This weekend was a good one for sampling new beers in the St. Louis area. Schlafly has just released it's Imperial Stout. The brewery has created a potent beer that checks in at 10.5% ABV. I sampled it last night at the Tap Room. It is one of my favorite styles of the year. In addition to being a filling beverage for a cold night, it has been aged over whiskey barrels. It pours black and has the viscosity of motor oil. Be careful at 10.5 it will kick your butt. I had several water backs when I drank it with dinner.
Charleville Brewing of Southeast Missouri has also come out with it's version of an Imperial beer aged over Whiskey barrels. It's called "Charleville Whiskey Scented Santa Ale". I tried it at the suggestion of my server when I asked for a Bourbon barrel aged beer. I am glad she recommended it. It has a very dark head to it and is in the Christmas style with dark toffee, fruit and vanilla. It too is a big big beer. I sampled it at iHop in Soulard.
On the downside, I learned this week Anchor Brewing is no longer distributing in St. Louis, at least on the Missouri side of the River. This means my favorite Christmas Ale of all, Anchor Christmas Ale will not be available this Holiday season. That is a bummer. But, perhaps, it will give me a chance to expand my horizons.
November 27, 2011
Tigers Win the All Time Football Series
Missouri and Kansas have been playing football for 120 years. It is the second oldest rivalry in the US and the oldest west of the Mississippi. That will change for good next year when Missouri moves onto the Southeast Conference (SEC). Kansas' Athletic Department is not taking it well that their old arch-rivals are leaving them behind. Missouri is leaving the Big 12 because of the instability brought about by the University of Texas' greed in creating it's own Longhorn TV Network.
So with Missouri winning the game yesterday 24-10, the Tigers have won the all time series 61 games to 59 games. I find this amusing in that the day Mizzou said it was leaving the Big 12, KU claimed it was the "winner". What? The Chickenhawks 2-10 team is a winner? In what Universe?
The Jayhawks aren't happy so they say they won't schedule the Tigers as a non-conference opponent. They may be unhappy about the loss of Mizzou from the Big 12 conference, but my guess is, they don't want to risk another loss by playing Missouri and then having to play a full conference schedule on top of it. So for now Jayhawkers, Missouri is the "winner" and you've been exposed for what you are: losers.
So with Missouri winning the game yesterday 24-10, the Tigers have won the all time series 61 games to 59 games. I find this amusing in that the day Mizzou said it was leaving the Big 12, KU claimed it was the "winner". What? The Chickenhawks 2-10 team is a winner? In what Universe?
The Jayhawks aren't happy so they say they won't schedule the Tigers as a non-conference opponent. They may be unhappy about the loss of Mizzou from the Big 12 conference, but my guess is, they don't want to risk another loss by playing Missouri and then having to play a full conference schedule on top of it. So for now Jayhawkers, Missouri is the "winner" and you've been exposed for what you are: losers.
Thanksgiving 2011...Come and Almost Gone
This weekend has flown by to say the least. Seems as if I was just walking out of the office on Wednesday afternoon, looking forward to two days off. Thanksgiving with the family involved me smoking the Turkey outside on the Weber. Inside we had all of the trimmings including a fresh baked Cherry Pie. It was a lot of work but it was a lot of fun to spend time with family.
Friday was just the opposite. Very laid back with nothing on the agenda and my butt wasn't anywhere near a shopping center or strip mall. Ugh, I can't imagine why anyone in their right mind would want to get in with all of that pushing and shoving for Christmas gifts. Nope, I spent my time watching football, drinking beer and eating leftover Turkey sandwiches like you're supposed to.
Saturday was another quiet day watching football and relaxing. I was pleased to see my Missouri Tigers beat Kansas 24-10. The Tigers ended the regular season at 7-5 and are now awaiting a bowl game invite.
And today the Saint Louis Rams played as expected and lost to a bad Arizona Cardinals team. The final was 23-20. Some things just don't change, including going back to work in the morning.
Friday was just the opposite. Very laid back with nothing on the agenda and my butt wasn't anywhere near a shopping center or strip mall. Ugh, I can't imagine why anyone in their right mind would want to get in with all of that pushing and shoving for Christmas gifts. Nope, I spent my time watching football, drinking beer and eating leftover Turkey sandwiches like you're supposed to.
Saturday was another quiet day watching football and relaxing. I was pleased to see my Missouri Tigers beat Kansas 24-10. The Tigers ended the regular season at 7-5 and are now awaiting a bowl game invite.
And today the Saint Louis Rams played as expected and lost to a bad Arizona Cardinals team. The final was 23-20. Some things just don't change, including going back to work in the morning.
November 02, 2011
What a Weekend
The Cardinals won the Series on Friday night. Then on Saturday Mizzou came from an eleven point deficit to win on the road, and the St. Louis Rams pulled off a huge upset on Sunday afternoon against the powerful New Orleans Saints.
What do the football wins have in common? Both of their coaches cited the Cards never say die attitude. Coach Gary Pinkel guided his Tigers to a 38-31 OT win over Texas A&M. It was the first time in years Missouri had beaten a ranked opponent on the road. Afterwards he told reporters, the Cards were his team's inspiration.
On Sunday, the Cardinals were on the sidelines at the Jones dome prior to kickoff and players from both St. Louis franchises mingled and traded handshakes. The Rams then went out and won their first game of the year over New Orleans who had been a huge 13 point favorite on the road. When the game ended coach Steve Spagnuolo gave credit to Cardinal manager Tony LaRussa for bringing his team to the game and cited them as the Ram's inspiration.
What do the football wins have in common? Both of their coaches cited the Cards never say die attitude. Coach Gary Pinkel guided his Tigers to a 38-31 OT win over Texas A&M. It was the first time in years Missouri had beaten a ranked opponent on the road. Afterwards he told reporters, the Cards were his team's inspiration.
On Sunday, the Cardinals were on the sidelines at the Jones dome prior to kickoff and players from both St. Louis franchises mingled and traded handshakes. The Rams then went out and won their first game of the year over New Orleans who had been a huge 13 point favorite on the road. When the game ended coach Steve Spagnuolo gave credit to Cardinal manager Tony LaRussa for bringing his team to the game and cited them as the Ram's inspiration.
Congratulations Cardinals!
It's been almost four days now and I am still celebrating the St. Louis Cardinals latest World Series Championship. I won't go into a lot of detail but this World Championship is sweeter than the first four I've experienced in my lifetime.
I had written this team off back in August when they were playing like, well...crap. They weren't hitting, the bullpen was terrible and the defense was making stupid mistakes 10 year old kids don't make. But after falling back 10 1/2 games on August 25th, it turned around. Why, I don't really know. Injuries started to heal, the bullpen started getting batters out and the starting pitching came up with solid starts almost every night. Top it off with timely hitting and you can see how the club won 15 of 20 down the stretch. Twice, in the playoffs they got behind teams that were better on paper. The Phillies had more wins than any team in baseball this year and the Brewers were six games better than the Cards during the regular season. But still it was the Redbirds who found themselves in the Series.
The Cardinals again fell behind the Rangers after five games. In fact they were down to their final strike, twice, last Thursday night in Game 6. But, they rallied and went on to win this Series described by many baseball writers as the best World Series in years.
David Freese was named the MVP of the series, but really almost every player stepped up at one time or another down the stretch and during the playoffs. In my book (and yeah I know this will sound corny) they are all MVPs. Congratulations World Champion Saint Louis Cardinals!
I had written this team off back in August when they were playing like, well...crap. They weren't hitting, the bullpen was terrible and the defense was making stupid mistakes 10 year old kids don't make. But after falling back 10 1/2 games on August 25th, it turned around. Why, I don't really know. Injuries started to heal, the bullpen started getting batters out and the starting pitching came up with solid starts almost every night. Top it off with timely hitting and you can see how the club won 15 of 20 down the stretch. Twice, in the playoffs they got behind teams that were better on paper. The Phillies had more wins than any team in baseball this year and the Brewers were six games better than the Cards during the regular season. But still it was the Redbirds who found themselves in the Series.
The Cardinals again fell behind the Rangers after five games. In fact they were down to their final strike, twice, last Thursday night in Game 6. But, they rallied and went on to win this Series described by many baseball writers as the best World Series in years.
David Freese was named the MVP of the series, but really almost every player stepped up at one time or another down the stretch and during the playoffs. In my book (and yeah I know this will sound corny) they are all MVPs. Congratulations World Champion Saint Louis Cardinals!
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