Happy X-Mass and Merry Holidays

St. Peter's-Winter Ale

Alex picked this one out while shopping at the Whole. I was quite surprised she want to give a winter ale a try. This is a great winter beer. It has a porteresque taste to it. The aroma has lots of coffee and malt with a little fruitiness. The taste is that of chocolate, roasted malt, and coffee. It goes down very smooth or at least I think it does. Alex may have another opinion. This is a little darker beer than she nomally likes to drink. This is definitely a winter brew that you need to try. I miss the old St. Peters bottles that were shaped like flasks.

New Glarus-Fat Squirrel

Every time you drive over the border to our north you need to pickup some New Glarus. I know that Spotted Cow is their flagship/really popular brew, but my favorite has always been Fat Squirrel. This is a very drinkable English brown. It's a light medium body beer that has a sweet malt and unique nutty taste. There is a great nutty malty aroma too. I was verry excited to see these in 12pks this past summer. I wish New Glarus would start delivering to Chicago. Although I kinda of like the mytique most of the New Glarus brews have to me. It's the same thing Fat Tire had before it came back and started sucking.

Schlafly-Saison

I am a big fan of farm house ales. This one is no exception. It pours to a nice hazy golden color. The aroma is of apples and damp earth. There is quite an apple pear flavor going on, with some bananas and clove too. This is definitely not a typical Saison. I wish that these guys distributed to Chicago. I picked this 6pk up when I was in Indy for work.

Sand Creek Brewing Co.-Oscar's Stout

I like to cook and drink. I don't think I had the right combo of food and beer this time though. It really didn't matter because I was cooking for a work xmas party the next day, but sweet potato quesadillas don't go well with a chocolate oatmeal stout. The stout is from Sand Creek Brewing which is located in Black Falls, Wis. One of my favorite and most frustrating trout streams islocated in Black Falls. I also once tripped while walking alongside the bank right into the stream once. I wish I had video of that. It ended with me laughing hysterically at myself in the middle of the stream with waders full of cold ass water. The Wisconsin craft beers keep on getting better and better. This is a solid stout. It has a nice chocolate flavor up front that leads to a creamy coffee after taste. The stout is not too heavy, just nice and mild on the tongue. I could drink this all night long.

Southern Tier Brewing Co-Cuvée Series One

When a 22oz beer comes in a box and costs $11, it better be good. The fancy ass box alone lifted my expectation for this oak barrel aged beer. Sounds good right?? Not so much. The best part about it was the buzz I had after making myself finish it. At 11% it packs a punch. Since there is not allot of carbonation it's heavy and alcholy (alcholy is definitely not a word). It tastes like you are drinking a vanilla biscotti dipped in rubbing alcohol. This is the second beer from Southern that has just plane sucked. I'm not gonna waste anymore $$$ on their overpriced swill.

Football and Beer-My Two Favorite Things

Beer and football; two pleasures inextricably linked, but at a time when fans are tightening their belts and trying to cut down on frivolous spending it seems that the evil, money-grabbing football clubs in the Premier League are conducting a booze shakedown.

That's the take coming from Don Foster MP, the UK Liberal Democrat party's spokesman for culture, media and sport, who has accused clubs of ''blatant profiteering'', in what itself is one of the most blatant attempts to buy votes since the English Football Association took their 2018 World Cup bid bandwagon to see Jack Warner in Trinidad and Tobago.

Is a politician really calling for cheap beer at football? Why not go the extra mile and call for a loyalty scheme where you buy five pints and get a free flick knive...

That's the take coming from Don Foster MP, the UK Liberal Democrat party's spokesman for culture, media and sport, who has accused clubs of ''blatant profiteering'', in what itself is one of the most blatant attempts to buy votes since the English Football Association took their 2018 World Cup bid bandwagon to see Jack Warner in Trinidad and Tobago.

Figures released by Foster this week reveal that just three of England's top flight sides charge below the national average of £2.96 for a pint at their grounds.

It will come as no surprise that the costliest pint available is at Stamford Bridge, where fans are asked to part company with a credit-crunching £4.00 for a pint, while the cheapest on offer comes at Wigan where £2.70 buys you your tipple.

The average price across the Premier League is £3.19, which is higher than the average of £3.07 charged by football's counterparts in Premiership rugby union grounds or the £2.84 average charged by rugby league's Super League clubs.

(Imagine the smirk on the face of Mr Foster's assistant being wiped from his face when the Member of Parliament for Bath told the poor chap that his research into the cost of beer at Premier League clubs would require 20 phone calls and not 20 taste tests.)

Arsenal, Manchester City, West Ham and Fulham are joint second in the Premier League booze table, all charging £3.50 a pint, while Manchester United find themselves in the lower half of the standings charging a fair £3.00.

Foster, who has got some good mileage and column inches out of his call for clubs to repay the loyalty of fans by cutting the cost of beer, says: ''Unfortunately, it comes as little surprise to me that Premier League football fans are, once again, being ripped off.

''As if extortionate ticket prices weren't bad enough, top flight football clubs are charging over the odds for a basic pint. This blatant profiteering should not continue to go unnoticed. When will Premier League football clubs learn to stop taking the loyalty of their fans for granted?''

By Phil Holland