle of Fort Collins: New Belgium vs Odell

I'm about to go to the fridge and when I get there I'll have a decision to make: 90 Shilling or Cutthroat Porter. I can't wait, because either way I win. I'll get to enjoy a fine brew from my newest "brew-crush"--Odell Brewing Company of Fort Collins Colorado. I just can't seem to find a beer from this establishment that doesn't make me smile, both inside and out. Perhaps I'm late to a bandwagon, but I think Odell is becoming my favorite Fort Collins brewer. Sorry New Belgium, I've always been a fan, but right now Odell is (in my opinion) just offering better beer.

Notes:
Odell--

• The Good: Levity, Cutthroat, 90 Shilling, 5 Barrel Pale Ale
• Decent: Easy Street Wheat
• The Bad: Haven't tried them all; but haven't met one I didn't like
  
• Would Like To Try: IPA
• Never been to the brewery

New Belgium--

• The Good: Blue Paddle; Mothership Whit
• Decent:1554
• Losing My Interest: Fat Tire; Sunshine Wheat
  
• The Bad:Trippel
• WTF?: Springboard
  
• Would Like to Try: Mighty Arrow;
  
• Clearly your Green Efforts; Environmental Stewardship; and Corporate Philosophy are not to be competed with

Thoughts?

Silliness.

I don't know where these guys are from or what they're saying, but I do know they have way too much free time.

With that said, if you have a more interesting way to open a beer, send it to thecaptain@brewsnbooze.com, and we'll post it to the site.

2 Things

1. I just bought a 6 pack of Levity from Joe's Bottle Shop and paid 9.78. I guess it costs a bunch to put it on a truck and ship it from the other world that is Fort Collins.

2. Jay McEntee sold it to me.

See ya Zima. Pussy.

The malternative drink that propelled countless pre-teens into a life of luxurious alcoholism will be produced no more.

Pour one out in the comments.

And please, fly your vaginas at half mast.

Whats behind that micro-goodness?

Wall Steet Journal says, New Belgium ranks among the top small businesses on earth. Thats how. Congrats bikey beer folks.
Its probably no coincidence.

Google: Friend of the B&B Blog . . . ?

Google introduces "Google Goggles"

Hey friends. It turns out that now you can set your Gmail account to challenge you with a Math question when you try to send an email during hours preset by you. Thanks Google. Because I'm always getting wasted and starting 'e-fights.' I cannot tell you how many times I've woken up after a wild night of recliner beers wondering if I "really did hit send" and checking my inbox and realizing "OMG I totally did."

So now I can set my account to make me answer a Math question before it sends. A fucking Math question!? You don't think I can do Math drunk? I excel at Drunk Math like Nathan Nowak excels at Drunk Driving!! How about making me do something really tough like operating heavy machinery or convincing my wife to have sexual relations with me? Because if I had to do that shit, I'd never send off those crisis-causing belligerant emails that Google is supposed to save me from now.

So in Summary, I say thanks but no thanks to your little 'google goggles' (thanks Sarah Palin-at least you're good for one liners). Instead of keeping me from sending 'drunk-mails', here's some shit I'd rather have you Drunk-protect me against:

-Being way to involved in awkward party conversations
-downloading music that I'll never listen to
-Having one more because there's something really good on Friday Night TV
-?

What else?

Ooopa-fucking-pa!

Contrary to chatter at exit177.com, Octoberfest SF was full of incredibly good looking people.
I've said this before, if you're a single young buck (that mate with doe) and you like to party, there are plenty of fish in the Bay. There is of course an obvious answer for that, of which you can find strolling around the downtown Crate & Barrel on a Sunday. With scarves on.
No but Octoberfest by the Bay pairs two great things: a loud, boisterous, drunken oompa pa band that plays Journey and the rest of the kids' favorites with panoramic views of a few national monuments and a rock, and a beer specifically made for festivals.
What a great idea. True banquet beer.

It was a huge crowd that blew through piles of kegs, but they contained only one beer, Spaten.
Apparently its a Munich staple and has been for like 500 years. You should read about it.
And it has a shovel for a logo that speaks not only to the quantity you'll have but also the fate of the end of your day should you abuse Spaten.

It was a dark bodied something or other. From the label I believe its an Urmarzen. And a damn good Urmarzen at that, if I've never had one.
After 3 liters, and of course they're sold in liters, it really didn't throw me to the ground as I predicted, and Luke Caudillo.
But it was enough for me to slip into an accidental conversation with a toothless security guard regarding whether or not the drunk dude that dove into the Bay would be arrested or not.
Let Spaten be the judge in that case. Track it down, its apparently on this whirl-wind national Octoberfest tour, so its pretty busy.












See, hot chicks.

Its GABF week bitches!

Is anyone in the midwest going?? I mean sheesh. I'll say this, and its a one time offer, if you go, live-blog it, and generate a 3 page report on your favorites, you can miss my wedding. For free!
But if you don't have your tickets yet, you'll be scraping them off craigslist at discount prices I bet.
According to their website, they're podcasting, web-streaming, blogging, everything but projecting the event onto the side of a russian sub.
Should be exciting.
Check that, its the funnest time you can have in 4 hours. Ever.
See you there! (via the internet).

Another Beer Fest to check out

www.tellurideblues.com

- also look at the numerous posts made today

Beer Quiz - highlights from the Beer magazines quiz

HERE ARE THE ANSWERS TO THESE QUESTIONS THAT WERE POSTED EARLIER THIS WEEK.

Beer enthusiast is known as a:
A) tegestologist
B) brewotophist
C) cerevisaphile
D) wortologist
Answer is C - google it.

From which century can be found the earliest evidence of beer?
A) 4,000 B.C.
B) 9,000 BC
C) 500 A.D.
D) 10,000 BC
Answer is A - evidence from a stamp seal from tepe gawra

Bunging means what to a beer?
A) how it gets its bubbles
B) how it is fermented
C) how it is casked
D) how to determine if it is skunked
Answer is a -

Oktoberfest was originally a...
A) brewers' party
B) celebration of the end of the summer
C)celebration of the nectar of the gods
D) a wedding party
Answer is D - prince ludwig of bavaria married princess theresa in 1810, the celebration lasted 16 days and was so much fun that they decided to celebrate it every year since.

What country consumes the most beer per capita
A) united states
B) Czech republic
C) russia
D) ireland
Answer is B-czech 167 liter per capita, US 85

What is it called when you do not finish a beer.
A) to wound a beer
B) to sammet a beer
C) to mormon a beer
D) to mourn a beer
Answer is B

Beer of the Season

Brown Ale - as the season changes and the leaves began to change and the temperature begins to drop, it is time for seasonal change in beer as well. This recommendation is not from own thoughts, but from the thoughts of Beer the magazine (www.thebeermag.com). The brown ale will make a great addition to a fall night BBQ or while feasting on venison (meat of any animal killed by hunting).

Best Brown Ale choices?

Sarah Palin Drinking Game

For tomorrow's debate, here's the game:

Rule #1: Every time Palin says something convoluted, non-sensical, or links together words that don't even make a real sentence; drink.

Rule #2: Every time you feel awkward and uncomfortable for Palin; drink.

Well. . . those are all the rules. Hope you don't have to work Friday, cause you're gonna be w a s t e d!

Well Said.

Some pregame research for a new tiki bar I'm attacking tonight.
Here's one of their drink descriptions. Nails.

The Undertow
If you can drown in a teaspoon of water, imagine what a ten-ounce combination of rum and juice can do.

ELECTRO FIZZ

This quick post is for a drink that I wish to create. One of Laura's 3rd year Audiology classes is called "Electro Physiology" and she and her classmates all refer to it as 'Electro Phys.' I think it sounds like a rather exciting and event inspiring drink.

If you've got concoctive aspirations for what it could be, let me know. If it's good enough perhaps we'll whip some up at FFF6. I was thinking something along the lines of a kamikaze mixed w/ a champagne cocktail, but don't let that limit your creativity. Also, please include a description of why you chose the ingredients included.

Cheers Y'all!

Summer Hangover

Now that the first 2 weeks are in the books for the greatest sport on earth I can break myself free from researching/nervous twitching. I'd like to thank Coors Light, and its subsidiaries, for its consistent support. (As much as I keep trying to believe it is the cat's shit, those wide-opening cans really don't do anything.) To get back to posting about beers that are too hard to find, and no one would buy anyway, I'd like to share a great dialogue between the creative minds at New Belgium.
Apparently they are releasing a new ale accidentally flavored with espresso.
Coffee beers are the worst. First, no other beverage category has been successful at capitalizing on the second most traded commodity in the world. Coke Blak? 2 weeks. Jamocha shakes from Arby's? Well, bad example.
Second, as a biased non coffee guy, isn't coffee more of a necessity than good flavor? Do people actually like the taste of coffee? It really makes people's faces and urine smell.
That said, there is some good insight into how a great company thinks about things.
If I were surrounded by beer all day at work, I would be more productive too.

Some have wondered where the name, and more prominently, the label image came from. Well, here’s the story of Giddy Up. It started as a naming brainstorm. It ended with a personality. And a really big…

From: Greg Owsley
Subject: Re: Espresso Ale naming help
Sent: Tuesday, April 08, 2008 7:58 AM
1st off, I’m friggin thrilled with the new beer. All the blah blah in the world can’t replace imaginatively delicious liquid like this.

I was thinking about naming the new beer, which in fine Bouckaert fashion, defies style. So at our creative meeting yesterday, when I informed them that the new beer has considerable caffeine, I was reminded of the name of the espresso company I dreamed up but never opened, Giddy Up.

Initial reactions? Other ideas? Label art?

From: Bryan Simpson
I’ll spin on some naming and I’ll revisit my aesthetic position on putting the image of a glass of beer on a bottle of beer – me not like this.

I do like “Giddy up” tho. Fun to say and gets at pick-me-up/stimulant while beer is self-evident.

From: Melyssa Glassman
I like Giddy Up, too. While the coffee/espresso references immediately take me to a darker brew, it’s the obvious place to be. So, here are some name ideas that work towards the actual red color within a coffee sort of way:

Red Roast
Red Alert
Belgian Blend
Rooster
Red Rooster

I like the Rooster idea because they wake you up, they’re red, it’s a fun image and fun to say. It could be Red Rooster, The Rooster, Rooster Ale…etc.

From: Greg Owsley
So, I was liking Red Rooster Ale. But, sigh, a quick google revealed 3 (!) RR ales already in business.
Giddy Up is it? Imagery?
What about a red rooster?

From: Bryan Simpson
What about a red rooster? Riding a horse.

From: Jodi Taylor
I don’t know if you’re kidding but I like it. Anne did a good job painting Arrow the dog.

From: Bryan Simpson
Kinda kidding but I like the surreal element. I’m cc-ing the others just to see if there’s traction.

From: Greg Owsley
Rooster on horse. I like it. For me, It conjures up my favorite form of surrealism, those absurd postcards of the west – jackalope, fur-bearing trout…

From: Jodi Taylor
I pictured just that – the stiff profile view of the rooster on the horse in a Colorado pastoral setting, brownish for fall. I’ll photoshop an image together.

From: Bryan Simpson
We’ve got a spokes model! Started as a gag but a rooster riding a horse definitely makes you stop and ponder… wtf? I gotta know what this tastes like!

* * *
So there you have it. The not so impressive, but fun while it lasted, email exchange that gave life to the label and a darn good cock-a-doodle brew.

Fall Seasonal Season!

The equinox is rapidly desending upon us and with the joys of turning leaves and crisp autumn weather we have a new batch of seasonals to sample. So, try something off the beaten path and let us know about that rare oktoberfest or rare fall seasonal that you had to break up that otherwise endless stream of millercoorsbudmolsonstella you had while watching football on Saturday and Sunday. The Sam Adams* Oktoberfest (click here for beeradvocate reviews) comes to mind as a go to seasonal from last year.

*Sam Adams should be commended for their bailout of small brewers without long term hops contracts with growers. In a market that saw the price of this dire ingredient shoot from $3-5/lb to $15-20/lb many small batch brewers who purchase supplies while they go were sure to go under. Sam held a lottery of all interested brewers (hop sharing program results) to buy so many lbs of it's stockpile of hops at cost (roughly $5/lb). Their quote from the article "hey, we were the little guy too once" says it all to me. Cheers to Sam Adams.

Boozer of the Week.

This guy:

Man jailed after sending Iowa hostages for beer
via Chicago Tribune

Offended

OK, I realize that as a non-contributing contributor, I probably don't have a whole lot of room to bitch about things that are or are not on this site.

That said, it is downright offensive that the ultimate in college drinking is not listed in the poll. The beer that fueled many of the Man In Black's stories to unsuspecting freshmen girls ("I'm actually half Jewish," "I was a husky model for JC Penny when I was 5," "I promise I'll call you," etc.), fountain runs, naked pull-ups at the front doors of sororities, et. al.

This beer, my friends, is the beer of champions. The beer that did not need to be called by name. No, all that needed to be said and done for it to be understood what a young, aspiring academic needed to drink that Tuesday night was to hand the person making the beer run $12, and simply ask for "30 'Stones."

The beer: Keystone Light.

I'm saddened by its exclusion.

Poor College Kid Beer

Uh...Natural Light

Micro'd: Gordon Biersch Brewery

(Note: This is part one of a yet to be determined number of installations titled "Micro'd" in which I go to a microbrewery and drink every different beer I can before being: a. thrown out b. divorced c. a new father. Who am I kidding? I really just had a few beers before going out to eat with my parents. My life is not exactly ripe with adventure at this point. It is worth noting that all beers were sampled in pints, and not those pussy beer flight things that they enjoy on the coasts where binge drinking is done mostly in closed quarters.)

Gordon Biersch brewery is a chain of breweries that is headquartered inexplicably in Chattanooga, TN despite not having a restaurant in the state of Tennessee. They have locations all over the place, though, like San Fran, Colorado, and the one I frequented in the heart of the Power and Light District in downtown KCMO, (a truly pretentious, over the top, enjoyable in quarterly doses venue) where I sat on a Friday night and drank by myself for an hour or two. They offer a really decent, somewhat expensive lineup of apps and entrees that are allegedly made from scratch and the food looked good for standard upscale brewery-type fare (think Upstream or Lazlo's-ish).

The beer report:

Marzen: Their most popular beer and the first one I tried. It was Newcastle-y in color and sweet like that beer as well. A potentially great beer after a round of golf or other non-threatening situations, I felt like this is what they recommend to people who only drink Bud Light or are on a diet. No hops to be seen. The Jonas Brothers of beers really. I don't know what that means.

Czech Lager: Now we're on the trolley! A pilsner that was truly spicy. It had some kick and some gusto. Pizazz! Shazam! Wheee! No seriously, this one was really good.

Hefeweisen: Full disclosure time: I wouldn't describe myself as a big wheat beer fan and this one also fell flat for me. Something about the combination of fruit in beer and the loaf-of-bread-in-a-glass factor got me here. If a company could make a wheat beer that didn't require fruit and didn't make me feel like Prince Fielder after two glasses, I could potentially be in.

Golden Export: Their Budweiser, and the last one I had. This is really what they recommend to people that only like light beers. I thought it kind of had a paint thinner aftertaste. Not good times. If you go to microbreweries seeking beers like this, see also: Coors Original anywhere west of Exit 305 (Alda) in Nebraska.

They also had a seasonal bock I regretfully wasn't able to try, in retrospect this should have replaced the Hefeweisen for me. Out of the four beers I had, big raising of the glass to the Czech and (less so, but still) the Marzen. Bad times to the Hefeweisen and Golden Export.

Modern Drunkard Convention - Denver, CO

I won't be able to go to this, but if you're in the Denver area and don't go....consider this your slap to the face.

Drunkard National Convention
August 29-31
Denver, CO

Brew of the Month - August

Zima, the beer "Malternative." Because people are too big of vaginas to post stuff to this blog.

Get it together.

By the way, apparently Zima has "gone citrus." I guess they've always been for Fruits, now they're just not hiding it anymore. You can say Zima is "out of the closet."

When will the Belgians stop?

Leave it up to those damn Belgians to come up with a "scratch and strip" beer bottle. That's right, you scratch the swimsuit off the lady to reveal the belgian goodies. If such a thing exists.

And leave it up the the British to be too proper to sell it.

UK bans Rubbel Sexy Lager

Beer Nostalgia Reigns

With the success of Grain Belt and Pabst, is Schlitz the next beer to come back on a large scale?

Probably.

(Oh, and thanks to Jimstock and The Baldridge people for all of the delicious seasoning, and check exit177 or HeavySoul for the running diary of my North Platte class reunion trip/Fort Cody visit sometime tonight. Great times.)