Category Archives: Beer

Wild Brew 2015

Heather and I went downtown Saturday night to attend Wildbrew 2015, a beer tasting event benefitting The Sutton Center in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. The Sutton Center is a non-profit organization dedicated to funding cooperative conservation solutions for birds and the natural world through science and education. They were instrumental in reestablishing bald eagles in Oklahoma.

The place was buzzing when we got there. There were lots and lots of craft breweries represented and many of the restaurants in town were handling out samples (good size samples) of their food. Heather and I kind of alternated between the beer and the food. Plus the Midlife Crisis Band was playing.

There were so many breweries represented that the lines never got long for any of them. And don’t worry, it was not a drunken brawl. We had little sample glasses. We’d sample it and then dump the rest to go try more. It was fun. Lots of unusual beers out that night.

And the hipsters were out in force although I didn’t see any of the Hipster Nation’s favorite beer, Pabst Blue Ribbon. or “PBR” as the hipsters call it. The thing about hipsters is that not a one of them will admit to it. Sorry dudes, rolled up cuffs are a dead giveaway.

One guy showed up in a kilt. Hey dude, wrong party!!! But stay and have a beer anyway.

Everybody had a great time. There was one attendee who was committed fully to the event.

You know what I mean. This pig gave his all.

Y Not a Yopener? Prairie Artisan Ales Second Birthday

This past Saturday Heather and I dropped Logan off at his rehearsal and we went to far west Tulsa to the Prairie Artisan Ale Second Birthday celebration. It was cool.

I have been much concerned about hipsters and who they are what are they about. I haven’t meet anybody who admits to being one. Logan tells me that if you say you are one then you are definitely not one. Also, if what you like turns out to be the next cool thing, then you quit doing it. It’s kind of an anti-cool thing. I don’t get it. Do you?

I do think that we spotted a bunch at the brewery. What do you think. We also ran into a friend of ours, John, who is quite a beer guy. He gave us a sample of some the “good stuff” that they were not giving to everybody. It was darn good. Turns out that John and his son Josh also make a sell a beer bottle opener made out of whiskey barrels. It is called the Yopener. They sell it on etsy here. We bought one. I hadn’t tried it out yet. Besides being cool looking (I admit I have no idea how to use it, but I’ll figure it out) it’s great feature is that opens beer bottles without bending the cap. Myself, I recycle all my caps. Turns out that some collectors like to keep the caps.

It has a magnet and I as I type this it is on our refrigerator ready to do its duty! In the growler is a Lime Gose. A very nice sour wheat beer flavored with lime and salt. It is sitting nice and safe in my refrigerator right now.

So it was a great time, music, beer, hipsters, friends, and of course beer.

So how do you keep your beer caps from bending when you open a bottle? Do you care? Do you even drink beer? And are you a hipster? Do you know any?

From Bras to Blahs to Brews

Well this week has gone from one extreme to another. Monday night Heather and I went to see a pretty darn wild Katy Perry concert. She is a great entertainer and a speed dresser. What do you think of the happy faces?

And then today it was cloudy and over cast and just plain blah. During blah days I just go with it and use the Hipstamatic App on my Ipod Touch. It makes the pics all kind of grainy and low-fi but it kind of fits my mood.

Plus I get annoyed at all the dummies parking at the Mayo Hotel. Does anybody know how to pull up to the curb any more Culligan man? I like to hang out and watch everybody piling into the hotel for their weekends in the city.

While I talk about being annoyed, I never have figured out this sculpture. I’ll tell you what it is. The city fathers of Tulsa decided to put up a sculpture in honor of the exotic dancers of Tulsa. I mean the city fathers needed some way to kill time after work so they wouldn’t have to help out with their kids homework and all and watching the dancers on stage is better than talking to each other so they decided to honor the ladies with this nice sculpture. That’s my feeling and you don’t want to invalidate my feelings do you? That wouldn’t be nice. Besides that I’m thinking about becoming a tea party member. The beautiful thing about being a tea partier is that you can have strong opinions based on your feelings and nothing else. Kind of like most people who are very partisian in their politics. But hey, I’m getting off topic. Not that this post has a topic.

Life is not all doom and gloom though. Not by a long shot. My happy place on Friday afternoons is the Praire Artisian Ales Taproom out on west 49th street in west Tulsa. You know out beyond the refineries and the tank farms and welding shops and drilling tool manufacturers and wrecker yards. They make beer the old school way out there. One barrel at a time. It is good stuff! They are open to the public from 4 pm to 8 pm only on Wednesday and Friday. There are no signs out there. The first time I went I drove by it three times before I drove in and asked somebody in the parking lot who pointed me to a nondescript, unmarked door.

They can only sell 3.2 beer there but it is pretty good. You can get a glass of it or a pitcher or a 64 ounce growler filled up right from tap. Talk about a kid in a candy store. Presently they have a stout, and a sour beer made with lime and salt, and an ale. They are all very good. So today I got a growler of the ale and a glass of the sour beer and sipped on it out in the parking lot watching the crowd come in for their weekly fix. Guys in suits in ties and refinery maintenance contractors still in their fire retardant work clothes, and everybody in between.

Anyways, the day ended a lot better than it began.

How about you, how is your day going?

Song-ography – My Life Would Suck Without You by Kelly Clarkson

(Those of us that live in Oklahoma swoon at the sight of what is available elsewhere. Thanks Oklahoma legislators. )

Guess this means you’re sorry
You’re standing at my door
Guess this means you take back
All you said before
Like how much you wanted
Anyone but me
Said you’d never come back
But here you are again

‘Cause we belong together now, yeah
Forever united here somehow, yeah
You got a piece of me
And honestly,
My life (my life) would suck (would suck) without you…

(Chimay is nice but be careful, its alcohol content is high)

Maybe I was stupid for telling you goodbye
Maybe I was wrong for trying to pick a fight
I know that I’ve got issues
But you’re pretty messed up too,
Either way I found out I’m nothing without you

(In Oklahoma we are protected from both Fat Tire and Obamacare)

‘Cause we belong together now yeah
Forever united here somehow yeah
You got a piece of me
And honestly,
My life (my life) would suck (would suck) without you...

(You are killing me smalls)

Being with you
Is so dysfunctional
I really shouldn’t miss you
But I can’t let you go
oh yeah…

‘Cause we belong together now yeah
Forever united here somehow yeah
You got a piece of me:)
And honestly,
My life (my life) would suck (would suck) without you

‘Cause we belong together now yeah
Forever united here somehow yeah
You got a piece of me:)
And honestly,
My life (my life) would suck (would suck) without you…

Songwriters
KELLY, CLAUDE / GOTTWALD, LUKASZ / SANDBERG, MARTIN
Published by
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Musi

Song-ography

Yogi Film Festival Movie #1 “Beer Wars”

We have been watching lots of movies lately. “Beer Wars” I watched online, the others I’m posting we went to theaters.

I just got through watching a dynamite documentary on Amazon’s streaming service, Beer Wars. A film about the beer industry in America. I was hooked, it is about the battle between the big brewers and the little guys in the beer business.

It turns out that it is a no holds barred fight going on in the aisles of our grocery stores, on the shelves of our liquor stores and in the halls of Congress as the big guys are fighting to maintain their virtual monopolies and the little guys are fighting for access.

What I like best about the film is the passion of the small brewers. They are in it for love and their love has them in debt, personally. The big guys are fighting slowing sales of their crappy swill and are looking to exploit the niches opened up by the little guys.

But you know, that goes on in almost any business. All is fair in love and war though, right? Above and below are zoomable infographics. The top one shows which brewers own which brands. The big guys have been buying the little guys and so that beer you think is from a small brewer? It may not be. The infographic below shows how dominating the big guys are and how truly small the little guys are.

Well maybe, the disturbing part of the movie is how the big brewers use their campaign cash to buy access to our representatives to reinforce and bolster their advantages. That buying out of Congress is one thing that I think drives both our Tea Party and Occupation neighbors nuts. The brewers are very equal opportunity. They don’t care if a representative is a Republican or a Democrat as long as they vote the right way. I love capitalism and the vibrancy it adds to our economic system, but the access that big money has to congressional power is corrupting the system.

I didn’t mean to get all serious about this. This is a great flick. Watch it, cheap on Amazon dot com. (Free if you are an Amazon Prime Member)

Grab a beer and drink, No no no, not a Bud Light fool, something decent.

To the Oklahoma City Zoo and Beyond

A perfect storm on Friday, SuperPizzaBoy is on Fall Break, Sweetie needed a break so all of went on a road trip down the Turner Turnpike to see the Oklahoma City Zoo.

My favorite, a ruddy black rhino getting a mud treatment.

What a sweet little kitty.

I forgot to note what kind of bird this is, but I thought him handsome. I guess that it is a him.

Does he look nervous to you. I think he is worried about his relatives this time of year.

All sorts of wild critters, big and small.

An ostrich took a liking to SPB and followed us around.

I love pumpkins.

After a few hours at the zoo we refreshed ourselves at Belle Isle Brewery at 50 Penn Place.

And walked on down to Full Circle Bookstore. We bought more than we should but it is the best bookstore in the state.

SPB settled into his favorite chair.

The store has everything, a bunch of Shakespeare above (I don’t ever buy Shakespeare but they kind of set the tone.)

And then we went home.

I love Road Trips, Zoos, Brew Pubs, and Independent Bookstores. Don’t you?

Camera Critters

Leinenkugel’s Creamy Dark Lager

My friend from work, Dave, knows that I love good beer. He and I have traveled on business together quite a bit especially to the Peoples Republic of Kanas (“PRK”). I have fun with the PRK quite a bit but hey they don’t have the bizarre and strange liquor laws that Oklahoma has. For instance, I can get Fat Tire beer in the PRK but I cannot buy it in Oklahoma at all.

Dave showed up at work today with another find he scored in Kansas, Leinenkugel’s Creamy Dark Lager. Made in Wisconsin. He said that you cannot get it here in Oklahoma. I believe it, it doesn’t have the goofy Oklahoma symbol on it. Check out their web site.

Now, generally I’m not much of a lager guy. I don’t know why, I just haven’t cared for them. The taste always seems a little “thin” to me as opposed to full bodied.

This Leinenkugel’s lager is different. It has lots of body and a nice creamy, slightly flavor to it. I love it. I drank both bottles. Beer is not properly evaluated on just one bottle. It takes two. Manlaw, check it out.

Dave, thanks for the beers.!

I rate them 3.5 stars out of 4. Which is great.

Road Trip – Kansas

Last Thursday coworker Dave and I went on a road trip to Kansas. We needed to talk to some of our field guys up there plus go to an energy industry meeting. I love going to Kansas. It is very scenic (yep, I think so, really), and the residents take great pride in their state. Regulatory wise in my industry it is a little more restrictive than what I’m used to so sometimes I irritate our Kansas based employees by calling it “The Peoples Republic of Kansas.” But I’m just kidding, they know that.

Dave and I each had new navigation systems. Same manufacturer, different models. We had to check them out so we used both. Let me tell you, you don’t want to go to Kansas without a backup GPS.

We took the back roads. We went through Sharon, Kansas. Home of Martine Mcbride. We happened to run into her. She let us take her picture. Very pretty lady with a great voice. Still runs around the praire barefoot.

We also went through Medicine Lodge, Kansas. Home of Carrie A. Nation. She’s deceased so we didn’t see her. At the cocktail party we went to that night though I led several toasts to her memory.

You know, if she took those glasses off and set that hatchet down she wouldn’t look that bad.

Spent the night in Pratt, Kansas very neat tidy midwestern town. Brick streets, all that good stuff. They have their Miss Kansas pageant there. Several have won the Miss America pageant. I don’t think Carrie would have won. Smashing whiskey bottles isn’t much of a talent, and the bathing suit segment would have been a problem for her.

After our meetings, dinner, and cocktail party I went geocaching. There a couple dozen caches in Pratt. I did not find a one. Made a bad decision on the route to them (I walked) by the time I got in the vicinity it was way dark. I had a great walk though. About seven miles all told. Most of it was out in the country.

Sweetie doesn’t like it when I going exploring on foot, especially late at night. But I see great stuff that I wouldn’t see sitting in a motel room. Like this sunset.

Or this house. Sorry for the blurriness. I didn’t have a tripod.

Pratt has a park called Lemon Park. Great lighted walking trails that meander all over the place. 10 PM and there were all sorts of people walking their dogs and walking together, I loved it. Not a hint of the creep factor that one sees sometimes in parks late at night.

Next day, time to head back to T town. Dave and I loaded up on Fat Tire Beer. (I mean we bought a couple cases of it, not go on a drinking binge.) Cannot get it in Oklahoma because of our strange liquor laws.

Baby Picture Time!

You have to admit. I was a cute little dude and limber also. Notice the old school diapers. That hair was about as much as I ever had. Ah, those were the days my friend.

Ah, the early days of Photoshop.

I’ve tried three more beers.

Full Sail IPA by Full Sail Brewing – It is ok, smooth, tastes good but nothing to take home to your mother. 2.5 stars out of 4.

Trademark Pale Ale by Breckenridge Brewery – Not very remarkable at all. 2 stars out of 4.

India Pale Ale by Avery Brewing – I’v never of these guys but the beer has a great hoppy taste and bite. I enjoyed this. 3 stars out of 4. I’d buy this again.

Blue Herons and Snake Dogs

Looks like happy hour at the local bar and grill. Now I’m wondering. Where is the black box or red phone or whatever it is where he orders the missile launching? Is it under the table or has he lost it? Maybe he let one of the ladies in the picture have it. “Hey, you won’t believe the stuff that happens if you press these two buttons together.” Or does he give it to Joe Biden? Is Joe the designated missile launcher? Why is everybody so happy? Did he just got off the phone with the Ole Ball and Chain? “I’ll be home when I’m home Michelle, jeez!” I wonder if he has any good jokes? Does he ever work? Where are the Secret Service guys? Maybe those are the secret service guys!

I have all these questions today. I need some answers.

I’ve been doing some more research into me and O’s mutual hobby.

First up is Mendocino Brewing Company’s Blue Heron Pale Ale. It is very good and drinkable. I liked it but it still doesnt’ quite have the “bite” I’m looking for in a pale ale. Still I give it 3 stars out of 4. It’s good, but I’m still looking for a great IPA.

Second is Flying Dog’s Snake Dog India Pale Ale. This is a unique tasting brew. It doesn’t quite have the bite but it has a very nice almost fruity taste to it that finishes out a little bitter (good bitter). I found it unique and would try it again. 3 stars out of 4.

Hey, anybody out there have any ideas about beer? Let me know. I’d like to try your recommendations, if I can get them.

Oklahoma has strange liquor laws which precludes the selection that other states have. When we travel out of state I feel like a kid in a candy store. My absolute favorite beer, that I can afford, is New Belgium Brewery’s Fat Tire Amber Ale. Which I can buy all I want at a corner grocery store almost anywhere in the US but nowhere in Oklahoma, legally I mean!

Do you suppose the “Beer Drinker in Chief” would order the suspension of those laws? They inhibit interstate commerce which is illegal right? We could make it part of the stimulus package.

YogisDen.us

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