In the days of old canned beer may have been relegated to tailgating, shotgunning, and drinking on a budget.  But those days are no more.  There’s a stigma that goes along with canned beer, that it’s cheap and it tastes like metal.  NOT TRUE.  Beer can taste delicious regardless of the vessel you serve it in.  In fact due to the increasing cost of brewing caused mostly by the worldwide hop shortage, some of the best beers on the market these days are being served in a can.  Here’s a few any beer lover would be happy to get their hands on……..

The New Belgium Fat Tire Amber Ale Named in honor of the founder Jeff’s bike trip through Belgium, Fat Tire Amber Ale marks a turning point in the young electrical engineer’s home brewing. Belgian beers use a far broader palette of ingredients (fruits, spices, esoteric yeast strains) than German or English styles. Jeff found the Belgian approach freeing. Upon his return, Jeff created Fat Tire Ale.  He and his wife, Kim traveled around sampling their homebrews to the public. Fat Tire’s appeal quickly became evident. People liked everything about it. Except the name. Fat Tire won fans with its sense of balance: toasty, biscuit-like malt flavors coasting in equilibrium with hoppy freshness. Source: newbelgium.com

Young’s Double Chocolate Stout pours super dark with an excellent thick tan head that remains until the beer is gone. Head has good creamy flavor and smells like chocolate(no surprise there). It’s reminiscent of “dark” chocolate flavors. Best if drank very cold IMO. One of my favorite and consistent stouts. Source: beeradvocate.com

Sly Fox Pikeland Pils A Northern German style Pilsner brewed with imported German Pils malt and hopped with German and Czech hops. Light in body, light straw in color and dry.  Gold Medal winner at Great American Beer Fest 2007.  Source: SlyFoxBeer.com

Oskar Blues Dale’s Pale Ale A hoppy, delicious Pale Ale. This beer pours a medium golden color with a creamy white head. The aroma is pleasantly sweet and hoppy. The hops are peachy and floral. There’s some malt sweetness, as well. The flavor is hoppy without being overly bitter.  Source: beeradvocate.com

Oskar Blues Ten FIDY An Imperial Stout available in cans, our winter seasonal beer is immensely viscous and loaded with neck-deep flavors of chocolate, malt, coffee, cocoa and oats.

It’s the beer equivalent of decadently rich milkshake made with malted-milk balls and Heaven’s best chocolate ice cream. Ten FIDY is about 10% ABV and is made with enormous amounts of two-row malts, chocolate malts, roasted barley, flaked oats and hops. Its huge-but-comforting flavors hide a whopping 98 IBUs that are deftly tucked underneath the beer’s mountains of malty goodness.  Source: Oskarblues.com

21st Amendment Hell or High Watermelon Wheat The definition of summer in a pint glass. This unique, American-style wheat beer, is brewed with 400 lbs. of fresh pressed watermelon in each batch. Light turbid, straw color, with the taste and essence of fresh watermelon. Finishes dry and clean.5.5% alcohol/vol. – 17 IBUs Source: 21st Amendment

21st Amendment Brew Free! or Die IPADeep golden color. Citrus and piney hop aromas. Assertive malt backbone supporting the overwhelming bitterness. Dry hopped in the fermenter with four types of hops giving an explosive hop aroma. Many refer to this IPA as Nectar of the Gods. Judge for yourself. Now Available in Cans!
7.2% alcohol/vol. – 75 IBUs  Source: 21st Amendment

Uncommon Brewers Siamese Twin Ale It is a traditional Belgian-style Double seasoned with coriander and entirely uncommon Thai spices. At first surprising, the floral notes of lemongrass and sharper bite of kaffir lime blend with the deep malt of this double to produce a dangerously drinkable beer.  Source: uncommonbrewers.com

Caldera Ashland Amber A crisp, well balanced, refreshing amber.  Simplicity is the key to this recipe.  Hops: Cascade, Galena.  ABV 5.6%  Overall: Very nice amber ale, super drinkable (of course, my bias toward Ambers might influence this impression), definitely a beer that should be on your “can shelf.”  Source: thebrewsite.com

Guinness A classic beer, both brewed and drank worldwide.  Generally preferred from a tap, but the nitro-widget within the can acts as a wonderful substitute when you don’t have a keg handy.  Do yourself a favor and go drink a Guinness.

October 19, 2009

The Always Happy Hour Beer Belly

The Reef Flip Flop flask

And if you’re bringing along someone with a bag you can tuck in the ‘ol Bible flask

Even the most die hard of fans are forced to miss a game during the playoffs, albeit work or travel. With this laptop you can make a clear statement to your stuffy coworkers what you’d rather be doing with your time.

Unless you were blessed by the grace of God to be born in the City of Angels (and Dodgers), playoff games in October can be pretty chilly. This aint no 1980s Starter Jacket, the internal self-heating system is guaranteed to keep you toasty in extra innings, and the USB charging station will keep all of your gadgets live throughout the game.

Whether you’re looking to record history or the next viral video you have to be packing a video recording device these days. The Flip MinoHD is hands down the new flagship model in the Flip line.  It’s packing double the memory (8 GB or 120 min), a larger screen and cooler design than its predecessor.  This awesome little device is small enough to toss in your pocket on the way to the game, and it’s powerful enough to capture that bottom of the 9th inning action from your second level club seats.

How do you set yourself apart from the thousands of hats and jerseys in the stands? Well you’re gonna have to drop the $$$$$ on some accessories. Like this vintage 1948 Babe Ruth wristwatch (valued around $1500) or this jersey, the earliest known autographed Mickey Mantle game jersey circa 1952.

Want to catch all the replay action?  Of course you do!  Who doesn’t?  The only reason NOT to go to the game is to be able to watch the replays on TV.  DirecTV, in their continuing quest of sports coverage domination has pumped out this sweet gadget for any die hard fan, the briefcase satellite TV.

Want to bring a glove to catch fly balls but don’t want to look like that douche-tard still living out his H.S. glory days? The Rawlings Primo, made of the fine Italian leather retailing for $450 will make the point for you.

And last but not least…what self-respecting fan of the Fall Classic isn’t rocking a Fan Can Hand to keep their beer insulated and hand warm in those brisk October nights?

By Cat Sanderson on October 13, 2009