Alcohol in the news; The 12-year old Balvenie Doublewood

From the Buzz

The 12-year old Balvenie DoubleWood

The color is a medium/dark amber and the nose is sweet, with some grain but a warmth that reminds me of fruit. It starts sweetly with some honey and vanilla, and then a medium peat flavor develops in the middle of the drink. The finish brings out some earthy, sherry flavors and leaves a lingering sweetness and spice.

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Double barreling creates this diverse and vibrant experience. The bourbon oak cask gives it some boldness and smoke flavors while the sherry adds spice and earthy flavors that carry throughout, almost grounding the drink, but are most distinct at the finish.

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Yet another good whiskey review by Jeanine Russell.

Days of the Beer, March 31

The beer for today is New Glarus Wisconsin Belgian Red.

On March 31, 2005; Terri Schiavo died. Schiavo was born on Dec. 3, 1963. On February 25, 1990, she collapsed in her home in full cardiac arrest. She suffered massive brain damage due to lack of oxygen and after two and a half months in a coma, she was diagnosed as being in a vegetative state. Her feeding tube was disconnected on March 18 and she died on March 31.

As to the beer:

Wisconsin Belgian Red is the top rated fruit/vegetable beer according to Beer Advocate.

You hold the marriage of wine and beer. Belgian Red is a tapestry of flavor. This beer is brewed with whole Montmorency Cherries, Wisconsin Farmed Wheat and Belgian Roasted Barleys, lagered in oak tanks and balanced by Hallertau hops we aged in our brewery one full year.

Over a pound of Door county Cherries in every bottle makes this beer uniquely "Wisconsin". So unique, in fact, that we applied for a patent. Expect this beer to be ruby red, with a medium body that is highly carbonated and intense with cherry flavor and bouquet. Serve your friends Belgian Red in a brandy snifter or champagne flute and toast life with beer from the land of Wisconsin.

The beer is 4% abv.

So, for the most famous vegetable in recent memory, have the best rated fruit/vegetable beer.

Alcohol in the news; Emerald City

From WCIA Morning Show/Illinois homepage.net

Emerald City

Billy Bell, lead bartender/mixologist from Emerald City in Champaign, is here for today's Whet Your Whistle.

He makes "Good Witch" and the "Yellow Brick Road".

Rumchata, vanilla vodka, frangellico are in the "Good Witch". Topped with cinnamon.

Ruby red vodka, St. Germain, mango juice, a little lemon, sink Grenadine, and that's the "Yellow Brick Road".

Days of the Beer, March 30

The beer for today is Midnight Sun Brewing, Oosik Amber Ale.

On March 30, 1867; Alaska was purchased from Russia for $7.2 million, about 2 cents an acre, by United States Secretary of State, William H. Seward. At the time, it was called Seward's Folly.

Alaska is the largest state in the US. Alaska has about 698,000 residents, most living in the greater Anchorage area.

It became an organized territory on May 11, 1912, and the 49th state on January 3, 1959.

The name came from the Aleut alaxsxaq, meaning "the mainland" or "the object towards which the action of the sea is directed". It is also known as Alyeska, the "great land".

As to the beer:

An Oosik is a term to describe the baculum of walruses, seals, sea lions, and polar bears. A baculum is the penis bone found in most mammals (absent in humans). In Alaska, it is often polished and used as a handle for knives and other tools. They can be as long as two feet. A 4.5-foot fossilized from an extinct species of walrus was once sold for $8000.

Oosik Amber Ale is a true German-style altbier, brewed with pale, Munich and crystal malts. Deep amber with copper highlights, Oosik sports a toasted and caramel malt profile, balanced by traditional noble hops. A special yeast strain ferments this ale at cooler lager temperatures, giving it a smooth malt character and a clean finish.

Want to hang-so to speak- for a while? Oosik Amber Ale gives you hang time. Great flavor, big mouthfeel, satisfying finish... all in a session-worthy beer. Compare it to other ambers-Oosik rules. Look for our 20-inch Oosik tap in better beer bars throughout AK.

You can't just have a little Oosik.

So, for Seward's Folly, have a beer named for a penis bone.

Alcohol in the news; Salsa: not just for chips!

From the Buzz

Salsa: Not just for Chips!

Maybe you’re shy, or maybe you’re the last person in the world who would go out on a Wednesday night, but you can still lead a partner you’ve never met before to the dance floor and put your hand on his or her waist and start shaking and spinning to salsa music.

“On the dance floor, you can be whoever you want to be,” Juan Atkinson said.

Juan is the DJ for Salsa Night at Radio Maria on the dinner side.

Atkinson spends his days as, he admitted, a shy, stressed-out PhD student in physics. But on the dance floor, he’s someone different.

“When I dance — poof — everything goes away,” said Atkinson, a DJ at Cowboy Monkey’s salsa night. “When you’re dancing, it’s you, your partner and the music, and that’s it. Nothing else.”

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Along with its close cousins, meringue and bachata, salsa dancing can be found almost anywhere in the world, and people from all over the world are dancing it in CU. Atkinson, who moved to Champaign from Mexico for school, DJs or teaches salsa three nights a week: Wednesday at Cowboy Monkey, Friday at Highdive, and Saturday at Radio Maria.

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Atkinson said this makes joining the scene easy and to check out some salsa nights — they’re listed on the Facebook group Champaign Salsa — come without biases and “feel the music.”

“Here, the spirit is always welcoming,” he said.

The Salsa Champaign Facebook group

Days of the beer, March 29

The beer for today is Billy Beer.

On March 29, 1937, William Alton "Billy" Carter III was born. Billy Carter was the younger brother of United States President Jimmy Carter.

In 1977, he endorsed Billy Beer, based on his reputation as a beer-drinking Southern Good Ol' Boy.

Billy died in 1987 at age 51 after unsuccessful treatments for pancreatic cancer.

As to the Beer:

Billy Beer isn't made anymore.

Originally, the beer was produced by Cold Spring Brewing, then West End Brewing, and finally Pearl Brewing Company.

Brewed expressly for and with the personal approval of one of America's all-time great beer drinkers - Billy Carter.

I had this beer brewed just for me. I think it's the best I've ever tasted. And I've tasted a lot. I think you'll like it, too.

After production ended, people started hoarding the cans, assuming they would be worth a lot of money. But, since the cans were produced in the millions, the value is about $1.

Discovery Channel's series Auction Kings, had a case sell for $100.

So, for Billy Carter's birthday; see if you can find a 34 year old can of beer. If you drink it, you should probably get a tetanus shot as the can probably rusted.

Alcohol in the news; Laphroaig

From the Buzz

Laphroaig

Scotch is separated by regions. This week's whiskey, Laphroaig, is an Islay scotch. This means it comes from an island, Islay, off the coast of Scotland. The ocean air the whiskey ages in gives these scotches a flavor some have described as seaweed-like and can often be responsible for strong iodine notes in the scotch. The strong use of peat is also a distinct characteristic of Islay scotches.

Iodine, can also be called medicinal, or phenolic (bandaid).

The drink has a light, golden color in the glass. The nose is smokey and sweet, almost mesquite in the sweetness. I would describe the drink as thin, and the development short. The scotch is aged ten years, but it still had a youngness to it. The heat of the drink hits early, and it has a lot of salt. There was a sweetness to the smoke that was detected in the nose that made it really pleasant in the finish, which seemed to stick around for a while.