THE PHILLIES may be unable to put a championship team on the field, but as the 2006 season begins this weekend, it’s worth noting one thing they got right.
The beer.
With the possible exception of Seattle’s Safeco Field, in the heart of the Northwest’s micro territory, no major league ballpark does a better job of supporting its local breweries … Read the rest
HERZELE, Belgium – Spend a few days in forests of East Flanders with the world’s most insatiable beer hunters, and you quickly understand one thing about this tiny nation’s phenomenal ales:
America is barely scratching the surface.
You say your town’s favorite Belgian bar has 75 different bottles? You boast that your local beer distributor now carries six different Trappist … Read the rest
IT’S ST. Patrick’s Day, which means by the time you’re reading this, you should already be into your second pint of Guinness Stout.
Forget green beer, forget Jameson’s and Bushmills, forget even Smithwick’s – Guinness is the Official Intoxicant of St. Patrick’s Day. Beer drinkers guzzle something like 10 million pints of it every day – twice that number on … Read the rest
I AM SADDENED to report yet another assault on our traditional American values.
I refer to the War on St. Patrick’s Day.
Just three weeks from now, millions of faithful will engage in wholesome, suds-filled celebrations at authentic Irish-themed bars. They’ll sing “Oh, Danny Boy,” they’ll do shots of Jameson’s, they’ll puke on their shoes.
But I’m here to tell … Read the rest
LIVING IN Pennsylvania all my life, I’ve unfortunately grown accustomed to stupid beer laws.
In this state, you can’t buy beer at the single largest retailer of alcohol in America, the Pennsylvania State Store system.
You can’t buy a sixpack at your local beer distributor, which sells cases only.
And if you want beer by the sixpack at a bar, … Read the rest
HERE you go:
Evil terrorists are threatening to wipe out the world’s entire supply of hops. Do you negotiate with them? And, if so, what single hop variety would you save?
Tough choice?
How about this: Dick Cheney invites you to accompany him on a hunting trip. What beer do you bring?
Such are the challenges, imagined or not, that … Read the rest
WE COULD BE drinking the last, wee bit of Beamish by St. Patrick’s Day.
The importer of the creamy, dark stout, one of the few Irish alternatives to Guinness, has shut off the faucet to America. Unless the tiny Cork brewery – Ireland’s oldest – comes up with a way to sidestep the cutoff, we’ll be hitting the bottom of … Read the rest
AS THE 2005-06 beer commercial season comes to a close this weekend, I’ve gotta say I’ve never been more disappointed in my life. It’s almost as if Budweiser has been sandbagging us since September, just waiting to roll out a high-def blockbuster on Super Sunday. Because so far, this season will go down as the least memorable in post-frog history.… Read the rest
CHINA IS a country of 1.3 billion people, 513 breweries and, apparently, one beer.
Tsingtao.
No one brews more beer than China, but you wouldn’t know it from the beer shelf at your local deli. Almost certainly the only Chinese beer you’ll find here is the familiar pilsner in the green bottle and red label. Tsingtao has been the best-selling … Read the rest
“Beer is living proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.” – Ben Franklin
“Eat not to dullness, drink not to elevation.” – Ben Franklin
THERE IS a fine line, apparently, between happiness and excess. As Philadelphia celebrates Franklin’s 300th birthday next week, it’s clear we still have no idea where to draw that line.
Booze is … Read the rest