Beer drinkers, notorious for waiting till last call to do their holiday shopping, undoubtedly are searching for last-minute gifts for fellow brew aficionados.
Joe Sixpack’s gotta run out for a couple items himself – (anybody know where I can find one of them new Foamby dolls?) – but here’s a quick last-minute shopping guide for the suds slosher on your … Read the rest
Here’s some lousy holiday news that will bring tears to beer-loving boys and girls around the world:
Santa Claus is dead.
More precisely, Samichlaus – the Swiss version of the jolly old elf – has kicked the bucket. His annual visits were a widely anticipated event among those of us kids who believed in the powerfully high-octane magic of the … Read the rest
If the United States goes ahead with threats to bomb Saddam Hussein’s suspected nerve-gas factories, it could mean the end of Iraq’s beer industry, such as it is.
Security experts say Iraqi breweries are among the Pentagon’s proposed bombing targets. It turns out that brew kettles and fermenters are perfect for producing anthrax.
So I guess we’ll take out the … Read the rest
As publishing feats go, writer Michael Jackson’s “Ultimate Beer” doesn’t exactly rank with the invention of movable type, or even Mad magazine’s monthly fold-in.
But as for beer-drinking feats, well, Jackson’s new coffee table tome is a classic in debauchery.
Most beer books rely on the kindness and self-promotion of brewers for their illustrations. Those striking photos of oak-paneled brewpubs … Read the rest
Pull out your long johns, Philly, this week’s cold snap is just the first taste of a long winter ahead. Yeah, I know el Nino says it’s going to be a moderate, but what’s he know?
Deep down in Joe Sixpack’s el gutto, it feels like we’re in for a tough one. And, just in time, the saints of the … Read the rest
Somewhere among the 1,700-plus brews at the Great American Beer Festival, which dizzied Denver recently, I tasted the world’s greatest beer.
It was the nectar of the gods, a wondrous balance of malts and hops that refreshed my overworked palate and soothed my soul.
The name? Don’t ask.
It’s indecipherably inked into my notebook and blurred by the spilt suds … Read the rest
In Philadelphia, there are scores of historical markers commemorating churches and politicians and inventors and factories.
But none for beer.
As the voice of the beer-drinking public, I’d file an immediate complaint with the proper authorities if I weren’t too lazy to slide off this barstool. So Joe Sixpack will simply lift a pint to toast Rich Wagner, the city’s … Read the rest
It’s back-to-school-time, kids, so here’s a pop quiz.
Name the No. 1 imported beer in the United States.
If you spent the summer studying the labels in the import section of your favorite deli, you may have a few guesses.
Molson? No, those Canadian lagers aren’t selling so hot these days.
Guinness? Nice try, but it’s too dark to pound.… Read the rest
Today’s beer lesson is the correct pronunciation of “Yuengling.”
It rhymes with “mingling” – not “bungling” or “penguin.”
I mention this because, sometime in the next two years, about twice as many people – many who don’t known Pottsville from Pottstown – will be bellying up to their favorite bar and ordering a pint of the brewery’s Traditional Lager or … Read the rest
Tough luck, martini drinkers. Your portfolio took a dive yesterday.
Difficult as it is for Joe Sixpack to sympathize with you crash-and-burn stock investors (my 4 percent CD is looking pretty good right now), it is my duty to help you back from the ledge after yesterday’s precipitous drop on Wall Street.
So listen up: If you’re going to make … Read the rest