The Herald Sun newspaper in Melbourne, Australia today reports on a story about a man who has been pulled over by Police outside the Central Australian town of Alice Springs.  Now this guy shocked police by having his five year old son in the car next to a ice cold slab of beer, the only problem, the slab was wearing the seatbelt, not the child.  Fortunately the cops spotted him before the poor kid hit his noggon or even worse on the next bump in the road. The dirver of the Holden Commodore was done for driving a unregistered and uninsured vehicle and for not having his child restrained and was fined $750.  At least the guy had enough sense to leave the slab unopened until he got home… looking at his stupidity its hard to see why…this could have quiet easily turned out a very tragic story.

For more details: http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,23690518-661,00.html

YouTube Direct video link

We love robots just about as much as we love beer and this new product comes close to combining the two. First shown at the 2008 CES in Las Vegas the RC Remote Beer Cooler is just like a remote control car but with a Beer Cooler (read Esky in Oz or Chilly Bin in NZ) on top. The video above shows the unit in action at the show and if that tickles your fancy you can now preorder them. The unit runs on two C size batteries with the remote taking a 9 volt job. the cooler’s center part is made of a soft insulating material so the whole unit folds down to a flatish pancake shape. So if you dont have a butler, wife or kids to bring you a beer we recommend you invest in one of these… or just walk to the fridge, its your choice.

Available from

http://www.firebox.com/product/2078

http://www.solutions.com/jump.jsp?itemID=12577&itemType=PRODUCT&iProductID=12577

Story via http://toyology.typepad.com/play_a_while/2008/05/remote-control.html

YouTube Direct video link

We haven’t done a Japanese Beer commercial for a while and found this one, its a ripper, but we have no idea what it is about- It advertises Sapporo which is one of Japan’s tastier drops and as you will see this ad features a some pretty weird images and sounds not forgetting a quick toilet stop. It looks as if it is shot in Akasaka in Tokyo at a bar, during a few afterwork drinks with the boys- there’s some references to proverbs- and even some weird tribal dancing– who knows?  If you can work out whats going on drop us a line in the comments box below.

For more infomation on Japan visit   www.happyjappy.com

The taste for British beers continues- but I promise tomorrow we will try move away from England and try something else. Today’s treat is Abbot Ale also made by the Greene King group who also made yesterday’s beer the Speckled Hen, Abbot is The Green King group’s flagship brand. This one is one of England’s more popular drops and can be found just about anywhere around the world. The Abbot Ale is fairly strong tasting ale, in England and some other places you can get it from the cask but the bottle but outside Brittan you usually only see it in bottle form. Keep your eyes out for the Abbot Reserve, it has a 6.5 alcohol volume instead of the 5.0 found in the standard and both use the Challenger and Fuggles hops which give them a very bitter sting with some distinct floral and fruity tones- the Reserve like the standard its quiet tasty. The Abbot Ale dates back to 1799, but the heritage goes back even further with the brewery drawing water from a well which has been supplying which the Great Abbey of St Edmundsbury brewed beer from nearly 950 years.

For more information: http://www.abbotale.co.uk

Well yesterday’s Boddingtons’s Pub Ale got us in the mood for tasty English Beers and the Old Speckled Hen looked pretty good down at the bottleshop today and it tasted absolutely delicious- should have bought a couple more…not to worry there is always tomorrow. The Old Speckled Hen is English bitter style beer, and is fairly new, it was first brewed in 1979 by the Moreland Brewery in Abingdon which is in Oxfordshire to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the MG car company of all reasons, which was also in Adingdon. Story has it that the brewery had a MG which was splattered with paint and the beer was named after it. The beer is available in pasteurized bottles or as a cask ale. The Morand brand has a few other interesting named products including He’s Tooth, Tanners Jack and Morland Original the brewery is operated by the Greene King Brand which also produces Ruddles, Abbot, Ridley’s and Hardy’s & Hanson products.

For more information: http://www.oldspeckledhen.co.uk/

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!

For more information: http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/nation/20080504-1850-odd-beercoffin.html

Back in 1778 two grain merchants Thomas Caister and Thomas Fry founded the Strangeways Brewery in Manchester, England, then in 1853 a traveler called Henry Boddington joined the brewery and later bought the two partners out to be the sole owner of the brewery. Their most popular product was Boddington’s Pub Ale which is now sold in over 30 countries around the world. The brewery stayed in the Boddington family until 1989 when it was sold to Whitebread which was later taken over by the huge Interbrew company who closed the brewery in 2004 and moved Boddington’s brewing operations to Magor in South Wales and their cask cale brewing to Moss Side in Manchester. Boddington’s is known as the ‘Cream of Manchester” and sadly the only remaining reminder of the Strangeway’s Brewery will be the chimmney stack which will be kept as a memorial amongst the new redevelopment being built on the site. But Manchester hasn’t lost the beer, it might not come from the city but the taste and the spirit continues- it just gets imported into town.- arr progress.

The Holgate Brewhouse is a small independent brewery from beautiful Woodend in the Macedon Ranges about 45 minutes drive from Melbourne, Australia. This brewery makes some best full flavoured ales and lagers in the state all brewed traditionally from the finest ingredients. The brewery makes a range of beers they have a very European tasting Pilsner which has a clean malty palette and floral hop aroma, an ale which uses Vienna malt. They have a extra special bitter or ESB which has a special blend of crystal and roasted malts combined with Fuggles and Goldings hops to deliver a lovely copper brew. There’s a white ale or Wit Bier, a very tasty dark winter ale and two new varieties, Big Red Lager which offers a Vienna style lager and a beer called Double Trouble, and the name says it all, this beer has a 8.0% alcohol volume and a real kick, It’s a Belgium style Abbey Ale which is to be sipped not guzzled- very tasty indeed- but be careful it packs a good punch. The brewery has won a host of prestigious medals at the Australian International Beer Awards over the last few years and once you try their delicious brews you will soon see why. The beers are available in bottle form and fresh from the tap from many bottleshops, bars, restaurants and pubs around Victoria or straight from the brewery which is well worth a visit- they have restaurant, conference facilities and even boutique accommodation.

for more information: http://www.holgatebrewhouse.com

Continuing this weeks boutique Australian beer theme-Coggs Premium is a new beer that has been launched on the market by two guys from Geelong, Australia, Nick Cogger and Geelong AFL football star Gary Ablett. The beer has taken Geelong and much of the region by storm since launch just a few months ago. The beer is hand crafted and best of all preservative free offering a full flavored premium style larger but low carb so it’s also good for your waistline. The beer is brewed in the northern Victorian town of Mildura and is making big inroads into pubs, bars and restaurants. In some bars the beer is outselling popular drops like Corona. The boys are already looking for export markets with Thailand and Dubai in their sights, so keep your eyes out- it might not be long before Coggs Premium is in a fridge near you.

For more information: www.coggs.com.au

for information on Geelong, Australia www.intown.com.au

The town of Beechworth in the high country of Victoria, Australia is known for the courthouse and local prison where one of Australia’s most iconic legends Ned Kelly spent time, and that’s why Ned in his armor plated helmet is featured on Bridge Road Brewerers range of premium microbrewed beers. This small brewery is open to the public and features a small beer garden and some tasty gourmet food including the high country’s best gourmet pizza to enjoy whilst tasting one of the seven rich and tasty beers. Beechworth is one of Victoria’s old gold towns in its hey day there were some 42,000 residents and 61 hotels, today the town is home to only about 3200 but the locals certainly have one of the state’s best beer’s. The brewery started in 2005 and produces a Pale Ale, Bavarian Wheat Ale, Dark Ale, Australian Ale and Celtic Red Ale they also make two extra premium products called the Chevalier range which are sold in 750ml champagne style bottles- a lovely beer for a special occasion. All beers are brewed without any nasty chemicals and the brewery uses traditional bottle conditioning and no pasteurization or filtration so there’s plenty of rich and delicious taste.

for more information: http://www.bridgeroadbrewers.com.au/