We don't know much about Asian beers here at Liquor Snob, other than the fact we usually get Sapporo when we're having Japanese, Singha with our Pad Thai, and Tsingtao with our local Chines buffet. We got in two bottles of Tsingtao today (one of their Lager, and the other of their Pure Draft), something to do with the fact that Chinese New Year is coming up. We don't usually celebrate this holiday, but one thing in the press release caught our eye - Tsingtao is working with Martin Yan from Yan Can Cook to create recipes with their beer.
We used to watch Yan Can Cook daily when we were younger, and we figured if they could get an endorsement from someone of his stature, we should give their beer a try post haste. We sampled both bottles this afternoon and formed some thoughts - one thing that you should know is both beers come in green bottles, so if you don't like the distinctive "green bottle" taste, these are probably not your thing.
Tsingtao Pure Draft: The more flavorful of the two beers, this one reminded us of our beloved Molson Golden, light and hoppy, with that distinctive green bottle bite.
Tsingtao Lager: The lager was reminiscent of a light beer to us, and if we had to equate it to a domestic we'd have to say Rolling Rock. Definitely very drinkable, especially with the big flavors of most Chinese food, and it felt like we could put a few away without feeling too full.
Like we said, we don't drink a ton of Asian beers, but we'd drink motor oil if Martin Yan told us to. You know why? Because if Yan can't, then neither can we. More about their partnership with him, along with recipes, at the Tsingtao Website.
We don't play much Beirut or Beer Pong anymore, but we remember one problem we consistently ran into when we did - the goddamned rule variants. Sometimes someone cries foul about this or that, saying "you're not allowed to move your feet when you throw," or "in Nebraska you're not allowed to bend your elbows" or whatever, or sometimes there were arguments about what happens when you bounce it into the cup instead of just sinking it, etc. Usually this was taken care of by stopping the game and setting up house rules, but we just want to be able to shut up and play.
We've just received a card game called Buzz Shot that attempts to alleviate some of the confusion, add some spice for seasoned beer pongers, and even make the game more appealing for newcomers. We haven't played yet but it seems simple enough - you shuffle the deck, each player flips a card before they shoot, and they have to follow the rule on the card.
Maybe you need to step back and take a long shot, or maybe you have to bounce it, or maybe you have to hand over the ball to a third party to try to make your shot - you won't know until you flip your card. All in all it seems you end up playing Beer Pong Horse, and we like the consistency-slash-randomness the card deck would add to the game - hope that card laminate is beer-resistant.
Seems like a cool, simple idea - we'll let you know if we have any other thoughts as soon as we get a chance to play it. You can pick up a deck of your own for ten bucks (or two decks for $15) at Buzz-Shot.com.
You could say we're connoisseurs of the portable beer pong/beirut table, considering we have two or three of them lying around our office. They come in varying sizes and shapes, some are sturdier than others or fold more easily, but most of them have one thing in common - they cost over a hundred dollars. We love beirut, but c'mon...we'd rather rip a door right out of our wall and spend the hundred smackers on beer.
That's why we were impressed with GoPong - they say their tables are of the same high quality as the other brands you'll see online, but for around half the price. They say there's no slave labor involved, but hey...if they have to dip into the white slavery trade to get us a high quality, cheap beer pong table, we're not gonna go running to the feds.
Check out their selection of stock and customizable tables, for yourself or as a gift, at GoPong.com.
It should come as no surprise that we here in the Liquor Snob offices are fans of BeerFest, one of the better binge drinking movies ever made. That's why we were so excited when we found the above image on the BierBootHaus website...we love the idea of buying a bunch of these for our friends and filling them with little drinking-related trinkets (we're thinking bottle openers and coasters and the like) for the holidays. Who's looking to be drunk for the holidays?
Pick up your grownup stockings at Bier Boot Haus (Thanks for the link, Dave)
We're going to go on the record and say we're not exactly sure why you would need a mitten with a koozie in it. We're pretty sure the mitten itself keeps your hand warm against the chilliness of your drink (and the elements) and the cold air that necessitates the mittens would keep your drink cold enough that you don't need to worry about it.
We've always thought of the mitten as nature's McDLT, keeping the cool side cool and the hot side hot, without all that planet-choking styrofoam. However, if you can see a reason why a koozie mitten would be necessary, such a thing exists and it is made by Burton. Thanks, Burton! (And thanks for the tip, JoJo)
We've spent significantly more time searching for one than the other, but this book is right up your alley if you're interested in either, or just a fascinating history. Don't be afraid to take this bad boy to your local and pull up a stool...you may end up discussing the book with your fellow patrons more than reading it, but hey...that's what going to a bar is for.
It appears Jamieson brewery's clever ad campaign about dwarves is going to climb up and bite them on their collective Aussie asses, which we think is a shame. The image (above) is a pretty damned funny twist on the Snow White story, especially when paired with the "Anything but sweet" tagline, in reference to a raspberry beer. It's too bad Disney has decided they own the rights to a folk tale, which is friggin' retarded. Our fearless Editor in Chief's last name is Jamieson, but you don't see him suing over the brewery using his name, now do you? Of course, we've got fewer high-powered lawyers trying to justify their retainers too...
This dude gave himself the ultimate physical challenge by getting flailing-ass drunk and attempting to buy beer. Our favorite part was when he fell over the first time and couldn't get up, but refused to remove his hand from the 12 pack to extricate himself. Favorite moment too is when he juuuuust misses the handle on the exit door and hilarity ensues.
One of our interns claims the guy must have something else going on because no one can get that drunk. That intern obviously hasn't been working here long enough. (Thanks, Crotchbat)
For some of us, tapping a keg is second nature thanks to more keg purchases than we'd like to count. Not everyone has been practicing for so long, however, and there are certain situations where you can save the day by being the one who knows how to tap a keg without out overpumping it and causing it to puke beer foam for the next hour. This video will teach you how to tap the major keg types (American and European sankeys), and even give a little 101 on how to pour that perfect pint you've been searching for.
We're pretty impressed with this graph of beer consumption by country - especially the format of partially-filled pilsener glasses. The country list is by no means complete - a commenter points out there are some hard-drinking European countries absent from the list - but it does our hearts good to know that based solely on the beer bottles littering the area around the computer, we're well ahead of the US curve.
Check out the graph (in a format large enough to actually read) at Snippets.com.
Admit it...sometimes you want to punish your friends for drinking your beer. They come over, they just assume they can dig in, and suddenly you're looking at a forlorn little fridge full of only...shudder...food. Go ahead, let them drink all they want, but tell them they can only do it with the shock bottle opener - it'll whack them with a nice little electric charge with every beer they open.
PS - Anybody else get a feeling this wasn't on purpose...that they're just making the best of a design flaw? At least it's less than four bucks, anwyay.
Remember how we were talking the other day, about how awesome it is to play video games while drinking beer? You remember - you said new video games kind of suck to play while drinking because there are too many bumpers and directional sticks nunchuks, and it all gets in the way of just having a beer while you play the game? We agreed with you, and now we present to you the greatest thing ever invented for drinking beer and playing games. Way better than the Octane 120 (and cheaper too), the Arkeg brings together all our vices in one place.
Refrigerated keg (5 gallons, but hey), and a tap sticking out of the side of the game cabinet? Check. 69 games and on a PC platform so you can upload more? Check. There's more, but that's all we need really. Did we mention it has Gauntlet 1 & 2? It's only four grand too - relax, we're pretty sure your kids will forgive you for spending their college fund if it means they can play video games.
A bottle opener in house key form. This is one of those ideas so simple, you sort of wonder why no one's done it before. Or, maybe they have and we just never heard about it. OR, maybe they have and the government suppressed the idea to keep people buying twist-offs instead of bar bottles. OR...no, we're done.
Anyway, the brutal simplicity of a beer bottle opener you can slide in amongst your keys is blinding as the sun.
Tsingtao Beer: Lager and Pure Draft Arrive
We don't know much about Asian beers here at Liquor Snob, other than the fact we usually get Sapporo when we're having Japanese, Singha with our Pad Thai, and Tsingtao with our local Chines buffet. We got in two bottles of Tsingtao today (one of their Lager, and the other of their Pure Draft), something to do with the fact that Chinese New Year is coming up. We don't usually celebrate this holiday, but one thing in the press release caught our eye - Tsingtao is working with Martin Yan from 
We don't play much Beirut or Beer Pong anymore, but we remember one problem we consistently ran into when we did - the goddamned rule variants. Sometimes someone cries foul about this or that, saying "you're not allowed to move your feet when you throw," or "in Nebraska you're not allowed to bend your elbows" or whatever, or sometimes there were arguments about what happens when you bounce it into the cup instead of just sinking it, etc. Usually this was taken care of by stopping the game and setting up house rules, but we just want to be able to shut up and play.
You could say we're connoisseurs of the portable beer pong/beirut table, considering we have two or three of them lying around our office. They come in varying sizes and shapes, some are sturdier than others or fold more easily, but most of them have one thing in common - they cost over a hundred dollars. We love beirut, but c'mon...we'd rather rip a door right out of our wall and spend the hundred smackers on beer.
It should come as no surprise that we here in the Liquor Snob offices are fans of 
We're going to go on the record and say we're not exactly sure why you would need a mitten with a koozie in it. We're pretty sure the mitten itself keeps your hand warm against the chilliness of your drink (and the elements) and the cold air that necessitates the mittens would keep your drink cold enough that you don't need to worry about it. 
We've spent significantly more time searching for one than the other, but this book is right up your alley if you're interested in either, or just a fascinating history. Don't be afraid to take this bad boy to your local and pull up a stool...you may end up discussing the book with your fellow patrons more than reading it, but hey...that's what going to a bar is for.
It appears 
We're pretty impressed with this graph of beer consumption by country - especially the format of partially-filled pilsener glasses. The country list is by no means complete - a commenter points out there are some hard-drinking European countries absent from the list - but it does our hearts good to know that based solely on the beer bottles littering the area around the computer, we're well ahead of the US curve.
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