Regular readers of this blog may automatically assume that I am doing back-flips of joy as I type out this blog entry; but that isn’t happening. In fact, I write this with mixed feelings and even some despair.

As you know, West Virginia’s beer laws are trapped in a time capsule that dates all the way back to the reversal of prohibition; steeped in patriarchal fear of allowing the masses to have easy access to that most dangerous of beverages, beer. Our beer laws actually create and maintain an inept monopoly of beer distributors in what is referred to as a “tiered system”. The laws also severely limit the availability of many of the World’s best beers by capping the alcohol content at 6%ABV.

Last year, the WV legislature had an opportunity to help bring WV into the 21^st century by raising the ABV limits on beer. This move would have brought us in line with 48 other states and would have drastically improved consumer choice. The House of Delegates caved on the legislation for fear that it would upset the “Church Lady” in an election year. The cowards were given cover by one of the most inept of State leaders, Dallas Staples, the head of the Alcoholic Beverage Commission. Mr. Staples, a former police chief and political hack with zero experience in the beverage industry came up with the silly idea of allowing higher alcohol beers to be sold through the state’s liquor system. This is a stupid idea on so many levels, but it gave the house enough cover to “table” the issue without realizing (or just not caring) that they were actually limiting consumer choice. The reality is that this path to the market is a torturous one. It adds layers of complexity for the brewery representatives and adds extreme mark-ups and more than doubles the tax to the consumer. Unless the legislature realizes how bad the “Beer as Liquor” idea is, they will never move to change the beer laws. This is why I am not so happy to tell you about this very decent beer; the beer that’s legally considered liquor in West Virginia. Ok, now let’s talk about beer… Read the rest of this entry »

My wife and stopped by the Bridge Road Bistro to watch WVU lose to Colorado. We didn’t let the Mounties dismal performance sour our “neighborhood pub” experience. A visit to the Bistro was long overdue and I am happy that I finally returned to experience the Bistro in the evening. I have eaten lunch at the Bistro a couple of times when the place opened a few years ago. The food was good, but a bit pricey for a casual lunch.

The bar area is neat as a pin, with wood furnishings, flat-screen TV and high-top tables. It reminds me of a hotel or country club bar, lacking a bit of warmth. There are five beers on tap and I was very happy to see that four were W.Va. brews! The fifth tap dispensed Lindeman’s Framboise lambic, a real rarity in these parts, although I was told it would not be replaced after the keg “kicks.” (“Sorry Homer, no macro lager on draft here…’) I was impressed with a decent (31-beer) premium bottle list, including Abita, Sierra-Nevada and Pinkus beers. To my delight, my beer was served in a clean, room temperature glass. I am told that the Bistro also has an impressive wine list and from the looks of the top shelf, an adequate supply of good booze.

We were really “digging” the atmosphere; a bit more mature and quiet than most bars in town. It’s seems to be a great place to go to have a drink and a conversation, without being assaulted with music that is usually way too loud. I couldn’t help looking out the window and just taking in the view of the firehouse across the street, and the bank on the corner. It’s just a quiet little neighborhood, and here I am sitting in the local pub. It brought back recent memories of sitting in the same sort of neighborhood pubs in London just a few weeks ago (called locals). I couldn’t help feeling a bit jealous of my friends, who live just up the street, “I wish I had my own local pub

We need more neighborhood pubs in this country…

Click here for directions and hours for “The Bridge Road Bistro” on The Gazz Dining Guide

Let’s hope you’re still in full-oompah mode after attending the recent Charleston Oktoberfest. Why stop the fun after just one fest? Here is the Beers to You guide to throwing your own Oktoberfest celebration.

First and foremost, you can’t have Oktoberfest without beer! German festbier is the preferred flavor. Usually called Oktoberfest, this seasonal lager is readily available at the grocery store during the fall months. Samuel Adams, though brewed in the USA, is an excellent version and is usually fresher than many authentic imports. Penn Oktoberfest is another great one, but is harder to find locally. I tend to favor these American brewed festbiers because of their freshness, but make sure you buy the beer from the fridge and avoid the “aisle pile”. Beer is best kept cold. Read the rest of this entry »

Yo! I was paging through some beer magazines I brought back from England during my recent trip to the Great British Beer Festival. I came across this ad from Shepherd-Neame brewery. They are a very well known Kentish brand that is apparently “throwin down” for some younger beer drinkers by invoking “Hip-Hop” culture in a humorous way. They have released this ad for a golden ale called Canterbury Jack. I wonder if it’s from the same ad agency that created their ad for Spitfire; with the slogan “Downed all over Kent, just like the Luftwaffe”, making reference to the fact that the beer is named after the famous British fighter plane. (Also advertised as the beer with “No Nazi aftertaste”…)

I think this may be one of the funniest beer ads I have ever seen, though I tend to disagree that this sort of advertising is a good thing for beer. This ad captures and then defiles the essence of the simple neighborhood pub, with mum and dad behind the bar and a neighborhood regular and his dogs (a very common sight in a British Pub). Enjoy!

(Note: My printed version uses the word “me” in place of “my”. It struck me as funnier, but I could not find a picture of that version online)

Okay, chalk it up to poor planning on my part, but I am getting a little sick and tired of having to perform logistical acrobatics every time I make last-minute plans to go to a friend’s house to watch a Sunday football game or whatever. The time comes every now and then, when I actually have to buy beer, and I need it when I need it! I don’t understand (playing coy here…) how we got ourselves into this stupidity of having to wait till 1 p.m. on Sundays to buy beer. When you think about it, it really does seem silly. We have all seen the padlocks and chains on the beer coolers at the local grocers, or the “lights out approach” taken by many store owners. What a freakin hassle!

The “self righteous contingent” must believe that I am going to wake up on Sunday morning and say to myself: ‘Hmmm what should I do today? Either I go to church or heck, I’ll just run down to Kroger and buy me a 12-pack and get wasted before noon!’ They don’t realize that I am Catholic and could just as easily have gone to mass on Saturday evening or Sunday at 5 p.m. after I’d brewed a big batch of beer (which I have done before and, yes, I worshiped sober).

Sometimes I think I should organize a Sunday morning protest. All of us beer drinkers can form a human chain around all of the Cracker Barrels, Shoney’s and Bob Evans restaurants, not allowing the post-church going crowds to enter until 1 p.m.. “Get your butts back to church, you belly-slaves!” “No one eats until I get a beer!”

Who’s in?

Last year my boss gave me a bottle of ale which he brought back from his native country of England. It was called “Summer Lightning”. He told me that it was all the rage and that many young folks were drinking it instead of lagers. I tasted the beer and could definitely see why it could develop such a following, especially with ever growing market of lager drinkers in Britain. The beer was clean, crisp like a lager, but it finished with very floral, hoppy aroma and bite, which is typical of English “Real Ale”. I enjoyed every sip…

Turn the clock ahead about one year and I find myself standing in London at the Great British Beer Festival. Over five hundred cask conditioned real ales are being served in peak condition. Sure, I could recognize the old standbys like London Pride, Spitfire, Old Speckled Hen, and the list goes on and on. But hey! What’s that I see? Crouch-Vale Golden Ale? Hmmm… Read the rest of this entry »

For any of you that have stopped in to Okay’s Pub recently, you may be aware of the absolute run of bad luck that owner Kay Dillon has experienced in the last six months, from her son’s tragic accident in Thailand (leaving him paralyzed from the waist down) to Kay’s own health issues. Kay is doing much better. Her son is adjusting to his new challenges and her younger son Dylan has been a real trooper, helping his mother and brother through these tough times. All of this has left the “cash drawer” in bad shape. Kay almost threw in the towel this week, but many of her supporters and confidants inspired her to give it one more try to get over the hump this weekend.

Starting Friday evening and throughout this weekend, Kay needs your support. I am not talking about a pity party either. Kay just needs patrons to do what they normally do; stop by and have a beer or a glass of wine, order up a grilled pizza and maybe listen to tunes from Charleston’s own “Honky-Tonk Power Trio” Buckstone.

Why should we care if Okay’s lives or dies? It’s simple… Okay’s is a unique, maybe even quirky pub that prides itself on serving great beer and great wine. Kay has been an ardent supporter of the arts and music scene in Charleston as well as just a dear friend to all of her patrons. Be sure to tell all of your friends!

Okay’s Pub is Located at 222 Leon Sullivan Way in downtown Charleston.

With the Government’s constant attempt to over-reach with the hand of power, it’s good for some of us to bite that hand every once in a while…

Recently, more than 50 owners of local bars and lounges took to the streets of Charleston to voice their disapproval of the recent sweeping smoking ban which includes bars. Although I am a non-smoker and prefer non-smoking establishments, I am first and foremost a person who believes in freedom and the free markets. I also believe in the existence of the potential for a “Nanny State” becoming the norm, and nobody really wants that to happen.

These businesses have banded together to let government know that the ban which was put in place by the non-elected “ministers” of health, has hurt their business.These smoking bans are wrong and an unnecessary encroachment on business owner’s private property rights.

Let me give you my thoughts. Here are 10 logical points that go toward solving this issue that are based on the principles of a free society and a free market. Read the rest of this entry »

This past week I was in Chicago for a couple of days for business. I always try to act as expected and fit in a visit to a great beer spot while I am anywhere. This week it was Goose Island’s brewpub located in the trendy Lincoln Park neighborhood of Chicago. This isn’t my first trip to the Goose, but it may be my last. The pub (not the production brewery) is scheduled to close due to the very high cost of real estate in the area. That unfortunate news is compounded by the fact that the premises is also shared with the Siebel Institute, which is the oldest and one the most respected brewing schools in the world. Many a good brewer has graduated Siebel’s master brewing program. I can only hope Siebel finds a suitable location even if the pub decides not to reopen.

I had a few great beers while there. Replicale was the summer seasonal. It was based on a Belgian farmhouse style ale, but with a little hoppier kick. The Summer Bitter was my favorite, similar to a popular British ale called Summer Lightning. The Go0se’s version weighed in at just under 5% abv and was a slightly more bitter than what I recall in the British version. If your plans include Chicago over the next few months, you may want to visit Goose Island before it’s gone… Read the rest of this entry »

I have always held a fondness for British beer and English pub culture. While today’s Brits are often known worldwide as rowdy, drunken and often violent soccer “hooligans,” the historical reality is that the English have been some of the most civilized drinkers in the history of the world. In the last 50 years or so, England has been evolving (or devolving, depending on your perspective) into a largely commercially driven, lager swilling and very mediocre-beer drinking country. From my point of view, this “devolution” has been a contributing cause for the soiled reputation the English beer drinker earns today; it’s not unlike our own over-indulgent and irresponsible behavior that is all too common with the typical American macro-lager drinker.

Why am I picking on macro-lagers and macro lager drinkers? Well, it’s simple. The large macro lager brewers are all about volume selling. They want you to be able to “chain drink” one can after another without tasting it or filling your tummy. This sounds O.K. on the surface: Heck! Why not give the people what they want, right? The problem is that although they have lightened the beer’s taste and body, they leave all of the alcohol in the package. This means that you can guzzle away at great volumes with little consequence to your tummy; but your brain, well that’s another matter, it gets wasted. This all happens in a country where unlike most of beer drinking Europe, there is little to no public transportation to get your tummy and brain home…

Read the rest of this entry »