Washington lawmakers have approved a pilot program that will allow beer and wine tasting in 30 grocery stores statewide in an effort to market local products. . . . But opponents contend the program sets a bad example by exposing children to alcohol consumption. Whatta scandal. You take your toddlers to the store and you're accosted by an orgy of sin. Wine tasting in the super market! What next, hooker sampling at McDonald's?
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Speaking of which, when is McDonald's going to get beer? I hear Germany's McDonald's have beer. Why don't we? I'd love to get a McBeer, super-sized. With my luck, it'd probably be Budweiser.
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Sean Dailey at The Blue Boar tells us neo-prohibitionists have been quite successful in Alabama:
In Alabama, home-brewing beer has long been a Class A misdemeanor, with a penalty of up to a year in jail and a $2,000 fine. It's another Class A misdemeanor to sell or distribute any beer with more than 6 percent alcohol content. That puts off-limits 85 of the 100 top-rated beers in the world, as ranked by BeerAdvocate.com.
I can see their point, of course. After a few 8-percenters, the 17-year-old cousin starts lookin' reo fine.
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Teetotallers who become moderate drinkers in middle age are significantly less likely to suffer heart attacks and strokes than those who continue to abstain, according to a major new study. It's only fair. Severe alcoholics who become teetotallers in middle age become healthier. It's all a question of balance and moderation.
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A dastardly, if understandable, crime: A green, pint-glass-shaped Guinness costume has been reported stolen from an Eastpointe resident's garage. It's valued at $3,000 and had been flown to Michigan from Ireland to be used as advertising.
My brother-in-law used to live in Eastpointe, back when its name was "East Detroit." The citizens changed the name, presumably to distance themselves from their eponymous neighbor to the west and to associate themselves with their more stately neighbors to the east: Grosse Pointe.
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Beer picture of the week in honor of St. Patrick's Day:
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Chapter 2 of Beer Man is posted.
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Random quote I hadn't seen in awhile: "A man's got to believe in something. I believe I'll have another drink." W.C. Fields
