Mailbag

EJ is not impressed with my recent drink of choice:

A Rob Roy?? A Rob Roy?? My grandmother drank Rob Roys when she couldn't get Mogen David. I allow a Rusty Nail now and then, but bitters and sweet vermouth in your scotch? Do you get a little cherry with that? Next you'll be twisting fruit rinds in, y'know, like the lime in a Corona bottle. How New Age. Very multicultural. Diverse. Criminey.

Sadly, the beer of choice up here seems to be Bud Light. It seems the girls like it, so the guys buy it. I have to keep a case of it in the mudroom for the little darlings. I've pretty much given up on American beer otherwise. Canadians' are okay. Can't shake the image of our family's first encounter with American beer after we returned from living in Germany and Japan. All kinds of wonderful beer in Germany. Kirins and Sapporos in Japan. Ichi-ban!

Mom and Dad broke out a six-pak of Coors at one of our first backyard bar-b-ques. We each popped a can into a glass (we're sophisticated) and we all had a taste. We poured the rest in the dog dish. It was martinis and scotch from then on. We used Budweiser to boil the shrimp and steam the pot roast, but good gawd, we never drank it. And the only thing we put in our scotch is ice. Come to think of it, that's all we ever put in our martinis, except for olives.

That's the problem with this damned multiculturalism. Everything's diluted or polluted now. Even the Fraters guys. Crap. I'm going back to bed.

Two parts Scotch and one Sweet Vermouth and I'm not considered manly? Tough crowd.

Meanwhile, Scott concurs that basketball-speak is not appropriate for the ice:

I can't agree about the "Hated" Red Wings, they have been my team since Norm Greed took the North Stars south.

But I fully agree with the "in the paint" reference. I caught it too and if I wanted to hear about basketball, I would watch basketball. Instead, I want to see defenseman deliver crushing blows to rookies who aren't paying attention, like Campbell did to Umberto in the Buffalo / Philly game. You won't see that in basketball.

Can I add Pet Peeve #368? Those shift timers that NBC has decided they need to add everyone time someone like Modano or Sakic is on the ice. I hate those things, I keep thinking there is a power play going on.

Update-- Jim e-mails with more on German beer:

Actually German beer - and Bitburger too - sucks too. Well, actually, more precisely, most Germans don't have any better idea than most Americans what good beer tastes like.

I think your stories about Summit Pale Ale would've been the same had they occurred in Germany.

He even supplies a supporting link:

The Trouble with German Beer

I've become increasingly skeptical of the image German beer projects of itself. I'm not greatly impressed with the majority of it and consider it to be terribly overrated. There are excellent beers, but the general standard isn't particularly high. Parallels can be drawn with the sad situation in Czechoslovakia since the disappearance of the Iron Curtain. Variety, character and flavour are disappearing without anyone seeming to care, or even to notice.

There are several very worrying features of the contemporary German beer scene:

* the lack of knowledge about beer amongst drinkers
* the blind belief in the Reinheitsgebot as an assurance of quality beer
* the absence of innovation in beer styles and flavours
* the narrow range of styles brewed
* the emphasis on cheap, low-quality beer
* the insularity of German beer culture
* the scarcity and poor quality of published information on beer in German

While I must object to Jim's statement that German beer "sucks," it definitely is overrated, often by people more impressed with its origin than its quality. There are some excellent German beers, especially among the wheat brews. Sitting outside on a sunny summer day sipping a Paulaner Hefe Weizen truly is a transcendent experience. Along with Beethoven and Bach, it is one of the country's greatest contributions to civilization.

But, as Thomas Perara points out, German beers are limited in their variety and flavor. After spending nearly a month vacationing in Germany a few years back, I was dying for the taste explosion of a well-hopped ale. The bottom line is that, despite the banal beers of the big brewers, no country can touch the good ol' US of A when it comes to the depth and breadth of its quality brews.