Champagne is the King of sparkling wines.  When you think sparkling, what immediately comes to mind – Champagne.  Yet, Champagne can still be a conundrum.  You look at the label and it looks like it was written in Greek.  What does Brut mean or what is a Blanc de Blanc?  Well, this Champagne Primer is here to help you decipher those labels and provide some basic information on Champagne. 

Basics

Champagne can only be made … Read more

Update: Now that the Giants and Pats find themselves matched up once again in Super Bowl XLVI, we thought it appropriate to resurface this one drinking game from Super Bowl XVII. We added a few new rules to drink by. Have some rules of you own to add, do it in the comments!

New for Super Bowl XLVI
Drink anytime:

Tom Brady and Joe Montana are mentioned in the same sentence. Drink again if you

… Read more

First, you have to use the traditional tulip shaped British pint glass (about 20 oz). Hold the glass at a 45 degree angle to the tap and fill until the glass is about 2/3 full.

Next, let the Guinness settle for at least 3 minutes. Don’t forget about it though; nothing is worse than making a customer stare at their not-yet-served Guinness for too long.

Finally, top of the pint and let it settle once … Read more

This week’s collections of libatious links!

Brian Rea has cranked out another issue of The Barkeeper. A must read.
A deer tries to get a drink in an Ohio bar, destruction ensues.
San Francisco’s Broken Record has Four Roses Bourbon on tap. Yes, whiskey on tap!
Snooth names the five most overused wine words.
The Dog Whisperer is not a friend of alcoholics.
Anchor Steam gets an award.
Adam Morganstern shares his top 10 wines

… Read more

Starbucks is opening a Seattle location that will serve beer and wine—with more to come. If the experiment goes well, the concept could be tested in other cities.

The test move to sell alcohol is clearly an attempt to fight off growing competition from McDonald’s and Dunkin’ Donuts, says Ron Paul, president of Technomic, a restaurant consulting firm.

Starbucks experiments with new name (@USA Today)… Read more

The makers of my beloved Newcastle Brown Ale want to send you to the Glastonbury Music Festival in England!

Why?

Because, who doesn’t like a rock show in a small English town with a mystical past?

Glastonbury is said to be the burial place of King Aurthur. The whole area’ known as the “Isle of Avalon”, is over looked by the Glastonbury Tor, a tall hill topped with a medieval tower. Way cool. I climbed … Read more

College, NFL it is Fall and that means I don’t leave the house in Saturdays and rarely on a Sunday. What to do while watching 12 hours of straight football? Cocktails!

Football Drinks

InBev buys Anheuser-Busch, Moslon buys Coors, Miller and MolsonCoors merge and Pabst buys Stroth’s, Schlitz, and Olympia. With all the consolidation in the beer ondustry, who know who is now making your favorite brew? Fortune Magazine put together this handy in interactive chart to help us all keep track. Amazingly, Sam Adams Brewer, Boston Beer is now the largest, independent, publicly-traded brewery in the USA!

99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall [Fortune Magazine]… Read more

I know we really don’t cover tech news but this is to good to pass up. This iPhone app, available at iTunes for $2.99, turns your handset into a virtual beer mug.

The application mimics the movements of a typical beer mug. Chug, and it drains. Jiggle it and it will spill. We recommend sipping.

iBeer has no real useful application that we could find. Still, we see it as a bar ice breaker, so … Read more

Belgian-Brazilian brewer InBev has has purchased St. Louis Brewery Anheuser-Busch for almost $52 billion. After giving up a fight, the iconic brewery gave in and agreed to be acquired by the maker of Beck’s, Stella Artois and others. The new company will be called Anheuser-Busch InBev and Budweiser will be its flagship brand. 

InBev to Buy Anheuser-Busch, Gains Top Market Share [Bloomberg]… Read more