New beer on tap: Lakefront Big Easy Lager

I finally finished the half-barrel of Lakefront IPA that I had on tap since the end of October. Not all of my guests like IPA-style beers, so it went a little slower than some of the other beers I've had. I thought it was great, and I liked the taste even better as it aged. I probably should have bought just a quarter-barrel, but they didn't have any available at the time.

My new beer on tap is another Lakefront Brewery selection, Big Easy Lager (in honor of Mardi Gras and something light for my Super Bowl party).

This beer won a Bronze Medal at the 2004 World Beer Cup in the German Style Heller Bock/Maibock category. Heller Bock and Maibock beer are described by the World Beer Cup here:

The German word helle means light colored, and as such, a heller Bock is light straw to deep golden in color. Maibocks are also light-colored bocks. The malty character should come through in the aroma and flavor. Body is medium to full. Hop bitterness should be low, while noble-type hop aroma and flavor may be at low to medium levels. Bitterness increases with gravity. Fruity esters may be perceived at low levels. Diacetyl levels should be very low. Chill haze should not be perceived.

BeerMe.com describes Big Easy as a bright amber with a big thick head. Clean toasty malt aroma. Medium smooth body. Sweet toasty malt flavor all the way through. Just a hint of noble hop flavor at the end, and maybe just a bit of alcohol.

This barrel was kegged just 8 days ago, so it should be nice and fresh from the brewery.

The world's most expensive beer: Vintage No. 1

In November I wrote about Sam Adams Utopias - the $140 per bottle beer that's 27% alcohol.

Today I heard about a new beer that's even more expensive, but it doesn't come in a bottle that's nearly as cool as Utopias.

Carlsberg A/S (the the 5th largest brewery in the world) has produced 600 bottles of a special beer that will only be sold at three upscale restaurants in Copenhagen. The beer is called Vintage No. 1.

Vintage No. 1 contains 10.5% alcohol and comes in 12.8 ounce bottles (the golden Utopias bottle looks much larger than that).

The bottles cost $396.47 each.

The beer contains hints of prune, caramel, vanilla, and oak from the French and Swedish wooden casks in which it is stored.

Utopias is described with hints of passion fruit, peach, pear, sweet vanilla, butter, toffee, and fig.

I'm not even going to bother asking for a bottle of Vintage No. 1. I'd rather have a bottle of the Utopias and put the extra $256.47 towards some Miller High Life.

Leinie's Northwoods Lager is back

From JSOnline:

Chippewa Falls-based Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Co. is bringing back its Northwoods Lager seasonal brand to Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, and portions of Michigan and Illinois beginning Feb. 4, the company announced today.

Northwoods Lager, was first introduced in 1986 as a fall seasonal and became a year-round brew in 1990. It has been out of distribution for two years, and is returning as a seasonal brand in response to customer demand, a company statement said.

I like most beers Leinenkugels. North Woods Lager is pretty good.

Movies (including the best movie of 2007)

I saw the best movie of 2007 this week: The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.

An action western surrounding the private life and public exploits of America's most notorious outlaw, Jesse James. As the charismatic and unpredictable outlaw plans his next great robbery, he wages war on his enemies, who are trying to collect the reward money--and the glory--that is riding on his capture. However, the greatest threat to Jesse's life may ultimately come from those he trusts the most.

I'm avoiding watching A Mighty Heart, the story of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl's kidnapping and murder in Pakistan, because I already know so much about that story and I don't want to have to relive that disturbing story.

But even though I knew that the Assassination of Jesse James will have an ultimately disturbing ending, the story drew me in and the anticipation of the assassination was what kept me interested and on the edge of my seat. The movies 160 minutes long but the story is tight and moves quickly.

Brad Pitt is excellent is his role as a tired-eyed, mentally-unstable Jesse James. Casey Affleck was nominated for the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his role as Robert Ford. There are other good actors in this film as well, like Sam Rockwell, Jeremy Renner, Sam Shepard, and Mary-Louise Parker.

I was excited to see Nick Cave, from Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, playing a saloon singer near the end of the film. He sang The Ballad of Jesse James, which I had first heard on Bruce Springsteen's album We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions. I know now that it's a traditional song that many artists have recorded, including Van Morrison.

Anyway, the movie was great and is the best I saw that was made in 2007.


Another film I watched this week was Across the Universe, a musical based on interpretations of classic Beatles songs. I thought there were some obvious similarities to Moulin Rouge!, which undoubtedly inspired this film.

A romantic musical told mainly through numerous Beatles songs performed by the characters. A young man from Liverpool comes to America during the Vietnam War to find his father. He winds up in Greenwich Village, where he falls in love with an American girl who has grown up sheltered in the suburbs. Together they experience the sweeping changes of America in the late 60's.

The main character is a Moulin Rouge! rip off of Ewan McGregor, named Jude (of course), played by Jim Sturgess.

The heroine in the film is Evan Rachel Wood. I really like her as an actress and I just watched in the film King of California with Michael Douglas. I first saw in the TV series Once and Again years ago. She apparently sings her own songs in this movie and sounds great.

Bono from U2 also has a small role in the film and sings a couple songs.

I'm not a huge Beatles fan but I really liked Moulin Rouge!, and I thought this film worked and is worth watching. If you're a big Bealtes or musical fan, you'll probably love it.


The final film from this week was Rendition.

A thriller that centers on Isabella El-Ibrahimi, the American wife of Egyptian-born chemical engineer Anwar El-Ibrahimi, who disappears on a flight from South Africa to Washington. Isabella desperately tries to track her husband down, while a CIA analyst at a secret detention facility outside the U.S. is forced to question his assignment as he becomes party to the man's unorthodox interrogation.

I wasn't expecting too much of this film, but it was decent. The story avoids being predictable for the most part and thankfully puts limits on the torture scenes that, in a film like this, are mandatory.

Reese Witherspoon and Jake Gyllenhaal play the good Americans in this film. This is also the first time I saw Peter Sarsgaard play a non-bad guy. The evil people are J.K. Simmons (the great actor from Law & Order and everything else these days) and Meryl Streep, along with miscellaneous Muslim terrorists.

And guess what? This film teaches us a lesson: not all Muslims are terrorists. Thank you film industry, we get it. You can stop making movies about it now.

New Milwaukee brewery: Buffalo Water Brewing Co.

I may be late to the game, but according to Suds, Wine & Spirits, a new brewery has opened in Milwaukee called Buffalo Water Brewing Company. Their website says both Buffalo Water Beer Company and Brewing Company, so who knows?

From the pictures on their website, it appears they are using Milwaukee Brewing Company's brewing equipment at their new stand-alone brewery at 613 South 2nd St (Jim McCabe owns the Milwaukee Ale House and Milwaukee Brewing Company). The Suds website says BWBC leases space at the 2nd Street brewery and is a separate company from the Ale House, although their relationship with them is obviously a close one. They plan on eventually brewing their beer via contract at multiple locations around country.

Their website says that Buffalo Water Beer Company is located at the intersection of Water Street and Buffalo Street in the heart of Milwaukee’s Historic Third Ward district, which is also where the new and popular Water Buffalo Restaurant and Bar is located (and just down the block from the Ale House).

The Buffalo Water Brewing Company's flagship (and only) beer, Bison Blonde is now on tap at the Milwaukee Ale House and Just Arts Saloon (also on 2nd Street). The brewery has two more beers in the works: a witte and a nutty ale.

The blonde beer was specifically formulated to be paired with Buffalo wings and other hot and spicy foods. Bison Blonde is brewed in accordance with Reinheitsgebot and has 4.4% ABV.

Update: I tasted this beer last weekend at the Midwinter Brew Fest. It's OK. I think the beer might be more about marketing right now instead of taste. Pretty soon all the young teens will be saying they "slammed a Blonde" this weekend, which is one of Buffalo Water Beer Company's slogans.

Obama gets the beer vote

The National Beer Wholesalers Association has a new website (http://www.whodoyouwanttohaveabeerwith.com) that that asks the question "Which of the presidential candidates would you rather have a beer with in 2008?"

Thank God for the National Beer Wholesalers Association. They're not afraid to ask voters the tough questions.

If you think the results of the presidential election will be based on the beer vote (and I do), then Barack Obama should win by a landslide (he's currently at 28%). Internet favorite Ron Paul is 2nd with 15%. I admit, it would be fun to have a drink with Ron Paul and find out why he'd decriminalize drugs at the federal level.

The website states, “drinking a beer with someone means more than just quenching thirst. It means spending quality time with another person.” I would think getting a buzz from alcohol is also a part of it.

“Sitting down for a beer is a great way for people to get to know each other and share stories. And the 2008 presidential campaign is all about getting to know the candidates better.”

Cover boy

I don't believe in the Sports Illustrated Cover Curse. It's a myth, right? After all, the Patriots have been on the cover all year, and they're doing just fine.

Movies

I watched He Was a Quiet Man last night. I hadn't heard of it before but it had a 80% rating on Rotton Tomatoes, so I gave it a chance.

It was bad.

Christian Slater (from nothing good lately) was main star and it also featured William H. Macy (from many great roles) and Elisha Cuthbert (from "24" on TV).

I thought it had some very interesting camera work and special effects, but they seemed cheesy after awhile and seemed more appropriate for a funky short. The acting was predictable and the story was weak - I thought there a major plot fault as well. I wouldn't recommend it.


I also finally saw No Country for Old Men with Tommy Lee Jones, Josh Brolin, and Javier Bardem.

Just as everything I've read about it and like everyone else I've talked to, I thought it was great.

Although I'm pretty sure that while I understood the ending, I didn't like it. Maybe I just wasn't satisfied by it. I didn't want to be taught a lesson about good and evil in that way.

More Good Movies

I saw two more movies this week. Both of them were quite good.

Atonement
Fledgling writer Briony Tallis, as a 13-year-old, irrevocably changes the course of several lives when she accuses her older sister's (Keira Knightley) lover (James McAvoy) of a crime he did not commit. Based on the British romance novel by Ian McEwan.

With a little romance and a little war, this movie has something for everyone! I hadn't heard of the book, but it was very popular and the story is great.

But I have a hard team understanding spoken British in movies, so if you're like me, you may want to wait for the DVD so you can turn on the English subtitles.


Charlie Wilson's War
A drama based on a Texas congressman Charlie Wilson's covert dealings in Afghanistan, where his efforts to assist rebels in their war with the Soviets have some unforeseen and long-reaching effects. Starring Tom Hanks, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Julia Roberts.

Philip Seymour Hoffman is in pretty much every movie these days, but he's a terrific actor and is great in this film. Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts pretty much play the same role they play in all movies - themselves (but this time with Texas accents)!

But the story is what makes this film good and it's an interesting 'true' story that I hadn't heard in this way before. There are many parallels to the war we are currently fighting in Afghanistan, which I'm sure was one of the producers main points.

There's even a reference in the movie to the killing of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in Pakistan, which seemed very eerie to me because his daughter Benazir Bhutto was killed in Pakistan a few days before I watched this film.

'Hearty Eater' Says Buffet Banned Him

Homer Simpsons: All you can eat? Ha!

Lionel Hutz: Mr. Simpson, this is the most blatant case of fraudulent advertising since my suit against the film, The Never-Ending Story.

From Yahoo! News:

HOUMA, La. - A 6-foot-3, 265-pound man says a restaurant overcharged him for his trips to the buffet line, then banned him and a relative because they're hearty eaters. A spokesman for the restaurant denies the claim.

Ricky Labit, a disabled offshore worker, said he had been a regular for eight months at the Manchuria Restaurant in Houma, eating there as often as three times a week.

On his most recent visit, he said, a waitress gave him and his wife's cousin, 44-year-old Michael Borrelli, a bill for $46.40, roughly double the buffet price for two adults.

"She says, 'Y'all fat, and y'all eat too much,'" Labit said.

Labit and Borrelli said they felt discriminated against because of their size. "I was stunned, that somebody would say something like that. I ain't that fat, I only weigh 277," Borrelli said, adding that a waitress told him he looked like he a had a "baby in the belly."

Houma accountant Thomas Campo said the men were charged an extra $10 each on Dec. 21 because they made a habit of dining exclusively on the more expensive seafood dishes, including crab legs and frog legs.

"We have a lot of big people there," said Campo, who spoke for owner Li Shang, whose English is limited. "We don't discriminate."

Labit denied ever being told he would be asked to pay more than the standard adult price.

The argument grew heated, and police were called.

The police report states, "The incident was settled when the management advised that the bill was a mistake and, to appease Ricky, the meal was complimentary."

Labit said he insisted on paying but was told not to come back. He complained that when seafood on the buffet line runs out, the restaurant only grudgingly cooks more.

Campo said the proprietress tries to reduce waste of quality food, he said.

"Food is for eating, not toys for your child," reads a sign posted on a wall in typewritten text. A handwritten addition reads "Or 20% added."