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.