The 50 States of Beer - South Carolina

South Carolina

Thomas Creek Brewery - Greenville, SC

Best Beer:

Stillwater Vanilla Cream Ale

The vanilla cream ale isn't your typical style of beer. As a matter of fact, this is only the third type of Vanilla Cream Ale I've had. The first, was the Raccoon River Brewery right here in Des Moines, and the second was my home brew "2 Scoops Vanilla Cream Ale". The Thomas Creek isn't as good as Raccoon River's, but it was slightly better then mine.

I spent the weekend in Iowa City with Nick, JJ and the girls and we got beers at this little store that really wanted to be a Walgreens. I grabbed the Thomas Creek because I'd never heard of it before, and when I saw they had the vanilla, I was stoked. We also got a 6 pack of the O'Fallons Hemp Hop Rye which was good. (Fun Fact: my taste for hops is back finally!!)

The Stillwater Vanilla Cream Ale tastes great. I love the idea of the vanilla ales, because it's such a plain beer and they really don't do much to make it stand out. I'd like to know what it tastes like off the tap, so I'll have to find my way to South Carolina again one of these days. I am looking forward to trying other beers from Thomas Creek, and hopefully I can find them here in Des Moines Rock City.

For more information on Thomas Creek Brewery, go here.

Up Next: Ohio

Marc Maron was a member of The Kids in the Hall?

One of my favorite comedians, Marc Maron (host of the WTF Podcast, which I told you about here) was on Conan last week, and made a joke about how he looks like the cool professor at a small school, because something happened at the big school.

Here's the video:


Well, tonight I was watching old Kids in the Hall episodes on Netflix, and came across this sketch:

WTF indeed.

The 50 States of Beer - Kansas

Kansas

Tallgrass Brewing Company - Manhattan, KS
Best Beer:

Buffalo Sweat

The first time I had Buffalo Sweat was this past summer at the Great Nebraska Beer Fest. It was good, but it was also about 90 degrees out, so I didn't much of this dark beer.

In November, I went to a holiday beer fest in Omaha at the Crescent Moon and got a chance to enjoy the stout in a better weather situation. I loved it.

Like Oskar Blues, Tallgrass has taken to canning their beers, which was a turn off for me at first, but after I warmed up, I have found that the appropriately named "Ale" and "IPA" were also good. But, the Buffalo Sweat is the best. If you are looking for a new stout to try out, look no further.

For more information on Tallgrass Brewing Company, go here.

Up Next: South Carolina

Belize Knows Beer!

So, the wife and I just got back from a cruise. On this cruise, we visited Mexico and Honduras, but my highlight was Belize. Why? Because of this:

I never would have guessed, but Belize has an amazing brewery called The Belize Brewing Company, and under that name, they make Belikin Beer (pictured above).

I wanted to find some local brew, and after many days of downing cerveza such as Corona, Sol, Pacifico and El Barlito, I was expecting similar from Belikin.

The man at the bar asked if I wanted Dark, Light or Really Light. I paid 1 American dollar for a Dark and Light.

First, I tried the Dark: It was a stout! It was a damn fine stout. I wont compare it to Guinness, but it was so good, and very drinkable. Before I knew it that bottle was gone.

So, I tried the second one. The Light. It was golden, and I assumed it'd be the traditional cerveza. But no, they shocked me again, and the Light was a Hefeweizen! A perfect wheat beer. I could not believe that I had never heard of this brewery before.

Unfortunately, we didn't get to Ladyville to the brewery, but I could see myself traveling back some day to try it again.

From what I can tell it is hard to find in the US, but if you come across it, drink it. You wont be sorry.

This Just In: The Chiefs Win The Super Bowl!!! (Part Deux)

So, if you remember, a little over a year ago, on Decemeber 27th, 2009, after the Chiefs had their 3rd losing season in a row, I made a bold prediction. That they would win the Super Bowl in 2012.

Well, since that game in Indianapolis is still more than a year away, let's look at some of the other predictions I made in, shall we....

In the 2010 draft, the Chiefs will have one of the top 3 picks. I think Mr. Pioli will do
everything in his power to bring in this fella:
[Insert picture of Suh]
That's right. I think Ndamukong Suh will keep wearing RED once he hits the NFL.

My first major mistake. The Chiefs didn't get Suh, he went to the Lions and wore BLUE with the 2nd pick. KC ended up with the 5th pick of the 2010 draft and went with another Defensive threat, Tennessee Safety Eric Berry.

This fella:

And how did Mr. Berry do in his rookie season?

Started all 16 games

72 Tackles
15 Assists
2 Sacks
4 Interceptions, 1 returned for a Touchdown (note: Suh had 1 INT this season)
1 Forced Fumble
9 Passes Defensed

Those are some great numbers, but I went on to predict:

Suh will have big games at home against Jacksonville, Oakland, and Tennessee as well as on the road at Houston and Seattle.

So, how'd Berry do in those games?

Jags: 3 Tackles, 1 Interception, and 1 Forced Fumble
Raiders (in 2 games): 10 Tackles, 2 Sacks
Titans: 4 Tackles, 1 Interception returned for a TD
Texans: 3 Tackles, 2 Assists
Seahawks: 2 Tackles

Not that bad at all, so far so good Eric Berry.

Now this is where I went wrong, I predicted that in the 2011 draft the Chiefs would get some offensive threats...

In the 2011 draft, the Chiefs will have a middle of the road pick, and I think they'll try for some offensive threats. Perhaps Golden Tate outta Notre Dame or Damian Williams from USC.

Whelp, KC didn't wait till 2011 to work on the offense. They followed Berry with RB/WR Dexter McCluster and soon after TE Tony Moeaki outta Iowa. Not to mention, Kick Return/Punt Return/Corner Back Javier Arenas fresh off his National Championship win with Alabama. Not to mention, the Chiefs picked up Thomas Jones in the off season. (note: Tate and Williams ended up skipping their senior seasons and were also drafted in 2010, going to the Seahawks and Titans, respectively).

So...

Cassel, Charles, Bowe, Tate/Williams/unnamed rookie WR/TE will be the offensive weapons. And Suh, Brandon Flowers and Donald Washington will lead one of the leagues best defenses.

That's what I thought would take the Chiefs to the Super Bowl in 2012. What we got instead was Cassel, Charles, Jones, Bowe, McCluster and Moeaki on Offense and Berry, Derrick Johnson, Brandon Flowers and Brandon Carr on defense ready for the 2010 season. A great team, a year earlier then I expected.

So how has that 2010 season turned out? What did the sports analysts, the ones who get paid to write about the NFL say, well funny you should ask:

Sports Illustrated: 6-10, fourth in the AFC West, no playoffs
CBS Sports: (if lucky) 8-8, fourth in the AFC West, no playoffs
What if Sports: 5-11, third in the AFC West, no playoffs
Bleacher Report: 8-8, third in the AFC West, no playoffs
Associated Content: 5-11, third in the AFC West, no playoffs
Unassisted Sports: 4-12, forth in the AFC West, no playoffs

All Sports Talk: 8-8, second in the AFC West, no playoffs

And what did I say?

The Chiefs will make it to the postseason next season, with a record of either 10-6

Well would you look at that. I predicted the Chiefs would make the playoffs with a record of 10-6. And what do you know:

THE CHIEFS MADE THE PLAYOFFS WITH A RECORD OF 10-6!

However, I did get the situation wrong...

The Chargers will again take the AFC West, but Kansas City will get the 2nd AFC wild-card spot.

The Chargers didn't take anything this season except "it" up the butt. And the Kansas City Chiefs won the AFC West with the 10-6 record taking the 4th seed in AFC.

So, what does that mean for the next part of my 2010 season prediction?

I think they will lose in the first round of the playoffs (probably to Cincinnati or Baltimore.)

Well, right away, you can see that I got the Bengals season wrong, but they did play a major role in the Chiefs playoff picture knocking off the Chargers in week 17.

I predicted the Chiefs would lose if they played the Ravens. And, as you know, the Chiefs are playing the Ravens in the first round of the playoffs.

Here's the rub though, I was invisioning a wild-card Chiefs team going to Baltimore and losing. What we have instead is a wild-card Ravens team coming to Arrowhead. That is a different ball game. Especially when you consider the Chiefs went 7-1 at home this season.

I hope the Chiefs beat the Ravens and can advance through the playoffs and make it to the big game. But, if that doesn't happen this season, I will reiderate what I said before, this has been a pretty good season and one hell of a turn around.

I didn't say who I thought would win the Super Bowl in 2011 in my post last year, but I thought then (as I do now) that the Falcons would win the NFC.

I don't want to Jinx the Chiefs playoff run (I don't believe in god but I do believe in Jinx) so I will instead call the Super Bowl final score as:

AFC Champion over the Atlanta Falcons, 34-27

Now, on to next season, where I stand firmly behind my previous statement...

What I said last December was this:

The Chiefs will take the AFC West this season, edging out the Chargers, with a record of 13-3 or 12-4. (I call an upset of the Patriots in KC, but also a major loss to one of the NFC front-runners, the Packers, in Green Bay).

I am not sure if the Chiefs will get a first round bye or not, but they will make it to the Championship game. (No clue who they will beat to get there).

In the AFC Championship game, the Kansas City Chiefs will play the Indianapolis Colts, who would be playing for a shot at a home field advantage in the Super Bowl.

All the Chiefs fans will be thinking of 2004, but unlike in that year, Kansas City will win this shoot out, advancing to the Super Bowl for the first time since beating the Vikings in 1970.

So this leads us to Super Bowl 46 in Indianapolis. I call the Green Bay Packers vs the Kansas City Chiefs.

The Packers, who were the number 2 seed in the NFC behind the Matt Ryan led Falcons (who lost in the 2nd round, not sure to who), will be favored in the game.

The sportswriters will all focus on the parallels between Super Bowl 46 and Super Bowl 1, when these two teams met (Green Bay winning that game 35-10), and the fact that the Chiefs lost to Green Bay in the regular season.

The Chiefs will ultimately win, 31-24. Matt Cassel will get the MVP trophy.

Yeah, I like that still. I'll write again before the playoffs next year to see where I'm standing.

I'll leave you with this. My original post with the prediction of a Super Bowl win was written on December 27th, 2009. On December 26th, 2010, one year later, the Chiefs played the Tennessee Titans at home and my favorite play of the season happened. Enjoy:

When Bowe, Charles and Cassel all 3 jump into the stands I got goosebumps and they got a flag. Fair trade.

Chop it Up.

Read/Listen/Watch/Rent

READ: World War Z by Max Brooks

If you ever read Rant by Chuck Palahniuk (one of my favorite books ever) then you are familiar with an oral history. It's a narrative told by the people who lived the story. In this case, the story is of World War Z, or, the war with the zombies. It sounds weird, and this is way more "Downfall" then it is "Shaun of the Dead", which is great. The seriousness of the book and the topics adds a credibility to the story. Honestly, I listened to the audiobook, which i recommend, because it is like a BBC broadcast or an ep. of This American Life. You get the story of the greatest tragedy in the history of the world by the people who lived it and made the decisions. Great book, don't let the "oh it's about zombies" get in the way. This is a book about humanity and reaction.

LISTEN: Fun

I am most def. late to the party when it comes to fun. The band, made up of members from Steel Train, Anathallo and (of course) The Format, is a delicious bit of pop rock, well, fun. I was a devout follower of The Format, and perhaps it was there demise and the subsequent rise of fun that turned me off them, but I get it now. I saw them in concert at Veisha last year and it sunk in. I gotta thank Nick for letting me know about them and for somewhat pounding them in my head (we listened to the cd on repeat from Iowa City to Chicago in 2009). I can't wait to hear what comes next from these guys. Below is the song "The Gambler", which Nick kept insisting I play at my wedding. However, I thought he was talking about Kenny Rogers, so we played that song instead. My mistake. (Click "View Original Post" to see video if you are reading this on facebook. Who am I kidding, no one is reading this. You suck Patrick.)


WATCH: The Larry Sanders Show

When I was a kid we didn't have HBO, so I had no exposure to this amazing show from the 90's. Larry Sanders, a late night talk show host in competition with Leno and Letterman is brilliant. This show is like 30 Rock meets Curb meets Entourage 15 years earlier (and Jeremy Piven has much less hair). Judd Apatow was a writer on it, yeah he was. And it stared Garry Shandling and Jeffrey "George Bluth" Tambor. What more do you want? How, each show has guest stars like Robin Williams, Danny Devito, Alec Baldwin, Bob Saget, Seinfeld, John Ritter, David Spade and Vince Vaughn playing fictionalized version of themselves. This is to the 90's as Arrested Development is to the 2000's. The first 4 seasons just got added to Netflix Instant, so go watch it. You will laugh your ass off. Here is a great clip featuring a svelte Vince Vaughn.


RENT: Moon

Moon. Watch it. It's on Netflix, you probably already have it in your que. Watch it. You will like it. That is fact. Sam Rockwell is one of my favorite actors, and he should have an oscar for this no doubt. It's a perfect movie. Trailer is below.