Any Canadians Out There?

http://mentalfloss.com/article/53071/meet-beer-fridge-opens-only-canadians
To bolster national pride, Canadian beer company Molson placed beer fridges across Europe, from the streets of London and Brussels to the pastures of Belgium. Inside those fire engine red fridges? A free stockpile of Canadian suds. (Instead of planning a pub crawl through Europe, might we suggest a fridge crawl?)
A public fridge chock full of free beer may sound like heaven to some, but there’s a problem: It’s locked. And there’s only one way to open it—you have be Canadian. The fridge will open only if you scan a Canadian passport. A webcam inside snaps a photo of the passport, unlocking the swill when it recognizes the document as 100 percent official maple leaf.

Anyone have a spare Canadian I can borrow?

Best Chain E-Mail I've Got In Awhile...

If you had purchased $1,000 of shares in Delta Airlines one year ago, you would have $49.00 today!

If you had purchased $1,000 of shares in AIG one year ago, you would have $33.00 today.

If you had purchased $1,000 of shares in Lehman Brothers one year ago, you would have $0.00 today.

But, if you had purchased $1,000 worth of beer one year ago, drank all the beer, then turned in the aluminum cans for recycling,you would have received $214.00.

Based on the above, the best current investment plan is to drink heavily & recycle.

It is called the 401-Keg plan.

Budweiser Survey

They sure picked the right (wrong?) guy to send this to. Here's some of my favorite answers to the "brand survey" Budweiser sent me last week.

OK...well now this was the point where it got ridiculous...I've obviously lost count.

There were some other funny moments in there too, like when it asked me if my friends influence my beer choices and if I drink beer "to fit in." It also asked how likely I am to drink Budweiser in the future.

Beers for Football Season

http://bites.today.com/_news/2012/09/05/13680752-rep-your-team-craft-beers-to-kick-off-football-season?lite

Here's a fun list for the blog for opening night of the NFL season.

I would have probably come up with different choices for a few teams if I had the time or inclination to do so. Although I DO check in down in the comments section with a suggestion!

Beers Around The World: United States

Now join me in my weekly training session for my April visit to Walt Disney World when I'll be attempting to "drink around the world" at Epcot. Each week a new country; a new beer.

Bud Light

What It Is: One of the three most common "light" beers in America, produced by the quintessential American mass beer producer Anheuser-Busch. It's a watered down rice-based American pilsner.

Why You Should Drink It: The beer connoisseur in me is conditioned to say "Bud Light sucks, American pilsners suck, mass produced beers are the work of Satan!" But guess what? There are plenty of times when drinking a simple light beer is perfectly appropriate...and while thirsty and strolling around a hot theme park is definitely one of them. Bud Light is everywhere at Walt Disney World and I would not fault you for enjoying one while spending the day at Epcot. After all, at this point we're midway through our journey and you might need something clean and refreshing to refuel before getting into the serious stuff in store for you later on in the loop in the UK and Canada (not to mention sake and Grand Mariner if you're not sticking solely to beers.) For better or worse, like it or not, Bud Light is a classic traditional American beer.

Trivia: The pavilion also sells Sam Adams. So go ahead and be a snob about it and order a beer with a patriot on the label.

My Grade: A

 

Make sure to check out more content like this from me at Walt Disney World Traveler.

Beers Around The World: Italy

Now join me in my weekly training session for my April visit to Walt Disney World when I'll be attempting to "drink around the world" at Epcot. Each week a new country; a new beer.

Birra Moretti

What It Is: A slightly bitter European pilsner from the makers of Heineken (although the recipe has been brewed in Italty since 1859!) It is along the same lines as Heineken, similar to Carlsberg that we reviewed a few weeks ago. It's a slight bit darker with more bite than Peroni, the other Italian beer commonly found in the U.S. You can find it throughout the Italian pavilion at World Showcase.

Why You Should Drink It: It's all there is in Italy, unfortunately. If you're indiscriminately drinking around the world then you should definitely go with a wine or a belinni in Italy...but Moretti isn't an awful beer to be stuck with. It has flavor, it's got a good refreshing bite, and it pairs really well with Italian food, so if Italy is going to be your lunch stop you won't regret washing down some $40 pizza with this one. ALTHOUGH, if Via Napoli really is where you imbibe on your journey around the world, you should read our trivia fact.

Trivia: There is one other Italian beer available in World Showcase. Only at Via Napoli can you buy Moretti's other variety: La Rossa. It's a dunkel, I've never had it, and apparently it's very limited in the U.S. and Via Napoli is certainly the only place in Walt Disney World to get it.

My Grade: B-

 Make sure to check out more content like this from me at Walt Disney World Traveler.

Beers Around The World: Germany

Now join me in my weekly training session for my April visit to Walt Disney World when I'll be attempting to "drink around the world" at Epcot. Each week a new country; a new beer.

Altenmunster Dunkel

What It Is: It's a German dunkel. Of this I'm sure. I'm not certain of much else, as a Google search led me to the brewery's website, which was entirely in German. I also couldn't even find this listed with the "produkte" of the brewery, as I can only assume it is seasonal, discontinued, or that I can not, in fact, read German. The most info I can figure out is that it might be around 5.5% alcohol. Also, I know from experience that it's delicious. If you ever have a chance to have a "dunkel" style beer on draft, take it.

Why You Should Drink It: Oh I don't know, besides the fact that's delicious? I know the Germany pavilion commonly switches out their beers. Chances are there will be an offering from Radenburger and perhaps one from Alenmunster. Try any of them. Beer is as authentic a German item as you can have and even if it turns out you're not a huge fan, you can still say you had a German beer while in fake Germany. It will be worth the $8 for the experience.

Trivia: If you would like to try to decipher the Allgauer Brauhaus website like I did, the address is http://www.allgaeuer-brauhaus.de/.

My Grade: A-

 

 Make sure to check out more content like this from me at Walt Disney World Traveler.

Beers Around The World: China

Now join me in my weekly training session for my April visit to Walt Disney World when I'll be attempting to "drink around the world" at Epcot. Each week a new country; a new beer.

Tsingtao

What It Is: From the second largest brewery in China comes Tsingtao, probably the most well known and recognizeable Chinese beers in the United States. It's a pilsner with a bit of a hop kick that shares a lot in common with the popular import "European" beers like Heineken.

Why You Should Drink It: There's not a heck of a large selection of Chinese beers and 9 times out of 10 Tsingtao is what you're gonna get. If you think it tastes more like a European beer that's because it was brewed under the German purity law until only recently when some rice was added to make the beer cheaper to produce. So basically this is a good pilsner with a little bit lower quality than the best versions. (Like Heineken, somewhere in between an authentic German pilsner and a Budweiser.) It's nothing special but it's a tasty easy drinking beer to enjoy a quarter of the way around the loop.

Trivia: Tsingtao is all you're getting in Epcot's China...unless you run into a Tsingtao Pure Draft. It's the same beer only unpasteurized. Kind of like an MGD to a Miller High Life. Also, that's actually a Tsingtao Pure Draft in the picture above.

My Grade: B

Make sure to check out more content like this from me at Walt Disney World Traveler.

Parade Day 2012: In Retrospect

I spent the majority of my time this Saturday at private parties for Scranton's St. Patrick's Day Parade...one of which may have been co-hosted by another writer on this blog and another that may have served Keystone Light (or, as I said to the hostess, "just tell everyone it's Coors Light in the keg and they won't know the difference.") I did manage to hit two bars downtown which makes it very easy for me to award these two distinctions.

THE LOSER: Trax
The Radisson is in a unique position for the parade. They are in such a location that they can afford to do what they did: charge a high ($10) cover, force people to buy tickets for beer (WTF?), stage a small festival in the back parking lot complete with food, drink stands, and bands, and actually offer the prime Lackawanna Avenue patio space as a VIP area (?!?!). I can't fault them for any of this. Heck, if you were coming in from out of town and wanted a place to stay and a great parade party to attend, and didn't mind paying high prices for it, The Radisson is your spot. But for someone who just wanted to have a beer at Trax and meet up with some friends for an hour (me) this was a bad choice. Plus someone puked on our shoes.

THE WINNER: The Banshee
Like the Banshee could go wrong on Parade Day anyway. The one day of the year that this great Irish pub is actually happening, was improved by the service and quality provided. The $10 cover was as high as Trax but also gave you your choice of their beer selection of Guinness, Harp, Smithwicks, Boddingtons, Woodchuck, Miller Lite, Yuengling, and maybe one or two others for $4. Contrast to the Radisson which was charging $5 for 12oz cans of Bud Light and I'd gladly pay my $10 here rather than there. Plus they still had live music, friendly (as much as they could be on the busiest day of the year) bartenders, and it's no surprise why the Banshee was a great parade day choice. Also there was less puke.

Of course on Parade Day the real winners are the owners of every bar downtown and the losers are all of us who go out like fools to brave crowds, freezing temperatures (this year), and pay absurd prices just for the honor of getting shitfaced among thousands of amateurs on a Saturday afternoon. But such is Scranton's finest tradition.

Beers Around The World: Norway

Now join me in my weekly training session for my April visit to Walt Disney World when I'll be attempting to "drink around the world" at Epcot. Each week a new country; a new beer.

Carlsberg

What It Is: This is probably the most unusual beer selection for the World Showcase, as it is not even a representative of the country where it is sold. Carlsberg is, in actuality, from Denmark not Norway. It's even odder to me because it seems as if the Norwegian government is still more involved with the pavilion than most others, as it still operates the travel center in the pavilion. Nevertheless, I guess being Scandinavian is close enough for Carlsberg and it's sold in the pavilion.

Why You Should Drink It: Despite all of the jokes about it not even being Norwegian, it's actually a great beer. It is similar to most other pale yellow lagers from Europe, bearing the most in common to the mass produced Dutch beers like Heineken and Amstel...and, in fact, I prefer this to both. If you like either you'll enjoy this beer. Another tip...it's WAY better on tap than in bottles (also true, IMO, of Heineken.) Plus this beer doesn't have the reputation of some of the beers in Mexico, Germany, or Canada...so it's far easier to get it without a line during busier times. Try it, you won't be disappointed.

Trivia: While not brewed in Norway, Carlsberg IS owned by a Norwegian conglomerate Orkla LSA. So technically it does belong in the Norway pavilion.

My Grade: B+

Make sure to check out more content like this from me at Walt Disney World Traveler.