Beer, gin, and fact checking

Every so often I visit FactCheck.org or POLITIFACT.  The latter uses “Pants on Fire” for the most outrageous claims.

The FactCheck story that caught my interest was the claim that increased beer drinking reduced the drinking of gin in 18th Century England.  This claim was made by Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana at the confirmation hearing of Scott Gottlieb, Trump’s nominee to head the Food and Drug Administration.  Al Franken was skeptical.  Thanks, Al!  Maybe the “ruling” party should be called Republiars; they certainly aren’t concerned with Res Publica (public things).

My choice of the day from POLITIFACT was “Fake theory that Barack Obama hid millions of taxpayer dollars offshore started on parody site”.  Maybe “conservatives” should be called “connedgullibles”.

Canoe give me a Bent Paddle?

Bent Paddle Brewing is one of the many new locally-owned breweries in Duluth and in Minnesota.  I had a pint of their IPA when we went to Sir Benedict's for pasta and drinks tonight.

The first server I said "Canoe give me a Bent Paddle" to when I ordered it was so busy with doing three things at once that she didn't even notice.  The second server threw back his head in laughter and repeated it to another server.  The owner, Antonino Coppola, also enjoyed the pun.  I don't know if this is original with me, but I hope I am one of the very first.

The Bent Paddle I was served was an IPA (India Pale Ale) with a strong but not overwhelming bitterness.  I think I might be ordering it in the future over a brown ale from another regional brewer.

This incident also is another of the two degrees of separation that one often finds in Duluth.  We know the parents of one of the owners of Bent Paddle Brewing.

A famous bartender

When it comes to beer, nobody can outdraw Wyatt Burp.

Oh, no! I thought I was so clever to come up with this, but I'm late to the party again. I searched for "Wyatt Burp" in quotes and had about 10,700 hits!!

Soda pop beer

When I sang at the Grandma's Marathon, we got drink tickets for the entertainment tent at the finish line. One of the choices was Summer Shandy. I first encountered shandy in Taunton, England in the 1970s. It was made with ale and lemon soda. I don't remember if I tried it then or not. I know I later would sometimes mix beer and 7-Up, but it had been years since I did that.

Anyhow, I passed the chance to have Summer Shandy; see "Standing still at Grandma's Marathon" for why.

On a visit to our local liquor store, I saw that Summer Shandy was on special in 12-packs. OK, why not give it a try?

Well, now I've worked through all but two bottles and I doubt I'll buy it again. It's OK, but it's way too sweet for my taste. In fact, I dubbed it soda pop beer. I get more the taste of lemon-lime soda than I do of beer. Worse yet, nothing on the bottle describes what's inside. Too much space is taken up with all the required warnings. I hope I remember to look at the carton before I throw it away.

I went to Wal-Mart today!

Here we sit in Bozeman MT ready to ski tomorrow as part of the annual Ski Hut trip. Tonight was the name tag party which was BYOB and BYOF, although there really was plenty of food.

So, we had to find somewhere to buy some drinks and food. From our hotel room we look out on a Wal-Mart and a huge parking lot. We checked at the front desk, and yes ,Wal-Mart sells beer and wine and can do so on Sunday.

What's the big deal about going to Wal-Mart? My regular readers know that I avoid going to big-box stores. I don't refuse to go to them, but if I can find a local store or restaurant, then I'll go there.

We walked out the front door of our hotel, through a gas station lot, down the street, and through the Wal-Mart parking lot. Inside was a humongous grocery store. We acknowledged the greeting of the big-box greeter and went on to get some of our usual super-fresh, super-nutritious stuff you can't get in a restaurant.

But I had no idea where the beer and wine was, and so I went back to the greeter. He graciously pointed out where they were. We added a six-pack of porter from a fifty-foot cooler with probably twice that many types of beer.

We pondered using the self-serve checkout but a neighboring cashier became free. She went on and on about having to put up with a smoker who just reeked of smoke even though he had no lit cigarette. We aided and abetted her with our sympathy.

The final indication of humanity in the midst of what many consider an impersonal monolith was the aforementioned greeter. He was busy helping some kids with a kid attraction by the door and thoroughly enjoying himself.

We probably will go back there a couple times this week. Not because Wal-Mart is a great place to shop, but because why should we drive all over town to learn where other shops are when we can just walk a few hundred feet?

See also "Why pick on McDonald's and Wal-Mart?"

How cold is it in Duluth?

Temperature range according to AccuWeather.com: -21 to 1. Other sources: lower at higher elevations.

That's not so bad on the high side. We went skiing this morning at Spirit Mountain. However, instead of six runs then coffee then six more runs, it was 3-coffee-3.

We were also up to heading to our cabin in Brimson to split some more wood. But when we got there it was so cold that our electricity didn't work. Well, we don't know why the electricity didn't work and every neighbor we called didn't answer the phone. But since it would be -20 or lower, we didn't want to stay overnight if we couldn't keep our truck plugged in.

Meanwhile, among our supplies in the back of the truck were two bottles of beer and a bottle of wine. When we got back to Duluth, I opened one of the bottles of beer. It wouldn't pour! The beer was so slushy that it wouldn't come out very fast.

Talk about having a cold one! This really was ice-cold beer. The head was a half a glass of slush.