Free beer for troops
TTB found this today at www.beverageworld.com:
MillerCoors will provide 8,000 cases of free beer to U.S. service members in the Middle East to help them celebrate the Fourth of July.
The shipment of the beer, along with 25,000 pizzas purchased from Uno Chicago Grill, will be marked by a gathering at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday at the MillerCoors Milwaukee brewery’s visitor center, 4251 W. State St.
The beer donation, pending approval from Middle Eastern governments, is in coordination with Pizzas 4 Patriots, which provides gifts to members of the U.S. armed forces around the world.
The 4,000 cases of Miller Lite and 4,000 cases of Coors Light, along with the pizza, will be shipped from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City on Friday and Saturday. Transportation will be provided at no cost by DHL.
Kudos to all the folks who are trying to make things in the Middle East a little more palatable for the guys and gals over there, especially during a traditional American holiday.
Weekend wrap
The Thirsty Beagle did indeed make it out to the Bricktown Blues and BBQ Festival on Saturday night. It was a nice time: Weather was great and the beer was cold, even if it was only generic Budweiser products. My only beef with the festival is the BBQ part of it. If you’re going to have “BBQ” in the name of your festival, it would be nice to come with some top-notch BBQ. I had a brisket sandwich that was room-temperature and slightly dry. Definitely nothing to write home about. Can’t we get some of the city’s top BBQ joints out there to provide their best? Maybe make a competition out of it? It’s easy to do average BBQ, and that point was driven home Saturday night.
Also over the weekend, had a couple comments posted on some older TTB blogs that I thought I’d share. Greg posted this in response to my request for people to share stories of the worst beer they ever had:
Thanks Greg. I think we’ve all been there at one time or another. And Nathan posted this about my account of my Journey Into Intoxication at Disney World:
“Nice post and blog. I actually found your your blog because I just got back from DW yesterday and was google-ing to find out more about this Casa Beer I had in Morrocco, Epcot. I too “Drank Around the World,” and was actually silly enough to think I invented the idea lol. I dubbed it The Country Crawl. I’m not a big beer drinker but once I realized they only served Dos Equis in Mexico, I thought the idea would be fun. I had the aforementioned, Casa in Morocco, something (I forget) in Norway at dinner, Bodington’s in the U.K., Beck’s in Germany, would have done Tsingtao and Saporro in China and Japan but I could not find the bar in those countries :/ In Italy and France I assumed wine would be the offering as opposed to beer so I skipped those countries. All in all I thought it was fun:)”
Tonight, Saturday: Blues, BBQ and Beer
Such a fine combination can indeed be had tonight and Saturday in Bricktown at the 14th annual Bricktown Blues and BBQ Festival. They don’t have the word beer in the title of the event, which is really a shame, because when TTB makes an appearance there Saturday night, it’ll be to enjoy a nice, cold beverage. Word on the street is that Budweiser products will be sold (in souvenir pitchers, no less). Have I ever mentioned my profound love for the combination of barbecue and beer? Words don’t do it justice. Anyhow, you can find more info. about the festival by going to www.wimgo.com.
Beer gadgets
Interested in coasters made from beer bottle caps? A remote-controlled cooler? A vinyl wrap called Canouflage that makes it look like you’re drinking a sody-pop instead of a beer? Of course you are. Check out all the links at this site.
Beer links
Here’s news making the rounds in the beer world:
-TTB found this recipe for beer cheese fondue. Sounds delicious, especially with grilled steak cubes. You can’t go wrong with grilled steak. Add beer to that? What took you so long to ask?
-The French, big wine fans already, are drinking even less beer than usual. TTB says: Good, more beer for me.
-Is the recession scaring you away from buying a $600 case of beer? Apparently, it’s not stopping some Australians.
-I don’t even know if this is a real Bud Light commercial, or just a really funny spoof, but it’s pretty damn funny.
-And finally, is the beer belly a myth? I know some people who hope like anything their belly size is merely a myth!
Loss of free beer called ‘unfair’
Here’s some Canadian beer news for you: 2,400 retirees from Canada’s Molson are frothing mad at an announcement that the company will try to save about $1 million a year by cutting off the supply of free beer provided to retirees. You can read the report here. Retirees across Canada have been receiving hundreds of free bottles of beer each year — like nearly 900 bottles a year. These Canadians are not taking this lightly. Unions have filed grievances with Molson, and one retiree was quoted as saying the move is “unfair.” Here’s a news flash: Anytime you’re getting nearly 900 free bottles of beer a year, and then someone tells you you’re not going to get nearly 900 free bottles of beer a year, that feels pretty damn unfair. Now, you might say Molson is in the right. After all, $1 million a year is a good chunk of change. That is, until you find out that in April Molson Coors announced a first quarter profit of $75.7 million — more than double than recorded the previous year.
Job perks: Beer and a bicycle
Stuck in a rut at your current job? Interested in working in the beer industry? Interested in a job in the beer industry where you get free beer and a bicycle? Perhaps you should apply for a job at New Belgium Brewing Co. in Fort Collins, Colo. OK, so I’m not sure if they’re even hiring, but after reading this, you’ll be convinced like me that this is a company we can all get behind. For starters, the company was founded after the founder took a bicycle tour of breweries in Belgium. If you’ve been a reader of TTB, you’ll know I am quite the fan of Belgian beer. What’s not to like? Anyway, after a year at the brewery, each employee gets a free custom bicycle and part of a 33 percent ownership stake in the company. After five years, employees get an all-expense-paid trip to Belgium. On top of all that, employees get two free six packs of beer each week. Does anyone know anything about real estate in Fort Collins?
You think Italians have it rough?
Miller Lite is pulling its line of “Protection” TV ads after complaints came in from a group of Italian-Americans in Chicago. If you haven’t seen the ads, they’re sort of a spin-off from “The Sopranos,” featuring a pair of mobster types who go into bars or convenience stores to offer “protection” to a bartender or store clerk. The tender or clerk then says they don’t need protection, because their Miller Lite bottle or can has a protective layer or cap to lock in freshness, blah, blah, blah. Anyway, the Italian-American group says the spots display a “stereotypical mafia depiction of Italian Americans.” The Thirsty Beagle says: So what? Italian Americans should try living in America while being Canadian and Greek. If I had a dime for every time I’ve been asked about hockey, snow, gyros and baklava, I’d be a rich man. I thought the commercials were all in good fun. You be the judge.
Summer beer refreshment
Like a nice winter warmer beer gets you through the long, cold nights of December and January, a refreshing summer brew can really pick you up on a warm day. I pondered this fact while sitting in my back yard on a recent weekend. Nothing quite hits the spot like a lawn chair, some tunes, the warm sun and a cold beer by your side. (I can do without my insane, baying beagle and his fluffy white cohort who tear up and down the fence line barking like maniacs at the hint of a passing squirrel.) In fact, I think this may be my favorite time of year in terms of beer enjoyment. Late spring and summer is time for crisp and refreshing beer, as far as I’m concerned. So I was quite pleasantly surprised the other day when I cracked open a Shiner Blonde. Typically I steer clear of the Shiner brands; nothing against Shiner, per se. For me, it’s a been-there-done-that type of deal with Shiner. But I had never tried the Blonde version. I’m pleased to report it was very refreshing. Crisp. Easy to drink. Not going to blow away your taste buds, but not going to nail you to your lawn chair, either. Any other suggestions for a refreshing summer beer? Have your say in the comments section.
