In Praise of Cask Beer

So here it is the end of February and I'm wondering what happened to the New Year. We're eight weeks into it and it seems as if we were just watching Bowl Games. Don't get me wrong, the older I get the less I like Winter. And if we are one day closer to Spring than that makes me happy.

You know what else makes me happy; good beer. I had the chance last weekend to go to a Cask Beer Festival in New Haven, Mo. It was hosted by 2nd Shift Brewing. Its brewer Steve Crider was joined by brewers from seven other St. Louis area micro-breweries. Each brought a keg of cask ale. For the uninitiated cask beer is hand pumped and served at cellar temperature. To me it becomes more flavorful and takes on a slightly different personality than when it's cold.

Joining the festival were Charleville Brewing in St. Genevieve, Exit 6 Brewery in St. Charles County and Urban Chestnut, Schlafly, Four Hands, Perennial Artisan Ales, and The Civil Life from St. Louis. Each of the brewers are experienced and know exactly what they are doing. So, it was a joy to sample all of the casks and meet some interesting people who share a love for craft beer. If I had to pick a favorite (and this is really tough because they were all good) I would pick Crider's hoppy offering named "Brew Cocky" and the two casks brought by Charleville; German Chocolate Cake Stout and a Dozen Roses. Right there with them is Urban Chestnut's Old Tjiko. It tasted like a Christmas Tree in a glass. If I were to try all of these again, I am sure I would have a different favorite. so please, don't get me wrong the rest of the breweries participating had very good beer too.

Bottom line is this was one fun time and very relaxed with no need to worry about driving home after the festival because the ticket included a room for the night and a BBQ for dinner and hearty breakfast the next morning. 2nd Shift when you do this again later this year I will be there. You knocked it out of the park!

Thoughts on Mizzou - Kansas

So, the Tigers blew a 19 point lead this afternoon and ended up losing to Kansas in overtime. Is there anyone else more disappointed than me? I doubt it. For the record Kansas beat Missouri this afternoon 87-86.

The Tigers certainly had their chances, but ultimately Kansas won. Now, I don't think the game was very well officiated but still Mizzou blew a 19 point lead. On Kansas' final possession they drew a foul, that I and apparently no one else saw. But, KU hit it's free throws and Mizzou was late in shooting what would have been the game winning shot by about a second.

I'm still proud of my beloved Tigers. Hopefully they will pay the Jayhawks back in two weeks when the Big 12 holds it's conference tournament. With the loss today the Tigers fall to 25-4 and 12-4 in conference. Up next it's Iowa State on Leap Day. M-I-Z!

Tigers Come From Behind to Beat Kansas

My beloved Missouri Tigers basketball team topped off one of the best weeks in Mizzou sports history I can remember. The #4 Tigers were down by eight points with 3:25 to go and came back to win. The Tigers ran off the last 11 points and held #8 Kansas scoreless down the stretch to win 74-71. Mizzou is now 21-2 and 8-2 in the Big XII conference. The Tiger win last night with the signed letter of intent earlier this week from Dorial Green Beckham made for one fine week. M-I-Z!

Spring Can't Be Too Far Away

The weather here this week has been wonderful. Daytime highs in the 60s and night time lows in the 40's. It's about 20 degrees warmer than normal for the first week of February. So, even though some little rat up in Pennsylvania saw his shadow yesterday, Spring can't be far away.

By the calendar it's about six weeks to the official start of Spring and to St. Patrick's Day. But, you know I found a six pack of Boulevard Brewing's Irish Ale yesterday afternoon. It always comes out a month before St. Patty's Day and the start of Spring. So there it is; yet another sign we are getting closer to warmer weather. And you also know what I will be tasting this afternoon after work. Cheers!

St. Louis TV Station Plagiarises Wikipedia

Former Southwest Missouri State and St. Louis University basketball coach Charlie Spoonhour passed away earlier this week. By all acounts of those who knew him he was a good man.

So, how did the local Fox TV affiliate write up his obituary? By, plagiarising a Wikipedia article onto it's own website. The "Fox 2 News" article appeared to have been copied and pasted onto the station's website. Apparently no one edits the website either, because the loser who copied it left Wikipedia's footnotes in the Fox "report". ("Son, lazy and stupid is no way to go through life") To make the matter worse KTVI put a "staff writer" byline on the article and then put it's copyright on the whole thing.

Charles Apple of the American Copy Editor's Society does a wonderful job of explaining the theft on the ACES website.

Red Letter Day for Mizzou Football

The Missouri Tigers have landed the top rated high school recruit in the United States (according to Rivals.com). Dorial Green-Beckham of Springfield, Mo has decided to stay home and become a Missouri University football player. Beckham was sought after by Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, Alabama and 16 other schools. But, in the end Beckham chose Missouri because he reportedly was most comfortable around coach Gary Pinkel and his assistants.

Not only did DGB decide to become a Tiger so did Mr. Ohio football, Maty Mauk. Mauk was ranked by Rivals as the 8th best high school QB in the nation this year and in the top 16 of all players. Mauk was recruited by 21 D-1 schools and had offers from the likes of Penn State, Michigan, Notre Dame and Illinois. But Mauk has chosen to become Mizzou's next franchise QB. By my calculation if he redshirts for a year, he will take over the reigns in Columbia in the fall of 2014.

In the coming years I look forward to hearing Tiger Radio's Mike Kelly call the words "Mauk to DGB and he takes it to the house"!