Alcohol in the news; One on one with emerald city lounge

From the buzz

One-on-one with Keith Cameron, co-owner of Emerald City Lounge

buzz: How would you describe your bar?

KCS: If someone said, ‘What type of bar is it?’ I’d say it’s an upscale martini bar.

...

buzz: What are the most popular drinks?

KCS: Well, by far, the most popular drink is one of our specialty martinis. It’s the Good Witch martini. I would describe it as a dessert martini, and it tastes like a snickerdoodle. Besides the specialty martinis, the next one in line is the Yellow Brick Road, which is a combination of citrus vodka, mango — it’s got ruby red vodka, it’s got some citrus and some mango in it. So it’s kind of a sweet tart combination, really nice.

365 beer challenge; Untappd

If you are reading this, you probably like beer. You probably like good beer.

You may know that I really got into drinking beer, when I was challenged to drink 365 different beers in a year. I am now challenging all of you who read this to do the same.

When I first started out with the 365 challenge, I carried around a little notebook that was numbered up to 365, that seemed very daunting when I was still writing down in the 200's.

But, dear reader, life is much easier for you than it was for me when I first started my journey.

Meet Untappd. If you sign up for Untappd, it will keep track of your beers, all you need is a smart phone, and to be sober enough to check in the beer that you are drinking when you are having it.

I signed up for it on Monday night, and have already added 6 beers to my list. It is a pretty neat program, it will show you the total amount of beers that you've had, and the amount of unique beers (as in one that you haven't claimed that you've drank before).

It is not an app for your cell phone, you'll have to go to the webpage for it using your phone to check in beers. Oddly, you can't check them in from the computer website, only from the mobile site.

It will tie in to your twitter/facebook/four square accounts, so you can broadcast to the world what you are drinking.

So, there it is, I challenge you to drink 365 different beers this year. Who's in?

Sign up for Untappd and add me as a friend.

Alcohol in the news; Whet Your Whistle Jan 5

From WCIA3 CBS Illinoishomepage.net

New wines for new times

Sam Samet from Piccadilly and Brian McKay from Art-mart show off some wines and cheeses.

The wines are Sea Mist Chardonnay from Russian River Winery; Pinot Noir from chime.

Alcohol in the news; extra on tap episode 21

From extra 92.1

Extra on Tap Episode #21



AY and the host drink an O'Fallon Cherry Chocolate ale.

They talk about Chokolat from Southern Tier.

Finally they talk about ABV.

This one is a pretty good episode. Nothing too wrong with it, except for the yeast part.

Alcohol in the news; Sports Bars Business

From WICD 15 ABC

Sports Bars Business

It's a nice little article about how sports bars do better business when teams are doing good.

Alcohol in the news; Hangover Cures; What Really Works

From WICD 15 ABC

Hangover Cures: What Really Works

Many of you will ring in the new year with a glass of champagne, maybe a beer or a cocktail. But one too many drinks leads to a hangover the next morning.

The one surefire cure is drinking in moderation. It seems like everyone has their own tips but doctors say drinking too much will leave you hungover no matter what else you eat or drink.

Technically, moderation isn't a cure, it's prevention.

"Typically a hangover is from drinking too much alcohol and not taking enough fluids in like water, things that would dehydrate you," said Dr. Adam Brown, an emergency physician at Provena in Danville.

This report contains no information about the body processing alcohol.

Remember, typically, the body takes an hour to metabolize the amount of alcohol in one drink. One drink is considered to be a pint of beer (not strong beer), a glass of wine, or a shot of hard liquor.

Most people consider a hangover to be the remainder of the alcohol being processed out of the body. However, after several hours of sleep, the alcohol should be out of your body, unless you got really drunk (a Jacob kind of drunk).

"The cure is drinking in moderation," Brown said.

After a night of drinking, Brown says you should drink water or Gatorade before you go to bed. Some people say they can sleep it off but the doctor says dehydration can keep you from getting a good night's rest.

Another common cure is coffee the following morning. Brown says the caffeine does cure headaches. However, it will also make you go to the bathroom, which could dehydrate you.

So, drink fluids, stay hydrated, and allow your body time to process the alcohol.

Alcohol in the news; Great Lakes Brewing Company's green approach

From the Buzz

Great Lakes Brewing Company's green approach

Great Lakes Brewing Company is a premier craft brewery that is playing its part as an environment-friendly business. Through sustainable business practices this company has not only saved money for their business but has begun to set an example for other businesses to think about the overall benefits of sustainable practices.

Then, the author talks about the Cuyahoga River. Which is the name basis for the beer, Burning River.

Then, the author talks about legislation that was passed because of the burning river, including the Clean Water Act and the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement.

What better way to raise awareness than to name a beer Burning River. It’s a classy Pale Ale that finishes very clean but with a taste that’s oh-so supreme. It’s only lightly filtered so when held up to the light you can see the particles floating around like snowflakes in mid-flight. It’s a bang for the buck, 6 percent, and cheap for the taste; it’s oh-so robust. The taste lingers on until the next time I can get my hands on this beer that has won ten medals for fun, and it surely will settle indecisions the beer aisle may spawn.

That's it.

By the way, Great Lakes beer is not available in the Champaign Urbana area. To get this brew, you'll have to go east to Indiana, or north to Chicago (if going east, I recommend Parti Pak Liquors, if going north, I recommend West Lakeview Liquors).

The article really has no information about the "green approach" as mentioned in the headline, other than raising awareness. That's too bad, because Great Lakes website has several pages of things that they are doing for sustainability.

Their first page is the Triple Bottom Line.

Great Lakes Brewing Company is an environmentally and socially conscious brewer of award-winning, all natural beer. The care that goes into the beer resonates from a commitment to the community and environment, otherwise known as the "Triple Bottom Line" - to engage in economic, social and environmental practices that achieve a sustainable, yet profitable, business.

The second is the Burning River Foundation.

The Burning River Foundation is a non-profit organization whose purpose through grants, donations and community involvement is to provide extensive education and resources for the

* Ecological Conservation
* Environmental Protection
* Scientific Exploration
* Historic Preservation and
* Sustainable Future of our waterways.

Established in 2007 as an outgrowth of the continued success of the Burning River Fest, the Burning River Foundation has awarded over $200,000 to local non-profit organizations such as the GreenCityBlueLake Institute, Great Lakes Science Center, Western Reserve Land Conservancy, Wendy Park Foundation, West Creek Preservation Committee and the Cuyahoga River Community Planning Organization for their work on water projects.

Third is the Pint Size Farm.

Great Lakes Brewing Company announces its continued partnership with Hale Farm & Village in Bath, Ohio, to organically farm vegetables, herbs and flowers for use in GLBC’s Brewpub. Surrounded by the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Hale Farm, which is operated by the Western Reserve Historical Society (WRHS), functions as a 19th century agrarian and village community with strong educational emphasis on the history, culture and development of the Western Reserve. A fallow, historic orchard field, dubbed the "Pint Size Farm", has been transformed by GLBC into an edible, culinary landscape using centuries-old gardening techniques and modern organic agriculture including the use of spent brewer’s grain and worm castings as organic compost and fertilizer.

Other Sustainability Projects

Just read all the other things they do that are sustainable/green.

Back to the article,

What better way to raise awareness than to name a beer Burning River.

They have a Burning River Fest, that not only raises awareness, it also raises money, that's a better way.