Beer O' Clock -- Purdue

College is way cooler than when I went.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/content/education/chi-talk-college-beernov10,0,4458055.story

Only at Wisconsin.

This is my mom on Thanksgiving:

No it's not, close though.

It's Anita Schwarz, from Eichenau, Germany. She had to transport the mugs across a distance of 40 metres to be successful. Wearing traditional dress, Schwarz, 48, began with all 21 mugs balanced in pyramid-fashion. However, she soon lost control and the tower toppled, sending the contents of every mug spilling out onto the floor of the tent near Zeltingen, in Germany.

 She's 48?

College is way cooler than when I went.

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/palmbeach/extracredit/entries/2008/11/11/40person_beer_bong.html

This is from Florida. Here's the "great minds" quote.

"The quote of the year comes from fraternity member Max, a 19-year-old freshman, who is preparing at 10:30 a.m. to watch UF take on Ole Miss. This from the article by Times reporter Kevin Sack:

“Per-son-al-ly,” he says, punching out each slurred syllable, “I do agree the age should be lowered. It will cut down on binge drinking. We take care of each other. We will not let anyone drink under the influence.”

He pauses. “I mean drive under the influence. I'm sorry, I'm drunk already. It's been a long morning.”

This is Bobby Dodge. His story is funny.

http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_10964144

I'm surprised this doesn't happen more often.

I know what you guys are thinking. Did they save the beer?

"The driver, Bobby Dodge, 56, of McGregor, Texas, was booked by police and taken to a detoxification center, said Lisa Stigall, a Wheat Ridge police spokeswoman.

The truck, carrying 45,000 pounds of beer, overturned at about 7:30 p.m. on the entrance ramp to eastbound I-70 off of Colorado Highway 58.

The ramp was shut down for seven hours because of the crash, Stigall said.

"The beer remained enclosed in the truck, but they had to take it all out to set the truck upright" and that took time, Stigall said."

Whew!!!

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I didn't make it down to Dirty John's this week, but I will next. My fridge was raided last Friday by Viking-esque poker players. The top shelf is empty. The Red Stripe and Dogfish Head took hits. The Miller Lite in bottles also did, but I call that a casualty of war. The Dogfish Head, that's getting to the general.

I stopped at Benz, but passed on beer and went for the Woodford Reserve, a fine, fine, fine Kentucky bourbon. The house we moved into three years ago now has a wet bar and I've been extremely slow in stocking it. I want to make sure I get the stuff I like and, hopefully, my friends will like. It's been slow, but I've found the bourbon that I'm always going to get.

I have a friend in Chicago who calls himself a bourbon (bleep). He told me how to really enjoy this. First, about a teaspoon of water for every ounce. Then, smell it. Use your nose, open your mouth. And finally, take the first sip on the front of your tongue. Let it sit before going down. Next sip, let it sit a little farther back. Takes the bite out of things.

Mmmm, mmmm, mmmm.

This week is Purdue, so let's explore "steam" beers. I have to admit right up front, I don't know a lot about this style, but I really love Anchor Steam. It's definitely my favorite amber and might be my most favoritist beer.

I'll take my knowledge from Gregg Smith on realbeer.com:

http://www.realbeer.com/library/authors/smith-g/steam.php

I had no idea it was basically the makeshift beer of 49ers in the 1800s California gold rush.

"But the lack of cooling, which created the Steam style beer, was solved by the late 1800's as commercial refrigeration units became a common piece of brewing equipment. When this happened the popularity of the style and the number of brewers producing it both dwindled. The last surviving producer was near closing in the 1960s when Fritz Maytag decided to take a look before it was gone. Little did he know he'd become the brewery's white knight. After that visit he became part owner, and then owner and rebuilder in rapid succession.

Today's steam style beer is, of course, built around what Maytag saved and what he was able to resurrect from old brewing records. First you notice the color - a light amber, sometimes a touch cloudy, but always with a high level of effervescence topped by a dense head. An aggressive hop nose is the primary aroma trait but beyond it are hints of fruitiness, light butterscotch and some traces of phenol\fusel (sometimes described as light solvent) is a result of the warm fermentation.

Taste closely follows the nose. Bitterness is achieved through copious use of Northern Brewer hops which provides assertive, yet balanced, bitterness. All those hops are restrained by additions of caramel malt which along with the fruitiness and butterscotch yields a delightful balance of complexity. If that weren't enough, the carbonation dances across your tongue, stimulating your taste buds."

This beer pulls in the "common" style.

Anchor Steam has been one of my faves for a long time. Here's a little bit about it, from their website:

"Anchor Steam derives its unusual name from the 19th century when "steam" seems to have been a nickname for beer brewed on the West Coast of America under primitive conditions and without ice. The brewing methods of those days are a mystery and, although there are many theories, no one can say with certainty why the word "steam" came to be associated with beer. For many decades Anchor alone has used this quaint name for its unique beer. In modern times, "Steam" has become a trademark of Anchor Brewing."

On Beeradvocate, Anchor Steam gets a B-plus after 1,015 reviews. The Brothers give it an A-minus.

This from Mosstrooper: "Drinkability: If I was told that this is the only beer I would be allowed to drink for the rest of my life, I think I would be ok with that."

This from Nattefrost, "Definitely drinkable; like I said, I'll be buying it again for sure. Overall a thoroughly enjoyable beer - in fact, the first words out of my mouth after the first sip were "holy crap, this is good". A surprisingly enjoyable beer; complex in flavor but balanced by simple drinkability and smoothness."

Reading up on this, I came across Fullers. I might have to go on the lookout for that. Sounds good.

One theme on Anchor Steam, it's often mentioned as a good "intro" beer. A first step, if you will, on the road to beer snob.

Also, it's called a good "session" beer. I've never called sitting around drinking beer a "session," but I think it might throw off the wife next time. "Honey, I'm having a session. Please bail me out if the session lasts too long."