Rolling Rock is a beer that, while I've had it on tap, mostly at pizza joints, I've never had in the bottle—and this is a beer that's reputation was in part based on its bottle. Rolling Rock Extra Pale American Lager began life as a small local brewery in Latrobe, a small town in Western Pennsylvania. The Tito brothers opened up their brewery in 1939. One of their decisions, somewhat atypical at the time, was to bottle their beer in a green bottle with all the labeling done in white paint. It became a local favorite, very quickly, and remained popular for years.

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When I first heard of the charges against Al Gore I found them hard to believe. Now the DA and the police have cleared Mr. Gore of the charges. Multnomah County District Attorney Michael Schrunk said today, Friday, there was no basis for prosecution.

Senior Deputy District Attorney Don Rees, in a memo to the D.A., Michael D. Schrunk released by the DA office and the Portland Police report have cleared Al Gore of criminal wrongdoing in the sex assault case filed by masseuse Molly Hagerty..

The DA official statement said Hagerty story did not add up, and that she failed a polygraph test, that no DNA evidence on the pants she claimed she wore during the alleged incident, and the DA suggested that the accuser may have made up the charges against Mr. Gore for money, noting that she was paid for her story by the National Inquirer.

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Pabst Blue Ribbon 1844-China's New Favorite Drink?There is one extremely good reason not to be in China right now: Pabst Blue Ribbon beer, which is the cheap, American beer that is perfect for either poor college students or those who like to drink the equivalent of piss in a can, is not only expensive in China, it is being marketed as an exotic and specialty alcoholic beverage to the unsuspecting Chinese.


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It's been the Summer of Hops, so far. So much so that I had to get a second opinion from a hops-loving friend about Bridgeport Brewing's Imperial IPA, Hop Czar IPA, made in the great Pacific Northwest town of Portland, Oregon. (To confirm what I already suspected.) But I'm getting ahead of myself, so first, let me fill you in on some background about this beer, and Imperial-style IPAs in general.

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The pope is ticked off with Belgium. Belgium is taking its duty to protect its young seriously, and is not offering special treatment to the Catholic Church. The police are investigating recent claims of child sexual abuse by predatory priests. According to a news report: Last week, Belgian police raided the home of a retired bishop, opened the grave of at least one archbishop, in their search for hidden documents, and detained Belgium's nine current serving bishops as they met, seizing their mobile phones and only releasing them after nine hours. Pope Benedict is having a fit. He called the raids 'deplorable' and demanded that he and the Catholic Church have role in investigating abusers in its ranks.

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This is one of the beers that came in the New Belgium Folly Pack, and of the four beers in the pack, this one is definitely my favorite. It's a dark, sweet, malt beer, not too heavy, and though it's not a session beer, it's a reasonable 5.6 ABV%, which means if you're having friends over for a barbecue, you can have a couple or three over the course of the evening. Note, by the way that this is a Belgian style ale; it's a bit lighter than a traditional Belgian ale (Try New Belgium's Abbey Ale for a beer that's closer to the Belgian monastic brewing tradition). New Belgium is not kidding when they call it an "Enlightened Black Ale." That's a very good description.

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This is the first New Belgium beer I ever tried, and their flagship brew. New Belgium's Fat Tire is one of those beers that's reliably good, though I'm still hoping to try it on tap. When founding Brewmaster Jeff Lebesch began New Belgium, he was inspired by a bike trip through Belgium to create Belgian style ales, and Fat Tire, named after the bike he rode, was one of his first two brews. Jeff expected his second brew, the Abbey Ale would be the "Big" ale in terms of making his mark, but it's Fat Tire that's become one of the most widely recognized craft brews in America—in no small part due to the fabulous label art showing a Fat Tire cruisingbike, deftly created by watercolorist Ann Fitch.

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Hops are largely associated with beer today but in terms of the history of brewing beer they are a modern addition, since they date to sometime in the middle ages, probably sometime around the late tenth or early eleventh century. It's hops that give beer that characteristic hint of bitterness, sometimes with a nod at citrus. Hops contribute to the aroma, as well as the taste of beer. It's generally assumed that hops were initially added to beer as a preservative, and an antibacterial. There was a long tradition of adding other herbs as preservative before hops, but the theory is that some brewer somewhere noticed his hoppy ale stayed fresh longer. One of the interesting and important qualities of hops is that while they are naturally antibacterial, they do not destroy the yeast that is so very vital in terms of fermenting the wort, the grain and water base, that all beer begins with.

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From the Associated Press,  June 17, 2010  -- "What started out as a drinking game, beer pong has blossomed into a nationwide competition and a $25,000 first prize, all for doing what millions of college kids do when they should be studying.." See the video.

A beer pong championship? Excuse me -- the world beer pong championship? Yeah! This dorm game has gotten serious. 350 teams in the competition. $250K in prize money. $25k top prize. And it was hosted for the second year in a row in in Atlantic City? Where else? The casinos need to draw people.

Brian Cahill.spokesman for the Resorts Hotel, host casino joint said, "Not only did it generate hotel room sales and food and beverage revenue, but it gave Resorts additional exposure in the media, brought energy and excitement to the hotel and casino, and it introduced many new people to the property."

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I've recently discovered that there are a variety of slang terms for the sixteen ounce beer can, like the one pictured here. What have you heard them called? Keep in mind, I'm looking for alternate names for the can, not the beer inside the can, which where I live, can be either mass produced beer, or a local microbrew bottled specifically for hikers. A lot of microbrewers and craftbrewers are using the sixteen ounce cans. I notice one of my all time favorite breweries, Seattle's Pyramid Brewery is releasing on of my all time favorite beers, Pyramid's Haywire Hefeweizen in a limited summer release 16 ounce can.

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