Ever wish you could have off on St. Pat’s day and all your friends too? Guinness is trying to remedy that by presenting Proposition 3-17 to Congress on March 17th. In order to present this petition, Guinness needs a million signatures by midnight on March 16th. Do your civic duty and sign the petition, everybody could use an extra day off.
TAGS [ ST PATS DAY | ST PATRICKS DAY | ST PATRICK’S DAY | GUINNESS | HOLIDAY ]
In conjunction with the Great Lakes Brewing News, KegWorks held a contest for the Ultimate Home Bar in the Great Lakes Region. After receiving many great entries, winners were chosen by a varied panel of bar and beer experts.
The winners come from all walks of life, each with a unique story and amazing home bar.
Here are the winners:
1st place:
Jeff from Ilion, New York
The “Growling Squirrel,” as Jeff calls it, is a perfect retreat for Jeff and his friends and family. He writes, “Being a home brewer for the past 12 years, I wanted a place to serve my beer for family and friends plus a place to brew.” He built the entire bar, including cabinets and shelves himself. We think the board, that Jeff “scored,” from a local high school sets the scene!
The blood, sweat and tears it most likely took to create this bar from scratch was well worth it.
2nd Place
Mike from Chagrin Falls, Ohio
This bar looks like an actual diner pub. Amazing, seeing as he and his dad, built it from the ground up with not much more than their bare hands.
He writes, “This was my dad and me busting knuckles, sinking each and every nail….My dad’s gone now, and truth be told we fought a lot while putting that thing together, but when I go down there and put a full glass before his white stool and raise one to him, I have no regrets.”
3rd Place
Jim from Bay City, Michigan
Another fantastic self-built bar! “The bar is over 16 feet long with a coliseum tile top. The back bar features a built-in single keg (for now) kegerator, a wine fridge, and a sink. I designed and constructed the bar myself while remodeling” Jim wrote. The bar also features darts, a pool table, a poker table, a sectional couch, and a 120″ projection television…oh and all of those pint glasses!
TAGS [ HOME BAR CONTEST | GREAT LAKES HOME BARS | HOME BAR | CONTEST WINNERS ]
We’re 19 days away from one of my very favorite holidays, St. Patrick’s Day - perfect timing to start brewing a fresh batch of Irish Stout for the festivities! Have you tried brewing your own beer with the Mr. Beer Home Brew Kit? It’s the easiest way to start brewing fresh beer in your very own home. Follow the simple included instructions, and in just 2 weeks, you’ll have 20 12-ounce beers ready to enjoy.
Now, with just under 3 weeks until St. Patrick’s Day, it’s the perfect time to pick up a Mr. Beer Home Brew Kit along with the St. Patrick’s Irish Stout Refill Pack, and brew up a tasty batch. Happy brewing!
TAGS [ ST. PATRICK’S DAY | MR BEER | HOME BREWING | IRISH STOUT ]
My aunt and uncle arrived home from their latest vacation to a freezing and snow covered Rochester, NY. They immediately emailed me upon their return. The message was short and sweet, including only the photo below and some text that said, “Thought you would enjoy this.”
I do enjoy it and I hope you do too. The glorious rainbow brightened my day and reminded me that spring is on its way. The fact that it is perfectly positioned over The Beer Store also made me smile. It is always comforting to know that until the snow melts and the sun shines here in Upstate NY, I have beer to keep me warm.
TAGS [ BEER | RAINBOW | THE BEER STORE ]
With winter in full swing, my friends and I have found an interesting way to spend weekends without going outside – playing classic video games.
This idea started with my brother Ed and I wanting to actually beat video games we had given up on previously, or just to bask in the glow of reliving video game fun from the past.
Obtaining the games on the original gaming systems is part of the fun and easily accomplished with the help of eBay; one of our family favorite systems is the ancient TI 99/4a, originally made by Texas Instruments in 1981. We also have acquired an original Nintendo (NES) gaming system and also a SNES console.
First up on our task list was to attempt to beat, or at least see, the final room in Gauntlet on the NES. We recommend a spritzy wine cooler or a seven-and-seven as refreshment for maximum fun while playing this beast of a game.
Breaking out a true retro-classic such as Tunnels of Doom on the TI system is one of our favorite pastimes – (we’ve been known to empty a bottle of vodka with tonic). This was the first 3-D dungeon crawl game made, and it looks like it!
So, if you need a low-cost hobby that satisfies the nostalgic in you, keep the retro gaming idea around for those cold weekends!
TAGS [ VIDEO GAMES ]
Dude, I love this! So much for my credit card sized bottle opener that I carry in my wallet, or sandals with openers in the sole.
This is the money!
If you’re not feelin’ this, scope out one of KegWorks’ biggest sellers – our collection of sweet bottle openers.
TAGS [ BEER | BOTTLE OPENER | OPEN BEER ]
Guinness. Whiskey. Cars. Motorcycles. Football. My five favorite things in this world, in order of most favorite to least. And this past weekend, I got to experience four of the five, Toronto Auto Show style. Not quite as large a production as the show in Detroit, which I had traipsed off to a few weeks prior, it was much more pleasing to the eye and soul than any Buffalo Auto Show could ever be. After about 6 hours of ooo-ing and ahhh-ing 
over every hot piece of metal I encountered, my cohort and I decided to hit up the bars… bar, after bar, after bar. Many a shot of Irish Whiskey was consumed alongside my Guinness, and once night became morning, I knew I was done for.
This brings me to my drink recipe du jour. No, it’s not some strange brew concocted up the night before, but rather the morning after. I found myself inside (yet another) Irish Pub once morning rolled around, this time for brunch… if I could get any brunch down, that is. I opened the menu and zeroed in on the Black Velvet, a mix I had not yet tried. I had always heard that the best cure for a hangover was to drink more, so I decided to give it a go. My Black Velvet was a ridiculous head of froth (expectedly so) but went down just as I had hoped, giving me the ability to thoroughly enjoy every bite of my raisin walnut cinnamon french toast. Want to try a Black Velvet at home? Here’s the recipe:
Black Velvet
½ pint of Guinness
Sparkling wine to taste
Start with your Guinness in a pint glass and slowly add the sparkling wine, being careful not to let the foamy head jump out of the glass and all over your table.
I’m not usually one to mix anything with my Guinness - I like it that much alone - but the bits of bubbles definitely helped to calm my stomach a bit, and the Guinness actually made the sparkling wine tolerable to the taste.
One thing I tasted at this breakfast that I don’t suggest trying? Black Pudding. Actually, it didn’t taste horrible, but upon finding out that it was actually just a mixture of oatmeal and pig’s blood, set in a mini jello-mold shape, I really wished I hadn’t asked… oh well, you can’t win ‘em all.
TAGS [ GUINNESS | WHISKEY | BLACK VELVET | AUTO SHOW | IRISH PUB | TORONTO | DRINK RECIPE ]
