World's Largest Rice Krispy Treat

Well, it's probably not the worlds largest, but it was friggin huge!!!

Have you seen these things?

It doesn't look all that big. But that thing is 32 ounces... that's 2 pounds of rice krispy treat!

We hadda stop at the gas station on the drive home from 7 Saints last night, since I was out of diet dew at the house, and in the half off bin, was this monstrosity of a candy bar. It was priced at $5. (I've found them online for $11; so it was a deal). I come walking out of the gas station with 4 bottles of dew and this huge honking sheet of rice krispy lovin under my arm. Kridz was like, WHAT THE HELL IS THAT!?!

I get it home and take another picture of it,that's right, it pretty much blots out my tv. Or, it would if i had a method of holding it in front of the tv.

It tasted like a regular rice krispy treat. It's 15 x 11, so it's huge. And in the half off bin, at $5 it's a steal. There's like 20 servings on the sheet. For $5 you could probably get horrible nutrition for a week off this thing, if you paced yourself.

So, if you come over to my place sometime this week, rip off a hunk of the rice krispy treat, and help me eat this thing.

Oh, at 7S, I had a Southern Tier Jah-Va, which has just recently been put on tap.

Great Taste of the Midwest

After Dark Lord Day, the next huge event going on it the Great Taste of the Midwest. (Ok, so there are probably other things, but GToM was great!)

This Sunday is stand in line to get tickets day. Paddy and I will be going up with Noah and others from the CU Beer Club to get tix. Last year it was 4 tickets per person, this year, it's reduced to 2. Tickets are $35 each.

Here's the locations:

* Star Liquor (600 Tickets)
* The Cork and Bottle (300 Tickets)
* The Wine and Hop Shop (400 Tickets)
* Steve's Liquor (400 Tickets at Steve's University, 500 Tickets at Steve's Mineral Point)
* Tyranena Brewing Company (400 Tickets)
* Capital Brewery (400 Tickets)


Tickets will go on sale at noon. If you really want them, you need to show up WAY before them. I believe we'll be going to Noah's favorite location around 6.

If you are going to try to win the lottery, Good luck. Letters MUST be postmarked May 1. How to do it is more complicated than I want to get into here, so if you want to win the lottery, read all about it. People actually do win the lottery, Wilson did last year.

So, if you aren't doing anything this weekend, you should go up to Madison and stand in line with us. If you don't want the tix, I'm sure I can find someone who will.

Dark Lord Day 2009, Recap

Well, another Dark Lord Day has come and gone. It was a hell of a lot of fun. For some reason, getting drunk on some of the best beer in the world seems to be more fun than getting drunk on other stuff. Wonder why that is?

On Friday night, Kridz, Paddy, and I headed up to Flossmoor Station. Flossmoor routinely has something going on before DLD, so we wanted to go to that. We didn't quite make festivities, possibly Bar-B-Q on the back, but we did get to try some of the White Lady (a belgian wit) and Shimkos Simcoes. The White Lady wasn't the beer for me. Paddy ordered it, and I had a sip, but it's a Belgian wit, and try though I might, I can't drink that stuff. It also had chamomile in it, and I really can't drink that. We had some 3F Rabid Rabbit a couple weeks ago, and I couldn't finish my glass of that. The Shimkos' Simcoes was a great IPA. Noah recommended it to us before his phone died. After we sat down to eat, Noah walked up to our table. He was leaving, but while leaving saw my car and came back in. I had the fish and chips, which are AWESOME at Flossmoor. Kridz had a pizza and Paddy had... something. I think I also had a Killer Kapowski. Which was a really good Baltic Porter. For some reason, those (baltic porters) seem to have a sharp bite to it, like a rootbeer.

After we finished eating, we headed up to my sisters in Lockport. Walked around her neighborhood for a while, then went to bed. Woke up, got dressed, ate breakfast, got some text messages, then headed to Dark Lord Day. The text messages both said the same thing, 4 bottles per ticket :(. Oh well, that's better than 3.

We got there around 9. The CU Beer Club was set up directly across the street on the grass, had our little tailgate section all set up. We drove past, found a place to park, then lugged our cooler, chairs and other stuff up to the area. Tom was in line, holding the beer club's place. There were at least a dozen of us, so we were one of the larger contingents there.

When the doors opened at 11, there was the surge. It took a good 20 minutes before the line moved next, but then it went pretty rapidly. In between the beer line, and the brewpub line was the free sample (ticket punch) line. There was a lot of jumping from one line to the next. The actual Dark Lord line seemed just as long as last year, I wondered how it was any better... it wasn't necessarily, just a bit different. I'm sure the people at the end of the line were happy to know that they were guaranteed to get beer, unlike last year.

It seemed to go well, and somewhat quick, as they opened the line up to people without tickets around 4 (if not before then).

Inside the brewpub, which had the longest and slowest line, there were three varieties of Dark Lord available. On the left, is Vanilla Bean '08, which is my favorite. It is possibly my favorite beer in the world. In the middle is this years DL. On the right is the Oak Aged. Both the vanilla and the oak were last years, that had been set aside and were aged for this event. They were outstanding!

There were tents set up with all kinds of beers. Skot had 17 beers that he hasn't had before. I'm not sure how many I had. The PopSkull collaborative beer was outstanding. Between Kridz, Paddy and I we got 8 bottles of that at the house.

Other than a couple of bouts of rain, the worst of which occurred when I was sitting in the brewpub drinking those 3 glasses in the picture, it was a beautiful day. It was slightly overcast, so only the whitest of people got a slight sunburn. It wasn't too cold, nor too hot, so that was really nice. Everyone seemed really friendly. We made pretzel necklaces, but they got stale quick, due to the humidity. A drier day would have kept them fresher. Still, everyone loves pretzel necklaces. Don't get medium sized pretzels... just get small ones and the big fat ones. Medium sized ones break too easy. We made ours with string for beading, so that was convenient.

We met some great people there, some of which seemed to have made it to my blog already, mostly by searching for Urbana Mohawk Dark Lord, or Urbana Mohawk beer guy.

I never did find where the guest breweries were set up. Last year they were in the corner, this year... dunno.

It was a blast, thanks to 3 floyds for making a great beer, and for having a great day.

Why it should be more than 3 bottles per ticket of Dark Lord

Ok, it had BETTER be more than 3 bottles per ticket.

A bottle of Dark Lord will be $15. In years past, you could get a 6 pack, that's $90. If it's 6 bottles per ticket, like I'm assuming, it's now $100 a six pack. Most people got 2 tickets, so they are going to spend $180 on the beer, and $20 on tickets, that's $200 for a case of beer (22 oz bombers are 12 to a case).

Skot seems to be set thinking there will be a 3 bottle per ticket limit. That's gonna wind up being 6 bottles, $90, plus $20 for the tickets, and I would be pissed if I only got a six pack of beer for $110.

Any less than 3 per ticket, and the outrage from everyone will be WAY more than the people who bitched last year about not getting any.

Radio Maria Beer Dinner

Radio Maria will be having a Darkhorse beer dinner on Sunday June 7. The dinner will be four courses of food and beer. Cost is $50.

Call (217) 502-3369 or Email jacob@radiomariarestaurant.com to reserve tickets.

Radio Maria no longer has PBR in the 27 slot, instead it will be another rotating tap. According to their website, the current beer is Rogue Double Dead Guy for $2.50 (not a bad price for a pint... er Shaker Glass).

Some other beer highlights on tap now are on the 5th tap, Founders Breakfast Stout. On 23rd, Founders Cerise. Number 8, Southern Tier Oak Aged Cuvee #2. And on 17, one of Kridz favorites, New Holland The Poet.

Wednesday night is $1 off all draft beers, so tonight Rogue Double Dead Guy will be $1.50 (which is a steal)!

So you are going to Dark Lord Day...

If you've been before, then this is just a refresher; if you haven't then here's some info you might want to know.

1. Directions. If you have a GPS, you should ensure you know the address; enter it now.

9750 INDIANA PKWY
MUNSTER, IN 46321

It's real easy to get to, Take Interstate 80 (east or west) Get off at Calumet Ave, Exit 1. Drive on Calumet for about 3 miles (you'll be heading south). Turn Right onto Superior. You should see cars and people walking now. Park... follow them. Three Floyds will be posting parking instructions on DarkLordDay.com soon. So check there before you leave. (Edit; according to the latest email, they will not be posting parking instructions online, but supposedly there will be signs on the road)

2. Show up early. Yes, I know the ticket says if you show up between 11 and 4 that you'll get beer. You will still be standing in line. Tickets sold out in hours, and they said that there were 2,000 people (not the final number)... so that's a long line.

3. Be prepared to stand in line. Make friends with the people around you. You will be with them for a while. Don't be surprised if they become good friends by the end of the day; you do share great taste in beer with them, so you'll have something to talk about. If you are in line for 4 hours, don't worry, you can probably talk about beer for that long. Having friends in line is nice for when you want to get out of the line, go inside the brewpub and get a beer, and not have to go to the end of the line.

4. Be courteous. There will be beer tables set up by various groups. There will be some of the greatest beers in the world sitting on those tables. Don't be an ass and get a whole glass of something you haven't had before. Get enough to sample the beer then move on. Don't take the bottle. For Jeebus sake, don't steal someone's growler!

5. Eat something. If you aren't going to be purchasing food (they have some decent food, but it's kind of expensive) take some with you. Take a cooler, preferably one on wheels, you'll be moving a lot. Put beer, water and some food in the cooler. You will be there a while.

6. Don't just stand in line. Go in the brewpub. Go in the back way into the brewery, where it looks like people are leaving with their precious precious Dark Lord. Go listen to the bands. Go get some of the beer from the guest taps.

7. Take cash. Take LOTS of cash. I repeat TAKE CASH!!! The nearest ATM is a LONG walk away. There will be many people who hit that ATM on Saturday. Don't be surprised if it's out of money. Go to your bank on Friday. If it's like before (which is my guess) each ticket will get you 6 bottles of beer. You should have two tickets, that's 12 bottles at $15 each. That's $180 right there. If you forced a friend to get you two more tickets, that's $360. They do NOT take anything other than cash. Have yours ready. The brewpub will probably take your card for beer and maybe some grub, but don't count on it. You don't want to cut into your Dark Lord purchasing funds by buying a sandwich inside. Your girlfriend probably won't be taking any money, so be prepared to buy her a sandwich. Don't run out of cash.

8. Take sunscreen. Weather.com says it's going to be 73 (updated to 78) and partly cloudy on Saturday. This will probably be one of your first times out in the sun for an extended period of time this year. You'll be standing in line, mostly facing north and west. Your head and face and back of your neck can get sunburned. By the time it turns red, it's too late. As you leave the brewery with your box of beer, you'll see a whole lot of red faces, yours might look like that too. If you are wearing sunglasses, you'll probably look like a raccoon. If you have a Mohawk, you'll probably have 2 red sides of your head. Wear sunscreen. Dress appropriately. If you are from Texas, realize it will probably be kind of cold there when you first arrive. Take a jacket or sweatshirt. When it gets warmer, you can later throw them in your cooler, or walk back to your car. If you show up at 8 in shorts you will be cold... you will be cold for a while.

9. Take a folding chair.

10. Take beer. Take something from your region and make sure it's great (don't bring BMC). You'll be surrounded by people, not from your area, who can't easily get the things that you have. Last year we were in line with 3 guys from St. Louis; two guys from Texas; and a couple from Cleveland. Skot and Brad were with people from Wisconsin. If you can pick up a growler from your local brewery, that'd probably be awesome. Put that in your cooler, along with some little cups.

11... can't believe I forgot this at first. TAKE A DESIGNATED DRIVER! You will probably get drunk. Don't drive.

Some other things you might want to do:

Make a pretzel necklace.
Take a camera.
Take a friend (they may not get DL bottles, but they can buy glasses).
Take hand sanitizer.
Take sunglasses.
Take a sweatshirt.
Take water.
Skip out on your cousins wedding and go to Dark Lord Day.

(EDIT/Update) Weather.com now says that it'll be about 70 degrees at 9 a.m. but throughout the day there is a 40% chance of thunderstorms and wind. So dress (or pack) appropriately.

CU Beer Club April Edition, wrapup

Ok, there were no IPAs.

How can there be a beer club devoted to beers west of the Mississippi, and there be no IPAs?

Well, I didn't bring any. And apparently no one else did either.

Here's most of the beers.

Great Divide Espresso Oak Aged Yeti.
Deschutes The Abyss
Great lakes Barrel Aged Blackout Stout
Firestone Walker Porter Reserve
Russian River Consecration
Port Hot Rocks Lager
Port Old Viscosity
Avery Anniversary 12
The Bruery Orchard White
The Breuery Black Orchard
Hair of the Dog Fred
North Coast Old Rasputin
Pyramid Imperial Hefeweizen
Mendocino Black Eye
Oskar Blues Dales Pale Ale (ok, there was 1 pale)

We also discussed Dark Lord Day events, and Great Taste of the Midwest.

CU Beer Club April Edition

Tonight is the April edition of the Champaign Urbana Beer Club. It's theme is beers from west of the Mississippi. Eventually if you go far enough west you'll wind up here, so don't be put off if you don't have anything that seems "westerly".

Last month was beers from east of the Mississippi. It turned into stout-fest. That's not really a problem, as this area has some really great stouts, Bells, Founders, Great Lakes, Goose Island, 3 Floyds; then you can get to the smaller breweries, Central Waters, New Holland, Flossmoor... there's some great breweries in this area.

I commonly think of IPA's and DIPA's and Imperial IPA's when I think of west coast beers. Oregon, Washington, (Idaho)... that's the hops growing region, so they can make some really fresh and potent IPAs. There are several stouts from the west on Beer Advocate's top 100; Deschutes The Abyss; Alesmith Speedway; Port Older Viscosity... (I'm leaving out Colorado, even though they are west of the Mississippi, I'm talking about west coast, not central west, has Colorado ever been called central west before?). Most of the beers that the west coast is know for is the IPA's. The Pliney's, Firestone, Sierra Nevada, Blind Pig...

I'm not sure if tonight will be the Hopfest to counteract last months stoutfest. But it could happen.

I don't have any hop bombs to bring tonight, so I'll just haveta see what I can find in the basement. I do have a good idea though.

Beer Club starts at 6:30 at Crane Alley, on the second floor; beer will probably be opened around 7:30.

I don't have pool tonight, so I can focus all my energy on beer... as though I don't do that anyway.

CU there.

Wendls softball

Wendls softball leagues have been pushed back a week. The start date is now April 20.

They are still looking for teams. So if you know 10 people, get them together.

Champaign parks district already has schedules out, so it's too late there.

If you are looking for a team, go to the Wend's page.

More commercials; HOPS

Miller Lite hops their beer three times during the brewing process.

I'm not sure if you knew this before or not, but apparently they do. I don't know if you've ever tasted the hops in their beer, but I don't think I have.

Here's the short version of the commercial.



This commercial is probably in retaliation to the Budweiser Idaho Hops commercial.



So, it's Idaho Hops, versus triple hops. Either way, there's no hops flavor whatsoever in the watered down version of beer.

Interestingly, in the Miller Lite commercial they ask "How does Miller Lite get all that great Pilsner taste?"

The answer should be pilsner malts and saaz hops. Miller just claims it's from triple hopping.

In the long version of the Miller Lite commercial, they show a brewer pouring hops into the brew kettle from a 5 gallon bucket. Doesn't Miller have an automated process for this? Heck, Dogfish Head has Sir Hops Alot, so they don't have to pour the Hops in 3 whole times during the brewing process. Does Miller use whole leaf hops as the commercial suggests? Don't they use hops extract?

Is Miller just trying to show themselves as a craft brewery? They tried that, it didn't go over well. Miller does own some darn fine breweries, and can produce some good beers if they want to. But parading around as a pilsner, that doesn't taste like pilsner (but is good for hydration) is misleading. Victory Prima Pils, is a good example of an American made pilsner. Miller Lite, Budweiser... aren't.

So, there's some more commercials I hate.

I'm sure you hate them too.

If anyone knows the URL to the long form of the Miller commercial, let me know.

There are several other blogs that complain about these commercials too, so I'm not the only one.

BeerJanglin'; Wine Snobs Become Bud Geeks!

Slashfood; Miller Lite Now Touting "Triple Hops"

There's more out there. See, I'm not the only one.

Beer Tickets You Wish You Had #2

Horray, they arrived. This will be the second in the series of Beer Tickets You Wish You Had.

The first was Great Taste of the Midwest. This one is Dark Lord Day 2009.

You'll note it says something like Bottle Limit Set on Day of Event.

You'll also note that it's more of a purple ticket with gold... hehe.

Skot has informed me, he got his. Sammons got his, Kridz got hers, and Paddy's were also at the house when I opened mine.

I attempted to TWEET it last night, but it didn't seem to go through as I also CC'd someone else on my phone that the tix were at the house.

Did everyone else get theirs?

They are already on Ebay, current price is $100 (make that $177)(make that $14,999.44... WTF???)(it seems that auction has been pulled) (but it's been reoffered by Mr. DB, and the bidding is up to 1 grand).

Also, some jackass is selling a (a, that's 1) ticket with a buy it now of $399, there are 5 available on EBay right now (make that 9 now).

Time for the internets to give back

Alright internets, I want to find two of my old army buddies. Google searches don't seem to do anything productive.

If you know either of these two people, or you are one of either of them, have them email me, or post a comment and I'll get back with them.

Both of these guys were in the Army in Alaska with me.

1. Kevin Higgins. Was a SFC. I believe he moved to North Carolina after leaving Alaska. He was a ranger instructor before being in AK. He used to (and probably still does) ride a Harley.

2. Ricky Zimmerman. Rick was a SGT when we were in Alaska. Then he went to Korea and worked for the magazine there. He developed some kind of illness and got really skinny.

GO!

Beers for Smart@ss. a hearty thanks

Smart@ss received news from his doctor today that he is now able to consume alcoholic beverages again.

So for all of you who drank a beer (or two), everyone who asked about it at Beer Club, everyone who was like "oh, SMAAAART@@@SSS" you can now raise your glass and he'll be able to raise one with you.

So now the question is: What should be his first beer in almost 6 months?

(I know I didn't keep up with the column on the side; but it's going to be coming down shortly.)

New Inventory Items

In my recent travels and purchases, the following beers have been acquired.

They mostly came from three trips, one was up to Bloomington to go meet Sammons. Another was to West Lakeview Liquors. The last was to Friar Tucks.

• Deschutes The Abyss
• Russian River Consecration
• Lost Abbey Carnevale
• Lost Abbey the Angel's Share 2008 (2)
• Black Flag Imperial Stout
• Harpoon Catamount Maple wheat
• Brooklyn Black OPS
• Nøgne Ø Dark Horizon
• Brouwerij De Molen Rasputin
• Amager Batch One
• Two Brothers Red Eye
• New Belgium Lips of Faith
• Southern Tier Creme Brulee (2)
• Southern Tier Iniquity
• Norrebro North Bridge Extreme
• Norrebro La Granja Espresso Stout
• Founders Cerise (2)
• Harpoon Leviathan
• Struisse Black Albert
• Avery Brabant
• Mikkeller Warrior Single Hop
• Founders KBS (5) (2 from Friar Tuck; 1 from WLV; 2 from another source)
• Brewdog Paradox Port Dundas 013 (this is apparently the 3rd bottle of this that I've gotten)
• Brewdog Paradox Glen Grant 003

The highlights are the Black Albert, the Angel's Share, the Abyss, and obviously the KBS.

Some of the beers have gone straight into storage, others went into my "Next in the Fridge" box.