Can I Buy You A Drink?

Ladies, listen up. That guy at the end of the bar is doing the frat boy, head nod flirting thing, motioning for you to come over for a drink. Good looking or not, make sure you check what he's tipping back before you take up his invite. Yep, it's just as expected...a rum and coke. That guy doesn't really care about you or your health. He's only interested in...um...your 401k? While assets are important to most men, your health should be priority #1. Women's Health agrees, citing a really smart guy's research into the heart disease fighting abilities of the brew. 

http://www.womenshealthmag.com/health/good-health?cat=21146&tip=21150

You really should be looking for the semi-cute micro brew drinker hanging out with other "healthy" types and not being so blatantly obvious about checking out your 401k. Wink. He cares what he puts into his body and will probably get you a fresh brew too. Gatorade got nothing on a good pale ale. Here's to your health!

R.I.P. One80 in KC

One of our favorite places in KC (outstanding cocktails) is being revamped to build a true triumvirate of beer awesomeness (go look that up). According to KC Beer Blog, One80 is being revamped to create The Beer Kitchen, which looks to focus on a rotating menu with some rare, yet affordable beers...uhhh, AWESOME!

http://kcbeerblog.blogspot.com/2010/08/done80.html

More importantly, the change allows me to refer to this new gastropub as Zombie One80, bringing me back in line with the teachings of the Bill Simmons school of journalism.

Side note: As you can see from the comments in the post, The Riot Room continues to build an impressively solid list of beers on tap. 40 taps with these kinds of choices? GTFU! Definitely worth checking out what might be KC's best kept drinking secret. When you get there, tell Dallas that you want to try the Avery White Rascal or Affligem Blond.

Flying Saucer Fall Beer Festival - Brewfest Done Right

The Flying Saucer has announced its first annual beer festival and I'm going to go ahead and say what we're all thinking: Will it actually have enough beer? Yes, the KC Beerfest was a complete failure in that they ran out of beer an hour into the festival. The difference: that was benefitting a charity and this is benefiting private business...more over, this is perfect marketting opportunity. A poorly executed festival will bruise the checkbook a bit and that's motivation enough to do things right. I conclude that the beer will be flowing and put a much needed smile (or a buzzed smile) on all KC beer lovers faces. Anyway, I rant, I rant. Immediately open your outlook calendar, talk to your wife, or grab whatever typically reminds you of important events and get Sept. 11th blocked out for the day. See you there.

Yippy - a Hopsicle

For the last time people - Lime does NOT have to be infused into every beer. There's a reason why beer is infused with fruit during the brewing process and it has nothing to do with trying to make it Bud Light Lime's latest shitty cousin.

http://www.urbandaddy.com/nyc/food/10989/The_Hopsickle_Experience_Introducing_the_Beer_Popsicle_New_York_City_NYC_East_Village_Restaurant

Interesting idea but FAIL otherwise. This is a beersicle like I'm the Queen of England. And so I ask this - why not start with a better beer? If you're really so geeked about getting and calling it a hopsicle, then it should be about the taste of the beer (aka the hops, for example)...not lime, syrup, and tequilla blasphemy.

Im sure this will sell like hotcakes, I'm sure it'll be "refreshing", I'm sure people will get jacked up, but I doubt this will be a hit among true beer drinkers. Yippy, another half-assed "beer" product that lends a bad name to the world's most popular alcoholic beverage.

"Enjoy"

Grinders Beer Tasting - IPA + BBQ

"Get the door, it's ZZA-minos!" Grinders West knows two things very well - zza + craft beers. Add something else to the list - taste testing and bad-ass food pairings. Below is a great event tonight: IPA's + BBQ. Here are some of the highlights:

• Freestate Copperhead + sausage, cheddar jalapeno smoked bologna, deviled eggs
• Avery IPA + field greens w/ homemade salami
• New Belgium Belgo IPA + cedar plank Salmon
• Shlafly American IPA + grilled pork loin
• Titan IPA + mini rum cake

Bottom line - delicious AND financially responsible...tickets are $17.50 a piece. Buy some tickets, stuff yourself, and let us know how it goes.
http://blogs.pitch.com/fatcity/2010/08/grinders_west_beer_tasting_tom.php

Jimmy Carter - Our Best President

Read the title of this post. Then read it again...no, this is not a typo. To date, Carter's and his presidency has often been described in the past using such positive words as "disaster", "inept", "country bumpkin", and my personal favorite, "a better man than he was President". But this is not a political blog and I digress from the important topic of this post - BEER.

Because of BEER, it is time that the man should be lauded, even worshiped freely! As is often the case, the full effects and ramifications of a presidency cannot be felt until many years after - in Jimmy's case, it only took 30+ years for us to find something that he did well (I kid, I kid). And what a doozie it is:

http://tnr.com/blog/jonathan-chait/76819/how-jimmy-carter-saved-beer

Human rights are great, peace is what we all strive for, but beer, not cotton, is the fabric of our lives. We should all bow down to Emperor Carter, for without his divine intervention, we could all be sipping MGD 64 or Michelob Ultra at this exact moment.

For he's a jolly good fellow, for he's a jolly good fellow...

The Greatest Beers in the World! (according to Beer Advocate)

http://beeradvocate.com/lists/top

A comprehensive, updated list is now available from the know-it-alls at BeerAdvocate.com. We doubt there is a larger, more diverse and yet scientifically calculated list, anywhere else on the Internets right now as it covers all different styles of beers and doesn't discriminate. Some quick highlights:

• Russian River is the Miami Heat, the Yankees, and Manchester United all rolled into one; some truly outstanding beers - The Pliny's checked in at #2 and #3 respectively and we agree
• Very strong showing from the Michigan breweries - Eight beers in the Top 100 between Bell's and Founders
• No Boulevard Beers, which we DO NOT agree with - No Rye-on-Rye or BBQ? Homie Please!
• You need to immediately find beers from Three Floyd's or Stone Brewing and then consume them

The moral of the story is that with a list as diverse as this, there will always be losers and beers you don't agree with. For the most part we agree with this list but at the same time it's hard to have a comprehensive, accurate list when the formula contains "number of reviews" as a variable. Maybe that explains why Oro de Calabaza doesn't make the list yet anything from Great Lakes Brewing does (in the immortal words of Dave Chapelle - "hate, hate, hate, hate").

In the end, if you can find these brews at your local beer store, they're worth the dollas required to secure them. Some you'll have to cross the Rockies for (Russian River), others you'll have to stand in line for on a specific day at the brewery (Three Floyd's Dark Lord), and others you can find in most corner store (Bell's Two-Hearted Ale).

Consume, rate them yourself, then let us know what you think.