Wine Bra

I cannot really say much about this find... it's a sports bra that holds an entire bottle of wine in it - with a handy drinking straw. Really? Holy hot shaken wine! You can buy one here at BaronBob.com (search for the Wine Rack) for $29 AND your boobs will instantly increase from a size A to D. Of course the more you drink the smaller they become but then, perhaps you care less as well.

P.S. While you're here, they also sell The Beer Belly which holds 80oz of beer for $34.95. They've got ya covered!

Beer Archaeology

When I was in college there was a semester when I seriously considered majoring in Archaeology/ Anthropology. When I read this article I was saddened that I never followed through with it. I mean why did I not foresee analyzing leftover beer from the bottom of ancient clay pots? It's brilliant! And of course the maverick brewers at Dogfish Head have taken their quest to brew beer from things other than water, hops, (yeast) and barley to the extreme by digging up a 9,000 year old recipe from the Neolithic villiage of Jiahu, in Henan province, Northern China. While this instantly brings to my mind the words unsanitary and chunky (don't ask) (oh and yes, I use the same words for Lambecs, thus why I'm not a big fan), modern brewing practices have cleaned up the process a bit.

The ingredients are certainly unique "In keeping with historic evidence, Dogfish brewers used pre-gelatinized rice flakes, Wildflower honey, Muscat grapes, barley malt, hawthorn fruit, and Chrysanthemum flowers. The rice and barley malt were added together to make the mash for starch conversion and degredation." I have no idea what it's going to taste like but I'm looking forward to giving it a try. It is expected to hit wholesalers the third week of August and then to the stores a few weeks after that. For more information go to Dogfish Head here.

Chocolate and Spice

My girlfriends look at me with deep doubt when I order a dark beer but once I explain that there is nothing better than the deep rich caramel chocolaty goodness of a true stout their interest is peaked. And no, I'm not talking Guinness -why do people automatically assume that is the definition of a dark beer?

I'm talking about Imperial Stouts, barrel aged and wine refined infused with coffee, spices, cherry, vanilla beans. This is a sexy beer. Ready... "They're the crowd-pleasing Cabernets of the beer world—heavy, boozy quaffs with popular flavors like chocolate, caramel, and spice. Think German chocolate cake in a bottle, doused in alcohol." -The Atlantic

So I'm not the only one who feels this way... Rate Beer gave 25 or it's top 50 spots to Imperials. The best article I've found recently giving full stats is the one I quoted from The Atlantic above. I highly recommend you go convert yourself by reading it and then experimenting with some, what did the author call it... "German chocolate cake in a bottle"? With names like Bells Bourbon Barrel Double Cream/Expedition Stout and Foothills Sexual Chocolate Imperial Stout (read of review of this beauty at The Beer Fathers, referring to this beer as "It’s so smooth I can’t stop drinking it. It’s like chocolate milk for adults") what is there not to love?

For a list of the top Imperial Stouts go to RateBeer here. You won't be disappointed.

Blarney and Biodynamics

Kissing the Blarney Stone in Ireland is one of the popular traditions I won't be taking part in. Why? Because locals pee on the stone to punk tourists. Seriously. Yuck. But it's supposed to bring you luck the way biodynamic wines will bring you a sense of global accomplishment as if drinking the stuff will endear you to the green movement. I admit, I thought Biodynamic wines were indeed better than simply organic wines as it takes the entire process of growing and turns it into a lovely Maypole dancing event filled with ancient methods that are better for soil and stem.

That was until I read the latest blog to hit the wine blogosphere entitled aptly Biodynamics is a Hoax. Really? I read through all of the posts, but one of the comments really brought it home for me.

If you ever see somebody doing surgery on a roadkill deer, it’s probably a biodynamic farmer. “In terms of its forces a deer bladder is almost a replica of the cosmos...” So you pull over to the side of the road, remove the deer’s bladder, stuff it with yarrow flowers, hang it from the eaves all summer, bury it for the winter, then dig it up and put it in your compost pile in the spring so that the compost can “inhale the cosmic energy.”

To their credit, the biodynamic types do tend to spend more time paying attention to the food they’re growing than most other folks. And the quality tends to be better as a result. So it doesn’t bother me much that they use astrology to decide when to plant and harvest. If the Scientologists want to grow tomatoes organically and can get Tom Cruise and John Travolta to spend all their waking hours picking hornworms off the plants, I’ll be happy to eat the fruit that’s produced. But please don’t tell me that the tomatoes are better because they’re Thetan-free.

Hmmmm. Food for thought right? In looking into the methods (like using actual lead as a fertilizer for roses) I'm still confused. When my husband who has studied umpteen hours (Masters in Botany with certifications and CE up the ying yang) about fertilizers told me that the flowers organic farmers use to help keep pests away is more toxic than the chemical versions I get even more confused. Of course he could just be telling me this so I don't buy the more expensive organic veggies...

In any event, here's my conclusion for wine. Drink what you like. Drink copious amounts and perhaps someone will do a study on you to see the effects of the chemicals used prior to the long process of turning grapes into alcohol. My goal is to get picked for that study.

Designer Canned Beer

If I were to tell you that real women drink beer from a can, does your little snobby beer nose crinkle just a little? Mine TOTALLY does because good craft beers don't come in cans. You're probably drinking PBR right? No offence to PBR-I've been known to enjoy me an ice cold one from time to time. Cans are lighter creating a smaller environmental footprint if that makes you feel a little better about opting for this container. Besides, you can drink our of a can on beaches and rivers for summer, places where glass is typically shunned.

But good quality beer doesn't come encased in metal, right? Like screw top wine, the beer industry is changing with the times. There are about 80 craft breweries right now in the US that are selling canned beer with 20 more in the pipes. 80% of the states are represented but Colorado takes the award for having 16 breweries with cans (lots of fishing folk there that appreciate hanging their beer in the river to staw cold) and California (WooHooo!) chimes in with 7.

For a detailed list by the guys who actually took the time to research and put this all together, please go to BeerNews.org here. In the meantime, don't judge the can so quickly anymore. It is very possible for Real Women to drink real beer from the can.

I Want a Beer Cellar

"Honey, I want a beer cellar" was the phone call I made today. My husband responded that we already have a beer fridge in the garage and that was just going to have to suffice. But today I read an article about a man in Pasadena who has a beer cave in his backyard. He raids it only twice a year showing much more restraint than I would have (thus the reason why my fridge will do). Read the full article from the LA Times here.
Believe it or not, there are many beers that could do with a little aging and there are beers that are made specifically to age.

Turning basements, garages and bedroom closets into beer caves is the latest twist in L.A.'s growing beer culture — one that increasingly revolves around collecting, trading and, yes, waiting, with patience once ascribed only to wine drinkers. Some of the collections cost several thousand dollars too.

This year alone, dozens of California brewers will release specialty beers that crank up the alcohol percentage and punch up the spices (everything from figs to juniper berries) to create flavors that age. Many sit for months in the same oak casks used for whiskey, wine or brandy, earning followings among even Scotch drinkers. Brands with names such as Decadence, Old Stock, Angel's Share and Consecration hit the market in small batches, only to be snatched up for private collections, as if they were Impressionist art.

Just like wine, Stone Brewery launched a 12 year campaign of beers to do just that with one special beer released each year ready to be cellared. I HIGHLY recommend you check out their story at the Stone Brewery site here. I love the initial video they did on the project. I've written about these beers before because, they're great! The problem is of course that I keep buying Stone's Vertical Epic beers and then they last about a month of me storing them before I have to open it up to try.

See honey - that's why I need a beer cave!

Top 10 Places for a Real Woman to Avoid on Vacation

Vacation... the winter dull-drums bring to mind topical palms gently blowing while cabana boys bring a never ending supply of drinks with little umbrellas in them. And then there are these places... the Top 10 Most Sober Cities in the US.

Most Sober Metro Areas % Who Don't Drink Heavily
1. Provo-Orem, Utah 99.4
2. Idaho Falls, Idaho 97.9
3. Hickory, N.C. 97.8
4. Ogden, Utah 97.5
5. Brownsville, Texas 97.2
5. Fayetteville, N.C. 97.2
5. Raleigh, N.C. 97.2
5. Wichita, Kan. 97.2
9. Cheyenne, Wyo. 97.0
9. Farmington, N.M. 97.0

Did you cross them off your list? (Were they even on the list?)

Don't panic... I've got you covered because here are the top 10 Booziest Cities in the US you can add back onto your list - it's in photo format and I'm proud to say that one of them is where I live. It's like it was meant to be... Click here to find out where these cities are from U.S. News.