I get the honor of planning the first ever bicycle pub crawl for MN Craft Beer Week. Of course I couldn’t do this completely on my own so I’ve acquired the assistance of fellow beer blogger and bike enthusiest Beckel from the blog Legal Beer. This weekend we’ll be riding the planned route to see how it work. The ride is on May 21st and starts at 10 am at Cafe 28 where Surly’s own Todd Haug will have a special beer for us while his wife, who owns the place, will have breakfast. From there we will travel to Busters on 28 then up to the Nomad World Pub on the West Bank, from there we will go north across the Stone Arch Bridge and on to Pracna on Main where lunch will be had and finally the last stop will Stanley’s where the fine folks there have sectioned off their parking lot and made it a bike corral for us and all the bikers in town who will be enjoying the Schell’s beer tent and Art-A-Whirl which is happening the same day. During the ride there will be trivia questions at each stop with a prize for the winner which is unfortunately still in the works but I hope to get that out as soon as I can. To participate in the trivia contest you need to purchase a MN Craft Beer Week Passport but if you just want to ride and drink great beer you are welcome to tag along but I do encourage everyone to get a passport. I can’t guarantee that there will be anymore passports to purchase on the day of the ride so you should purchase them ahead of time here. Other than that it should be a fun ride and hope you cyclists and craft beer lovers can come along.
Took a little break from beer recently, made it 18 days. Always wanted to but never really found the right time. Then I decided to pick a time and just go for it. And lucky me, right at the start of Surly Brewery’s 5th Anniversary month. Crap. Well followed through, mostly, planned on till after the baby was born but when you love beer like I do it’s hard to stay completely away. You could have told me I could have hard liquor or wine or heck, Bud Light and I would have passed but to stay away from craft beer is no fun. But that being said this is my catalyst to cut down my intake so there should be some good coming out of it. Anyways I recommended it to people. It’s could to step away and flush the system but take it from me, 2 weeks minimum, 3 weeks maximum
I think I just solved a major flaw in my blogging. That flaw being lack of blogging. Then low and behold there’s an Android app. This changes everthing.
I took the liberty in fixing this picture to be more accurate.
When we went on our vacation to Door County (post about that coming soon) we spent a night in Eau Claire, Wisconsin just to break up the drive. We ate dinner that night at a small chain called the Milwaukee Burger Company. And my god was the food good. Cheese curd cheese burger? How the hell can you go wrong with that. And most burgers there were just as decedent. The beer list however was thin. But what caught my eye was Schlitz. Yeah, it’s a regular lager and what not but this was the Milwaukee Burger Company so I figured to keep it all “local.” And I have to say it was probably the most refreshing beer I had in quite some time. No complexities, it was a beer from what I always remembered as a straight up beer. Having that beer with that burger was a high light on my vacation. It was one of those simple things that make you content if only for that small window in life. And in hindsight I think this was the moment that the windows were thrown open about my feeling towards my beer habits. So last night when I stopped at the local liquor store and I saw a six pack of tall boys for 5.99 I had to see if the magic was still there. And though it may not have been just like that night it was still very tasty. So what will become of this? Will I turn into my father and most other men and develop a sole beer? Of course not. But I do like a lot of things about this one. Well, not a lot but at least one important thing, it tasted great.
A quick note on my hops. Here they are as of July 7, 2010. As you can see the one on the far left is awesome. In fact it is so awesome that the strings that go left and right along the roof line hold the same bine. The bine that is next to the far left one is from the same rhizome but is slowly growing so I am contemplating cutting it down. The one on the right is from a its own rhizome but that is slowly growing as well but gaining some height so I will let that go. I also have three more that I just planted this fall and they are really slow. One is looking OK another is long but very frail and one is just starting to sprout. Either way I really have no intent of using these hops I just like the looks of them but I’ll probably use some for a brew next fall when they should be set for use.
I went to the liquor store the other day just to get a bottle of Hop Stoopid to have while grilling only to walk out with 30 dollars worth of beer. And in the end I really didn’t care too much for them but I felt I should get them because they were new. Do I want a life defined by beer? Obviously it isn’t but lately I have felt that it has become a burden on me. Like I had to get the best stuff all the time because, hey, that’s what Stu drinks, that is who he is. I just want to get a case of Grain Belt throw it in the fridge and not to have to worry about what is new and what it is made with and how strong it is and IBU’s all that crap, I just want a beer. And with that being said, I don’t want a beer, at least not a high priced extreme craft beer. I look in the mirror and to me I look fine but I saw pictures of Delia and I in the pool and man has my gut gotten out of control, even with all the bike riding. I took about 4 days off a few weeks ago and I felt more energetic, less bloated, I slept awesome, woke up refreshed, I felt great. Not saying a get trashed every night on Bourbon County Stouts and wake up with massive hangovers but I feel that being void of it is nice break. But really, I’m just not interested anymore. I miss the days when I was a novice, ignorant as the geek community would say. The times before I started the blog, those were the days. I called my blog Friday Night Beer because that was the night I would get something new to try out while grilling, then Friday night became every night and every night had to be different. But that era is over. I really don’t know what to blog about now when it comes to beer. There are already hundreds of people doing it. The community has become saturated with experts and I see their train moving forward and I’m jumping off to go to the park to play with my wife and daughter. I’ll still be around though, I still love high priced extreme craft beer but it has also gotten ridiculous to me. Last weekend I was in Door County in Wisconsin in a rural part and there a pretty poor selection, even in the local brew pub, but in turn it was almost refreshing, a vacation from high priced extreme craft beer within a vacation from work. At first I practically feared it but in the end, I really enjoyed it. Sure I swilled swill but I didn’t have to think about it. Didn’t have to do anything. Just crack it open and enjoy the sun relaxing at the pool with my family and friends.
So there you have it. Then end of the blog? Well, no. Part of me is wonder what to do with it though. I love taking pictures, maybe just do that. Maybe there is something I could do that would set myself apart from the rest of the pack but I haven’t figures that out yet. Either way there will be a periodic post every once and a while until I figure it out. Or maybe I won’t. Maybe I will dissolve this and make something new. The slate is clear now.
Thanks for listening.
Stu
P.S. See you all at Surly Fest, Darkness Day, Darklord Day, Stub and Herbs, Town Hall, Summit Brewery and wherever else we might cross paths.
What a weekend. Probably the best beer weekend I ever had. Where to begin? Well Lets start from the beginning. Thursday afternoon I got a tweet from Dave at The Drunken Polack saying his and Aaron from The Vice Blog plane has landed in Minneapolis. So I called Aaron at The Captains Chair to see what they were doing for lunch being that I assumed they would be close to my work and I would meet them for some food and I would head back to work. Well I guess they had quite an itinerary lined up that included Stub and Herb’s, Barley John’s, a private Surly tour, grilling and beer tasting at the Captains house and then Town Hall. Needless to say I told my student workers that my vacation is going to start a bit early, like right then and there.
Thursday afternoon was a blast. hanging out with a couple guys that I seem to know very well but have never met. Stubs and Barley John’s was a typical good time and good brews. Surly was the best. Got to try the second batch of Abrasive that was by far the best double IPA I have ever had, mainly because of it’s freshness. Town Hall’s Mango Mama was very good but a bit bitter. And Aaron’s hefewizen home brew was fantastic.
Friday was an awesome road trip. Stopped at Ale Asylum and had their flight which we all just shared. Stopped at the new New Glarus brewery and that is a beautiful place. The Belgian Red was on tap and it was so good that is about all I drank with my 3 tickets. When we arrived in Chicago we had a little something for the Three Floyd’s guys and they repaid us back ten fold. Got free drinks and food all night and the next day. We actually took it pretty easy that night and woke up feeling 100% ready to rock.
Saturday was the big day. We met up with Beckel from Legal Beer, Shawn and Mike from the Beer Genome Project, and Nate and Mike from Thank Heaven For Beer. And man did those guys bring the party. I felt bad for not bringing anything more than a sixer of Summit Rye Ale but I made up for it by getting them loads of Vanilla Bean Dark Lord and Oaked Dark Lord. They ended up dropping the amount of tickets one could get from 4 to 3 mid way through the day so that kinda sucked. It started to pour so we went to Flossmoor and ended the night there and I was trashed. I ended up buying food and then saying “who ordered this?” I was hilarious if not completely annoying.
Anyways that is the weekend in a nutshell. I could go on but that would take me all day and would take you all day to read. Check out the other guys blog to get a more indepth review of the beer we drank and the holes I am missing from Saturday. See you all next year!
Holy crap. Time is flying lately I totally forgot that I have been neglecting my duties. I got lots of reviews to do so there should be a swarm of them coming in the next week or two. Got tickets for Dark Lord Day so lets see if I am still critical of the beer. I had some in Madison the other weekend and I was still not very impressed by it. I did have Goose Island’s Night Stalker which is an Imperial Stout and I loved that so I am still sticking to my guns about DL’s hype. We have big plans for that weekend so I am sure you’ll be hearing all about that and not just from me. Thinking about planning another blogger summit, maybe during MN Craft Beer Week. Hockey playoffs are coming soon, I’ll let all you baseball fans know why hockey is the best sport out there. Other than that see you real soon.
About a month ago Derek from Beer This! and I were planning on getting together to meet and have a few brews. We then thought of inviting others and the next thing you know this was formed, the First Annual Twin Cities Beer Blogger Summit. I made a little Socializer page and invited every beer blogger in the Twin Cities that I knew, talked with Jon over at Stub and Herbs and he was more than happy to set aside a spot for us and we had our gathering last night. And what a time it was. 20 or so people showed up, some I knew, some I barely knew and some I met for the first time. It was great hearing people’s home brew stories and getting some pointers, talking all about beer and peoples blogs and writtings and everything in between like kids and music. Taps were excellent as usual, at 7 they tapped Avery’s Beast and the hit of the night in my opinion was Laguanitas Wet Hop. Jon served us up some tater tots and chicken wings. The waitress was perfect and I hope we didn’t bother her too much but she probably got a real nice tip in the end. I left my phone there which is reassuring because I thought I lost it on my bike ride home. So I have to say it was a success. This was my first gathering I hosted and though I really didn’t do too much I am very glad it went off without a hitch. It was so fun that everyone was talking about when to do the next one. So whenever that is, I’ll be there
Not that you really need a reason. The stuff is crap. All energy drinks are crap. Ever look at the ingredients? I feel more comfortable ingesting methamphetamines. I see young boys at grocery stores staring at the energy drink rack the same way I would stare at the cereal rack. The cereals I would want were obviously not good for me but they are nothing compared to the energy drinks out there. They are mostly sugar but they are also loaded with chemicals that are called “ingredients.” I am not saying that these drink will kill or ultimately harm kids or whoever drinks them but it really does not do a body any good. I think it was Michael Pollan that roughly said, “If what you have has more than 5 ingredients, you probably shouldn’t consume it.” Of course in this society that is easier said than done, but it is good to at least try, and good thing beer usually just has 4.
Now, if you know me I am not a fan of corporations. In fact I really dislike them, really. I try not to get political on here because I don’t want this to turn into an ideology battle but I see corporations as the real government here in American and the real driving force and is the base for a lot of our problems. I grew up with my dad owning a small business and though it is very successful he still had to battle the big dogs. But what Monster Energy Drink is doing is nothing short of despicable.
In a small town in Vermont there is a brewery called Rock Art Brewery. Founded, owned and operated by husband and wife team Matt and Renee Nadeau, these people embody the American dream. But the American dream these days is under attack and so is Rock Art. On September 14, 2009 Matt got an email from Hansen Beverage, the owners of Monster, asking him to cease using the name of their barely wine, Vermonster, because Hansen wants to enter the alcohol market (and I shudder to see what kind of Frankenstein concoction they will come up with). Nadeau said he is going to stand his ground, he is already in the market they want to enter. Sad thing is, Nadeau will win, they are two very different names. But what will happen, that happens so frequently, is that Hansen Beverage Company will continue with the suit, they got the money to do it, Rock Art does not and they will eventually bankrupt them. Hansen will loose, but then they will appeal and appeal basically draining Rock Art dry, Rock Art will not be able to keep up the suits. Or, Rock Art can give in. But someone needs to make a stand. And that is where we can help.
Throughout history governments and corporations (which are one and the same today in my opinion) fear the great beast. The great beast being an aware, fed up and angry people. And what we can do. Well, spread the word, stop buying Monster and all Hansen products, support Rock Art, support all local and small businesses, what we should always do. I know none of us can be completely pure and free of the corporate grip but we can at least do what we can. Grow your own garden and go to farmers markets when you can. Brew your own beer or buy from local/small businesses. Go to a local market or store instead of a chain when you can. When a major corporation does wrong, don’t shrug your shoulders and give in to apathy, just stop giving them your money. I don’t like to get preachy on my blog but there comes a time when something happens that we all can agree on. I believe that no one thinks that Hansen Beverage should do this, so why can they? Or better yet, why do they?
In addition to boycotting Monster I urge you boycott everything from Hansen until they drop their demands and let Rock Art keep the name of Vermonster.
And you can contact Monster here and Hansen here. And be sure to spread the word and fellow bloggers, you have a duty too, link to this or write your own post. We have to defend one of our own.
Also contact your local Senator and Congress person to have them look into US trademark law to see if we can prevent future bogus attacks like this.
Thank you. And don’t let the cynics tell you it’s not worth it.
