As you may have noticed, there’s something unique about the label: It’s for a beer Choc hasn’t released yet. Say hello to Choc’s newest beer, Belgian-Style Trippel Ale. The beer is expected to hit liquor store shelves at the start of April. Expect a bright, fruity beer with a  strong, but refined, hop presence. Choc is shooting for a 7.5 percent strength.

-Today: Firkin Friday at McNellie’s OKC, featuring a special edition of McNellie’s Pub Ale (which is a two-time Beer Championship Series champion, just in case you didn’t know).

-Feb. 16: Firkin Thursday at McNellie’s Tulsa, featuring an ancho chile-and-bittersweet chocolate-infused Big Jamoke Porter.

-Feb. 23: Pint night at TapWerks, featuring vanilla Big Jamoke Porter.

-March 1: 2012 Revival Red Ale release party at SoundPony, 409 N Main St., Tulsa. The event will be 4 to 7 p.m. and include the ceremonial tapping of the first keg of Revival Red Ale, Marshall’s spring seasonal American red ale.

I’ll admit that I think “Anchorman” is one of the greatest movies of all time, so I may be biased, but this is pure genius. The commercial aired during the Super Bowl only in North Platte, Neb. Since it’s now gone viral over the Internet, I would call that getting some bang for your buck.

That same issue was covered recently in an article in Runner’s World magazine.

The answer? While beer and running don’t make for terrible partners, women seemed to fare better when they combined the two than men did. I guess my dream of fueling my Olympic glory with beer like John Belushi fueled his Olympic glory with cigarettes and mini donuts won’t be coming true any time soon.

For more insight, check the article.

Sorry to disappoint, but once again we will not be advertising during the Super Bowl. This year’s average rate for a 30 second spot is $3 million. This falls slightly out of line with our advertising budget. But there is good news; you can enjoy the game with a locally crafted Marshall beer at over 180 locations across Oklahoma and Kansas, or at home, and still enjoy the millions spent to entertain you by the mega corporations. While there may not be a local team to pull for, you can show these mega corps that you support local grass roots business!

Perhaps you plan to host your friends for the day. If this is the case, we have an amazing recipe from our good friend Jeremiah Ramey for  Big Jamoke chicken wings. Make these wings in large batches and have plenty of craft beer on hand. Feel free to substitute other delicious craft beers in the recipe, but as Big Jamoke is only available through the end of February and brings a boldness to the recipe, it is our first choice.

Big Jamoke Chicken Wings

-5 lbs. chicken wings

Brine Ingredients

-4 bottles 12 oz. of Big Jamoke Porter

-2 cups of water

-1/4 cup of kosher salt

-1/4 cup of honey

-1/4 cup sriracha

-1-2 tsp of wasabi paste

Basting and dipping sauce

-3/4 cup soy sauce

-1/4 cup Big Jamoke

-3/4 cup honey

-1/4 cup sriracha

-1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

-1/4 cup minced ginger

-2 tbsp sesame oil

-2 tsp of guajillo powder (or regular chili powder)

-1 tsp of minced garlic

-1 tbsp fresh cracked black pepper

-1 tsp kosher salt

For the brine, mix everything together in a large bowl or bag. Seal and refrigerate no longer than 4 hours.

Take the wings out of brine and discard. Mix everything for the basting and dipping sauce. Reserve some sauce for basting. Grill on med-high for 15-20, basting in the final minutes. Toss wings in some sesame seeds and chopped green onions and serve with remaining dipping sauce.

Here’s a write-up explaining what they are.

AB will advertise for Budweiser, Bud Light and the new Bud Light Platinum, which actually tastes exactly like platinum. (I made that up. I don’t know what it tastes like.)

Here’s the quarter-by-quarter lineup:

First Quarter

“Factory” (Bud Light Platinum) – The process of creating something truly Platinum is revealed.  (30 seconds)

“Work” (Bud Light Platinum) – This office is anything but conventional. (30 seconds)

Second Quarter

“Return of the King” (Budweiser) – A town celebrates as the Clydesdales usher in a historic moment in American history. (60 seconds)
 
Bud Light “Secret Spot” (30 seconds)

Third Quarter

“Eternal Optimism” (Budweiser) – Highlights of American achievements throughout history – with the assurance of more to come. (60 seconds)

Fourth Quarter

“Rescue Dog” (Bud Light) – Calling this dog’s name unveils a special trick. (60 seconds)

That’s 4 minutes and 30 seconds of advertising. Super Bowl commercials are going for a reported $3.5 million per 30-second spot, so that’s a cool $31,500,000 AB is dropping on this year’s game.

Mrs. Beagle passed along a link comparing the might of New England’s breweries vs. those that call the Empire State home.

You can read the article right here.

Fun Super Bowl fact: The game drives the sale of more than 51 million cases of beer.

-Oklahoma City’s COOP Ale Works has been selected to pour at Savor: An American Craft Beer and Food Experience. The two-day festival will be June 8-9 in Washington, D.C. Sixty breweries from around the country were selected to take part. You can learn more at this link.

-Mustang Brewing announced a Feb. 13 release date for its new line of grocery/convenience store beers, Session ’33. They also put out this video to promote the date.

-Here’s an interesting infographic about beer and the Super Bowl.

-TapWerks is hosting some Woodchuck Amber Cider giveaways on Thursday, Feb. 2,  in honor of Groundhog Day. I always say, if you don’t have a groundhog, a woodchuck is the next best thing. At least, I said it just now.

-McNellie’s OKC is holding a Hoffbrau pint night today at 5 p.m. Buy the pint, keep the glass.

-McNellie’s OKC also announced a Sam Adams Beer Dinner is set for 7 p.m. Feb. 28. To reserve a spot, email jenny.price@mcnellies.com.

Aroma: Wild Hare hits you with bready, malty aroma, but I didn’t detect much in the way of hops, either floral or citrus.

Appearance: The beer is deep amber and a little hazy.

Taste: I found this beer to have a very defined malt character, slightly bready, but lacking any real defining hop presence. Got just the slightest bit of bitterness on the back end and didn’t detect a distinct hop flavor.

Mouthfeel: Has a light, smooth feel; good carbonation.

Overall impression: Wild Hare leans a little bit too far toward the malt side of the equation versus the hop side, for my liking. Otherwise, it has a pleasant taste and is quite drinkable. Seems to be a sessionable offering.

Thirsty Beagle score: 7.5 points (out of 10)

In other, unrelated beer news…

-Mustang Brewing has set a Winter Lager pint night at McNellie’s OKC for 5 p.m. Monday, Feb. 6. First 100 people to buy a pint of Winter Lager get a new Mustang pint glass.

-Oklahoma City scored some major cred in the latest issue of Draft Magazine. Check the link to see mentions of RePUBlic, TapWerks, McNellie’s, Redbud, COOP and Battered Boar.

-Also in Draft Mag, TapWerks made the list of the magazine’s 100 best beer bars for 2012.

-And yet another tidbit from Draft Mag: They recently reviewed COOP Native Amber and Choc Signature Smoked Porter.

“As we start the brewery’s 103^rd year, our team is proud to brew this fine pale ale,” said Spoetzl brewmaster Jimmy Mauric.  “Shiner Wild Hare gives our brewers the opportunity to now share a great ale with our fans.”

According to a press statement sent out by the brewery, the classic American pale ale “is made with American two-row barley, with a blend of Munich and caramel malts for rich malt flavor and clear amber color. U.S. Golding and bravo hop varieties are used in the kettle and fermenter for crisp bitterness and assertive fresh hop fruit and floral aroma. More than a pound of hops is used to produce each barrel of Shiner Wild Hare.”

Can’t make it to Tulsa tonight? You’re not out of luck in terms of pint nights. TapWerks in Bricktown is offering Great Divide for its Thursday pint night. Buy a pint of Great Divide, get a glass.

And feeling slightly jealous of its Tulsa sister (that tramp!), McNellie’s OKC has announced that for its Firkin Friday tomorrow night they will feature a new beer from Battered Boar, Blue Face Scotch Ale. The firkin will be tapped at 6 p.m.

To round out this post, I’ll also mention that RePublic is offering a special right now where you can buy a flight of German beer and get a glass or stein. Who doesn’t love drinking beer from a stein, right?

Beers in the Saddlebag Series will be one-of-a-kind specialty beers — stronger and more unique than those in our regular lineup. I have developed several special recipes — some that we have already displayed at a few of last year’s Firkin Fridays at McNellie’s, and Pro Brewer’s Night at the National Homebrewers’ Conference in San Diego.

There are many new craft beer drinkers in Oklahoma that enjoy Mustang beer.  At the same time, there are many experienced craft beer drinkers that are looking for beers that push the boundaries, and the Mustang beers released in the Saddlebag Series will push those boundaries.

These beers will be brewed in small batches, packaged in larger bottles, and sold as limited-numbered releases, so once they’re gone, they won’t be available for quite some time. Craft beer drinkers can either enjoy them right away, or lay them down for additional aging to enjoy later.

Finally, Saddlebag Series beers will be brewed in our local brewing facilities, and use more local ingredients as we continue our support of the Oklahoma economy.

More to come as we get closer to the first release, which we anticipate will be around the May-June timeframe.

So there you have it. Can’t argue with more unique craft beer in Oklahoma.

Essentially, you shouldn’t just leave hops laying around where your dog can get them. And that goes for unused or spent hops. There have been documented cases of golden retrievers and greyhounds having very bad reactions, notably a condition that causes a rapid and severe rise in the dog’s internal temperature.

Here is a very interesting and, I would presume expensive, account of a dog battling off the effects of ingesting spent hops.

I think it’s safe to say you should not feed your dog the remnants of that bottle of IPA you didn’t finish, either.

-According to beer industry data, Coors Light has overtaken Budweiser as the country’s second-most-shipped beer. What beer is in first place? Bud Light.

-A couple of Illinois college kids took home the World Series of Beer Pong title and a $50,000 prize recently.

-Mustang Brewing released its latest company newsletter, which includes an interesting mention of a new line of beers called the Saddle Bag Series. My guess is a line of more complex/strong craft beers. I’m working on more details.

-Ever wonder how much it costs to enjoy beer at your favorite NHL hockey game? Of course you did. Well, here’s a list that shows what each NHL team charges. Most expensive on the list? None other than my Toronto Maple Leafs. Expensive beer, expensive tickets, crappy hockey. Sounds like a winning combination!

-We’ve all heard of aging beer on oak or bourbon barrels, but how about aging it on the same wood used to wrap and box cigars? I’m not so sure about that brew.

(Side note: The group Oklahomans for Modern Laws says they plan to spend up to $450,000 on the petition drive process. They obviously have not spent any of that money on their website — www.okmodernlaws.com.)

A group seeking to legalize wine and strong beer sales in Oklahoma’s grocery and convenience stores plans to begin the initiative petition process as soon as (this) week.

Oklahomans for Modern Laws will file its petition with the secretary of state, which starts a process that the group hopes will lead to a statewide vote on the issue in November.

Currently, state law restricts retail sales of wine and beer of more than 3.2 percent alcohol by weight to liquor stores.

Changing the law will help improve the state’s image, attract major retailers to the Oklahoma market and give consumers more choices about where they spend their money, said Brian Howe, spokesman for the group.

After the petition is filed with the secretary of state and goes through a formal publication process, opponents will have 10 days to challenge the legality of the petition’s language before the Oklahoma Supreme Court.

One key technical question is whether the group will be able to change the retail alcohol laws with only one petition and one state question, Howe said.

The group’s initial effort will attempt to do so, but opponents are likely to say it violates the state Constitution’s requirement that state questions only deal with one issue.

If the Supreme Court rules that the issue can’t be dealt with in a single petition, the group will come back with a multiquestion effort, Howe said.

If the issue clears the Supreme Court, the group will have 90 days to collect more than 155,000 Oklahoma voter signatures.

Howe said the group hopes to have petitions in the hands of professional petition-passers by spring with a goal of gathering 200,000 signatures to give the effort some cushion. After signed petitions are returned to the Secretary of State’s Office, opponents will have another opportunity to challenge the effort on the basis of an insufficient number of signatures.

The group plans to spend $300,000 to $450,000 on the petition-passing campaign and is relying on financial contributions from retailers to pay for the effort, Howe said.

J.P. Richard, president of the Retail Liquor Association of Oklahoma and owner of a Lawton liquor store, said his group is ready to fight any effort to take wine and strong beer sales away from liquor stores.

He said the state’s system for selling wine and strong beer works as it is and doesn’t need alteration.

“This industry has been here for 50 years and it’s not broken,” he said.

Richard said the petition process actually cost closer to a million dollars, and he is suspicious of the financing of the campaign.

“Who’s behind this thing?” Richard asked. “Follow the money. The money tells all.”

Mike Thornbrugh, spokes-man for QuikTrip, Oklahoma’s largest convenience store chain, said the company will have to look at the petition when it is filed to see if it can support it.

The company wants to end the state’s dual-strength beer system and get wine into the retail setting but won’t be willing to support an effort if it changes retail hours and days of operation, the right to sell refrigerated beer or rules on hiring clerks younger than 21 to match state laws that apply to liquor stores, he said.

-Part two of Choc’s Project Hop is tonight at McNellie’s OKC. This week’s frikin is a dry-hopped 1919 using Citra hops. Citra hops are usually used for aroma purposes and are described as having a heavy tropical aroma of lychee, mango, papaya and pineapple. Interesting.

-Marshall Brewing Co. has scheduled a series of firkin events this month. Wednesday will be a vanilla-bean infused Big Jamoke Porter at Main Street Tavern in Broken Arrow; Jan. 13 and 19 will be a Big Jamoke Porter Firkin infused with toasted ancho chili, cocoa nibs and bittersweet chocolate. Jan. 13 is at McNellie’s OKC, while the latter date is at McNellie’s Tulsa.

-COOP Ale Works has announced that its third anniversary party will be Saturday, Jan. 14. Further details to come. In other COOP news, expect to see COOP’s Territorial Reserve Oak Aged Imperial Stout on store shelves by the middle of next week.

-Mustang Brewing, which up until now has used generic gold bottle caps, announced they will have new bottles caps on beers available later in February.

-The Phoenix area is excellent. My trip to the Fiesta Bowl was the first time I’ve been there, and I can’t say enough about it. Someone told me I’d think it was less awesome if I was there in August when its 120 degrees, but I’m just going to pretend it’s always 75 and awesome there.

-Note to future Fiesta Bowl visitors: If you’re going to grab a few beers outside the stadium before the game, think about just bringing them yourself. Otherwise you have to pay $20 for the right to get in to the fenced-off area where you then can buy a thin selection of Budweiser products.

-In other miscellaneous Fiesta Bowl news, Stanford’s band: Dumbest sideshow I’ve seen at a football game. They may think they’re really funny with their snide political statements and condescending humor, but all they really do is flail around the field and play “music” that you can’t even decipher. Isn’t the point of a band to play music that people can hear? Calling them a band is forgiving. They should be renamed “The people who flail around the field while blaring on instruments while spelling out human letters.”

-OSU wide receiver Tracy Moore — one of Brandon Weeden’s top three targets this year — saw limited playing time. He was being punished for violating team rules. Some suggested he violated curfew. Thank you, Tracy Moore, for reminding me how dumb it is to get wrapped up in college football. Seriously, who other than a college kid would risk not playing in the biggest game in school history just so he can stay out late?

-Someone who should be thanking Moore, however, is Colton Chelf. The backup wide receiver had the game of his life running the routes that Moore would have been running.

-Speaking of running routes, Justin Blackmon is pretty good. I read a quote before the game from one of Stanford’s defenders that they had devised their entire defensive game plan around stopping Blackmon. How did that plan work out?

-Some might be inclined to think OSU was lucky to win on account of the three missed kicks. As far as I can remember, LSU still got credit for beating Alabama in overtime when the Tide missed three kicks.

-Speaking of LSU-Alabama, wasn’t the OSU-Stanford game like an alternate-universe version of that game? Both games were slugfests featuring the teams’ strengths dominating each other, overtime and missed field goals. The only difference is that LSU-Alabama featured defenses dominating, and OSU-Stanford featured offenses doing the dominating.

-I still think the untold story of this college football season is how LSU’s or Alabama’s defense would measure up against OSU. Stanford was no slouch on defense this year — heading into the Fiesta Bowl, the Cardinal ranked 23rd in the nation in points allowed (20.3 ppg) and 25th in the country in total defense (331.4 ypg). Although Arkansas has a good offense, neither LSU nor Alabama has or will have to face anything like they would have seen with Weeden and Blackmon. Thanks to the BCS and the voters, we’ll never know what would have happened.

-I’m not saying Andrew Luck isn’t good. Clearly he’s got a strong arm, is an accurate thrower and made some nice plays while under pressure/on the run. I’m just getting a little tired of the lovefest because they guy “does so much at the line of scrimmage.” It may be 100 percent true, I’m just sick of always hearing about it.

-Kind of like how I’m sick of hearing about how much of a great dual threat Robert Griffin is. Does Griffin have good straight-line speed? Probably. Can you compare his running to Michael Vick? Heck no. Let’s have those comparisons come to an end. I like to point out Griffin’s last two games against OSU. He averaged 1.7 yards per carry in each game, and in 2010 was outrushed by Weeden.

-Speaking of dangerous ball carriers, Weeden’s first career rushing touchdown couldn’t have come at a better time. It was so unexpected, I count it as a trick play.

-Let’s hear it for the ACC! A solid 2-6 in the bowl season, including BCS losses to an average Michigan team that didn’t even deserve to be in the BCS and last night’s humiliation against 23rd-ranked West Virginia. Good thing we got two ACC teams in the BCS and only one Big 12 team.

-The PAC 12 went 2-5 in bowl games. Good thing we got two PAC 12 teams in the BCS and only one Big 12 team.

-The Big 10 went 4-6 in bowl games (with one of those wins coming in a nailbiter against Western Michigan and another coming against a UCLA team with a losing record and no coach). Good thing we got two Big 10 teams in the BCS and only one Big 12 team. Did I mention the Big 12 is 6-1 in bowl games to this point?

-I couldn’t be more happy to see a story that several AP voters have gone on the record to say they’ll vote for LSU as their No. 1 team even if LSU loses in the title game. Down with the BCS!

(You could opt not to share with your wife or lady friend, and try to pull this party off yourself. But, let’s be honest, if you’re a man, you’re probably not going to go to this level of detail when hosting a party. Just sayin’.)

Let’s see… Beer? Check. Pork? Check.

OK, you’ve got a good party on your hands.

Apparently, Choc’s Signature Gose, a little-known tart and salty German wheat beer, was not obscure enough. After releasing the rare Gose in 2011, the Krebs brewery is one-upping itself in 2012 with the release of its next beer: A Polish smoked wheat beer that has been commercially extinct for about 20 years. Choc’s Gratzer (GREAT-sir) will be available as part of the brewery’s Signature Series in late January, Choc announced today. The beer will be available in corked-and-caged 750 ml bottles, and on tap in a limited quantity.

Here’s a press release Choc released today:

Traditionally the style was brewed with 100 percent oak-smoked wheat malt and a Polish yeast. The unavailability of these ingredients have created major obstacles for any commercial brewer interested in bringing back Gratzer. Undeterred by these challenges we decided to recreate this style. After considering smoking wheat malt in Krebs, we were able to convince Weyermann, our malt supplier, to smoke the malt.  Once the malt was secured our attention turned to sourcing yeast. We could have used a readily available yeast strain, but we wanted to recreate a historically accurate Gratzer. With that in mind, a member of our team traveled to Poland to secure the proper yeast.  

 The resulting combination of wheat and oak smoke is very unique. It is a beer that every serious enthusiast should experience when Signature Gratzer hits stores in Oklahoma and western Arkansas in late January.  As always with the annual Signature releases, there is a limited quantity. Once the beer is gone there will be no more until next year!

The Thirsty Beagle was lucky enough to be in Krebs on Gratzer brew day, and I can tell you this is a beer that was a challenge to brew – the guys at Choc really poured their hearts into this one. If for no other reason, you should try this brew to celebrate the lengths Choc went to to brew it, and to pay respect to their desire to push the beer envelope in Oklahoma.

You can find the list at this link.

Tonight’s offering will be at McNellie’s Tulsa. It will feature a Centennial dry-hopped 1919. Choc’s aim is to show off the varying character of different hops by keeping the base element — the beer — constant while rotating through a series of single dry-hoppings.

The project will rotate between Oklahoma City and Tulsa, so fans in both cities will have a chance to try the beers. This is a venture I’m looking forward to, especially after trying a 1919 dry-hopped with cascade hops in May at the Oklahoma Craft Beer Festival. (It was my favorite beer of the night.)

As for tonight’s firkin, Centennial hops are described as offering over-the-top citrus flavor and aroma, with a relatively restrained floral nose. That should perk the 1919 right up, I’d think.

Choc President Zach Prichard describes the project as “a fun way for us to experiment with hops.”

He added that the project might lead to a more widespread distribution of beer outside of just the firkins. Is anyone else imagining a six pack of 1919 featuring six different dry-hopped versions, sort of in the spirit of Sam Adams’ Latitude 48 Deconstructed? Let’s keep the dream alive.

But the list does include some iconic brands, and I think illustrates that taste and flavor win out in the end.

You can fine the story, courtesy of the website 24/7 Wall St., at this link.

Any guesses what Choc will turn out? They have so many varieties in production right now, it’s hard to think of what they haven’t done. Perhaps a non-seasonal stout? A porter? A hefe?

Hopefully we’ll find out soon enough.