Speaking of Beer

OK, so this has nothing to do with beer, but one of my other passions is cinema, especially of the obscure/cult variety. Apparently word got around, because Jack Mangan recently invited me onto his Deadpan podcast to share my thoughts on the 1984 punk/absurdist classic “Repo Man,” and the results can be found here. If you too lean towards the twisted when it comes to movies, pop a cold generic one and check it out!

Just in time for 2008, you too can show your fine taste in beercasts by sporting something from the Speaking of Beer Cafepress store!

Choose from a mind-boggling array of official SoB products in a variety of designs, some of which are actually related to beer drinking. Make up for that botched Xmas gift with something Beer Guy, or just let your beer geek flag fly in uber-cool SoB duds. Thomas, we’ve even got something for your hop-headed dog!

Find splendiferous beer-related consumption here, or click on the link over there to the right.

And a huge “thanks!” to Tom the Beer Guy’s Brother for setting this whole thing up!

Groucho, JefferyT, and all the other good folks involved with Beer Safari (including yours truly) want to make your holiday season special with this epic little video. We each exchanged beers with another beercast and filmed the resulting opening, drinking and enjoying. Here’s the 34-minute NSFW result:

Thanks to the good folks at The Beer Report, Should I Drink That?, Pacific Brew News, The Good Beer Show, Craft Beer Radio, Dude Night, Big Foamy Head, and Brain Gravy for including me in this project. Good times…

Happy Holidays everyone!

(And in case you’re wondering, yeah, the Crunchberry beer did kinda suck…)

[sarcasm]Ahh…the blissfully smooth-running world of Web 2.0 new media goodness[/sarcasm]. OK, so there’s the proverbial “good news/bad news” situation that seems to be becoming all too common around here. Bad news: Show 41 is rarin’ to go, but parked at the moment in Podango gridlock. As soon as that clears up (and it could be any minute) you’ll be able to enjoy the glory that is me drinking beer with both my sister and Mr. Deadpan himself, Jack Mangan. Good News: Show 42 will (barring techno-glitches) be out hot on 41’s heels, within a week or so, in time for your Holiday drinking pleasure.

For show 42 please acquire:

Santa’s Private Reserve Ale: [alternative: Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale]

and

Samichlaus Bier [alternatives: a toughie...technically it's a doppelbock, but at 14 % ABV find the strongest doppelbock you can get!]

Sorry again for the herky-jerky release schedule. Then again, maybe I should relax and have a beer…

Courtesy of FunnyOrDie.com:

Thanks for pointing me to this, Dub!

So some of you may be wondering when Show 40 will be heading down the feed. The answer is “soon,” hopefully in the next few days.

So, what’s the deal? Well, I’ve found in the last 1.5 years of doing this that most shows just seem to fall together naturally, and practically write themselves. But every now and then comes an episode that appears doomed to thrash and kick during the creative process, and only reluctantly gets shoved out the door into the podosphere. Circumstances align against it, as if someone doesn’t want the information to come out. Such a show is Show 40.

The good news is, Show 41 is pretty much done (it’s one of those “write themselves” episodes), so there won’t be any significant delay in its arrival.

Sorry for the wait, and thanks for your patience.

Thanks to Devona and Mary for this link.
Apparently, after strenuous exercise, a beer is better at replenishing your precious bodily fluids than water. Well, gotta go hit the treadmill….

As you enjoy the ever-crispening breezes and golden splendor of leaves turning into yard work that come with fall (at least, if you live in certain parts of the northern hemisphere), find these two beers:

Blue Moon Harvest Moon Ale [alternatives: Shipyard Pumpkinhead Ale, Saranac Pumpkin Ale]

and

Buffalo Bill’s Pumpkin Ale [alternatives: Dogfish Head Punkin' Ale, Schlafly Pumpkin Ale]

Now get out there and rake!

Thanks to Roving Beer Reporter Eric, here are some tasty beer links:

Link 1: There’s going to be a National Toast to honor Beer Hunter Michael Jackson on September 30th. Cheers (in advance)!

Link 2: One thing I try to stress on the podcast is that “there’s a time and a place for every beer.” Sure, I’m on record as saying I don’t really like Fat Tire, and that my favorite thing about Sam Adams Boston Lager is that you can get it just about anywhere. But as recently as the last episode, I’ve been trying to get out the message that there are no evil beers, and even in this age of Stone/DFH, the craft beer “pioneers” have much to offer. Well, beer blog The Buzz says it better than I could: Don’t bash on a beer just because it’s reasonably popular. Bash on it because you think it sucks, but be prepared to defend your argument.

Link 3: Along those lines, another beer blog, Beer Appelation, ponders if Blue Moon is a craft beer or not by invoking an analogy with 60’s folk combo Peter, Paul, and Mary. Go read it; it makes sense.

Today the world of good beer lost its most eloquent spokesman, Mr. Michael Jackson, Beer Hunter Extrordinaire. His books fueled my (and many many others’) passion for good beer, and my humble little podcast is a tiny part of his massive legacy. On a day when I’m about to bottle two batches of homebrew, this is indeed sad news. Nonetheless I’ll be raising my next glass to Mr. Jackson and all he has done for the Beerniverse.