Year-end movie reviews

I watched a few movies over the holiday break. Some were really good. Here's the rundown.

Gone Baby Gone

Directed by Ben Affleck. Starring his brother Casey Affleck, Michelle Monaghan, Ed Harris, and Morgan Freeman.

Based on the Dennis Lehane novel (he also wrote Mystic River) about two Boston area detectives investigating a little girl's kidnapping, which ultimately turns into a crisis both professionally and personally.

I thought this was a good movie that didn't follow the usual predictable story line for the most part. Casey Affleck does a great job playing a believable character and I like any movie with Ed Harris playing a bad-ass. Michelle Monaghan does OK in her role. She also played Tom Cruise's wife in Mission: Impossible 3. I recommend this movie.


Before the Devil Knows You're Dead

Starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ethan Hawke, and Marisa Tomei.

When two brothers organize the robbery of their parents' jewelery store, the job goes horribly wrong, triggering a series of events that sends them, their father and one brother's wife hurtling towards a shattering climax.

This was one of my favorite films of the year. It's a great Fargo-like family crime story where nothing goes right. I like Philip Seymour Hoffman and he plays a great role in this film. I recommend this movie.



Once

I hadn't heard of this movie until I read about it on a couple of lists of best movies of 2007. It stars Glen Hansard from the Irish rock band The Frames and Markéta Irglová as struggling musicians. Hansard and/or Irglová composed and performed all but one of the original songs in the movie.

It's described as a modern-day musical about a busker and an immigrant and their eventful week, as they write, rehearse and record songs that tell their love story.

The film was shot for only $160,000 received the World Cinema Audience Award for a dramatic film at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival. I liked it a lot and thought is was interesting and unpredictable. I recommend it.


I am Legend

Staring Will Smith. Years after a plague kills most of humanity and transforms the rest into monsters, the sole survivor in New York City struggles valiantly to find a cure.

I thought this movie was entertaining, although it wasn't great. I thought 28 Days Later... did a much better job telling the same story and was much more frightening. The computer animated zombies definitely detracted from I am Legend. I preferred normal actors playing the zombies in 28 Days Later. Real people wanting to kill you is much scarier than computer monsters, in my opinion.

I did like the movie though, and it's worth watching. Maybe wait for the DVD.


I'm Not There

This is the biographical film inspired by the life of musician Bob Dylan. I was eagerly anticipating watching it, but I was disappointed with the result. The storyline was too disjointed and difficult to follow for me to enjoy the film.

I'm Not There depicts the Dylan through seven distinct stages of his life by using six different actors (Marcus Carl Franklin, Ben Whishaw, Heath Ledger, Christian Bale, Richard Gere, and Cate Blanchett).

Wikipedia says the film tells its story using non-traditional techniques, similar to the poetic narrative style of Dylan's songwriting. It takes its name from the Dylan outtake "I'm Not There", which was never officially released until being included on the film's official soundtrack album.

I guess the poetic narrative didn't work for me. The acting was very good and the music was fantastic, but the story was weird and didn't flow and I lost patience trying to keep track of what was happening after the first hour.

I read several very positive reviews of this film (one that called this the best movie of 2007) and I had high expectations for it. Even though I am a big Bob Dylan fan, I don't recommend this movie, unless you just want to enjoy the music.

I did get the two disc soundtrack after watching the film and it's great. Eddie Vedder, Sonic Youth, Richie Havens, John Doe, Yo La Tengo, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Jack Johnson, and Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová (from the movie Once) all perform on it.


Juno

Starring Ellen Page, Michael Cera, Jennifer Garner, and Jason Bateman.

Faced with an unplanned pregnancy, an offbeat young woman makes an unusual decision regarding her unborn child.

I read several positive reviews of this film and I agreed with them. This movie is funny and touching and very entertaining. The lead actress Ellen Page played her role perfectly and I think she is likely to win an award for her acting. I recommend this movie.

I saw this movie at the Marcus North Shore theater in Mequon on a Friday night and that was probably a mistake. Half of the theater was filled with spoiled North Shore teens with their Ugg boots and North Face jackets who constantly opened their mobile phones throughout the movie to check for text messages. The kids were also chatting during parts of the movie and their bright phone screens in the darkness annoyed and distracted me and also reminded me that I'm now a grumpy old man. It's just another reason why I prefer watching movies at home.

Best Madison Beers of 2007

Robin Shepard from the Isthmus lists the best Madison beers of 2007 (Madison and the surrounding areas, I guess). The complete descriptions and links can be found on their website. There are some great beers listed here, and I haven't tried them all yet.

Here's the breakdown:

Most surprising beer
New Glarus Brewing Company -- Smoke on the Porter

Biggest beer
Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Company -- Big Eddy Russian Imperial Stout

Best seasonal beer
Tyranena Brewing Company -- Gemuetlichkeit Oktoberfest

Best beer for a nightcap
Central Waters Brewing Company -- Bourbon Barrel Stout

Best summertime beer
Furthermore Beer -- Fatty Boombalatty

Lowest-cost beer with "some" flavor
Minhas Craft Brewery / Joseph Huber Brewing Company -- Berghoff Red

Best beer for a bowl game
Ale Asylum -- Hopalicious

Best beer to ring in the new year
Great Dane Pub and Brewing Company -- Merry Isthmus Ale

Best beer after shoveling snow
Capital Brewery -- Autumnal Fire

Best beer of 2007
Lake Louie Brewing: Louie's Reserve (L.R.)

The best toilet paper ever

Charmin Extra Strong is the only toilet paper that I'm going to buy from now on. It has the perfect combination of strength and comfort, just like Clint Eastwood in The Bridges of Madison County.

I can never go back to weak regular toilet paper that falls apart with each use. You could use this stuff to dry your car or wallpaper your kitchen.

Why is it so good? Let's see what Charmin's website has to say about it:

Charmin® Extra Strong holds up better than the regular kitten brand to help get your family clean. That’s because it has uniquely woven FlexWeave fibres for extra strength. And it still has the softness you love!

Wait a minute, what does regular kitten brand mean?

kitten \ˈki-tən\, noun
a young cat; also : an immature or young individual of various other small mammals

The bottom of their website states: Claims valid only in Canada. That explains things a bit, like why they wrote fibres instead of fibers. You know, just like Kellogg's Fruit 'n Fibre, a delicious blend of wholewheat flakes packed with your favorite fruits including raisins, coconut, banana, apple and hazelnuts. Your spoon just can't escape the fruit!

So I did some more research, and apparently all toilet paper in Canada is made out of kittens! To citizens of the United States this might seem cruel, but Canadians have a long history of using kittens in a variety of products such as toilet paper, Canadian bacon, and Labatt Blue beer.

That's one of the reasons why Canada's murder rate is so low - they take out their anger on the kittens instead.

Beer by satellite

I justed discovered a cool website that allows you to download Point of Interest (POI) files to your GPS unit.

The site is called POI Factory and there are tons of free downloads - lists of places that other people created and mapped out the coordinates to - so all you need to do is download the list to your GPS and the new POI's will show up on your map.

They also have locations of red light enforcement cameras to help remind you to not go through a yellow-ish light at certain intersections. Wisconsin doesn't have any of the cameras yet, thankfully, but Chicago has a lot of them.

The site also lets you create your own POI lists and upload them to the site for others to use.

Here are the Wisconsin ones I could find.

• Milwaukee Attractions
• Wisconsin - Door County Attractions
• Wisconsin - Door County Restaurants
• Wisconsin - Lakes
• Wisconsin - Landforms
• Wisconsin Brew Pubs & Breweries
• Wisconsin Elks Lodges
• Wisconsin Ham Radio Repeaters
• Wisconsin Interstate Rest Areas
• Wisconsin military sites (historical)
• Wisconsin State Parks
• Wisconsin Waterfalls
• Wisconsin Wineries

I already downloaded the Wisconsin Brew Pubs & Breweries list - which contained 57 different entries. Now I can search for breweries along my current route or near my current location, or just have my GPS alert me when a brewery is nearby.

Most of the major GPS brands support POI's and the POI Factory is definitely worth a visit.

Mmmmm... beer ice cream

Ben & Jerry’s has created a special beer and donuts flavored ice cream to celebrate the DVD release of The Simpsons Movie.

The new flavor is called Duff 'n D'Oh-Nuts after Homer Simpson's favorite drink and food. It's a combination of cream stout-flavored ice cream mixed with chocolate ice cream and chocolate glazed donuts. There will unfortunately be no real beer in the mix.

It looks like I won't get to try any of it anyway. It's only available this week, on Saturday. And only in Springfield, Vermont, the city that won a contest to be named the official Springfield for the movie.

Do'h!

Oh, I did see the movie and thought it was OK. I enjoyed the new Futurama movie more.

Miller Lite Brewers Collection

Starting next February, Miller is planning to test-marketing 3 new low-calorie beers, part of their new Miller Lite Brewers Collection. The three new beers are Blonde Ale, Amber, and Wheat, each with fewer calories and carbs than a typical beer for that style.

There aren't many successfully light beers in the increasingly popular craft-beer market. These beers should give college girls and fat guys who don't like beer another choice instead of just Miller Lite.

Miller Lite Brewers Collection Wheat will feature a subtle citrus character. Miller Lite Brewers Collection Amber is made with roasted malts and has a mild hop character. Miller Lite Brewers Collection Blonde Ale will offer a "crispness and slight maltiness balanced by a recognizable hop aroma."

For some reason, they won't be testing the new beers in Milwaukee. Minneapolis, Charlotte, San Diego, and Baltimore are the test cities.

Law & Order

I hope it isn't true that Detective Lennie Briscoe killed his wife. I always though he was a tough but honest cop.

TomTom toy

I just bought the TomTom One for myself. It was a SlickDeal^®, so I had to buy it, right?

This is my second GPS because I bought a Garmin GPSMAP 60c a couple years ago, but that unit is made more for the trail instead of the road. It does a good job Geocaching though.

My BlackBerry 8800 also has a GPS that works with Google Maps, but it pretty much sucks as far as keeping a satellite signal goes. It sucks so much that I recently switched to the BlackBerry Curve that lacks a GPS but has a built-in camera (the newest Curve has GPS, a camera, and Wi-Fi).

I'm impressed with the TomTom so far. It's really thin and compact and came with everything you need for the car. It has 1GB of memory that holds a map of the entire US and Canada. My Garmin only has 64MB and can hold a little more than Wisconsin at one time. The TomTom also has a SD slot for more maps like Europe and Asia, if I choose to travel there and buy the maps.

It also has a voice prompt that helps you navigate. My Garmin only had a beep. You can even download celebrity voices such as Mr T, Gary Busey, Dennis Hopper, and Burt Reynolds. And there's also away to record your own voice prompts, I think.

The user interface is also steps beyond the Garmin. You can pretty much figure out the menus as soon as you turn it on. The only thing I don't like so far are the web-based updates. They're more complicated then they need to be and not everything is free.

Apocalyptolicious!

I finally saw Apocalypto. If you like Mel Gibson (director) and violent human sacrifices, this movie is for you!

Actually, it was pretty good.

As the Mayan kingdom faces its decline, the rulers insist the key to prosperity is to build more temples and offer human sacrifices. Jaguar Paw, a young man captured for sacrifice, flees to avoid his fate.



I also saw Waitress, starring Felicity. If you like romantic comedies and pie, this movie is for you!

It was actually better than I expected, especially if you like pie. Heather gives it an 8 out of 10. I give it something slightly lower than that.

Jenna is a pregnant, unhappily married waitress in the deep south. She meets a newcomer to her town and falls into an unlikely relationship as a last attempt at happiness.

Great Dane can now sell their own beer

Starting last week, the Great Dane Pub and Brewing Company started selling their own brand of beer at its Hilldale restaurant in Madison.

The brew pub opened its third Madison location last year, but was unable to sell its own beer there because of a law dating back to the 1930’s that prevented them from selling at more than 2 locations. So Great Dane had been selling their competitors' beer, and their brew kettles at the Hilldale location remained dry.

A provision in the new Wisconsin state budget now allows to brewpubs to sell their own beer at up to six locations without using a distributor. They can also to brew up to 10,000 barrels of beer per year, an increase from the 4,000-barrel limit under previous laws.

But the beer distributors successfully lobbied to add restrictions to the provision that prevent breweries from making both a lot of beer and serving food. So brew pubs that are successful in making beer (so they eventually reach that 10,000 limit) have to stop serving food. And successful breweries can’t open a restaurant at their site or at another location.

So who would think that’s a good idea – telling a brewery that they can’t open a restaurant? The beer distributors do. They don’t want places serving their own beer. They want their money, so they want to distribute all the beer. But since beer at a brewery doesn't need to be distributed, they made it illegal instead.

This limits business unfairly, and is a stupid law. What started out as a good idea (allowing Great Dane to serve their own beer – a no brainer) turned ugly once the distributors got their hands on it.

I’m not aware of any businesses that effected so far – supposedly all breweries operating before the law went into effect have been grandfathered in and are still allowed to sell food. But any new breweries won’t be able to sell food. We'll see how it works out.

Half Acre, All Wisconsin

I was in Chicago this week and I finally tried one of the beers from Half Acre Beer Company that I wrote about in September.

It was good, but that's probably because it's made in Black River Falls, Wisconsin by the Sand Creek Brewing Company (contract beers account for 30% of their production).

They only make one beer so far - Half Acre Lager - and it was tasty. My 3 choices at the hotel were only Half Acre, Heineken, and Miller Lite, so I think I made the right selection. It was a pretty light beer but it had good malt and hop taste to it - much more taste than tradition light beers. I'd have it again.

I also went to Goose Island Brewery in Wrigleyville. While there I had a $10 glass of their Imperial IPA which was great (9% alcohol but come on, $10?). I also sampled 8 more of their beers, many of which I had before but the good ones were Matilda, 312 Urban Wheat, and their Christmas Ale. The brew pub is a nice place with decent food too.

Eastern Promises & Futurama

Two more movie recommendations from this week:

Eastern Promises
The film follows the mysterious and ruthless Nikolai (Viggo Mortensen), who is tied to one of London's most notorious organized crime families. His carefully maintained existence is jarred when he crosses paths with Anna (Naomi Watts), an innocent midwife trying to right a wrong, who accidentally uncovers potential evidence against the family. Now Nikolai must put into motion a harrowing chain of murder, deceit, and retribution.

I could tell this was going to be a pretty violent movie just by reading the plot keywords from IMDB for this film: Stabbed In The Eye, Nude Fight Scene, Frozen Corpse, Severed Finger. Surprisingly, there are 39 movies listed as having nude fight scenes, and most of them I haven't seen yet. I guess I have some catching up to do.

If you enjoyed A History of Violence, you'll enjoy this film, especially because it's from the same director (David Cronenberg) and again stars Viggo Mortensen. The story is fairly simple and told in an unusually straightforward manner, but the characters are complex and interesting, and they're the focus of the movie.


Futurama: Bender's Big Score!
Planet Express sees a hostile takeover and Bender falls into the hands of criminals where he is used to fulfill their schemes.

I've been excitedly anticipating this direct-to-DVD movie since I read about it this summer. It's a very satisfying movie for Futurama fans as they address the show's cancellation from FOX two years ago and tie up other loose ends.

All your favorite Futurama characters are back, including Robot Santa, KwanzaBot, Chanukah Zombie, and Al Gore.

They are planning to release 3 more DVD movies and then they will chop them all up into 16 episodes to air on Comedy Central along with new episodes.


I also watched a bad movie called I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry which I assume is offensive to gay people everywhere. It's also offensive to straight people everywhere, since the story is so stupid. I don't think it contains a single joke that you haven't heard elsewhere, like every gay joke you heard in 6th grade.

Jessica Biel is pretty though.

Nod to Bob

I'm going to this. 2 blocks from my house. 3rd year in a row. For a good cause.




Update: We really enjoyed the show. One of the definite standouts was Victoria Vox, who sang great versions of You Ain't Goin’ Nowhere, I'll be Your Baby Tonight, and Not Dark Yet. She played ukulele and a really cool mouth trumpet, which I had never heard before. Quite impressive.

Here's a video of her performing Uking at the Wheel, while she is uking at the wheel.


We also really liked Amy Rohan (who we've heard and enjoyed before) and Dan Hanson & The X-Rays.

Duff Man can't breathe! Oh, no!

I would have guessed that Duff Beer would be the first alcoholic beverage inspired by a cartoon, but Family Guy beat The Simpsons to the punch.

Family Guy will soon be the first animated show ever to have a beer licensee.

In an example of reverse product placement, Pawtucket Patriot Ale will appear in liquor stores and specialty outlets next year.

Family Guy is also being used to advertise Subway restaurants, starting this month. In one ad, an animated Peter Griffin presents an "ode to a Subway feast" in which he makes fun of Subway spokesman Jared.

I want to be a pirate

I saw this boat sitting in the shallow waters near Bradford Beach off of Lincoln Memorial Drive. I even got out of my car and took a picture on my cell phone (although this isn't my cell phone picture).

I thought there was a law that said if you found an abandoned boat at sea, you could claim it as your own. But the article below implies that isn't true in the Great Lakes.

Here's the article about the boat and what it's doing there:

Dream boat came to rest on the rocks

The $15 drink

Last Friday night Bartolotta's Lake Park Bistro sold me a $15 drink. They also sold me two $7.50 drinks, but I'm not worried about those.


The $15 drink wasn't an expensive glass of wine or a 10 year old scotch - this was a cocktail - a cosmopolitan. The same type of drink that City Lounge in Cudahy sells for $5 on Monday nights. The same type of drink that the bar at Hotel Metro in downtown Milwaukee charges only $5 for during their happy hour.



Here's the standard recipe for a cosmo:

1 oz vodka
1/2 oz triple sec
1/2 oz lime juice
1/2 oz cranberry juice

Shake vodka, triple sec, lime and cranberry juice vigorously in a shaker with ice. Strain into a martini glass, garnish with a lime wedge on the rim, and serve.


I'm not trying to be a cheap-ass here, but $15 is too much for a cosmo. I can understand $8 or $9, but $15 is crazy. I can buy an entire bottle of Absolut Vodka for $20 and make many cosmos. Next time I will.

Movies

I recently saw two movies that I recommend.



King of California

Michael Douglas and Evan Rachel Wood

An unstable dad who after getting out of a mental institution tries to convince his daughter that there's Spanish gold buried somewhere under suburbia.






American Gangster

Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe

In 1970s America, a detective works to bring down the drug empire of Frank Lucas, a heroin kingpin from Manhattan, who is smuggling the drug into the country in the coffins of soldiers returning from the Vietnam War.

Here are the ones I saw that I don't recommend:

Sam Adams backs down, Sam Adams victorious

Here's an update to the Sam Adams vs. Sam Adams case I wrote about last month.

Sam Adams the beer was suing Sam Adams the guy running for mayor of Portland because some radio station registered some Sam Adams related websites on behalf of him.

Initially, the beer company said it would infringe on a trademark for their product and confuse beer customers. But after a short legal battle, the company backed off.

"They say they've been using this trademark since 1984," Sam Adams the man said. "I've been using it since 1963."

Boston Beer's Helen Bornemann said she didn't know there was a real Sam Adams running for mayor when she sent the letter.

The radio station planned to officially give the domain names to Portland City Commissioner Sam Adams this week.

Budweiser says Miller is mean

From JSOnline:
Miller Brewing Co. is ratcheting up its attack on rival Anheuser-Busch Cos. with a new TV spot that features some of Anheuser-Busch's most famous mascots: Clydesdale horses and a Dalmatian dog. The ad, which began running this week, shows a Dalmatian on a beer wagon pulled by Clydesdales. The dog, however, jumps into the open window of Miller beer truck - presumably enticed by Miller Lite having more taste and fewer carbs than Bud Light. Anheuser-Busch responded today with full-page ads in the Journal Sentinel, USA Today and other newspapers. The newspaper ads characterize the TV spot as "negative" and say Anheuser-Busch is responding by donating money to animal rescue groups.

Ha ha ha ha. How is that a negative ad, and who cares? Most dogs I know are exclusively Bud Light drinkers. On a related note, many of those same dogs enjoy eating their own poop.

There, I said it. Drinking Bud Light is just as bad as eating your own poop.

Point Brewery Winter Ale

Point is continuing to make new seasonal beers. Last August, I mentioned that they were making an Oktoberfest - now it's a Winter Ale.

According to JSOnline, Stevens Point Brewery is launching a new seasonal specialty beer, called St. Benedict's Winter Ale, the brewery announced today.

Stevens Point Brewery is introducing St. Benedict's Winter Ale in early November in Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa, and Minnesota. It is the first winter seasonal specialty beer for the Stevens Point Brewery, which brews Point Oktoberfest for the fall and a Point bock beer in the spring. A summer seasonal is also planned.

Samuel Adams Utopias

Just in time for Christmas, the Boston Beer Company has announced the 2007 batch of Samuel Adams Utopias. If you were planning on wasting $120-$140 on me anyway, consider buying me one bottle of this stuff.

According to their press release, Samuel Adams Utopias is a strong, rich, dark beer that is uncarbonated and is served not pint by frosty pint, but at room temperature in a two-ounce pour, to be savored like a vintage port or a fine cognac. Breaking the record for commercially brewed beers held by the 2005 batch of Samuel Adams Utopias, the 2007 batch of Samuel Adams Utopias weighs in at 27% alcohol by volume. The average beer is about 5%.

It also comes in a cool golden bottle!

The 2007 batch of Samuel Adams Utopias is a blend of liquids, some of which have been aged in a variety of woods at the Boston Brewery for up to 13 years. A portion of the beer was aged in hand-selected, single-use bourbon casks from the Buffalo Trace Distillery. The extended aging process enhances the distinct cinnamon, vanilla, and maple notes in the beer’s flavor. The beer is then finished in sherry and madeira casks from Portugal. The sherry casks add nutty, oak, and honey notes, while the madeira casks contribute slightly more elegant, creamy fudge-toffee aromas and flavors.

I tasted the 2005 batch at the Great Taste of the Midwest beer festival in Madison. It was good, but the entire bottle would have probably lasted me until this year. It's best enjoyed in small doses.

Big Eddy Russian Imperial Stout

I like that Leinenkugel's keeps trying new beer recipes. A lot of “non-sophisticated” beer drinkers trust the Leinenkugel's name and are more likely to try a new kind of beer if Leinie’s presents it to them instead of a small microbrewery.

JSonline is reporting that Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Co. is rolling out a new brand of stout for sale in Wisconsin and Michigan.

Big Eddy Russian Imperial Stout will be available in the Milwaukee, Madison, Detroit and Grand Rapids areas. It is the second brand from Leinenkugel's that uses the "Big Eddy" name, which comes from the name of the spring that feeds the Leinenkugel brewery in Chippewa Falls.

Leinenkugel's earlier this year began test marketing Big Eddy Imperial IPA (and it's good).

Rowland's Calumet Brewing Company

Why haven't I heard of the Rowland's Calumet Brewing Company? I've been to a lot of different beer tastings with breweries from around the state, but I don't believe I've ever had any of their beer. They weren't at the Great Taste of the Midwest, so maybe they don't do beer events. Chilton is less than two hours north of Milwaukee so I think I'll have to check out their brew pub the next time I'm nearby.

From the Fond du Lac Reporter:

CHILTON — Oktoberfest beer made by Rowland's Calumet Brewing Co. of Chilton has been named one of the Top 10 Oktoberfest Beers in the country by Draft magazine.

Draft said Rowland's Oktoberfest Beer, "never falters." The beer was featured in the September/October 2007 issue of Draft.

"This is a complete surprise," said Pat Rowland, son of Rowland's founders Robert and Bonita Rowland. "We didn't even know that we were being tested. This is a real honor."

"Oktoberfest Beer started out as a seasonal beer for us and the demand was so high that we just started brewing it all year round since 2002," Bonita Rowland said.

Rowland's makes about 25 beers, 11 of which can be ordered on tap at any time at the company's beer pub. Rowland's also brews a draft root beer and a handful of specialty beers like "Pumpkin," used in local fall festivals. The Rowland family has been brewing beers since 1990.

The brewery and beer pub are located at 25 N. Madison St. in Chilton (Highway 57).

Sam Adams the Beer vs. Sam Adams the Man

The online edition of the Wall Street Journal is reporting that Portland city commissioner Sam Adams decided to run for mayor.

Some local radio hosts registered the Web addresses http://www.samadamsformayor.com and http://www.mayorsamadams.com, and promised to give them to Adams if he discussed his mayoral platform on their show.

The radio hosts then received a cease-and-desist letter from the Boston Beer Company last week. “Boston Beer has used the trademarks SAM ADAMS and SAMUEL ADAMS since 1984,” said the letter.

The radio hosts — who detail the “brew-ha-ha” here — have responded by broadcasting the sound of a Sam Adams pint being poured into the toilet.

New Beer on Tap - Lakefront IPA

My Lakefront Oktoberfest keg was tapped-out in just one night at Oztoberfest (ok, so I first tapped it a week before, but that was I could get the CO₂ levels just right, I promise), so I cleaned my tap lines again and Heather went to get some new beer for us at Lakefront Brewery.

I was in a hoppy mood so she picked up some Lakefront IPA. I don't know why it doesn't have a special name, but Lakefront was against making an India Pale Ale for years before Luther from Onopa Brewery (now Stonefly Brewery) joined their team. I'm glad they're experimenting with new recipes.

The only Lakefront IPA that I can find listed on Beer Advocate is called Mangy Rabbit. I'm not sure if it's the same beer or not, but I think it is. It was rated a 4.22 out of 5, but with limited reviews.

I had the IPA on the brewery tour two weeks ago and it was great. The barrel we have tastes very fresh and the keg is only 14 days old. They didn't have any quarter barrels available, so she bought me a half, so it should last quite awhile (keg deposits at Lakefront are up to $30, due to the good recycling costs).

I'm a big fan of harsh, bitter IPA's, like Bitter Woman IPA from Tyranena. The Lakefront IPA is more smooth, but a great beer, very hoppy, citrusy, and relatively light.

Stupid Brew Pub Law Update

As I discussed in an earlier post, under current law, a Wisconsin brew pub can operate only two locations if it produces more than 4,000 barrels of beer a year. That is stupid. Why limit businesses like that?

Great Dane Pub & Brewing Co., a Madison-area brew pub operator, opened its third location earlier this year, but is not allowed to serve their own beer there. So instead, they have to serve their competitors' beer. That is stupid too.

Earlier this year, Great Dane asked for a change in the law to lift the production limit to 10,000 barrels and allows up to six locations. That sounds like a good plan, except that 10,000 is too low, especially for places like Lake Front Brewery. But it's still a good start.

But the beer distribution industry (who has strong connections in Wisconsin government) doesn't like brew pubs and microbreweries because they are able to distribute their own beer.

When they heard about Great Dane's proposal, they were quickly able to get a provision added that bans a licensed brew pub operator from also owning a brewery that produces beer for packaged sales.

It also prevents breweries that are currently producing over 10,000 barrels from obtaining a restaurant permit. And if a brewery is under the 10,000 barrel limit, the brewery will be able to get a restaurant permit but will never be able to grow above 10,000 barrels unless they give up the restaurant.

The budget proposal also includes a provision banning Wisconsin wineries from selling their vintages directly to restaurants, liquor stores and other retailers. Instead, wineries would be forced to sell through wine wholesalers.

Since a lot of brewery business models in the state have been built on having a restaurant in their facility, this is a very damaging addition to the bill.

This bill was in the spotlight last July and was successfully tabled by opposition from microbrewery and brewpub owners in Milwaukee and the rest of the state. But this weekend the bill was quietly added to the proposed state budget, which was passed and now goes to Governor Doyle to sign. He does have power to veto any part of the budget, including this stupid brew pub law.

At least two Milwaukee breweries will be affected by the law if the budget is signed as-is. Lakefront Brewery would not be allowed to open another location (like a restaurant or bar) and sell their own beer there. The production limit might require him to close the Lakefront Palm Garden restaurant, which operates at his brewery, 1872 N. Commerce St. Lakefront Brewery this year will produce around 9,600 barrels and is expected to exceed 10,000 barrels in 2008.

The Milwaukee Ale House is building a stand-alone brewery in Walkers Point. But if this law is passed they may be forced to convert the 2nd Street brewery into a brew pub - a move that would require a large investment.

JSOnline has the full article about the Ale House.


10/26 Update: It appears that Doyle has signed the budget with the new brewing restrictions intact. I guess time will tell how this affects our state microbreweries and brew pubs.

I really don't think Great Dane should be vilified for wanting this change to Wisconsin law, even though Tyranena and other state breweries are mad at them. The Wisconsin Wholesalers Association and the Wisconsin Brewers Guild are the main culprits. The law that was passed puts limitations on the microbreweries in Wisconsin in order to aid the beer distributing businesses. Artificially limiting the success of a business can't be a good thing.

Considering Wisconsin's brewing heritage, we should try to be as brewery-friendly as we can in this state, and do everything possible to promote this unique craft industry, not limit its growth.

The original Budweiser may be sold to the imposter Budweiser

The Associated Press is reporting that within a few years, Budejovicky Budvar NP — one of Europe's last state-owned breweries — may be sold.

The Czech government has kicked off a privatization process that could lead to the sale of one of the state's most prized possessions: their beloved brewery considered as much a national treasure as the premium lager it insists is the world's original Budweiser.

Czech beer lovers fear that Budvar could even wind up owned by its arch rival, U.S. beer giant Anheuser-Busch. For more than a century, the two companies have been locked in a bitter trademark battle for rights to the Budweiser name.

Although Budvar considers itself the maker of the original Budweiser, it has exported its lager to the U.S. under the name Czechvar since 2001 because Anheuser-Busch has firm control of the U.S. trademark on the name.

Mmmm... Brains

When I was in Madison this weekend for the Wisconsin Badger football game, I witnessed a parade of zombies marching through the streets, protesting for more zombie rights.

According to the zombies, they prefer the word lurch instead of parade, and here’s what they say on their website:

Zombie Lurch!
Tired of your rights as a member of the living dead being violated? Sick of people putting you down or worse, screaming and trying to smash your head with a cricket bat? We don't deserve to be treated like this! We will no longer stand for being viewed as lesser citizens. We need to fight for our rights and demand equal treatment.

The Coalition Of the Living Dead (COLD) will gather on Saturday October 20th at 2:00 pm at the state capitol in Madison Wisconsin and lurch for our rights as zombies. COLD encourages zombies and zombie supporters to come equipped with signs and slogans to make our point. We will raise our voices and we will not be ignored. We will lurch from the capitol down State Street to the Memorial Union.

I, for one, am a supporter of zombie culture. I see nothing wrong with the zombie lifestyle and I know it’s not a choice – zombies are born that way. If two zombies want to get together and do zombie things to each other, I see nothing wrong with it as long as they don’t bother anyone.

But I put my foot down when it comes to zombies getting married. Marriage should be between a man and a woman, not brain-eating zombies!

Brewery offers "lifetime supply" of beer in return for stolen laptop

The Croucher Brewing Company in Rotorua, New Zealand, is offering a lifetime supply of beer in exchange for the safe return of a company laptop computer that was stolen from their brewery earlier this month.

The computer contains proprietary brewery information but doesn't have a lot of street value, according to the company.

But I guess the phrase "lifetime supply" doesn't mean the same thing to everyone. The brewery says that the person who returns the laptop will get "one dozen Croucher Brewing boutique
beers every month for the rest of their life!"

While 12 boutique beers a month is a good start, but what am I going to drink the other 3.3 weeks each month?

Maybe if Croucher ups their offer to 30 beers a month, I'll think about returning the lapper.

Brad Pitt chooses fatherhood over beer

Don't let this happen to you! You can have both!

Brad Pitt thinks drinking beer made him a neglectful dad.

The Ocean's Thirteen star decided to massively cut down his alcohol intake after seeing his adopted daughter Zahara, two, choke on an ice cube.

He said: "It's not easy to be a good father when you've had a few drinks.

"About a year ago I'd had a couple of beers and my daughter Zahara had this piece of ice that had been dropped on the floor, and she was putting it in her mouth and began to choke on it, and that was it.

"You have to be absolutely on top of every situation. The other shit doesn't work anymore. When they wake up in the middle of the night you have to be there.

"And you can't deal with children when you have a hangover - that's just a misery!"

Great American Beer Fest Winners

The Great American Beer Festival is a three-day annual event hosted by the Brewers Association held at the end of September or the beginning of October in Denver. The GABF brings visitors from around the world to sample more than 1,600 different American beers. Over 100 beer judges from the US and abroad participate in the evaluations of one or more beer styles, ultimately judging 2,300 beers entered by more than 450 domestic breweries. Gold, silver and bronze medals in 69 beer-style categories are awarded, though not every medal is awarded in each category.

The 2007 GABF was this weekend. Here are the winning beers from Wisconsin:

Fruit Beer or Vegetable Beer - 94 Entries
Gold: Leinenkugel’s Berry Weiss, Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Co., Chippewa Falls, WI
Silver: The Great Pumpkin, Elysian Brewing Co., Seattle, WA
Bronze: Raspberry Tart, New Glarus Brewing Co., New Glarus, WI

Herb and Spice Beer - 58 Entries
Gold: Summertime 69, Gunnison Brewery, Gunnison, CO
Silver: Sigda’s Green Chili, CooperSmith’s Pub & Brewing Co., Fort Collins,CO
Bronze: Frederick Miller Classic Chocolate Lager, Miller Brewing Co., Milwaukee, WI

Gluten Free Beer - 8 Entries
Gold: RedBridge, Anheuser-Busch, Inc., St. Louis, MO
Silver: New Grist, Lakefront Brewery, Milwaukee, WI
Bronze: Shakparo Ale, Sprecher Brewing Co., Glendale, WI

I didn't realize that Sprecher made a gluten free beer. That is a definite Lakefront copycat rip-off. I guess imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but is Milwaukee a big enough town for TWO gluten free microbrews?

American Style Lager - 33 Entries
Gold: Hamm’s, Miller Brewing Co., Milwaukee, WI
Silver: Miller Genuine Draft, Miller Brewing Co., Milwaukee, WI
Bronze: McHenry Lager, Clipper City Brewing Co., Baltimore, MA

American Style Specialty Lager - 16 Entries
Gold: Icehouse, Miller Brewing Co., Milwaukee, WI
Silver: Mickey’s Ice, Miller Brewing Co., Milwaukee, WI
Bronze: Mickey’s Malt Liquor, Miller Brewing Co., Milwaukee, WI

Whoo-hoo! A Miller sweep. Too bad I don't like any of those beers.

European Style Dark/Münchner Dunkel - 18 Entries
Gold: Dunkelstilsken, CB & Pott’s Restaurant & Brewery (Highlands Ranch),
Silver: Capital Munich Dark, Capital Brewery Co., Inc., Middleton, WI
Bronze: Munich Dunkel, Redrock Brewing Co., Salt Lake City, UT

American-Style Dark Lager - 12 Entries
Gold: Roadrunner Red Lager, Thunder Canyon Brewery, Tucson, AZ
Silver: Henry Weinhard’s Classic Dark, Miller Brewing Co., Milwaukee, WI
Bronze: Elevator Dark Horse, Elevator Brewing Co., Columbus, OH

Baltic-Style Porter - 13 Entries
Gold: Killer Kowalski, Flossmoor Station Brewing Co., Flossmoor, IL
Silver: Foothills Baltic Porter, Foothills Brewing, Winston-Salem, NC
Bronze: Amnesia, The Grumpy Troll Restaurant & Brewery, Mount Horeb, WI


The entire list of categories and winners is here: http://www.beertown.org/events/gabf/pdf/gabf07_winners.pdf


Update: The eight medals Miller won at the Brewers Association's annual Great American Beer Festival were more than any other beer brewer that took part in the competition.

Since 1996, Miller has won 113 awards between both the Great American Beer Festival and the bi-annual World Beer Cup, more than any other large brewer, according to the company.

The boy who can only eat 6 foods

I feel bad for people who can't eat dairy. Then there's people who can't have any gluten (so beer, among many other things, is out. Although you may be able to drink Lakefront New Grist).

But the kid in the article below can barely eat anything! He's alergic to wheat, gluten, dairy products, eggs, soy, and most other things he's tried.

Twelve-year-old Tylor Savage doesn’t have to ask what’s for dinner. It’s chicken or tuna with carrots and potatoes and maybe some grapes or an apple — the only foods to which he is not allergic.

MSNBC has the complete article.

Ringxiety

Oh man, this happens to me! I regularly think I feel my BlackBerry vibrating in my pocket, as if someone is calling me, when it's not. Now I know that I have a disease, and the government should pay to fix it.


Is that your phone or your imagination?

By ELLEN SIMON, AP Business Writer

NEW YORK - If your hipbone is connected to your BlackBerry or your thighbone is connected to your cell phone, those vibrations you're feeling in the car, in your pajamas, in the shower, may be coming from your headbone.

Many mobile phone addicts and BlackBerry junkies report feeling vibrations when there are none, or feeling as if they're wearing a cell phone when they're not.

The first time it happened to Jonathan Zaback, a manager at the public relations company Burson-Marsteller, he was out with friends and showing off his new BlackBerry Curve.

"While they were looking at it, I felt this vibration on my side. I reached down to grab it and realized there was no BlackBerry there."

Zaback, who said he keeps his BlackBerry by his bed while he sleeps, checks it if he gets up in the middle of the night and wakes to an alarm on the BlackBerry each day, said this didn't worry him.

"As long as it doesn't mean a tumor is growing on my leg because of my BlackBerry, I'm fine with it," he said. "Some people have biological clocks, I might have a biological BlackBerry."

Some users compare the feeling to a phantom limb, which Merriam-Webster's medical dictionary defines as "an often painful sensation of the presence of a limb that has been amputated."

"Even when I don't have the BlackBerry physically on my person, I do find myself adjusting my posture when I sit to accommodate it," said Dawn Mena, an independent technology consultant based in Thousand oaks, Calif. "I also laugh at myself as I reach to unclip it (I swear it's there) and find out I don't even have it on."

Research in the area is scant, but theories abound about the phenomenon, which has been termed "ringxiety" or "fauxcellarm."

Anecdotal evidence suggests "people feel the phone is part of them" and "they're not whole" without their phones, since the phones connect them to the world, said B.J. Fogg, director of research and design at Stanford University's Persuasive Technology Lab.

"As human beings, we're so tapped into our community, responsiveness to what's going on, we're so attuned to the threat of isolation and rejection, we'd rather make a mistake than miss a call," he said. "Our brain is going to be scanning and scanning and scanning to see if we have to respond socially to someone."

In certain circles, phantom vibrations are a point of pride.

"Of course I get them," said Fred Wilson, a managing partner of Union Square Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm based in New York. "I've been getting them for over 10 years since I started with the pager-style BlackBerry."

For others, it's one more tech irritation.

Jeff Posner, president and owner of e-ventsreg.com in New Jersey, which allows users to register and check in for trade shows and other events, stopped wearing his BlackBerry on his belt because of regular false alarms. He put it in the chest pocket of his shirt but found that was worse, because now his phone dials automatically, which has created a new annoyance: It always calls the same person, he said.

"Phones have favorite friends," he said. "It's like your phones have a thing for each other. Of course, it's a female friend, so my wife is like, 'You're calling her all the time.'"

Complicating things further, his own phone is his sales manager's favorite friend.

"Her phone calls me all the time," he said. "I'll get a call and hear whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh. It's her, walking."

"Dilbert" cartoonist Scott Adams wrote on his blog, dilbert.org, that he feels the phantom vibrations, "about 10 times per day" and thinks "'Ooh, it's an e-mail with good news!' So far, the only good news is that my pocket is vibrating, and that's OK because it gives me hope that the condition might spread to the rest of my pants."

Jake Ward, a former press secretary for Sen. Olympia Snowe and current director of Qorvis Communications Inc., a public relations company in Washington, D.C., said he switched his BlackBerry from his hip to his jacket pocket six months ago, but still feels it there.

"Aftershocks," he said.

He also claims to "pre-feel" a new message or call. "I'll feel it, look at it. It's not vibrating. Then it starts vibrating," he said. "I am one with my BlackBerry."

For some, it's a matter of projecting hope onto their wireless device. Don Katz said he came out of retirement to work as director of wireline product management at SpinVox Inc. because he was so impressed with the company's voicemail product. He worked on its recent launch at SaskTel, the telecom company in Saskatchewan, Canada. That may be why, on a recent train trip to New York, he kept checking his phone, because he said he was sure it was vibrating.

"It's like, my phone should be ringing," he said. "It's anticipatory vibrations."

Beer vs Baby Food

The New York Times has an interesting article about the proposed merger of SABMiller and Molson Coors in today's paper.

It seems that analysts feel that antitrust regulators will likely approve the merger. But a similar deal seeking to combine the No. 2 and No. 3 players in a consolidated industry — sometimes called a 3-to-2 deal, because it reduces the industry leaders from three to two — was blocked on antitrust grounds a few year ago.

That was Heinz’s attempt to buy the maker of Beech-Nut baby food, a $185 million transaction Heinz ended up abandoning.

Together, Heinz and Beech-Nut would have controlled nearly 33 percent of the retail baby-food market; Gerber, the industry leader, controlled 65 percent. Compare that with the numbers in Tuesday’s proposed deal, in which a combined MillerCoors would have a 29 percent share of the U.S. beer market, and Anheuser-Busch would have 49 percent.

Will the beer merger be approved?

Miller + Coors

Molson Coors Brewing Co. and SABMiller PLC plan to combine their U.S. operations in a joint venture. The new company will be named MillerCoors.

I'm not too happy about this, because Coors sucks. But I suppose BudweiserMiller would have been worse.

A spokesman says Miller Brewing will still have a strong presence in Milwaukee even though the company is combining its operations with Denver-based competitor Molson Coors. He says it's not clear where headquarters will be located.

Pete Coors, vice chairman of Molson Coors, will serve as chairman of the new company and Molson Coors Chief Executive Leo Kiely will be the new CEO of the joint venture. Tom Long, CEO of Miller, will be appointed president and chief commercial officer.

Here are the current beers made by Coors:

US:
Coors
Coors Light
Killian's Irish Red
Blue Moon
Keystone
Keystone Light
Keystone Ice
Zima XXX
Coors Winterfest
Wildwood Westlake lager
Allbright

UK:
Arc
Breaker
Caffrey’s
Carling
Grolsch
Hancock’s
Lamot
M & B
Stones Bitter
Toby
Worthington

Madison 'Hops and History' brewery tour

There's a walking tour in Madison this Saturday called "Hops and History," which will be held from 3 to 5:30 p.m. Saturday, beginning at the Great Dane Brew Pub and ending at the Angelic Brewing Co., site of the former Hausmann Brewery.

Hosted by Robin Shepard, author of Wisconsin's Best Breweries and Brewpubs, the tour is being organized by the Madison Trust for Historic Preservation and costs $20.

Seven locations will be featured on the tour, including the former Breckheimer Brewery and Fauerbach Brewery in downtown Madison.

The Capital Times from Madison has more information.

Nuts and Beer

An article from ABC News today says that the health benefits of certain foods are magnified when they're combined with other foods.

Here's their short list. Read the article for details:

• Salsa and Avocado
• Nuts and Beer
• Garlic and Fennel
• Exercise and Caffeine

Since I don't like fennel or exercise (plus exercise isn't a food), I think I'll stick with nuts and beer.

Sitting at the bar while eating nuts and drinking beer is not a path to heart disease, but may in fact be a healthy pastime. In fact, nuts boost good cholesterol, HDL, and lower bad cholesterol, LDL. And alcohol acts as a blood thinner and helps prevent blood clots. In both cases, though, moderation is key.

Swedish researchers have also found that the fat and fiber in nuts slow down the absorption of alcohol, smoothing out the effects of moderate alcohol consumption.

For best results, try to eat about 15 minutes before taking that first drink.