Beer and Boardgames

Something I've recently gotten into as a hobby is designer board games.  Things have come a long way since the era of games like Monopoly, Sorry!, and Life.  One thing that hasn't changed is taking a game and pasting a theme over it (I'm looking at you Cthulhu Monopoly).  Because, Capitalism.

Here are some games that feature beer either in the game's theme or as a game mechanic.

Beer: Do's and Don'ts for Hosting a Beer Tasting

A very impressive Collection of Sierra Nevada Beers.
Wait, we're drinking all of those tonight?

A fun thing for beer lovers to do, besides drinking beer, is to drink beer with friends.  One way to do this is to host a beer tasting.  These events can be set up in a myriad of ways so, to be helpful, here's some do's and don'ts for setting up a beer tasting event.

Do: Host a beer tasting event.  Everyone loves beer and would love to go to a fun event at your abode.

Don't: Invite every living soul you know.  Events like this tend to work better when between a gathering and a shindig, as opposed to full Hootenany (As described by Seth Green's character Oz in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode Dead Man's Party): "Well, a gathering is brie, mellow song stylings; shindig, dip, less mellow song stylings, perhaps a large amount of malt beverage; and hootenanny, well it's chock full of hoot, [with] just a little bit of nanny."

What Homebrewer Excuses Really Mean

A home brewer may use a lot fancy words to describe their beer to help their friends understand what's being handed to them.

While most beer drinkers get "hoppy", "malty", and "bitter" there's a lot of other terms that home brewers will use to try and accurately describe their beer, while trying to hide that it probably wasn't exactly what they were going for.  And much like a haircut, it's bad when it's not what you wanted, no matter how much everyone else raves about it.

So here's some common excuses (not saying I've actually used some to most of these) and what they might really mean.  If you're not sure, ask "what were you going for?"

Review: Brewery Tours of Temecula

Tour Buses. Photos from Brewery Tours of Temecula

The other week my wife and I went to wine country for our anniversary and then promptly went on a brewery tour.  We (and by that I mean she) made reservations with the good folks at Brewery Tours of Temecula.  This is a review of that tour of some of Temecula's breweries.

Stanley Cup Final Drinking Game

Well, that was fast.  So much for updating Round three. 

Here's to Round four being a classic as two original six franchises battle for the Stanley Cup.  So in honor of 30 teams that started, to get to the final two standing, here are 30 excuses reasons to drink during each Stanley Cup Final game.

Take a drink when...


1. ...An official makes a bad call or misses a call completely
2. ...You can hear the crowd voice their displeasure over said call/non-call
3. Drink two if they use profanity
4. ...You find yourself in agreement with Mike Milbury.  (This is really more to deaden the pain of realizing that you agreed with a guy who beat a fan with their own shoe).
5. ...The media beats a story to death about the one time a specific player did something stupid.
6. Drink 2 if it involves Patrick Kane and/or alcohol of some sort.
7. ...Not touching the conference championship trophy is mentioned.
8. Drink 2 if a win/loss record for not touching the trophies is mentioned.  (Side rant: If both teams didn't touch their respective trophies, the record of said match-up will be 0.500, by the magic that is math but yet this is somehow important).
9. ...Coaches look stressed/frustrated/angry
10. Drink 2 if you see a coach enjoying his profession.
11. ...If injuries are shown to highlight toughness
12. Just like a double minor, double it up if there's blood. (And pray it's not a montage)
13. ...someone mentions something about Zdeno Chara being kind of on the tall side.
14. ...Anything you can take dirty or want to put the #hockeyporn hashtag on
15. ...At the conclusion of the series if Jeremy Roenick cries
16. ...Darren Pang is enthusiastic and says things like "good stuff" and "holy jumpin'" (if everyone had his love of life, this world would be a much better place).
17. ...Tuuka Rask's inexperience is mentioned
18. ...Crawford's inexpereince is mentioned
19. ...a goalie gets run.
20. Drink 2 if it wasn't by Lucic.
21. ...Any mention of Bryan Bickell getting a tiny little raise in the off-season
22. ...anything with Hossa, his times and record in the Final, instead of his play
23. ...a noted pest is being a pesky pest that drives you drink.
24. ...playoff beards are mentioned.
25. Drink 2 if they player they show has an abysmal beard.
26. ...Boston's trades with Toronto are mentioned. (After your drink buy the quietly sobbing Leafs fan next to you a beer.  (Note: I like IPAs))
27. ...You find yourself singing a goal song after it's stopped.\
28. ...when a certain NHL executive gets booed.  It does not have to be during the trophy presentation.

I know what you're all thinking: What, no Jagr?

29. ...Jagr makes us forget that he's in his 40's.
30. Drink 2 if the mullet magically grows back.

Bonus: If the Sidney Crosby and Penguins are mentioned anytime after Game 1.

6* or *9 - Brewery War over Logo Similarities

First off, I must be upfront.  I know just about nothing about the law except mortgage contracts appear to make spotted owls homeless, and People's Court, while a better basis for law than Night Court, isn't exactly the Supreme Court.

I also don't have a dog in this fight, although the Leafs fan in me wants to cheer for the underdog, who I hope won't choke late in the deciding game.  But in the spirit of this blog, let's look at Magic Hat's and West 6th Street's battle over labeling in a lighthearted way.  And while I'd love for the two breweries to hug and make up; please don't band together and sue me.

NHL Playoff Drinking Game

On Twitter, Greg Townsend of Goon Report and I started tweeting about a playoffs drinking game.

"Hey Kaner I just got your pregame meal ready."

  There's been plenty of these for specific teams in the past.  I, sort of fondly remember not quite making it through the second period of a Maple Leafs game doing one that had too many rules.

As a general thing, if your drinking game has multiple pages, you're probably going to need a day or two to recover.  That obvious gem of knowledge came my brother and I watching the Star Wars trilogy following a drinking game similar to this. 

Types of Homebrews

My condolences if it's so bad that you're having a hard time deciding between these two beers

If you're lucky (or occasionally unlucky) enough to know a homebrewer, you get the opportunity to try some amazing (or not) beers that few other people get to ever try.  No matter the results, we should never discourage people from continuing to practice this amazing craft.  Even the most pedestrian beers were still the result of hours of slaving over hot stoves, drinking beer, and careful measurements.  Sometimes, not in that order.  And other times spending a wee too much time with one of those steps.

How to Send Your Spouse to Buy Beer

I'm a very lucky man - I married a wonderful, sweet, intelligent, and beautiful young woman.  Hey Honey, this article is about beer and isn't that important, so you can quit reading if you want.  I understand.  I love you too.