Beer. Beer. And more beer.

[Ed Hocken]

I never said everything is bad for you. When was this? And more importantly what prevented you from being at that party?

[patronsaintofcheeseburgers]

Too much sugar in pasta sauce in the other thread...some shit, I know you have a weak stomach...

...as far as the party, it may have been not having a baby sitter or some shit. Plus I'm lazy and hate making my wife drive at night.

[Ed Hocken]

I was just mentioining you could get better jar sauce, Yeesh.

Of course with you not being there led to a hilarious call by Scooter to your wife. Good times.

[patronsaintofcheeseburgers]

Yeah I remember that...he's a sick little fuck

[B_Metal]

I didn't drink Hard Lemonade when I was at that party. I Fail!

Good call Ed, good call.

[IggytheBorg]

Just finished a Troegs sampler 12 pack last night. I think I'm becoming a serious fan of all that brewery's output. The Dreamweaver Wheat is especially good. I just noticed they have a "recipe" of sorts on the bottle's neck; pour 2/3 into a pilsner glass, swirl the remainder around the bottle & then pour it right into the center of the glass. Too bad I was done with the last one in the pack when I noticed this. Gonna have to try that with the next batch.

[IggytheBorg]

I just finished something called a "Krampus Christmas Ale". Apparently, "Krampus" was like the anti-Santa in the legends of some European countries. A beastly looking monster that beat bad kids rather than bringing them toys, which Santa still brought to good kids.

ANYWAY, this was a pretty good seasonal. Strong, hearty & hoppy w/o being overpowering, w/ some spices added (as is true of many Christmas ales), but which were also not overbearing. Quite good. And at 9% ABV, they'll get you where you're going pretty quickly. God, I love that Shop Rite Liquors in Cranford. It's like Toys R Us for alcoholics.

What are others' feelings on Christmas ales in general? Yay, they're a tasty change of pace with all the spices & such, or nay, keep that shit outta my beer! Just water & hops, my friend!

I perosnally fall into the former category. My favorie X-mas ale of all time is no longer made; Ruffian Christmas Ale. The brewery went out of business, which is a dman shame. Old Fezziwig by Sam Adams probaby comes in a close second, and Sierra Nevada's is quite good as well. I've had some I didn't like, but can't recall any at the moment. Krampus & Rogue were also very good, probably just behind Fezziwig. What say you?

[Abraham Smashington]

2 Below by New Belgium is one of my favorite Christmas Ales. Rogue isn't too bad but I honestly prefer Flying Dog Double Pale Ale (11.5%).

[Lesley]

Rob and I discovered a new brewery yesterday that is pretty good. The Lift Bridge Brewery is in Stillwater, MN, and so far we have tried the Farm Girl Saison (comparable to Blue Moon) and the Crosscut Pale Ale (comparable to Summit EPA). If you ever have the opportunity to try these beers, I recommend them - although they will be very hard to find as they are not served in bars or carried in liquor stores outside of MN.

[Lesley]

Rob and I just watched Beer Wars - fascinating if you are interested in micro brews. It's sad that the three tier system probably prevents us from preventing even better beers.

[Abraham Smashington]

I'm totally gonna be like Wolverine....

[Ed Hocken]

According to that study, Richard Harris had bones of steel.

[Matt]

Good to know that Old Chicago is actually good for me. They gave me some serious bone therapy this past week.

[Abraham Smashington]

HAha.

[IggytheBorg]

IMO, Canadian beer rules. The Canucks don't have it in them to make a bad beer. I even like the mass produced stuff you can get in the States, like Molson & Moosehead (& to a lesser extent, Labatts). I used to love how different varieties of Molson than the Canadian & Golden were available in Utica, where I went to college. And OV splits (7 oz bottles of Old Vienna; went down right quick-like) made more than one weekend pleasantly blurry. But now that you can get them more readily, my (coon skin) cap is forever off to the Unibroue company. I like everything of theirs that I've tried (except the apple flavored thing, which surprised me, because I've always been a fan of hard cider). Fin Du Monde is my favorite. And at 9+% ABV, as a friend put it: "These get you where you're going pretty quick." I'm sure martin can back me up on this. And Matt: are Canadian suds a big deal in MN?