Americas
« Previous EntriesBury me in a Beer Coffin
By Rocky | May 6, 2008
We found this story and photo in San Diego’s Union Tribune Today which is well worth a look- and what a great idea!
A guy from South Chicago, Bill Bramanti loves his beer Pabst Blue Ribbon so much he has had a custom made coffin to look just like a giant can of the frothy stuff made for him to be buried in when he dies. At a young 67 Bill’s not ready to toss in the towel just yet, but when he does everything is in place just incase, he’s even tried it out the giant beer can lookalike for size. As a celebration of recieving the red white and blue beer can casket he threw a huge party with all his friends on Saturday, he filled the coffin with some ice and plenty of tasty Pabst Blue Ribbon and celebrated well into the night. Hopefully his friends find a better ice bucket when Bill evenutally passes on, lets all hope he has many happy years using it as a giant esky…Good on you Bill!
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A Thirsty Bear and some great Paella
By Rocky | April 25, 2008
When traveling through San Francisco recently we came across a great little microbrewery and Spanish restaurant which had a magnificent collection of freshly brewed beers many named after bears. The Thirsty Bear Brewing Company make nine varieties including a Polar Bar Lager which is a Munich style golden Pilsner which is very tasty. Then there is the Brown Bear Ale, which is delicious with a bit of a classic English taste and malty aroma. They have a India Pale Ale named after their street Howard Street which is quiet bitter and very crisp while the Kozolv Stout is very smooth and strong just like the Irish love it. All the beers are organic and have no nasty chemicals and all grains etc are sustainable which is not only good for the earth but good for your body. Even their packaging and waste is recycled- these guys not only make good beer but care about our precious world’s resources. The beer is conditioned in cask and if you visit on Tuesday evenings the new batch is tapped and absolutely delicious. We should also mention the great food- they would have to have the best Chorizo sausages in San Francisco- if not the all of USA and the Paella is to die for. If you are ever in Frisco- do your self a flavour and call in.
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Pumkin Ale - trick or treat?
By Rocky | April 19, 2008
The German Purity Laws state that beer should only be made from Water, malted grain, hops and yeast- well it looks like the American have their own rule, make it with anything- how’s this one- Pumpkin Beer. Yes that’s right beer made out of pumpkins. Going back to the olden days the colonial brewers couldn’t afford barley so they thought we have plenty of pumpkins and Halloween is a few months away so lets turn them into beer. They roasted them up and made them into mash and presto pumpkin beer. It wasn’t so bad and with some spices like nutmeg and cinnamon the flavour jut got better. The beer is today brewed by several boutique and smaller breweries and is quiet popular. A few tasty varieties we have tried are Buffalo Bills and Smuttynose, we have heard there is another popular one called Dogfish Head but we haven’t been able to get our hands on that one yet. Both of the ones we tried have a sweet and pumkiny taste - as you would expect and are quiet nice. The hops and the spices give them a real fruity kick well worth a try if you see a bottle. Don’t give up after the first mouthful, the second and third gets better, once your mouth come accustomed to the different spicy taste. It’s not the beer you would drink every night after a hard day at work, but it sure is a tasty drop to have once in a while- Not bad indeed.
Topics: Americas, Beer Types | No Comments »
The Bud flip card ad
By Rocky | April 18, 2008
I think its a toss up who has the best beer ads, Australia’s Carlton Draught or the US’s Budweiser. Here is another amazing Budweiser commercial, a bit reminiscent of the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games opening. Some very clever digital artists have transformed an entire football stadium into a flip card animation with the beer flowing around the stadium. Its quiet spectacular and a great ad. Enjoy
Topics: Americas | No Comments »
Seriously Bad Elf, Seriously Good Beer
By Rocky | April 6, 2008
England’s Ridgeway Breweries ha s pretty interesting drop with Serious Bad Elf. This beer is a fairly strong malty golden ale which is fantastic in cold weather, and pretty good in the Northern Hemisphere around the festive season. The beer has a lot more hops than the average beer and it gives it a real kick giving a bit of a Belgian Tripel taste, the other kick is the 9% alcohol volume. There’s even a bit of a warning: Consumption of too much Winter’s Ale may be bad for your elf and may impair your ability to drive a sleigh or operate toy-making machinery. Another interesting fact about this beer is it banned in the US state of Connecticut. The Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection has a strange law which forbids Santa appearing on a beer label. There’s a tiny Santa up in the right hand corner of the label with his loving reindeers – a big no no in Connecticut. I’m sure its ok to carry guns in the state and drive big guzzling monster pickups to the shops but no Santa on beer- Maybe the local officials need to get a life.
Just as a footnote we have heard Rigeway make a Criminally Bad Elf with 10.5% alcohol..we will see if we can find out a few details in the coming weeks.
Topics: Americas, UK & Ireland | No Comments »
Japanese beer doing big things in New York
By Rocky | April 1, 2008
The Kiuchi Brewery in Japan is known for top quality top fermented ales and sake and is starting to make some major inroads into the boutique beer market in New York. Many top quality bars and restaurants in Manhattan are serving this gold glass beer to their customers who just can’t get enough of it. The brewery has been brewing since 1823 and they became Japan’s first microbrewery in 1996. They have a wonderful suite of products including Red Rice Ale which uses polished rice just like they use in their sake. The Nest Beer as pictured is the most sort after, with it’s little South Park like owl on the label. Only 2000 cases of this beer are produced each year and it is highly prized. If you are in New York and would like to try this great beer one place which stocks it is a seafood restaurant called the Fatty Crab which is on Hudson Street in Manhattan.
Topics: Americas, Asia | No Comments »
Nag Nag Nag, Stay away from the shrimp
By Rocky | March 31, 2008
How did this poor guy marry her? He needs a beer just to survive his high maintanance nagging wife before her special dinner party. Lets hope he dosen’t he dosn’t spill his soup on his tie or he will never hear the end of it. This cute little ad is for Miller Beer and dates back to the 60’s, wonder what’s for dinner fondue, beef Wellington or maybee even Sweedish Meatballs… sounds delicious.
Topics: Americas, YouTube | No Comments »
Budweiser Streaker
By Rocky | March 28, 2008
This You Tube video is a real classic, it was produced by the giant American Brewer Anheuser-Busch for their popular Budweiser brand and used for the Superbowl XL. It features a football game between a heap of animals, and the star attraction like most big sporting games is the streaker. Get ready to close your eyes at the star attraction- expecially if you are from the land of the long white cloud. Only joking!
Topics: Americas, YouTube | No Comments »
This beer is lucky
By Rocky | March 22, 2008
The huge Canadian Brewer Labatt Ontario Breweries Ltd have been making this great tasting lager since 1934 and is great example of their brewing skills. This 4.8% easy drinking light coloured lager is brewed with no nasty presevatives. The beer was actually named after a name contest and has become one of the breweries favorite beers. The Labatt brewery was actually founded in London, Ontario in 1847 by John Kinder Labbatt it is now part of the huge InBev company from Belgium which owns Stella and other huge world brands. Labatt is the biggest brewer in Canada.
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Select Bud Select
By Rocky | March 20, 2008
The huge US brewer Anheuser-Busch has launched another product to it’s Budweiser suite of beers, this time its Budweiser Select. The Select is a premium beer which the company says has a distinctively bold taste that makes you mouth take notice…mmm sounds good. The beer uses quality ingredients including two row barely, special roasted malts and hand picked Bavarian and American hops. The beer is a 4.3% alcohol volume pale lager and contains only 99 calories and 3.1 grams of carbohydrates. The Budweiser Select is aiming a the young and modern market and has got some very slick advertising and promotions running, they have even got rapper Jay Z on board as their brand’s spokesperson. It’s well worth a look at their very interactive website, a lot of work has gone into producing it: www.budweiserselect.com
Topics: Americas | No Comments »