Fat Tire nothing special

Jeff at EatWisconsin does not understand the hype of another microbrew, Fat Tire.

I don’t have anything against Fat Tire or New Belgium brewing I just don’t get the hype. It seems like these beer drinkers feel that they have been deprived of the best beer ever brewed. Fat Tire isn’t a bad beer but it sure isn’t an outstanding one either. It’s a gateway beer. A microbrew that is mild enough that your typical Miller or Budweiser drinker would like it, kind of like Spotted Cow or Leinenkugel’s Red. In this instance I believe the mere fact that it wasn’t available here is a large reason (if not the only reason) people are clamoring for it. I predict that in a year or so the Fort Collins beers will be just like every other beer that finally makes its way to Wisconsin, just another good beer choice among hundreds of other good beers available to us.

Its not like the fans of Fat Tire don’t have options. Why haven’t they been enjoying some of the great Amber/Red style beers already being brewed in Wisconsin. Sprecher Amber, Capitol’s Wisconsin Amber, Tyranena’s The Headless Man Amber Alt, Ale Asylum’s Ambergeddon, and Central Water’s Ouisconsing Red are just a sampling of the killer red/amber style ales brewed here in Wisconsin.

What's St. Patrick's Day without a cocktail?

1 1/2 oz Bailey's® Irish cream
1/2 oz Frangelico® hazelnut liqueur

Pour ingredients into a stainless steel shaker over ice and shake until completely cold. Strain into a chilled, stemmed or rocks glass filled with ice.

"He stopped drinking"

In light of the revelations in the Dan Bice column on State Representative Jeff Wood's past troubles with alcohol, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reiterated their support for Wood's resignation. This prompted a response from a reader,

Jeff Wood should stay in office. Let he who is without sin throw the first stone. He stopped drinking. What about the lawmakers still drinking?

The lesson should be, tax and regulate marijuana to fill the state budget gap and raise the penalties for DUI.

But Wood is like a lot of us. He made a mistake. Let him serve, then let voters decide.

"Your honor, the defendant may have killed his parents, but he's stopped killing people. Who among us would punish an orphan? If there is a lesson here, let's tax guns and bullets, and raise the penalty for carrying a concealed weapon."

The analogy isn't exact, but you get my point. "He stopped drinking." Yes, it was hard for him to continue drinking and smoking the pot pipe with his hands handcuffed behind his back. He also stopped hitting signs, snowbanks and medians, and ceased to be a menace to the roads.

Checkpoints are for borders

Nick Schweitzer has an excellent analysis of proposals for sobriety check points.

In Pennsylvania, roving patrols are ten times more effective at stopping drunk drivers! In Arizona, they had no effectiveness when reinstated after 10 years of not being used. Supporters still touted them as being "educational" for people since everyone stopped was handed a pamphlet on drunk driving. One Sheriff had the audacity to say that it was "good they were arresting so few people." It's the perfect catch 22. When a state doesn't have sobriety check points, we need them to catch drunk drivers. When drunk drivers aren't caught at sobriety checkpoints, then that is a show of their effectiveness. Under what conditions then would they not be found useful? It's totally bogus.

However, there might be another reason why law enforcement likes them.

But if they aren't effective, then why do so many police organizations, like the Milwaukee County Sheriff want them? Well, the reality is that the "court protections" are either largely ignored, of other court decisions have increasingly allowed police to search for other things while they are checking your sobriety... and sometimes without even that pretense. In California, just one checkpoint netted $300,000 in tickets and fees, not for drunk driving, but for invalid licenses.

Words of wisdom

"if you make a drink: vodka, gin, fresh-squeezed lime, fresh-squeezed grapefruit: it will have all of the worst qualities of each."

- Scott Feldstein

Friday afternoon cocktail hour

At the suggestion of a reader, Friday afternoons are going to be the cocktail hour around here just to get you in the right frame of mind for the weekend. This weekend is, of course, the Kentucky Derby. So what better way to start the weekend than with a mint julep?

Most of the time, I wouldn’t recommend this drink, which is sort of an odd combination of tastes: mint, sugar, bourbon. But hey, it’s spring…and Derby time.

Even if you’re not going to the race, you can raise a mint julep toast to it and the good people of Kentucky: the Bluegrass State. And while you’re doing it, give some thought to touring Kentucky one of these days. It has much to commend it: Southern hospitality, horse farms, bourbon distilleries.

As a matter of fact, you can taste your way across the state on the Bourbon Trail, visiting Jim Beam, Maker’s Mark, Wild Turkey, Buffalo Trace and Four Roses distilleries.

To help you capture the spirit of the Derby, here’s a mint julep recipe from the folks at Wild Turkey, where master distiller Jimmy Russell has held court for 54 years. Russell and his minions taught me the finer points of bourbon tasting a few years ago. They’ll do the same for you if you take a Wild Turkey tour.

You can make a julep with any Kentucky bourbon (Jack Daniels doesn’t count: It’s made in Tennessee. By law, bourbons can only be made in Kentucky).

Jimmy’s julep uses Wild Turkey 101; he says the higher proof produces a richer, deeper and fuller taste.

JIMMY’S JULEP

2.5 oz. Wild Turkey 101
3 sprigs of mint (six to eight mature-sized leaves); more for garnish
1½ teaspoons brown sugar
½ cup crushed ice

In a traditional silver julep cup or double-old-fashioned glass, mull two sprigs of mint with the brown sugar and one ounce of Wild Turkey 101 for a few minutes, crushing the mint leaves with a spoon. Add the crushed ice, the rest of the bourbon, and garnish with sprig of mint.

–Rosemary McClure, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

Now that's a writing assignment we can all appreciate.

What're you having?

We're in the weekend mode already, if you can't tell. Over at WISN.com they have an interview with Dave Jacobson, the bar manager at Restaurant Miami in Minneapolis. Jacobson suggests what he believes certain drinks say about the person ordering them, and then suggests ten drinks men should never order.

What does a Stoli-on-the-rocks say about me, other than I should hand the keys to my wife?

Frivolous luxury destroying the planet

Oh sure. I'll point you to my beer 'fridge. It's in the cage with the abused and hungry pitbulls.

The wacko environmentalists are coming for the beer fridge.

Getting rid of vintage “beer fridges” – secondary fridges which many North American and Australian homes boast – could have a significant impact on household greenhouse gas emissions, suggests a new study.

Beer fridges are additional fridges that are generally used to keep beer and other drinks cold on top of a household’s primary fridge for food. One in three Canadian households has a second fridge, many of which are ageing, energy-guzzling models, according to Denise Young, a researcher at the University of Alberta, Canada.

Young suggests that getting rid of older models, in Canada at least, would have an impact on energy usage. Her study analyses industry data and the results of a national survey to look at the environmental effects of having beer fridges in Canada.

"People need to understand the impact of their lifestyles," says Joanna Yarrow, director of Beyond Green, a sustainable development consultancy in the UK. "Clearly the environmental implications of having a frivolous luxury like a beer fridge are not hitting home. This research helps inform people – let's hope it has an effect".

Denise Young and Joanna Yarrow can contribute to the environment by feeding themselves to the polar bears for all I care. But when I want a politically incorrect cold one, I'm reaching into Old Reliable. And when I want a place to keep the extra fixin's for cocktails, I'm putting them in the Old Reliable. And when I have an extra bottle of vodka that needs proper chilling, Old Reliable has a freezer, too. And when it comes time to dispose of the body of the government agent that shows up to take away my beer refrigerator...

(ht: Silflay Hraka)

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That's my boy

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If you offer the officer one, there's a good chance he'll let you go

There's an e-mail going around,

98% OF AMERICANS SAY 'OH S--T' BEFORE GOING IN THE DITCH ON A SLIPPERY ROAD.

THE OTHER 2% ARE FROM WISCONSIN AND THEY SAY, 'HOLD MY BEER AND WATCH THIS.'

Coincidentally, Men's Health has ranked 100 cities in the United States on the danger from alcohol. Milwaukee only ranked ninth worst, Madison shockingly finished 27th. Denver was the worst and Colorado Springs finished third, making me question the wisdom of the Miller-Coors venture.

For those wondering why I didn't accept a job offer in North Carolina five years ago, Durham was ranked "the best", even beating Salt Lake City. I remember being taken out on the town in Ashville. I was told, "We even have a bar that makes it's own beer."

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Ghoul's Punch

Found this recipe in an e-mail from Better Homes and Gardens, and the recipe is available at their website. I suggest an additional ingredient at the end. The recipe looks relatively easy to follow.

8 (about 10-ounce) servings Prep: 20 minutes
Freeze: 8 to 24 hours
Ingredients
6 cups unsweetened pineapple juice, chilled
3 cups cold water
1 6-ounce can frozen lemonade concentrate
4 blood orange or orange slices
1 recipe Frozen Hands (see recipe below)

Directions
1. For punch, in a punch bowl stir together pineapple juice, water, and lemonade concentrate. Float orange slices and Frozen Hands in punch. Makes 8 (about 10-ounce) servings.

Frozen Hands: Carefully pour cranberry juice cocktail into 2 or 3 clear plastic gloves.* Fill the gloves so that the fingers can move easily. Tightly seal the gloves with rubber bands. Place on a baking sheet lined with paper towels. Freeze until firm. Use scissors to cut the gloves off the frozen hands. If any fingers break off, add them separately to punch.

(I would suggest the addition of Malibu Spiced Rum, add to taste. - JW)

*Note: Be sure to use gloves without powder. Or, rinse powdered gloves thoroughly before using.


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Breakfast booze

MKE has a featured article this week on booze with (for) brunch including some recipes to go with their annual brunch review. So if Mom (or Mom-in-law) is driving you crazy on Mother's Day, drown her out with booze.

One recipe that looks interesting enough to try is The Wisconsin Cow Bomb, if for the name than anything else.

Wisconsin Cow Bomb
Mixed by Valeri and Adam Lucks at Comet Cafe, 1947 N. Farwell Ave.
The digs Comet Cafe is the archetypal jumping east-side joint for brunch. "I would say it's a very busy, energetic place to come in the morning," co-owner Valeri Lucks says. "People are talking and laughing, and glasses are clinking."
The drink Think of the Wisconsin Cow Bomb ($7) as the Dairy State version of the Irish Car Bomb. "It actually kind of reminds me of a milkshake in a way, once the ice cream melts down," Lucks says. "So it's like a chocolate milkshake with a Jameson kick."
Goes well with The Commuter sandwich ($4.50), egg cooked any way you like with breakfast meat from the griddle on your choice of bread. "The Wisconsin Cow Bomb is a bit of a meal in and of itself," Lucks says. "So the Commuter would go with it well because it's not as huge as our other brunch menu items."
Hairs of the dog 5. That's if you get the standard single shot of Jameson. If you request more shots, you can quickly ratchet up the potency.
Mix it yourself
1 pint Guinness
1 scoop vanilla ice cream
2 tablespoons chocolate syrup
1 shot Jameson Irish Whiskey
Directions Pour Guinness in a pint glass. Add ice cream, then syrup, then top it off with Jameson. "The Jameson seems to melt the ice cream, which mixes it up better," Lucks says. "I usually use a spoon, and once it kind of melts together, you can drink it straight from the glass."
- T.C.

Our friend Quietman is probably screaming at horror at the thought that someone is mixing the Jamesons with ice cream and chocolate syrup.

I bet it works well with Makers Mark, too.

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