Uniting of the Cynical Order

I feel like I go off on this subject around this time a year, but if you know me well you'll remember that there are few subjects that I don't ramble on about. I'll try to keep it under control, but you know me. I keep quite close to my own bloodlines.

The infamous Kentucky Breakfast Stout that hails from Michigan has finally made it's return. That is, finally for most of you. Not so much for me. Save-Mor Beer and Pop in Greenfield posted on its Facebook page that only about 90 cases from its wholesaler are in our market. That doesn't seem like a lot to me.

@billkostkas Doubtful. More demand. More assholes.
— Craft Pittsburgh Mag (@CraftPittsburgh) April 11, 2014

Sav-Mor has decided to hold a raffle to decide who gets first rights to purchase the cases it has received. I almost flew off the handle (as I usually do when KBS pandemonium hits Pittsburgh every year) until I read further and saw that they're donating the money made from the raffle tickets sold to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Luckily, I was able to take a deep breathe.

Have at it. I'll be dipping into my own collection or venturing to some pub to try something adventurous. All while the madness ensues. The pursuit of KBS. I can rest assured it will be mostly order at Save-Mor.

Monday Rant: Not the Physical Type

Every once in a while there's a brewery or a release of a beer that's put on as some sort of festival. The most recent one that everyone seemed to be talking about this weekend was Dark Lord Day by Three Floyds Brewing. From what I could tell, this was for the release of its Dark Lord Russian Imperial Stout that comes in at a hefty ABV of 15 percent.

In numerous cases these events and releases seem to end up being chaos. I distinctly remember some Founders Brewing event going haywire when people had to purchase tickets to be able to purchase some kind of other ticket to get into an event to fight many others that seek the same rare beverage you do. Doesn't anyone else see the insanity of all this? Maybe I'm just getting more cynical by the day?

I choose not to go anywhere near places that have rare beers like this one. I'm not fighting people to be able to pay $10 for a glass of beer. I'm just fine. Awesome Pittsburgh bar announces it'll have a big Kentucky Breakfast Stout event/tapping? One thing is certain with me. I won't be there. For this very reason I've never graced my tongue with KBS and I still sleep at night. No beer is worth fighting crowds over.

Some of them also have such a high ABV that it might even be impossible to taste the intricacies of the beers. I want to taste the beer. Not have my tongue incinerated by booze. Geez. This is just another reason I'm a 60-year-old man trapped in the body of a 24-year-old.

 

Monday Rant: To Partake or Not to Partake?

Bell's Oarsman Ale is a good choice as a session beer.

Last year around the time of National Session Day, I was stubborn to partake. Big surprise, right? I'm usually disgruntled when it comes to things such as this. Last year my philosophy wasn't at all about caring how low a beer's ABV is. To me, it was just beer. Drink it.

That was obviously prior to coming across a very old post via Lew Bryson's Seen Through a Glass blog concerning the Session Beer Project. In it,. Bryson describes part of his view that the stronger beers get all of the celebratory remarks. That leaves some of the beers that have easier ABV's and are a lot easier to consume without temporarily destroying your sense of taste after a while in the dust.

I've always been one that was stubborn. Thus, you never see me rushing to beat people to procure beers like Bell's Hopslam, Pliny the Elder or the recently-released Kentucky Breakfast Stout.

Because of my intense stubbornness, It's only fitting that I embrace Session Day and not push it away. It only took a little research to sway me in such a direction. I participated yesterday and will be happy to do so in future years.

Monday Rant: Parody is Pouring

I'd have to guess when exactly it was, but if I had to actually ballpark it I'd have to say it was about a year ago. I'm not sure if I had come up with the idea of doing these Monday Rant posts yet, but I certainly remember it being a rant-oriented post.

I'm talking about a post in which I posted a video poking fun at beer snobs throughout today's craft beer scene and how they spend so much cash on beers like Kentucky Breakfast Stout, Pliny the Elder (or Younger? Either way I don't really give a damn.) and other beers people line up and fight over. I also remember tossing in my own commentary on the entire video ordeal along with the creator's comments.

From what I remember, the guy that made the video series parody had somewhat malicious intent because he was just pissed off at those types of craft fans. Alas, I'm stubborn. So, I was pissed off at the fact that the guy was pissed off. That was also the beginning of my realization that there were societal lines in the beer community. I've made several attempts to drain politics from my life. Now, it's almost as if beer is the same way. Maybe it's just that all aspects of life are like that? One day I'll ask Doc Brown since he understands all mysteries of the universe.

I came across another similar video over the weekend. It's in much better taste. I actually howled at this one. The guy looks from the guy in the corner sells the whole thing. It's a good feeling to watch a parody of really snobby and geeky beer fans and just chuckle at it because you know you've done some of that stuff.

 

New "Beer Geek" Video Circulates the Web

Today's New Wave of So-Called "Beer Geek." from John Smith on Vimeo.

I'm sure that there has been someone that's come across my blog here and thought the very same thing. I'm at least realistic about that. I at least put my image on what I do here and not going by "John Smith." In my opinion, whomever made this is just upset that they didn't get their batch of Kentucky Breakfast Stout this year since craft beer has pretty much exploded.

Of the "rare beers" mentioned in the video I've only tried Dogfish Head's 120 minute IPA and didn't enjoy it. I know better than to waste my time looking for the Pliny series and KBS.

We don't really and probably won't ever know the true intentions of the video, but I at least got a decent laugh from watching it.