Beer for Dummies?

When I first saw an ad for Miller Lite's Brewers Collection, their new craft, lite beer offering (wheat, amber, and blonde), I held my tongue. I was proud of that. I figured I'd give it a chance. I didn't want to be ignorant in my bitching. But then, I'll be damned if Miller didn't go and do something stupid that has forced my hand. I guess Minneapolis is one of four test markets for the new offering (Baltimore, Sand Diego, and Charlotte are the other three). That being the case, I guess some buxom college babe was passing out some hand-outs near Sgt. Prestons. While sitting around Town Hall swilling beer with Kris and some friends, I got a chance to read the hand-out that someone had brought in. This thing was a piece of work. It read as though it were written for 6th graders. It was supposed to be informative, I guess, but maybe only if you've never had a beer before and know virtually nothing about beer (which might be true for 6th graders). Unfortunately, I didn't try to keep the hand-out. I would have loved to been able to quote directly from it. Let me try to paraphrase, though. "Miller Lite Wheat beer is made from wheat. The wheat is what gives it the distinctive flavor." Or, "Miller Lite Amber is named so because of it's color, which is amber." It's bad. Damn I wish I could have kept a hand-out. I'm embarrassed for Miller. I may give the beers a taste, but I hope I don't get dumber for doing so. I don't know who created those hand-outs, but I'd say it does a disservice to Miller and their new offering. I'm gonna keep looking for the hand-out so I can accurately quote from it.

Matt, Stub and Herb

Last night was a night of firsts for Mag and I- our first visit to Matt’s for their legendary Jucy Lucy and our first visit to Stub and Herb’s. Over the weekend we apparently planted a Jucy Lucy seed in Kat’s head so upon deciding she needed to enjoy one, called us to join her and Scott at Matt’s. I can’t tell you how many times we’ve driven by the joint but this was our first step inside and it was just about what I expected. For anyone else that hasn’t been there, this is a no frills joint (menu on the wall- all prices including tax, pop in cans only and dessert consisting of candy bars or M&Ms) but I don’t mean this in a bad way. They have about 10 taps, with more macros than micros but they offer pitchers at a reasonable price and they have both Summit and Sierra Nevada. Our pitchers were filled with Sierra Nevada’s Seasonal, described to us as an early spring beer, and were enjoyed by all. After filling our bellies with some good beer and a good Jucy Lucy we were ready to find a place that had a greater selection of the micros we so love. So it was on to Stub and Herb’s for us, noticing on the way the lights were on at Acadia (not sure if they’re open or just testing the electrical system out). It’s not hard to find something good on tap or in a bottle there and I almost had to get some Two. However right before I ordered, I noticed they had Flat Earth’s Warlock Winter Barleywine and it was too much to resist. It wasn’t as sweet or as overpowering as some barleywines tend to be and was thoroughly enjoyable. I don’t recall what everyone else had other than a Furthermore Knot Stock Pale Ale which is apparently out of Black River Falls, WI that got two thumbs up. Being a Monday night it was pretty quite in there (guess all the kids were still recovering from their weekend partying) which was good so there were few around to witness my horrendous dart and pool skills. Not a bad way to start off the week!

It's ok...we're still here

For those of you that may have been faithfully logging on and wondering why we haven’t posted any new drinking exploits, well there are a couple good reasons. #1- Mag was sick all of last weekend which, seeing as how Kris is such a good wife, curtailed the drinking for the both of them. #2- Kris has to be in New Orleans, hell hole of the South and a virtual wasteland of craft beer, for a good chunk of the week for work.
However, trying to make the best of the situation, I scoped out the beer situation at the Atlanta airport where I will be stopping both to and from New Orleans. Last time I was through that airport I stumbled across SweetWater Brewery and found that there are a few good brews coming out of the South. I had hopes of being in the same terminal (B- near gate 12 in case it matters) or if not there at least knowing other places I might find something beyond one of the big guys (Sam Adams has locations in C and A). As luck would have it, my 2 hour layover on Tuesday landed me in terminal E but I was able to find “The Bar” that was pouring SweetWater’s 420. My hotel in New Orleans, while quite close to the Convention Center, is located in the aptly named Warehouse district. The translation is: extremely limited facilities from which to purchase or drink beer at…polar opposite to the Warehouse District of Minneapolis. The one corner market within reasonable walking distance didn’t have a huge selection but there was enough Abita (tried quite a few from their line the first time around and as with SweetWater, provided a pleasant surprise) including Jockamo IPA to suffice. Needless to say, there isn’t much beering to report…at least until the coming weekend if all goes well. Until then, if you’re drinking something lovely, think of me and drink an extra one in my honor.