Happy birthday Thirsty Beagle!
One year ago today The Thirsty Beagle appeared in this corner of cyberspace, and to celebrate the occasion, the city of Choctaw has decided to throw a four-day celebration! OK, so that’s not entirely true. The city of Choctaw is throwing a four-day celebration. But it’s not for The Thirsty Beagle. It’s the city’s annual Oktoberfest bash. The party, the 19th annual edition, this year is today through Saturday at Choctaw Creek Park, 2001 N Harper Road. You can find additional information here.
Beer news
Here’s a look at some news making the rounds in the beer world:
-Miller and Bud both say they will raise beer prices soon. Boo.
-A Purdue University researcher found that getting out with friends for a beer once or twice a month is actually good, for teenage girls especially.
-A new Australian brewery has announced it will hire 10 to 15 full-time beer tasters as part of its staff. But sorry fellas, brewery officials say those spots will likely go to women, who apparently can discern scents and tastes more accurately than men.
-An argument here for why September and October are the best months for beer.
Big 12 (Lack of) Power Poll: Week 1
It was a good week for Big 12 football teams. Unless you were Oklahoma or Colorado, the only conference schools to lose during Week 1. So without further delay, let’s get to The Thirsty Beagle’s Big 12 (Lack of) Power Poll:
1. Colorado (Lost to Colorado State 23-17; next, at Toledo): Buffs lose to in-state rival, then have their home field stormed by opposing fans. Definitely lacking in power.
2. Oklahoma (Lost to BYU 14-13; next, vs. Idaho State): Sooners lose game and quarterback. Now they have no quarterback, maybe no tight end, maybe no cohesion on offensive line. Maybe Idaho State will help get them back on track.
3. Kansas State (Beat UMASS 21-17; next, at Louisiana-Lafayette): As if barely squeaking by UMASS wasn’t bad enough, Wildcats have to go to Louisiana-Lafayette. Is this Louisiana-Lafayette’s first ever non-conference home game?
4. Iowa State (Beat North Dakota State 34-17; next, vs. Iowa): Cyclones get win, finally, albeit against minor-league foe. Will Iowa bring reality back to Ames, or can Iowa State finish the job where fellow in-stater Northern Iowa could not?
5. Baylor (Beat Wake Forest 24-21; next, bye): All fear the Baylor Bear uprising. Look out for Heisman dark horse Robert Griffin. Baylor is a team on the rise. Blah, blah, blah. The Thirsty Beagle is not ready for a world where Baylor has a legitimate football program.
6. Texas A&M (Beat New Mexico 41-6; next, bye): OK, I did not see this one coming. It’s great fun to bash Texas A&M, you know, with their crazy belief that they are one of the top college football programs in the world, but there’s not a lot a hater can say after a thrashing like that.
7. Texas Tech (Beat North Dakota 38-13; next, vs. Rice): Only scoring 38 against North Dakota? Heck, Iowa State put up 34 against North Dakota State. Could be trouble brewing in Lubbock, and I’m not talking about a salad-bar throw down with Bobby Knight.
8. Missouri (Beat Illinois 37-9; next, vs. Bowling Green): Either Illinois really sucks, which is possible, since they are a Big 10 school, or Missouri may be a little better than expected.
9. Nebraska (Beat FAU 49-3; next, vs. Arkansas State): Huskers dominate in season-opener, now turn attention to puff pastry No. 2 on their schedule. Better build up some confidence before trip to Virginia Tech.
10. Kansas (Beat Northern Colorado 49-3; next, at UTEP): The Thirsty Beagle thinks Kansas could ge a little frisky this year, but Nebraska, and all of the sudden Missouri, will put up a fight.
11. Oklahoma State (Beat Georgia 24-10; next, vs. Houston): ESPN.com projects OSU in the Fiesta Bowl. First, OSU needs to show they can stop the pass, and Zac Robinson needs to show he won’t hang receivers out to dry repeatedly with wobbly, looping throws.
12. Texas (Beat Louisiana-Monroe 59-20; next, at Wyoming): Longhorns can’t cover spread against Louisiana-Monroe. Let’s hear it: “Fire Mack Brown!”
Introducing the Big 12 (Lack of) Power Poll
The Thirsty Beagle today is introducing a new weekly feature on the blog: The Big 12 (Lack of) Power Poll. I think the name says it all. I’ll rate the Big 12 football teams each week based on my scientific, labyrinthian, BCS-like formula, then provide a breakdown of the standings for you. Let’s get this thing started!
1. Iowa State (This week: vs. North Dakota State): North Dakota State has a track record of beating bowl division teams. Iowa State has a habit of beating, ummhh, … well, they sure do look sharp in those new uniforms.
2. Baylor (This week: at Wake Forest): As far as The Thirsty Beagle is concerned, you gotta earn your spot in the Big 12′s mediocrity club.
3. Texas A&M (This week: vs. New Mexico): Recruiting services rank A&M’s 2010 class highly; football coaches are dismayed to find out they can’t field a team of oral commits.
4. Kansas State (This week: vs. UMass): Like many teams, Kansas State deals with injury bug during fall camp. The good news: Doctors clear coach Snyder to get up and around on game day.
5. Colorado (This week: vs. Colorado State): Coach Hawkins pre-game speech: “Go play intramurals, brother! Oops. I mean, go play Colorado State, brother!”
6. Missouri (This week: vs. Illinois): Team underachieves last year with star players Daniels, Maclin, Coffman; team will underachieve this year with star players, ummhh, … hey, how about that snazzy tiger mascot?!
7. Nebraska (This week: vs. Florida Atlantic): Ridiculously polite fans will only get you so far, TTB isn’t sold on apparent Husker turnaround.
8. Kansas (This week: vs. Northern Colorado): Kansas looks weak and lethargic on the field. Seems as though players haven’t been eating well. Where is all the food from the training table? It’s a great mystery.
9. Texas Tech (This week: vs. North Dakota): This week’s No. 9 spot brought to you by O’Flanagan’s Wholesale Pirate Supplies, proud sponsor of Mike Leach’s weekly coach’s show.
10. Oklahoma State (This week: vs. Georgia): When Gundy institutes media ban, that doesn’t mean no one will find out if you speed through the streets of Stillwater with no insurance and no license.
11. Oklahoma (This week: vs. BYU): Thirsty Beagle has just as many career starts at center as OU’s starting center.
12. Texas (This week: vs. Louisiana-Monroe): Texas stakes claim this week to top (lack of) power match-up. The Longhorns are only favored by 41.5 points.
Beer made on a boat, MGA news and Big 12 football
Would you pay $25.99 for one 12-ounce bottle of beer? What if I told you the beer was made by being aged two months on a boat in the North Atlantic that had to battle 60-foot waves and killer whales? The beer — Atlantic IPA, by BrewDog Breweries — is described as follows:
“…bursting with malt character; biscuit, toast, caramel, pirate ship oak, salt and tobacco. Hints of honey, pine and vanilla are also lurking in the depths of the palate. The generous use of English hops adds a substantial kick to the forefront of the nose and mouth with a smooth slick spicy, earthy herbal quality and a lingering woody bitterness in the finish.”
I can get on board with most of that; except probably for the pirate ship oak. I prefer pirate ship elm for my beer, thank you very much. Either way, this sounds like one complex beer. And it’s one that will likely be hard to get. Only 960 bottles will be available in the United States.
In other beer news, I got a note that Mustang Golden Ale has been added to the tap selection at 51st Street Speakeasy and that six packs of MGA will be available Friday (Sept. 4) at Cellar Wine & Spirits locations in Oklahoma City and Norman.
And in shameless blog self-promotion news, stay tuned this week for The Thirsty Beagle’s first installment of the weekly Big 12 (Lack of ) Power Poll.
Beer links
Here’s news making the rounds in the beer world:
-Swiss police confiscated 1,000 bottles of fake Heineken. The beer is called Keineken. I have no idea why the folks at Heineken are so concerned about infringement.
-A Louisiana woman was arrested after being accused of stealing a case of Miller Lite from a grocery store by hiding the beer between her legs and waddling out of the store.
-The city of Amsterdam has vowed to keep its beer bikes – oversized bicycle-trailer type things where up to 10 people sit around a central bar while someone pedals through the city’s streets — despite a recent string of accidents.
-The three Texas boaters stranded for a week recently in the Gulf of Mexico used beer to help them survive. Yes! I love it when beer comes to the rescue!
-Here’s a picture of a German model showing off the official beer mug for Germany’s 176th Oktoberfest celebration. I’m showing this picture strictly for my readers to see the mug. Really, I am.
Turning old beer into gasoline
It appears reports of the demise of the world’s fuel supply may have been overstated. And what do we have to thank for that? None other than beer. I found this report on the L.A. Times Web site. It’s about a California company that has invented a machine that converts organic waste into ethanol that can be used to fuel your car. The company has already signed agreements with several brewers to provide old beer and leftovers from the brewing process. The best part: You eventually could have one of these machines at your house. (Isn’t this kind of like in “Back to the Future” when Doc is putting banana peels into his time-traveling Delorean’s gas tank?) The only problem I see is that I would have a large roadblock to overcome when it came time to fill my conversion tank with old beer: The beer would be gone before I had the chance.
