It’s On Tap

Drinking games are great. They act as a social lubricant, getting people together and having fun for a common purpose: getting plastered. You’re at a party, it’s 10pm, and people are just standing around sipping their microbrews. What do you do? “Anyone want to play Kings Cup?” Problem solved. Another potentially awkward situation saved by drinking games. But what happens if you try to play Kings Cup at 10am? Your roommate probably walks out and says, “WTF dude? It’s 10am!” What kind of a game makes it socially acceptable to drink in the middle of the day, you ask? Enter Hillbilly Golf.

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If you could have a beer with any TV character, who would it be? And what would you drink? Would you go to Moe’s Tavern with Homer Simpson and enjoy a frothy pint of Duff? Would you head to Drew Carey’s house for a bottle of Buzz? Would you go to the Drunken Clam and pound a few Pawtucket Pat’s with Peter Griffin and the guys?

While watching some of those shows, I’ve always wondered: what do those beers taste like? Are they closer to a microbrew or a can of Schlitz? They’re obviously incredibly popular. Hell, Duff even has a theme park. If all these TV beer brands existed in the same consumer arena, which would be the top dog? Which would have the greatest market share? Well, I’m going to try to answer that question by ranking the Best Beers on TV.

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On Saturday, February 21, 2009 the 16th Annual McMenamins’ Hillsdale Brewfest will be in full force starting at 11am. The “Battle of the Belt” will rage for 13 hours before a champion is crowned and given the coveted belt.  The beers are chosen from McMenamins’ breweries around the northwest.  There are two seperate “trays” of beer that can be purchased and are alligned from lightest to darkest.  The samples are 4oz. and the tray of 10 tasters costs $8.75.  The champion of the belt will not only have bragging rights for the year, but will represent McMenamins in the 22nd Oregon Brewers Festival that takes place in Downtown Portland during July.

Here are the competing beers:

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Until recently, I had heard (and believed) a lot of things about sake. Things like there was no such thing as “good sake” (coming from a wine lover, figures), that sake was just like wine but made with rice instead of grapes, or that sake’s alcohol content increases when it’s served warm. After finally learning a thing or two about sake, I learned none of these were true. There is certainly “good saki”, it’s quite different from wine in many aspects, and warm sake is usually crap with alcohol added served warm to hide odors (that explains why Uncle Fred always gets hammered at Sushi Land). Last week I finally learned just a little bit about sake.

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The great state of Oregon is known for a variety of reasons.  Oregon is known for its natural beauty and scenic destinations as well as the abundance of Microbreweries.  Oregon is the Holy Grail for beer connoisseurs, as it has the most Microbreweries per capita in the world.  But this may change in the near future with the proposed beer tax HB 2461.  This bill is in favor of taking a beer tax that is one of the lowest in the nations ($2.60 per barrel = 2 kegs) and raising it to almost $50.00 per barrel.  This generated revenue would be used for programs that deal with alcohol and drug issues. This nearly 2000% increase would hurt the Oregon breweries in the following ways.

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