Tip This Season to be Jolly
Looking for a unique idea for your Christmas gathering? Buy a couple of cases of different Christmas beers. You can find lists all over the Internet, like this one, though with names like "Samichlaus", "Scaldis Noël," and "JosephsBrau Winterfest," they're probably pretty pricey. You might need to charge your guests admission, though the laws in some states (like the Prohibition-minded laws in Michigan) expose you to dram shop liability if someone pays to get in the door, leaves after drinking, then gets in a car wreck (and I'm not convinced your homeowner's insurance will cover you).
If you don't want to spend a ton of money or expose yourself to bankruptcy, you can buy some mass-brewed Christmas beers, like Michelob's Winter's Bourbon Cask Ale and Leinenkugel's Fireside Nut Brown.
Soccer and Beer
I'm not much of a soccer fan, though I enjoy watching my daughter play. I'd enjoy watching her even more if I could drink beer at the game, like they can at the World Cup. And it looks like the World Cup will actually have a real beer in 2010 (not Budweiser).
Autobiographical Corner
Long-time readers of this blog know that I've had a stomach problem for a long time. It has never created any real difficulties for me, except when it comes to drinking. A single beer or two could send me to the floor with a nasty hangover (gastritis, to be more specific, but felt like a hangover). Before imbibing a six pack or more, I always needed to make sure the stars were in line: Decent meal beforehand? Check. Stomach medicine every day for the past five days? Check. No unusual stress or pressure in your life? Check. Well-rested? Check. If any one of those things were missing, I was playing with fire.
Needless to say, it really hindered my beer intake, but those days might be over. My doctor did a stomach scope yesterday and found a bacterial infection that he thinks might (might) be causing the gastritis. He took a biopsy. If it comes back positive, he says he can give me medicine to kill the bacteria which would then, hopefully, eliminate the gastritis.
I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
