Friday Night

I saw the headline: Consumers suing Budweiser, and thought it was about the fact that they consistently mislabeled it as 'BEER'.

But, no; they are just complaining about the alcohol content. Well of course they are.

Who would drink Budweiser for the taste?

Okay; so maybe that was a little snarky.

But in my opinion Budweiser just isn't a good beer. Hell, it ain't even a good CHEAP beer. 

As I write this I am drinking a Leinenkugel's Snowdrift Vanilla Porter. Now THAT'S a BEER!

Ahhh... Friday after 5:00. The weekend had begun, and I am joining it.

More Beer

This article really demonstrates part of what I have been saying for years; nobody really liked most of the corporate beers. They just didn't have any alternatives.

Now; we have alternatives. Like we talked about in this post about Beer, people have wanted better beer for years. Now we can get it.

The one interesting point is about Michelob. Back when getting a Guinness was a pipe dream, beer aficionados drank a lot of Michelob. It was a better beer than the normal brews.

And then we were able to get Guinness.

So what happened to Michelob? Was it the ability to get better beers that has caused its slide (Sales loss (2006-2011): 72.0%, according to the article), or was it the cheapening of the Michelob brand that caused it? Beers like Michelob Ultra.

But they also produced some better beers, like Amber Bock that I really enjoyed and a very drinkable Porter.

Could be one or the other or both. It wouldn't be the first time a good product was squeezed from both sides. It was more or less a niche beer that has had its niche disappear.

It was a good domestic large beer. Now if you want a good beer, you go microbrew; if you want a large beer you go (hold on while I pause for an involuntary shudder) Bud Light.

I find it interesting also that the  'cheap crap' beers have also lost sales. Old Milwaukee; Milwaukee's Best and Amstel have all lost between 35% and 58% of their sales. Is that a reflection of increased taste among beer drinkers for better beer, or a loss in sales to cheaper drunks, as cash strapped budgets looked for cheaper alternatives? Hard to say.

But this article from 2010 basically says that the loss in top shelf booze is more than made up for in the increased sales in lower priced stuff. Is there enough room in there for a few former beer drinkers?

My guess is yes.

Bud Light is sort of an anomaly in this report, with 39.15 million barrels sold last year it is the undisputed king of the hill in Beer sales.

Its not really hard to figure out why. Most sports stadiums and arenas sell it almost exclusively. If you want to drink beer, you (please allow a short break while I pause for another involuntary shudder) drink Bud Light.

I'm sorry; I just don't under stand how anyone with a single functioning taste bud can drink that swill. I seriously would rather drink dishwater than Bud Light. That's not a recent opinion; I have never liked Budweiser or Bud Light.

I guess it has something to do with having an edjamikated beer palate.

I was, you may recall, raised on Weidemann.

BEER!

I'm not sure how to take this article. Part of it is fact; part is conjecture, part I know to be false and part is He Said WHAT?

And I tend to see a bit of anti-business bias; well, the author does write for the Atlantic and lives in New York. I am assuming City, otherwise they would have said State. I have never heard of the Washington Monthly before, and some of its other promoted articles seem to have a bit of a leftward tilt. At one point our author refers to the 'Reagan regime'; that right there sounds like a commie buzzword to me.

But still, the article is worthy of review; if for nothing else the brief history of corporate brewing shenanigans. He does give a fairly complete history of who bought who and who joined who to bring us to our current sorry state of national brewing.

Oh, and I disagree with almost every one of his conclusions.

Basically, the author, a Mr. Tim Heffernan, seems to believe that the entire world is about to become alcoholics because of a flood of cheap beer, and uses England in the 1980's as an example. Well, I was in England in the 1980's, and my experience was completely different than the facts stated in the article.

Mr. Heffernan talks about cheap beer in the supermarkets. If there was, it was after I left. Nothing was more expensive that a 6 pack of English beer. A pint of almost anything in the pub was a Pound/Pound and a quarter; around 2 bucks, depending on the exchange rate. At the off-sale a 6 pack was about 8 Pounds; 16 bucks. A case of Michelob on base was about $9.00; a case of PBR (cans) was $5.00.

Maybe things changed after I left; I don't know. For some reason I lost interest in the cost of British beer when I quit drinking it.

And then our author drifts into the use of law to control alcohol, and fondly looks back on Prohibition (pardon while I pause for an involuntary shudder) as the only reason, almost 80 years after its repeal, that the entire country isn't full of drunken stumble-bums.

He also seems to believe that every law passed to control the use of alcohol has been co-opted by the brewing industry, so that its final result is nowhere near the intent of the law's design. Never mind that very few laws actually do exactly what they were intended to do, right? Well, except for the law of Unintended Consequences.

According to the author's conclusions, Anheuser-Busch InBev and MillerCoors control about 94% of the beer market, by owning or controlling the distribution of every beer but Sam Adams and local brew-pub down the block. And it is this control that will allow them to turn us all into drunks, by selling us cheap beer. For the record, I have been known to turn down even free Budweiser. Pay me 6 bucks a can and I might be tempted to have one or two, but only if I am allowed a couple of Dunkels in between to cleanse my palette.

But I digress.

Our author also attacks the English system of brewery owned pubs. When I was there a few years ago (early 80's if you must be specific) there were three types of pubs; Brewery owned; Brewery affiliated and Free Houses, that could sell any brand of beer. The pub would include that information on it's sign; 'The White Hart- Green King' or 'The Bird in Hand- Free House' Some of the Brewery owned places I remember visiting were just stores for the beer; brightly lit, antiseptic, uncomfortable places to drink beer. Usually a newer building, they were the corporate interpretation of a pub.

The affiliated pubs were nicer. Usually older- in a country where old is a thousand years- and well-kept, they were great places to have a pint. As long as you enjoyed the products of that brewery. Green King was a big East Anglican brewer, and a lot of the locals were Green King at the time. I recall liking a pint or two of their Light and Bitter, a mix of a light lager and a darker Bitters beer. But ask for a Carlsberg and you're out of luck.

The Free Houses were a mixed lot. Usually they were less well kept; one; because of the lack of brewery support adding to the profit margins, and two; because they usually attracted a younger, more raucous crowd.

Personally, I think there a lot to be said for the practice of a vertical monopoly. Each step in the distribution chain takes a little profit out of the process; if all steps are owned by the same entity, then that little bit of profit is rolled into one bit of profit. For instance; assume Coors brews a beer, and makes a penny on each can they sell to a distributor, who makes a penny on each can they sell to a bar, who makes a penny on each can they sell to a customer; total of 3 cents added to each can. If Coors sold the beer to the customer, they could still make their penny, and the customer saves two cents.

Face it; there are two trains of thought in this country; One; you are an irresponsible lout, and the only thing keeping you from a life of intolerable errors is the government controlling every aspect of your life. The other side of the coin says we will make all sorts of things available to you; your use or abuse of those things is your responsibility. Personally I am a member of Camp B.

Our author is most definitely a Camp A person. I would think that a flood of cheap beer would be a plus for the country; especially since we are facing a second Obama Administ.... 'Regime' (hey; sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander, right?), where as he seems to believe we couldn't handle cheap beer without sinking into alcoholism.

Remember how I said I disagreed with almost all of his conclusions? Well, I do agree with his conclusion that having only 2 entities controlling the entire brewing industry could be a bad thing. Which is why I drink local craft beers every chance I get. To much control in too few hands is always an issue. And what if MillerCoors fails somehow; maybe though a Union strike?

I might have to quit drinking beer.

Friday Night Didn't Get a Movie

This Friday was one of those bittersweet occasions; a going-away get together for a co-worker. He had been with the company for more than 15 years, and was quite popular to boot. The interesting thing was I think there were more former employees there than current ones. That says two things to me; this old boy had a lot of friends, and our company had shed a lot of people the last few years.

I also ran into some interesting conversations; things that are tracking with national data, but provided anecdotal evidence of the collapsing and retracting economy.

Saturday was busy as well, I spent the entire day helping the oldest boy redo his bathroom. More later on both topics, but right now I am late for another day Redneck Renovations.

Today, In the Comics

 

One of the things that allowed me to cut the newspaper cord was finding a free site for online comic strips. Sports I have always been able to do without; weather was easy; look out the dang window, and the radio will always give me the news, along with the internet.

But I had to have my Comics fix. It just ain't Sunday without the full-color, multi-panel update on the latest adventures of Beetle Bailey and a couple other dozen characters.

One day I stumbled on Go Comics. My comic strip fix was in the bag.

Now every morning I can sit at my computer and read a collection of the strips that I want to see, without having to skip over Mary Worth and Rex Morgan, awhile wishing the paper would replace them with something I want to read.

Life is Good.

But I told you that story to tell you this one.

This morning I ran across this comic:

If this doesn't capture the hipster-dufus as a parent perfectly, I don't know what does. Well, except that they seem to have large coffee mugs instead of Starbucks cups.

This one panel and one line covers everything. The kid is crying; its normal to cry (if you are a hipster-dufus anyway) if you are emotionally upset, so the baby must be emotionally upset, and needs therapy. And it is 'dad' (?) saying this, while holding his purse. Immediately the crying of his child has become a problem somebody else needs to deal with.

Classic liberal thinking: I have determined that this issue is not my problem (because, hey; I don't feel like dealing with it); the rest of you need to handle it.

Doesn't that cover almost anything? Homelessness? Government programs. Hunger? Government programs. Still hungry? Larger Government programs. Name an issue? Lets get a Government Program to handle that.

Once he has begun a Government Program to handle the issue, the liberal is done. He no longer needs to worry about (Fill in the Blank Issue), because the Government is handling that now.

Which is probably why our young hipster-dufus parents are ready to take their child to therapy; the Government is handling the bill, so no worries.

I also found a second strip today that I just had to comment on. In some of my posts, I have casually mentioned, the fact that I like to drink beer (Apologies to Tom T. Hall). And one of my favorite places to drink beer is the Hofbrau Haus in Newport Kentucky, especially in weather like this in the Bier Garten,

Well, apparently I have been missing the point.

 

This can be considered a HOBBY!

Who knew?

Nostalgia Ain't What It Used To Be

First; I have no idea why the picture isn't right side up. I changed it; saved it; reopened it, and it was right. I load it into Blogger, and it's wrong. Must be a Blogger thing.

At any rate, (oh yeah? how about 12 and a half percent? (Sorry; that's an old George Carlin joke I just can never resist)) the other night I had glass of New Wiedemann.

I made a special trip down to Newport to Pompilios, just for a cold glass of the old days. I wasn't the only one. The bar was packed, and I saw a lot of glasses with the New Wiedemann logo on them. You would recognize Pompilios, if you have ever seen Rainman. They filmed the scene where Raymond counts the toothpicks in the dining room just off the bar.

We finally got a spot at a table in the bar and I ordered the first glass of Wiedemann I have had in probably 6 years or more.

And I was disappointed. Kind of like the picture above; you could recognize it but it just wasn't right.

First sip told this was not a real Wiedemann. The beer I remember always started real smooth; ice water smooth, especially if the beer was real cold. This beer hit you with  flavor from the beginning. it was a strong flavor, and since I wasn't expecting it, it was a bad taste; almost skunky. Old Wiede-pop would always leave your tongue with a bite; like a flush of something bitter, that would fade faster than it came, and would disappear before the end of the second can. This beer finished flat; it kind of just ran off your tongue and disappeared.

It wasn't all bad; the beer was the right shade of pale, clear yellow, and wouldn't have developed a head if you shook it like a pair of hot dice; all old friends. New Wiedemann also had a different mouth feel; almost like it was a thicker brew, which is possible. It also left me with a dry mouth feeling after half a glass; something I never got with Old Wiedemann.

All in all; it was not a bad beer, just not the beer I was expecting. It also seemed a bit pricey; 5 bucks for the 20 ounce glass and $4 for the 16 ounce.

Back in the day, I could get a pitcher of Wiede-pop for 2 bucks, and a gallon to go- bring your own jug- for $3. Those were the days. a group of good friends, sitting around a fire out in the field, swigging cold Wiedemann from a gallon jug and watching the sparks from the fire rise to join the sky full of stars.

I was hoping Wiedemann's return would also bring back those nights too, I guess.

Maybe I was expecting too much from a couple of glasses of beer.

All I Can Say is Ahhhhhhh....

I may have mentioned once or twice that I like to drink beer.

One of the beers I liked to drink was Wiedemann. I often proudly claimed I was a fourth generation Wiedemann drinker, and proudly raining a fifth.

And then they stopped brewing Wiedemann.

In the family the story is that my wife often told me that if I stopped drinking beer, the brewery would go bankrupt. In January of 2005 I decided it was time to stop drinking so much, and cut my consumption way back. In March of that year the Pittsburgh Brewing Co., the then current brewers of Wiedemann, filed for bankruptcy.

Wiedemann was the hometown beer. My Great- Grandparents settled in Newport, Kentucky in the 1870's, where Wiedemann was brewed. Great- Grandpa even drove a horse drawn delivery wagon for George himself in early part of last century, and quit when they took his horses away and tried to make him a truckdriver. But he still drank Wiedemann. As did his son and grandson, my Dad.

And my sons. My wife walked into the kitchen one day and caught my two oldest boys in front of the open refrigerator, with an open bottle of beer that they were sharing. They were 5 and 3 at the time.

Just the other day my son, who was three in the incident above, some 20- odd years ago, brought home a couple of bottles of Yuengling Beer. I have had a few bottles recently myself, as it is now sold just over the river in Ohio, and after the first taste he looked at me and said; 'Wow' tastes just like Wiedemann!'

Which it does; both beer share a very similar heritage.

Once Wiedemann disappeared from the shelves in 2005, I didn't have a beer. I had several I would drink, and many I would avoid, but didn't have one brand that was always in the fridge. At least until lately, when I have been finding Rolling Rock cheap in the 30 can pack. Coincidentally, Rolling Rock is also brewed by the Iron City Brewing Company, the successor out of Bankruptcy of Pittsburgh Brewing.

Well, the other day a friend of mind alerted me to the fact that Wiedemann is back! I can't wait to try a glass.

Another interesting story; the restaurant mentioned in the story is also an old family favorite, and the sign in the picture got me into trouble with a waitress there one day.

We were there for dinner in 2002 or so; after the Wiedemann brewery had closed in Newport, adn I asked for the Lasagna, as always, and a Wiedemann. 'Sir,' she says, 'we don't serve Wiedemann.'

So I retort, 'Your sign out front says you do!'

'Sir', says the waitress with a deadly look, 'that sign is 50 years old'.

I drank Ice Tea instead.

But next time I go to Pompillios, its the Lasagna and a cold draft Wiedemann.

If for no other reason, than for Dad.

Well, and I have missed Wiedemann.

FINALLY!!!! A USEFUL iPad App

The greatest App in the world!

The downside? Now I want a flippin' iPad!

And, well...

It's only the Light Lager.

No Dunkel.

And no pretzels either.

Oktoberfest is More Than Beer

Last night I went to a local Oktoberfest and had one hell of a good time. I seriously think they stole my grandmothers recipe for Sauerbraten; it was that good. About two hours after dinner I even managed a snack: a big fat braut with saurkraut and horseradish. Not on wiener bun, but on a hard crusted roll. I'm ready for another one of them today.

And the beer! Warstiener Oktoberfest on tap evrywhere you looked; life is good. I even bought the plastic souvenier mug for 2 bucks. The steins were $38, and a little pricey for me. The weather was perfect. Just a little warm if you were in one of the tents, but out under the trees in the biergarten it was perfect.

But that's not the topic of this essay.

One of the entertainments was German Folk Dancing, like this video I found on YouTube.



I have never thought much about dancing- I was never very good at it anyway- but being in a philosophical mood I did start to examine the meaning and uses of dance as a mating ritual.

Every culture has traditional folk dances. Usually fairly complex patterns of motion and interaction with other dancers set to a specific tune or rhythm, they sometimes function as a story-telling medium.

But here is a function I didn't think of until last night. Why have the dances at all?

Darwin's theory of Survival of the Fittest is a good place to start. Everyone looks for the fittest mate available to them, and traditional dances are designed to showcase some of the traits looked for in a mate; coordination, memory, ability to interact with others and physical prowess. The basic traits that are needed to survive and need to be passed on to the next generation so they can thrive.

Prior to the dance, these skills would have been showcased during the Hunt, or in other communal activities that as society became more industrial- even 2000 years ago industry and trade had replace the tribal community, even though it was a very rudimentary industry- communal events were created where the young could be exposed to one another and the evaluation of potential mates begun.

And the ritual dances were born.

If you couldn’t do the steps, maintain the timing or remember the intricate patterns, then your worth as a potential mate was limited by those failures.

This has sort of been updated to the “Cool Kids” ideal, and fitting into the various levels of modern society and the place where the mating rituals are most often performed today, far from the watchful eyes of parents: High School.

The rituals are not time honored and based on traditional actives, but vary generation to generation, school by school and even year to year. They aren’t prepared or governed by the adults for the most part, but are developed and governed by the young adults themselves and the self appointed social arbiters of the day.

What does it mean in the end? Hell; I don’t know.

I just have one question:

Is it this rush away from tradition one of the reasons our culture is disintegrating as we watch?

A Fast Weekend

This weekend was a fast one. I relly have no idea where it all went, but I do have some clues.

I bought 2 6 packs of Hofbraus Haus beer on Friday; both of them are gone.

The piece of trim that fell of the right rear door of my car is back on, and the rust spots that had developed over the last year are gone too.

All of the flower beds are weeded, and, although I can see them, I know there are some new seeds planted that I was permitted to help the Young'Un plant. Basically that means I was the one who cleaned up the tools and got in trouble for her being muddy.

There is a new pull rope on the weedeater, so it runs now. All the sidewalk cracks have been sprayed with roundup and the concete swept.

And the balky lock on the tool shed is fixed.

I also found a new ceiling fan in the living room this morning.

And apparently at some point I got my haircut.

No wonder I felt like hell this morning!

Have I Ever Mentioned I Like Beer?

A couple of months ago I scored this 5 liter mini keg of Hofbrau Haus Oktoberfest beer. Yeah, it was great!

And no, I didn't drink all of it.

Quite a bit of it, but not all of it.

I am quite a fan of the dark beers, and I enjoy the Hofbrau Dunkel every chance I get, and this Oktoberfest was something else. I found it sweet and fruity, and exceptionaly strong.

I can't wait for next September!