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Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Running Down the Booze News

There are some stories floating around that I feel like I should comment on...but none of them that deserve a full post; at least, not in my universe. So here we go...
  • Toddler served margarita instead of apple juice at Applebee's. Well...hell of a case for not pre-mixing cocktails (or at least not going to a place where they do). Thomas got served a brown ale instead of a root beer at a brewpub once; said it smelled funny before he drank it. Called the waiter over, we all laughed, he brought Thomas a root beer, I drank the ale...and we didn't make CNN or sue the brewpub. Boy, are we stupid...
  • Greg Hall embarrasses himself in bar incident. Yeah. Unfortunate, but this really sounds like 'no harm, no foul' to me. No one was hurt, Greg didn't drive drunk. He screwed up, sure, but he manned up and apologized. “I did what I did and I take responsibility for it.” Move on, nothing to see here.
  • Firestone Walker arrives in Philly. I'll just say "Cheers!" to that, and we'll see you at the bar.
  • Pierre Celis dies. Pierre does deserve more, but I didn't know him well enough to write it. I will copy what I put up on Facebook: "I remember a noontime coffee with him at Monk's Cafe one year; it was before they opened for the day, just me and Pierre for about half an hour. Not an interview, just a coffee. Such a nice man." A milkman who brewed a beer no one wanted. A quiet, small man. A hero.
  • The guy who's drinking beer for Lent. All the news outlets are playing this up as some crazy bastard who's just drinking for an excuse to drink. But J. Wilson appears to be a pretty spiritual man (and a regular beer blogger, and a real journo) who's approaching this in a respectful manner. Take a look at some of his more serious previous posts about beer and Christianity. And he did note this in the Chicago Tribune: "After consuming only beer and water for 23 days, J. Wilson says there are two things he's sick of ---- morning radio shows, and the Illuminator Doppelbock he's vowed to subsist on through Lent." Sounds normal.
  • Finally, the Elf Wars: Mad vs. Rude, Tröegs vs. Fegley. Uncle Jack pegged this one: "I know this sort of thing is happening more and more often as craft brewing gets more complicated, and I’ll accept that, so long as there are lawyers, it is likely necessary, but I really–really– hate to see it happening here." I got nothing more to add.

And that's all I got.

10 comments:

Frank Hahne said...

Elf Wars?

That's nothing. You should have been witness to the hostility and legal challenges surrounding the "lord wars" when Lord Chesterfield, Lord Derby, Lord Camden and Lord Salisbury ales were all being offered for home and tavern use, and all at the same time. Only my own Dubois Pixie ale was not entered into the fracas and was allowed to sell, unchallenged and unequalled, throuhgout this commonwealth!

Lew Bryson said...

Best. Ghost. Comment. In years. Home run, Frank!

Syllogism said...

Philadelphia Inquirer had the follow up on how Applebees is responding. They now are only going to serve self serve juice boxes and pour them into a glass at the table. Talk about an over reaction.

Anonymous said...

well we MUST protect our children at all cost from things such as the demon rum and television and nudity and bath salts and intellectuals lest they be ruined for life. In fact, it might be safter just to BAN alcohol altogether so something like this never happens again to an innocent child.

Lew Bryson said...

Anonymous,
You must have been hanging around with this guy: http://lewbryson.blogspot.com/2008/12/why-we-drink.html

Steve said...

About the incident at Applebee's, what a careless thing to do! Applebee’s should be thankful that the child didn’t suffer serious harm from this incident. Clearly, the company’s policies and procedures relating to alcohol need to be closely examined, and the people responsible need to be fired!

Anonymous said...

No way, that guy's a tool.

Brian said...

That's a very nice succinct tribute to Pierre Celis, Lew. The beer world would be immeasurably different without him.

Value Investor said...

Just had Firestone Walker at Tria tonight. Their 2ipa, Porter, and Barleywine. All very good beers in their own right.
And another thing: The Elf wars thing kinda sickens me too. Its all in the name, but their argument is that is pulls sales away from their brand. It makes sense, but still... sad to witness the rebirth and death of craft beer and the values of craft brewing all in the same generation. We all hoped it would last just a bit longer.

common sense said...

Not to defend chain "restaurants", but if they have 2,000 + places they "serve" food, 200+ people a night, 365 days a year . . . it's gonna happen at some point.