City of Baltimore puts cameras in Pub.

You have to be a pretty rough bar when the only way you can stay open is to let the city put cameras in. The funniest part of this story is the name of the bar, Shirley's Honey Hole.

Check out the article.
via The Baltimore Sun

Nebraska Athletic Director Says "No Thanks" to Budweiser

So, Bud Light is promoting a cheesy, ridiculous and awesome Tailgating Kit, including cans that bear your favorite team's colors.

Well, Tom Osborne of Nebraska said "thanks, but no thanks." How? You ask. Well, he's old, he wrote a letter. Long story short, he encouraged local distributors not to carry the the Red and White cans. Here's an excerpt from the Omaha World Herald:

Osborne said the NCAA Board of Directors has taken a negative stance on the promotion and that he, as athletic director, agrees with that position. Known for his opposition to alcohol-related ads in college sports, Osborne noted that his letter had prompted several local distributors not to participate in the promotion, turning away a “majority” of the red and white cans.

You can find the entire article HERE.

Beer vs. Your Badunkadunk

How many calories does your favorite beer have? Check this article.

Thanks to fellow beer lover, Scott Rowe for forwarding this to me.

Bosco's Review

Bosco's Beer is a midtown Memphis tradition. This is the hippie/indie slightly edgey, but not too dodgey area of the city where you can get a hand crafted pint and chill on the patio if you don't mind the heat. To really frame it up for out of towners, I once saw 10 cop cars chasing a car on very large wheels while in a karaoke joint around the corner from this bar called 'Yosemite Sam's.' Another way of putting it would be to call it a smaller, less corporate, and cooler Upstream for you Flatwater folks.

With that, I recommend the Midtown Brown, or the Hefeweizen.

Midtown Brown

(2001 Great American Beer Festival Bronze Medal Winner)
A classic English-style Nut Brown Ale. Sweet and malty with the nutty flavor of chocolate malt, this beer is flavorful yet easy to drink. Pairs well with many of our menu items. Excellent with all cheeses and foods with caramelized flavors.O.G. 1056 I.B.U. 28

Boscos Award Winning HefeweizenWho remembers the first time we brewed this beer and Memphis collectively said, "Yuck, cloudy beer"?

Facts: O.G. 1044, I.B.U. 11

Awards: 2005 Great American Beer Festival Gold Medal Winner

2006 Great American Beer Festival Silver Medal Winner

2007 Great American Beer Festival Gold Medal Winner

This Hefe' may be my favorite and certainly is my answer to not being able to consistently find Boulevard Wheat down here. But don't take my, or their, words for it, come down to the south and have some shrimp and grits for brunch and a pint while soaking in the live blues on Sunday. Or, if you attend the GABF this fall in Denver be sure to look for them and sample their brews.

Beer in a Box

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124882355717088341.html

I came across an article that said MillerCoors is planning on packaging beer in a box. It is something of a home draft system that can sit in your fridge and keep beer fresh for 30 days. To me this if very reminiscent of the "party ball" of years past.

For you recycling people out there this could be a great environmentally friendly alternative to cans or bottles. I don't think the recycling angle will be how they market it but it seems resonable to me. They did mention this little jem, "The price per ounce is roughly 15% higher than for an 18-pack of the same beer, MillerCoors said." I don't really see how this is going to work out.

So B&B bloggers would you ever consider a box a viable container of beer?

Dogfish Head in Inc. Magazine

In this month's Inc. Magazine, founder Sam Calagione walks through the Dogfish Head's steady climb to cult status, if not fame, and how they stay sane as inevitable corporate-ness creeps into the business. The article is a feature in their "How I Work" spot. Meeting rules and laws laid down by his wife (and company VP!) Mariah and their two kids are discussed as well. And, of course, there's the beer...

Read the full article here.

Once you've done that, who wants to go in on a brew pub?

Flying Fish Brewery Names Beer by turnpike exits.

Get a load of this article from the Associated Press:
NJ brewery draws ire for naming beers after exits

The brewer is Flying Fish Brewing Company. If your exit had a beer, what would it taste like?

Welcome to Kearney

Thanks for the intro Bryan. It’s good to be on board. Even though I’m in college I assure everyone that I don’t tote 30-packs of Busch Light these days. I’m always out trying new shit so this blog is right up my alley.

For the first post I have to chime in on a central Nebraska diamond, I’m talking about Platte Valley Brewery. If you want the balance of chill atmosphere and damn-good local microbrew then here is your reason to come to Kearney.

This is a little rundown of what they have to offer:

S.O.P. (South of the Platte) – Mexican-style lager, lightest beer they have but refreshing as hell

Hefeweizen – Classic German wheat, you’ll enjoy the Platte Valley version

Red Rock – Wheat beer, an orange overload similar to Shock Top

Adam’s Amber – German-style brown ale, Newcastle fans rejoice

I.P.A. – Good bitter beer with all the finest choice hops, barley n’ shit

Stout – Tied with Sam Adams Cream Stout as my favorite all-time stout…heavy with a ton of coffee, chocolate, and oatmeal flavor

Platte Valley has a beer for just about anybody, and they’re all solid. Like I said the place is laid-back with couches, wireless internet, and a beer garden. They also have the best drink special in Kearney: Thursday nights, any beer, 32 oz. mugs for $3.50. Do yourself a favor and hit it up, it’s on the south edge of downtown.

P.S. - You may hear that Thunderhead is the best brewery in Kearney, but it’s as overrated as “The Hangover.”

Chicago Microbrews

I love Chicago. I love Microbrews. If you're like me, you'll love this article from the New York Times Travel section.

Chicago's New Wave of Microbrews
via NYT

New Writer

Kids, it's summer. Drink beer and write about it. But in other efforts to revive Brews and Booze, I've commissioned the help of a college kid. Ryan Larsen (Chris's Brother). His resume is mortared with skills. He's a senior broadcasting major at UNK...so he knows how to write, and he obviously knows how to drink. After all, you can't spell drunk without UNK. But even more impressive, he currently works as a news director for NTV in Kearney...working hand-in-hand with the infamous Seth Denny. If that's not enough street cred, I don't know what is.

And he's rad at Nintendo.

So help me welcome the newest writer (and hopefully savior) to Brewsnbooze.blogspot.com.

Cheers!

The Science of Beer Tasting.

Apparently, you don't just pour it, chug it, and slam the glass on the table. Take it from this guy:



via FORA.tv - The Science of a good beer

By the way

Newcastle Brown Ale is one terrific beer. So good, it appears someone has created a Newcastle-inspired shoe. Put's a new meaning to "puttin' on your drinkin' shoes." After a rough day at the half-pipe, there's nothing like a Newcastle.

Nebraska Beer Events

Here's a list of upcoming summer beer festivals in Nebraska...The Good Life.

June 11: Nebraskaland Days MicroBrew fest in North Platte. Thursday, June 11, features the 3rd annual Wild West microFEST at the Wild West Arena Pavilion. Come join in the fun and sample 15 different Craft beers made available by Johnson Brothers Liquor Company from Omaha, Nebraska. The tasting begins at 5:00 p.m. and runs through 9:00 p.m.

June 26th: The Nebraska Craft brewers at the Omaha summer arts festival Friday June 26th 4-11pm, Saturday June 27th 11am -11pm and Sunday June 28th Noon to 5pm. Over 20 Nebraska beers on tap at the World Music Pavillion on 13th st between Farnam and Harney.

July 11th: The Crescent Moon Sunfest Saturday July 11th from 3pm to 8pm at the Crescent Moon.(36th and Farnam in Omaha) Sampling of over 100 different beers, an annual outdoor beer tasting extravaganza. Always a sold out event, you can buy your tickets and get more info from beertopia at 402-905-2603

---The Craft Beer festival at the Shadow Lake Towne Center in Papillion in conjunction with the Sarpy county Art fair. (Hwy 370 and 72nd st.) Actually not sure of the festival name yet, but this will be a large regional beer fest with possibly 30 to 50 breweries participating outdoors on Sunday September 13th. This is shaping up to be a very large beerfest with a large offering of beers! More information should be available somewhere somehow as time nears-- is that specific enough? haha.

Bud Loses Local Flavor

I got this from the local paper. Check it out. InBev is not going to use Beechwood from Memphis anymore! Cheers.

What is zoobrew you ask?

ZOOBREW is awesome, or at least it looks that way. Where else can you see wild animals and sample 100 brews from around the world? At the Memphis Zoo. I'm so there. For those of you who just jumped over to Expedia, the particulars are: May 22, from 7 to 10 p.m.$20 members, $25 nonmembers. Must be 21 and older to enter.

Man Gets DUI for driving a Barstool

Some dude drank 15 beers then drove this thing. Awesome.

Read the story.

New York Times and Booze

I had never seen this before, but apparently the New York Times also has a blog entirely dedicated to booze. And it's great.

Here's the Synopsis:

For the past 10,000 years or so, wherever humans have gathered, there has been alcohol. Some never touch the stuff. But most do. It is used to celebrate, commiserate, mourn, remember and, often, to forget. It is different things to different people: libation, anesthetic, emotional crutch, social lubricant, addictive substance, sacred potion, killer or commodity. In "Proof," contributors consider the charms, powers and dangers of drink, and the role it plays in their lives.

Check it.

Big Sky indeed

Big Sky's Trout Slayer Ale is a delicious beer that needs to get in your lawnmowing, grilling, day drinking rotation, bitches.

Sam Adams v. Lienenkeugel = Mike Tyson v. Glass Joe

Lienenkeugel Classic Amber - Tastes like the glass bottle. Shitty. I don't recommend. Sam Adams White ale is a whole different story. To give it reference, it has everything Blue Moon has, without having anything Blue Moon has. Wow, it's very smooth. Very wheaty. But unlike Blue Moon, there's no sweetness or hint of whateverthefuck. Just plain goodness.

Sam Adams White Ale. This, friends, I recommend.

Sorry, I'm too lazy to post pictures. Hope this does the trick.

New Omaha Brewery

Okay, this beer is fantastic. The brewery was started by the old head brewer for Upstream. If you're in Omaha, I highly reccommend getting yourself a sip of LUCKY BUCKET.

http://luckybucketbrewing.com/

RIP

i
believe
this
blog
may
be
dead

Product Placement

Dear Anheuser-Busch,

Congratulations on your successful product placement during the last few seasons of Entourage. Man I love that show. Especially Turtle. He's my favorite. In fact, they are all pretty badass. I want their lives. I want to live in a mansion with my friends and do cool Hollywood/LA stuff. But I know that will never happen. So I'll just drink a Bud Select. Why? Because They drink it. And now I do. Huge Bud Select fan. In fact, I'm enjoying a Bud Select at this very moment. I don't particularly like the taste of it. I actually find it rather bland and not particularly satisfying. But those guys on Entourage make it look so cool. At home. At a hip club. On the beach. Hitting golf balls from a rooftop. Wherever they go--they're drinking Bud Select. Sure, my life is pathetic and boring compared to the fellas on the show. But with a Bud Select in my hand, I'm a legend in my own mind! Cheers Anheuser-Busch Advertising Minds. Cheers.

Smuggling, Part 3 of ?

Here's a tip I ripped from a nerdy magician's online forum. And trust me, I risked my computer being dorked or voodoo death skulled whilst stealing this tip. You're welcome.
The premise:
To smuggle booze onto a oversized, overpriced boat full of booze.
Theory:
"I just have these cheetos, granola bars, and this pristine, unopened 6-pack of propel for kicking hangovers from the drinks I'll buy aboard. That's all. Move alone."
Reality: There's booze in them there propel bottles. Sucka.
So these mini-merlins said if you dip the cap end of an unopened bottle into boiling water, you can gently twist the top off, pulling with it the ring-seal intact. Then do with the liquid as you will, and screw the cap/ring back on, and you have the illusion that the bottle is and has been sealed.

Sounded like a solid theory. So I tested it. And I think it will work.

I purchased a ringed 6 pack of propels and kept all bottles in the rings to add to their virginity look.

Step 1:
Twist the cap to release the in-the-cap seal, being careful not twist the cap too far and break off its lower ring. You'll hear and feel an initial breaking of the internal seal.

Step 2:
With the cap twisted as far as it will go without having to jump over the bottle's ridge that breaks the ring off, flip the bottle upside down and dump out the propel, until the bottle is empty.
Note: Step 2 is somewhat optional. I thought step 2 may be necessary because its way easier to heat up the lid/ring without any liquid in the bottle. And you need to perform step 3 with a loose cap for the boiling water to take full effect in and around the ring/cap, and you don't want propel coming out all over the place. I didn't perform this smuggle technique without doing step 2. Omit step 2 at your own risk.

Step 3: Microwave a cup of water until vigorously boiling. Remove boiling water with hot-pad and flip bottle upside down and soak in water. I held the cap/ring/lid in the boiling water for a good minute to make sure it was plenty soft.

Step 4: As soon as you have soaked the lid for long enough, remove, and gently continue to twist cap off, using the end of a bottle opener or knife to pry up, and twist the ring along with the cap, as to remove both pieces together, in-tact.
You may have to practice on a few bottles. This is the hardest step.

Step 5: Fill bottle with a clear booze. Preferably vodka, so you can give it to me.

Step 6: Throw the intact cap/ring assembly into a newly boiled cup of water and let sit for a good minute.

Step 7: Carefully screw cap/ring back on, being sure not to break the ring from the cap. If you didn't break the ring off at all, congratulations. Its as good as drunk.
If you did break the ring some, no big worry, proceed to step 8.

Step 8: If you have broken the ring off, you may want to invest in a good plastic glue. Not the walgreens bond glue, instead I chose an instant glue used in radio-controlled aircraft assembly. You can find these products at your local hobby store. These high quality super glues bond in less than a minute and are nearly as strong as the plastic itself. *caution* It also glues your fingers to other things very well...including other fingers.
Simply run a bead of a good plastic glue at the union of the ring and cap and press the ring up snug against the cap and hold for a minute.(This is done with the cap/ring twisted back on) Wipe off any access/signs of being glued.

Even if you get the cap/ring back on, without any breakage of the ring, you may want to throw a small bead of plastic adhesive under the cap/ring area to temporarily bond the cap to the bottle to throw an illusion of a "pop" or "cracked virgin plastic seal" sound, should they give it a quick hand-tightness check.

I also ran the same steps on a basic water bottle with the same great results.


I scrubbed the Internet for cruise ship forums, where obviously, this topic was very common.

The overall consensus is, and which I totally agree with, the cruise lines strongly advertise that they will not let you board if you are caught smuggling booze. It is in their financial interest to do this.
However, there have been no cases, of all the discussions I've read in which this rule was actually enforced to that extreme. Not to say they couldn't, but they will admit, there is more money to made off of you whilst you enjoy their alcohol and gamble and buy stupid shit while you are on board than your initial ticket cost.

It looks like, worst case scenario, you have your booze taken, and you have to buy theirs.

Here's my preliminary plan of attack-
In my checked luggage: Smuggled 6-pack of propel tall-boys, using the booze technique outlined above.
One loose liter bottled water, boozified.
One large bottle of shampoo, boozified (still on the fence with this one...thinking of gluing on my own foil-seal using industrial strength plastic bond glue, using a foil seal from another of propel's bottles, the one with the twist/sport top.
and finally, One real bottle of cheap vodka, as to say "I was vaguely familiar with your alcohol policy, and took a chance with this bottle. You took it from me (which according to many cruiseship forums, doesn't happen that often, even with this obvious smuggle technique) and now I have to buy your booze."
Except I have way more booze in here, smuggled, and I will throw up somewhere that I'm not supposed to.

There you have it.

Ho, Ho, Ho From Maker's Mark

Okay, being a Markers Mark ambassador just keeps getting more awesome. They recently sent me a certificate package, notifying me that my personal barrel had been created. They even included about two dozen ambassador business cards, with my name on it. Pimp.

Then about 10 days ago, I got another gem. An entire gift wrapping package, including Makers Mark wrapping paper, Makers Mark ribbon and Makers Mark "to-from" cards. Take a look:






So from Me and Maker's Mark, have a very merry Christmas.

Perfect Sandwich seeking mate full of barley...

Today, beer fans, I created for the first time (at least in my kitchen) a sandwich that brought a tear to my eye and a food boner to my bathing suit area. Before I unveil it's loveliness, I beseech you B&B readers to match this carnivorous snack with a suitable beer. I present to you the Sneaky Pete:

On two slices of potato bread (which unbeknownst to this author beforehand is 99% fat free), dress the left slice with your favorite mayonaisse and the right slice with a nice spicy brown mustard (I like French's).
On the mustard slice, cover with hard salami (Target's Archer Farms brand makes a nice salami, but you can also get resourceful and use the stuff you'll get in your stocking on the 25th.)
On top of the mayo slice, make an obnoxious pile of thinly sliced roast beef. Thin is key here, fellas. It makes you more manly to stack more slices.
On top of the salami, apply a blanket of sharp cheddar. Any sharp cheddar will suffice and most pre-sliced packages are thick enough to provide a suitable cheese kick through the meat hug.
On top of the roast beef, apply two slices from a medium tomato. Give a good salting to the slices, you'll thank me.
Carefully place the two piles of awesomeness together and get ready. Accompany with a handful of the world's finest snack pickles, Gedney's Mini-Munchers.

I made this sandwich at lunch today and literally was impelled to masturbate immediately afterwards. I paired the sandwich with a bottle of Boulevard Pale Ale. It tasted great when poured into a pint glass because it was my last bottle of beer and it was at lunch. Don't tell my boss.

Now here's your homework, beerniks: Based on the aforementioned ingredients, what is the best beer for The Sneaky Pete?