So, I was going to start drinking Saturday night. I reached into my fridge and found tequila, Grand Marnier, Modelo Especial and Kosher salt. (Not true. I went to a store to buy these things for tonight). This was all I had because I’m low on cash but high on party. (Party being my name for boozes).
I was hanging out with Erin (True.), and she brought to my attention the existence of beer margaritas. We had the ingredients. We had the time. We had the power.
1 (12 fluid ounce) can frozen Margarita concentrate
8 fluid ounces tequila
4 fluid ounces of Grand Marnier
12 fluid ounces water
12 fluid ounces Modelo
ice
We blended everything but the beer until it was soup-y. Then poured in a beer, stirred until everything was well mixed and filled a couple Kosher rimmed glasses.
Was it any good?
As far as taste goes, if you like margaritas, you’ll probably like this. The carbonation from the beer makes the margarita seem more like a spiked punch… but instead of Sprite, you’ve added good ol’ beer! And more alcohol!
The beer also has the effect of adding a bit of bitterness to the margarita, which I enjoyed, and cuts down on some of the harsher citrus flavors. Because of this, I don’t recommend adding salt. Salt is normally used to cut down on the sweetness of the margarita and harshness of the tequila. The beer does both of these jobs for you.
Bottom Line: I like beer margaritas. Some beer people don’t like the idea of beer cocktails, but this is definitely one to bring to your next summer party or evening gathering. Hooray beergaritas!
It’s St. Louis Craft Beer Week, May 30-June 6. That means a week of beer tastings, beer history, and other fun beer things.
If you have the means/time, I recommend checking it out. Especially the beer tasting for wine lovers you can find in events. I’ll be trying to find the time/means, but with St. Louis a mere 5 hours away, there’s really no reason not to check it out.
Seniors from New Trier High School in Winnetka found a way to slip a picture of a student drinking a Pabst Blue Ribbon into their yearbook, according to UPI.com.
The Beer of Hipsters… and high schoolers?
While this is probably tasteless, and a bit ridiculous, the real story are the high school administrators who have decided this is a terrible thing to do to a yearbook.
“It’s clearly defiant and subversive and intentional,” says spokeswoman Laura Blair.
Principal Linda Yonke did not consider the prank harmless.
“It sort of casts a pall over the whole yearbook,” Yonke said.
Really? One picture ruins your yearbook? I’m not worried so much that kids are drinking underage as the fact that a PBR can can be called “defiant and subversive.”
Good pranks should always, in my opinion, be slightly dangerous. Like this one from the UK. Driving cars into your high school? Awesome.
Unlike Wisconsin, Missouri, Michigan and Ohio, Illinois has not one craft brewery in the top 50 in the nation by sales volume, reports the Medill News Service, identified as breweries that produce less than 2 million barrels per year. (Goose Island doesn’t count as a “craft brew” under the articles standards.)
Apparently, the issue is one of distribution and regulation. Smaller brewers in Illinois have a hard time paying the large fees for an alcohol license and space on distributors trucks.
The article explains:
“Let’s say you want to be a small little brewery, it’s hard to get in with the big name distributors,” said Travis Biggs, a beer specialist and salesman at Sam’s Wine and Spirits in Downers Grove. Biggs said the smaller craft breweries can’t produce the bulk amounts required to sign on with larger distributors.
In addition, taxes and union regulations make it difficult to raise the capital needed to open a brewery.
Illinois, especially Chicago, should do more to support it’s brewing industry. With Milwaukee and St. Louis are obviously the giants of the Midwest production brewing, there’s no reason a Midwest beer Renaissance can’t take root here. And with craft beer sales growing and interest booming, now is a perfect time to launch new breweries here in Chicago.
It’s not exactly a secret that my beer-brewing has been less than successful so far…
But! All is not lost. In this video how-to, I’ll show you, the aspiring homebrewer/google-addicted stoner browsing the web, just how to make a decent pot of homebrew. At least, how to put together and boil ingredients:
So, I’m in Knoxville. I want a beer from Knoxville. I google “knoxville breweries“. I was disappointed to learn that the New Knoxville Brewery had closed.
I found a company called Smokey Mountain Brewery, a conglomeration of restaurants that brew their own beer in house based on the same recipies, which I was told were created by Marty Helles. I was told this by our bartender, and she also explained that Marty was a Nashville-native. I’m still counting his beer as a “Knoxville” beer, because I had no other options and I was in Knoxville when I drank it. Anyway, let’s get reviewin’:
So, wandering through a Knoxville grocery store, I came across Sweetwater Blue.This brew hails from Hot-lanta, Georgia, and is one of the more interesting combinations I’ve seen, beer and blueberries. The attempt is far better than the execution. The nose is definitely blueberries, and you can detect a hint of that in the finish of what is otherwise a disappointing light ale. Still, this may be a good brew for the summer, especially for fans of Leinenkugel’s many flavor-enhanced beers.
I bought this in Knoxville in an attempt to connect with the south a bit. It isn’t a bad concept, but needs some refining. I don’t like my beer with “natural flavors” added after the fact, but if I have to, this is how I’d want it done.
I never got a chance to pour it, so I don’t know much about the head, color, etc., but hopefully you can forgive me a truncated review.
Tonight, I sat down with Erin Monahan and enjoyed a good couple of ciders. We sampled each, and below is her take on how the drinking went:
Amber Draft or Crisp Apple? HMMMMMM?
Erin Monahan’s Battle to the DEATH:Hornsby’s Hard Cider
I like beer… but I find I can only drink one as I feel full and sleepy a few sips into the second, and where’s the fun in that? I have enjoyed Hard Cider on more than a few occasions. This evening at the Knoxville, Tenn. Kroger, Tom and I discovered in the “Cold Beverages” section of the grocery store an option to pick your own bottles of beer, cider, etc. for an $8.99 mixed six-pack of your choice.I chose George Hornsby’s Hard Cider in two varieties, the Crisp Apple and Amber Draft.I tried the Crisp Apple first, assuming that it would be dry and tart as a green apple cider and better to have before the sweeter red amber.Woodchuck Granny Smith has twice the sugar content – and is twice as sweet – as Woodchuck Amber… and all Ciders are created equal, right? WRONG.
The Hornsby’s Crisp Apple is crisp, light and refreshing, and tart and sweet.It is exactly the kind of drink I like to have on hot days in the sun with friends for a cookout or other function where the more drinks you have the better you fit in.The Amber Draft was dry and very much like a beer in taste- compared to other ciders I have had in the past.After a second try I felt secure that the Amber Draft is closer to a beer than a cider, and while tasty and pleasant- not a drink for me.When I crave a beer, I have a beer.
I give the Crisp Apple two thumbs up.Tragically, it has 21 grams of sugar to the Amber Draft’s 9… over twice as much. And the definite opposite of the Green vs. Amber sugar content for Woodchuck Cider.Enjoy it, but stay in touch with reality. While it is certainly less sugary than the evil Mike’s Hard Lemonade, too many Hornsby’s Crisp Apples and a sugar hangover will follow you into the morning.
I’m in Knoxville, Tenn. at the moment, volunteering for what looks like it will be a very fun event.
The T is for Tom. The hat is because it's a bajillion degrees out.
Unfortunately, there is not a brewery to be seen in the vicinity. The closest thing is a small collection of brewpubs called Smokey Mountain Restaurant and Brewery, and while I don’t want to seem ungrateful, would it kill a city of almost 200,000 people to branch out and get more creative with it’s drinking?
I’ll be heading to Smokey Mountain sometime this week. I’ll also be on the lookout for some Tennesse brews from the few local breweries around. Reviews and previews to come.
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