Today was my last day at the job I've held for the past three years. After a little time off, on October 13, I begin a new and exciting endeavor that I'm really looking forward to. But, my point isn't to discuss my recent career move. Rather, it's to talk about going-away presents.
My co-workers gave me a couple of gifts yesterday to send me on my way. Those gifts were a t-shirt of the college I work(ed) at, and a generous gift certificate to the local home brew store. Also, a couple months ago, my (former) boss gave me a bottle of Unibroue's La Fin Du Monde as a thank you for stepping in to do a presentation for her at the spur of the moment.
A little over three years ago, when I left my previous job for this one, my boss organized a going-away party at which everyone contributed beer to the cause. Since there was quite the international contingent there, I was given beer from Japan, China, Germany, Belgium, Brazil, England and many other countries. I calculated that the gift totalled approximately seven cases. A year later, I still hadn't finished it all, although I can assure you that what was left were the less desirable options.
So, what is my point? Apparently, I've earned quite the reputation as either a beer connoisseur or a serious drinker...or both. Either way, I'm pretty pleased, and thinking it's just about time to start thinking about my next home brewing venture. Or, I just might decide to revisit what I consider to be the best batch of beer I've ever made, which was back in 1995. Stay tuned.
Friday, October 02, 2009
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Mister Sandman
Sitting in the front seat of the Peter Pan bus I took to New York City this weekend didn't seem like such a bad idea at first. In fact, it was pretty cool, giving me a view of the highway I hadn't seen since my logistics days. But, the city part of the trip turned out to be a little nerve-racking. Let's just say I was a little stressed out by how non-defensive our driver was.
Particularly stressful was witnessing the cavalcade of buses and taxis driving down Lexington Avenue with no regard for the concept of staying in a lane. At one point, as we sat at a light, I counted that 16 of the 18 cars between us and the traffic signal were cabs. Then, I watched as our bus turned right onto 42nd Street, a cab doing the same from the lane just to our right, all the while a bicyclist driving against traffic somehow maneuvered between the two vehicles.
As I took this all in, I wondered to myself how often it happens that Bostonians as pedestrians get hit by cars when visiting Manhattan.
Lee and I arrived at Saturday's game early, promised a short tour of the Yankee stadium control room by an old friend of his who works there. It was quite the impressive operation, of course, and the idea that we'd join Lee's pal for a post-game beer in that same room was on the table. However, the lateness of the game, family obligations, and our desire to make the night less eventful than the last time I visited, pretty much nixed that idea.
The game was a good one, basically a pitchers duel until Billy Wagner's relief appearance. But, I'll discuss him a little later. CC Sabathia briefly flirted with baseball immortality, throwing 3 2/3 perfect innings before walking Victor Martinez in the 4th. Mike Lowell then broke up the no-hitter with a single to lead off the 5th, but Sabathia pitched tremendously, allowing only one more walk, while striking out eight, over seven scoreless innings.
The Yankees had more opportunities against Daisuke Matsuzaka—including a bases-loaded, none out situation that they squandered in the 5th—but didn't get on the board until Robinson Cano's line drive opposite field solo homer in the 6th.
Billy Wagner brought back memories of some of his past shaky performances against the Yankees, allowing two runs in the 8th inning. Somehow these runs were considered unearned because of what I would consider to be a flaw in the official scoring system, but the fact of the matter is he gave up a hit, two walks, and a hit by pitch in two-thirds of an inning.
Wagner's appearance inspired my idea that the stadium play America's "Sandman" as his entrance music, the thought being that it's a much less intimidating song than Metallica's "Enter Sandman." It was written by a guy named Dewey Bunnell, after all. In case you're not aware, there was a short-lived controversy when Wagner came to the Mets, caused by the fact that he also used Mariano Rivera's signature "Enter Sandman" as his entrance song.
It was probably only a few Yankees fans who were really bothered by this, but I thought it would be fun, now that he's with the Red Sox, to stir it up again. Other candidates would be Roy Orbison's "In Dreams" and the 50s hit "Mr. Sandman," although the latter might be taking the idea a little too far.
There were many fewer Red Sox fans in attendance than at Yanks-Sox matchups in the past. As a result, there was a lot less intensity among fans. I didn't witness anything even resembling a disagreement for the entire game. Lee gave me a hard time, though, for a friendly interaction with a Sox fan, as we compared the service between Fenway Park and Yankee Stadium while waiting for more than a half inning, on what otherwise seemed like a reasonable line, for garlic fries.
Sabathia, Phil Hughes and Rivera, combined for 12 strikeouts, and allowed just two hits, two walks and two HBP—both Kevin Youkilis, of course—in a 3-0 Yankees victory. With the Yankees' three-game sweep of the Red Sox this weekend, they clinched first place in the AL East, as well as the best record in the league.
Most people in the know seem to believe that the Red Sox are better equipped than any other team for the post-season. It is true that, with the recent success of Clay Buchholz, Matsuzaka's strong return from the disabled list, and the addition of Wagner to the bullpen, things are falling into place for Boston. But, the Yankees seem to have something special going on as well. So, I'll guess we'll just have to wait and see what October has in store for these long-standing rivals.
Particularly stressful was witnessing the cavalcade of buses and taxis driving down Lexington Avenue with no regard for the concept of staying in a lane. At one point, as we sat at a light, I counted that 16 of the 18 cars between us and the traffic signal were cabs. Then, I watched as our bus turned right onto 42nd Street, a cab doing the same from the lane just to our right, all the while a bicyclist driving against traffic somehow maneuvered between the two vehicles.
As I took this all in, I wondered to myself how often it happens that Bostonians as pedestrians get hit by cars when visiting Manhattan.
Lee and I arrived at Saturday's game early, promised a short tour of the Yankee stadium control room by an old friend of his who works there. It was quite the impressive operation, of course, and the idea that we'd join Lee's pal for a post-game beer in that same room was on the table. However, the lateness of the game, family obligations, and our desire to make the night less eventful than the last time I visited, pretty much nixed that idea.
The game was a good one, basically a pitchers duel until Billy Wagner's relief appearance. But, I'll discuss him a little later. CC Sabathia briefly flirted with baseball immortality, throwing 3 2/3 perfect innings before walking Victor Martinez in the 4th. Mike Lowell then broke up the no-hitter with a single to lead off the 5th, but Sabathia pitched tremendously, allowing only one more walk, while striking out eight, over seven scoreless innings.
The Yankees had more opportunities against Daisuke Matsuzaka—including a bases-loaded, none out situation that they squandered in the 5th—but didn't get on the board until Robinson Cano's line drive opposite field solo homer in the 6th.
Billy Wagner brought back memories of some of his past shaky performances against the Yankees, allowing two runs in the 8th inning. Somehow these runs were considered unearned because of what I would consider to be a flaw in the official scoring system, but the fact of the matter is he gave up a hit, two walks, and a hit by pitch in two-thirds of an inning.
Wagner's appearance inspired my idea that the stadium play America's "Sandman" as his entrance music, the thought being that it's a much less intimidating song than Metallica's "Enter Sandman." It was written by a guy named Dewey Bunnell, after all. In case you're not aware, there was a short-lived controversy when Wagner came to the Mets, caused by the fact that he also used Mariano Rivera's signature "Enter Sandman" as his entrance song.
It was probably only a few Yankees fans who were really bothered by this, but I thought it would be fun, now that he's with the Red Sox, to stir it up again. Other candidates would be Roy Orbison's "In Dreams" and the 50s hit "Mr. Sandman," although the latter might be taking the idea a little too far.
There were many fewer Red Sox fans in attendance than at Yanks-Sox matchups in the past. As a result, there was a lot less intensity among fans. I didn't witness anything even resembling a disagreement for the entire game. Lee gave me a hard time, though, for a friendly interaction with a Sox fan, as we compared the service between Fenway Park and Yankee Stadium while waiting for more than a half inning, on what otherwise seemed like a reasonable line, for garlic fries.
Sabathia, Phil Hughes and Rivera, combined for 12 strikeouts, and allowed just two hits, two walks and two HBP—both Kevin Youkilis, of course—in a 3-0 Yankees victory. With the Yankees' three-game sweep of the Red Sox this weekend, they clinched first place in the AL East, as well as the best record in the league.
Most people in the know seem to believe that the Red Sox are better equipped than any other team for the post-season. It is true that, with the recent success of Clay Buchholz, Matsuzaka's strong return from the disabled list, and the addition of Wagner to the bullpen, things are falling into place for Boston. But, the Yankees seem to have something special going on as well. So, I'll guess we'll just have to wait and see what October has in store for these long-standing rivals.
Friday, September 25, 2009
The Quest for Oktoberfest
Before the advent of refrigeration, brewing beer during the summer was nearly impossible. In fact, a 16th century Bavarian ordinance declared brewing illegal from late April until late September. As a result, German brewers would store their Märzenbiers underground or in caves from March until September, when they would be unearthed for their Oktoberfest celebrations. The Märzen style became what today we more commonly refer to as an Oktoberfest.
Oktoberfest is a seasonal beer style that, to me, has a lot of potential. I always get pretty excited about these brews, but quite often end up a little disappointed. I don't really seem to take to the traditional German varieties, which all too often have a hint of that European lager taste that just puts me off. It's generally the American microbrewed styles that do it for me, but only when done just right.
To be honest, I'm not exactly sure what it is that constitutes "just right" in my book, but I'm on a quest to find out. As fall has officially arrived, and this particular beer style seems to be popping up on draft at various establishments, I've decided that I'm going to be committed this season to sampling as many different Oktoberfest offerings as possible. In doing so, I'm going to keep track, of course, of those that I really enjoy and the reasons why, and then I'll profile them here once my mission is complete. I'll also try to identify exactly what it is that really floats my boat about beers in this category.
I need your help, though. Obviously, I'm aware that I need to check out all the standard German Oktoberfests—Paulaner, Spaten, Hacker Pschorr, etc.—and I promise to keep my mind open to the possibility that one or more of these will erase my prejudice against them. But, I'd also like to know what some of you like.
I'm also opening this up to other fall styles, particularly pumpkin ales and harvest ales. Regarding the former, I first tried a pumpkin-spiced beer in the mid-90s at Brown & Moran Brewing Company in Troy, New York. I loved it, but I haven't tasted a pumpkin beer that I've liked since, including Brown & Moran's subsequent batches. I've heard good things about Dogfish's entry into this market, so I'm sure I'll have to check that one out. But, of course, I'm also open to suggestions.
So, I guess what I'm asking is what are your favorite Fall beers? I'd love a few recommendations to help me get started.
Oktoberfest is a seasonal beer style that, to me, has a lot of potential. I always get pretty excited about these brews, but quite often end up a little disappointed. I don't really seem to take to the traditional German varieties, which all too often have a hint of that European lager taste that just puts me off. It's generally the American microbrewed styles that do it for me, but only when done just right.
To be honest, I'm not exactly sure what it is that constitutes "just right" in my book, but I'm on a quest to find out. As fall has officially arrived, and this particular beer style seems to be popping up on draft at various establishments, I've decided that I'm going to be committed this season to sampling as many different Oktoberfest offerings as possible. In doing so, I'm going to keep track, of course, of those that I really enjoy and the reasons why, and then I'll profile them here once my mission is complete. I'll also try to identify exactly what it is that really floats my boat about beers in this category.
I need your help, though. Obviously, I'm aware that I need to check out all the standard German Oktoberfests—Paulaner, Spaten, Hacker Pschorr, etc.—and I promise to keep my mind open to the possibility that one or more of these will erase my prejudice against them. But, I'd also like to know what some of you like.
I'm also opening this up to other fall styles, particularly pumpkin ales and harvest ales. Regarding the former, I first tried a pumpkin-spiced beer in the mid-90s at Brown & Moran Brewing Company in Troy, New York. I loved it, but I haven't tasted a pumpkin beer that I've liked since, including Brown & Moran's subsequent batches. I've heard good things about Dogfish's entry into this market, so I'm sure I'll have to check that one out. But, of course, I'm also open to suggestions.
So, I guess what I'm asking is what are your favorite Fall beers? I'd love a few recommendations to help me get started.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Harvey's Wallbangers
[This post was inspired by an MLB Network hour-and-a-half special, celebrating my all-time favorite non-Yankees team, which I happened to catch this past weekend.]
In the 1981 World Series, after the Yankees had taken a two-games-to-none lead over the Dodgers, I commented to a fellow eighth grader that the team's success was beginning to get a little boring. Of course, they had won the 1977 and 1978 World Series, and were poised to win their third in five years. But, they didn't. The Dodgers returned the favor for 1978, winning four straight games after trailing 2-0.
Still, this began a brief period where my interest in baseball in general, and the Yankees in particular, waned a little. Of course, the Yankees lack of success in the 80s may have had something to do with it, but it seems I already had the feeling that the team's win-or-else mentality took much of the fun out of being a fan.
In 1982, though, another team captured my attention, led by American League MVP Robin Yount and a utility man-turned-star named Paul Molitor. In his four big league seasons prior, Molitor played 304 games at second base, 53 at shortstop, and 46 in the outfield. Then, for the 1982 season, he was switched to third base, a position at which he had previously appeared in only two major league games.
Long before my current fascination with players like Marco Scutaro and Casey Blake, I had always been an admirer of versatile players. Quite possibly it's because of my own experience. In my three years of little league, I had spent full seasons as a left fielder, first baseman and center fielder, and then became primarily a second baseman at the senior league level.
The 1982 Milwaukee Brewers featured three future Hall of Famers—Yount, Molitor, and Rollie Fingers—in key roles, and a fourth—Don Sutton—acquired for the stretch run and the playoffs, as well as a borderline Hall of Famer in catcher Ted Simmons. They were also powered by 30 HR, 100 RBI seasons from Ben Oglivie, Gorman Thomas and recently fired Astros manager Cecil Cooper.
On the mound, they were led by the starting efforts of Yankee killer Mike Caldwell and 18-game winner Pete Vuckovich, while Fingers anchored the bullpen. However, it was their offensive prowess, as evidenced by 216 home runs as a team, that earned them the nickname Harvey's Wallbangers.
Harvey, of course, was manager Harvey Kuenn, who took over the reins of the club after their 23-24 start got Buck Rodgers fired. Kuenn, a .303 lifetime hitter who accumulated over 2,000 hits in his playing career, led the Brewers to a 72-43 record and a first place finish in the AL East. He also previously played for another team—the 1956 Detroit Tigers—that I have a certain fondness for. But, that's a story for a different day.
The Brewers seemed to be a team of destiny in 1982. After falling behind the California Angels two-games-to-none in a best-of-five series, they won three consecutive elimination games to advance to play the St. Louis Cardinals in the first World Series in team history. But, after rallying from a 5-1 deficit to win game four and tie the series, then taking a 3-2 series lead to St. Louis for the final two, their luck ran out.
Not helping matters was the absence of Fingers, who missed the entire postseason due to injury. So, while fellow future Hall of Famer Bruce Sutter was saving game seven for the Cards, Milwaukee's bullpen was being touched up for seven earned runs in 6 1/3 innings in the final two games of the series.
Harvey's Wallbangers fell short of a World Series victory in 1982, and the Brewers didn't return to the postseason until last year, when C.C. Sabathia carried them there on his overburdened shoulders. But, this particular edition of the team was a truly remarkable group, not to mention that they wore one of the greatest caps in baseball history. I'm a little embarrassed to admit, however, that until about five years ago, I never realized the baseball glove that was their emblem consisted of an M and a B.
In the 1981 World Series, after the Yankees had taken a two-games-to-none lead over the Dodgers, I commented to a fellow eighth grader that the team's success was beginning to get a little boring. Of course, they had won the 1977 and 1978 World Series, and were poised to win their third in five years. But, they didn't. The Dodgers returned the favor for 1978, winning four straight games after trailing 2-0.
Still, this began a brief period where my interest in baseball in general, and the Yankees in particular, waned a little. Of course, the Yankees lack of success in the 80s may have had something to do with it, but it seems I already had the feeling that the team's win-or-else mentality took much of the fun out of being a fan.
In 1982, though, another team captured my attention, led by American League MVP Robin Yount and a utility man-turned-star named Paul Molitor. In his four big league seasons prior, Molitor played 304 games at second base, 53 at shortstop, and 46 in the outfield. Then, for the 1982 season, he was switched to third base, a position at which he had previously appeared in only two major league games.
Long before my current fascination with players like Marco Scutaro and Casey Blake, I had always been an admirer of versatile players. Quite possibly it's because of my own experience. In my three years of little league, I had spent full seasons as a left fielder, first baseman and center fielder, and then became primarily a second baseman at the senior league level.
The 1982 Milwaukee Brewers featured three future Hall of Famers—Yount, Molitor, and Rollie Fingers—in key roles, and a fourth—Don Sutton—acquired for the stretch run and the playoffs, as well as a borderline Hall of Famer in catcher Ted Simmons. They were also powered by 30 HR, 100 RBI seasons from Ben Oglivie, Gorman Thomas and recently fired Astros manager Cecil Cooper.
On the mound, they were led by the starting efforts of Yankee killer Mike Caldwell and 18-game winner Pete Vuckovich, while Fingers anchored the bullpen. However, it was their offensive prowess, as evidenced by 216 home runs as a team, that earned them the nickname Harvey's Wallbangers.
Harvey, of course, was manager Harvey Kuenn, who took over the reins of the club after their 23-24 start got Buck Rodgers fired. Kuenn, a .303 lifetime hitter who accumulated over 2,000 hits in his playing career, led the Brewers to a 72-43 record and a first place finish in the AL East. He also previously played for another team—the 1956 Detroit Tigers—that I have a certain fondness for. But, that's a story for a different day.
The Brewers seemed to be a team of destiny in 1982. After falling behind the California Angels two-games-to-none in a best-of-five series, they won three consecutive elimination games to advance to play the St. Louis Cardinals in the first World Series in team history. But, after rallying from a 5-1 deficit to win game four and tie the series, then taking a 3-2 series lead to St. Louis for the final two, their luck ran out.
Not helping matters was the absence of Fingers, who missed the entire postseason due to injury. So, while fellow future Hall of Famer Bruce Sutter was saving game seven for the Cards, Milwaukee's bullpen was being touched up for seven earned runs in 6 1/3 innings in the final two games of the series.
Harvey's Wallbangers fell short of a World Series victory in 1982, and the Brewers didn't return to the postseason until last year, when C.C. Sabathia carried them there on his overburdened shoulders. But, this particular edition of the team was a truly remarkable group, not to mention that they wore one of the greatest caps in baseball history. I'm a little embarrassed to admit, however, that until about five years ago, I never realized the baseball glove that was their emblem consisted of an M and a B.
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Blogging About Blogs #1
My new idea of late has been to seek out other blogs that cover the subject matter I'm interested in, and that I write about. Part of my motivation for doing this, I'll admit, is for networking purposes, with the idea being that I'd link to these blogs, maybe send some traffic their way, and this might eventually bring some folks back here as well. But also, I've really enjoyed doing this, and I've begun to discover some blogs that I want to share with my readers.
So, what I plan on doing is finding a few that I really like and, from time to time, profiling these blogs here. In other words, I'll be blogging about blogs. I figure I'll probably focus on one particular subject area at a time, with my three major topics of interest being baseball, music and beer, of course.
Recently, I've been checking out beer-related blogs. Here are a few that have really piqued my interest of late.
A Blog About Beer
The first entry I read on this blog written by a native of Maine—the state that puts all others in New England to shame when it comes to good beer—was titled "Michelob releases new Fall Sampler Pack, but who gives a shit?" I instantly knew I had stumbled onto a site produced by a kindred spirit. It turns out the guy's only 25, but he knows more about craft beer that anyone I know who's that age.
This blog also features a nice little six-part series titled, "How to Drink Better Beer," and has an entire page that's a continuous work in progress on New England's "beer nirvana," Portland, Maine. I agree that the blogger's home city is the best beer city in New England, but I'm sorry BAB, the other Portland is this country's beer mecca.
I also have to thank BAB for turning me on to the blog I'll discuss next, a truly remarkable and ambitious project that anyone can contribute to.
The Beer Mapping Project
The Beer Mapping Project describes itself as "... a project by someone who likes knowing exactly where he is and how far he needs to go for good beer." It utilizes Google's mapping API, a service that adds code to a web page to render locational data, and is free to anyone who is not making a profit or charging users to utilize the maps. Basically, you can use the site to view an area map of brew pubs, breweries, beer bars, beer stores and home brew stores for any location in the United States, as well as 12 other countries. The only caveat is, as you can probably imagine, some of the maps take an excessive amount of time to load.
If you're a fellow beer lover, you can register on the site—for free, of course—and submit locations as well as contribute reviews. Thanks to the blog's registered users, it now includes over 8,000 approved locations throughout the world.
A really great feature of the site is its Beer Trip Planner. While I'm pretty confident in my ability to plan such a trip myself, this takes it to an entirely different level. You search by location name, city or zip code, then build a trip by selecting the places you wish to visit. From there, the planner maps out the locations and provides directions.
While technically a blog, this site doesn't really read like one, but it's such a great idea that I just had to share. Don't leave home without consulting this excellent site first.
Beervana
I don't necessarily agree with all of this blogger's opinions. For instance, he claims that the best brewers in the world work for Budweiser, and that they could brew really great beer if they chose to. Well, I don't doubt that their brewers are capable of producing much better beer than Bud and Bud Light—apparently, according to Beervana, Budweiser American Ale is a good example of that—but I think it's a huge leap of faith to assume they can do something they never have. It's kind of like all the people who claim Ichiro Suzuki could hit for power if he tried to. I'm sorry, but you're going to have to prove it to me first. Personally, I think, in reality Budweiser's competitive advantage is in its quality control of the brewing process, but creatively crafting great beer is a completely different story.
The author of this blog used to write a beer column for Willamette Week, Portland, Oregon's alternative newsweekly (akin to New York's Village Voice and the Boston Phoenix). Despite the previous disagreement, I've got to give him credit for being willing to make a claim that most beer snobs—myself included—wouldn't have the nerve to. Also, I really like the subject matter he writes about, the unobtrusive simplicity of his site, and I thought I'd offset my inclusion of a blog that refers to Portland, Maine as beer nirvana with one that bestows the same honor to Portland, Oregon. You already know how I feel about the latter, so another reason I like this blog is its emphasis on that city.
Apparently, I discovered his blog while we was on vacation, but the older posts he brought back during this time frame are the ones that sucked me in. These included one about the secret shame of cheater pints, which reveals the fact that, shaker pints—the most common beer glass used in pubs—do not hold a full 16 ounces. In fact, they don't even come close. I highly suggest, if you didn't already know this, you check out the article.
So, what I plan on doing is finding a few that I really like and, from time to time, profiling these blogs here. In other words, I'll be blogging about blogs. I figure I'll probably focus on one particular subject area at a time, with my three major topics of interest being baseball, music and beer, of course.
Recently, I've been checking out beer-related blogs. Here are a few that have really piqued my interest of late.
A Blog About Beer
The first entry I read on this blog written by a native of Maine—the state that puts all others in New England to shame when it comes to good beer—was titled "Michelob releases new Fall Sampler Pack, but who gives a shit?" I instantly knew I had stumbled onto a site produced by a kindred spirit. It turns out the guy's only 25, but he knows more about craft beer that anyone I know who's that age.
This blog also features a nice little six-part series titled, "How to Drink Better Beer," and has an entire page that's a continuous work in progress on New England's "beer nirvana," Portland, Maine. I agree that the blogger's home city is the best beer city in New England, but I'm sorry BAB, the other Portland is this country's beer mecca.
I also have to thank BAB for turning me on to the blog I'll discuss next, a truly remarkable and ambitious project that anyone can contribute to.
The Beer Mapping Project
The Beer Mapping Project describes itself as "... a project by someone who likes knowing exactly where he is and how far he needs to go for good beer." It utilizes Google's mapping API, a service that adds code to a web page to render locational data, and is free to anyone who is not making a profit or charging users to utilize the maps. Basically, you can use the site to view an area map of brew pubs, breweries, beer bars, beer stores and home brew stores for any location in the United States, as well as 12 other countries. The only caveat is, as you can probably imagine, some of the maps take an excessive amount of time to load.
If you're a fellow beer lover, you can register on the site—for free, of course—and submit locations as well as contribute reviews. Thanks to the blog's registered users, it now includes over 8,000 approved locations throughout the world.
A really great feature of the site is its Beer Trip Planner. While I'm pretty confident in my ability to plan such a trip myself, this takes it to an entirely different level. You search by location name, city or zip code, then build a trip by selecting the places you wish to visit. From there, the planner maps out the locations and provides directions.
While technically a blog, this site doesn't really read like one, but it's such a great idea that I just had to share. Don't leave home without consulting this excellent site first.
Beervana
I don't necessarily agree with all of this blogger's opinions. For instance, he claims that the best brewers in the world work for Budweiser, and that they could brew really great beer if they chose to. Well, I don't doubt that their brewers are capable of producing much better beer than Bud and Bud Light—apparently, according to Beervana, Budweiser American Ale is a good example of that—but I think it's a huge leap of faith to assume they can do something they never have. It's kind of like all the people who claim Ichiro Suzuki could hit for power if he tried to. I'm sorry, but you're going to have to prove it to me first. Personally, I think, in reality Budweiser's competitive advantage is in its quality control of the brewing process, but creatively crafting great beer is a completely different story.
The author of this blog used to write a beer column for Willamette Week, Portland, Oregon's alternative newsweekly (akin to New York's Village Voice and the Boston Phoenix). Despite the previous disagreement, I've got to give him credit for being willing to make a claim that most beer snobs—myself included—wouldn't have the nerve to. Also, I really like the subject matter he writes about, the unobtrusive simplicity of his site, and I thought I'd offset my inclusion of a blog that refers to Portland, Maine as beer nirvana with one that bestows the same honor to Portland, Oregon. You already know how I feel about the latter, so another reason I like this blog is its emphasis on that city.
Apparently, I discovered his blog while we was on vacation, but the older posts he brought back during this time frame are the ones that sucked me in. These included one about the secret shame of cheater pints, which reveals the fact that, shaker pints—the most common beer glass used in pubs—do not hold a full 16 ounces. In fact, they don't even come close. I highly suggest, if you didn't already know this, you check out the article.
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