Beer makes me laugh

I found this joke online that I thought many Milwaukeean's should appreciate - in a twisted sort of way. Well, the men may not like me so much because it is a female-body-related joke. (I wonder what you're all thinking this is going to be now ... well, read on.)

"A guy walks into a bar, sits down, and asks, 'Bartender, any specials today?'

Bartender answers, 'Yes, as a matter of fact we have a new drink, invented by a gynecologist patron of ours. It's a mix of Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer and Smirnoff Vodka.'

The guy asks, 'Good grief, what do you call that?'

The bartender replied, 'It's a 'Pabst Smir.' "

(I got the joke here.)

Oh, and how is Florida?! In a word: Awesome. The weather is amazing. (We'll see if I feel the same way after tomorrow, upon the arrival of Hurricane Hanna ... or whatever it will end up being). 

I already made a stop in to Coaster's Pub, but unfortunately not for a beer. I actually went in there to apply for a job - they are hiring servers. Woot! How perfect is that for this beer girl. Even better, one of the owner's at the tavern has been reading my blog. What a small, little world it really is. (Oh, and if you, owner, happen to read this - no hard feelings if I don't get the job. Although, I still am crossing my fingers). 

And, right before I left a couple of my friends gave me a little going-away/birthday gift basket filled with a wonderful selection of Lakefront Brewery brews. For a day that was about all we had in our fridge. Well, that and a case of our homebrews - a site that would make fellow beer drinkers proud. I had one of the Lakefront brews today, actually. I gotta say, there's nothing like a good ol' Wisconsin beer in the warm, sunny weather of Florida.

I do have photos to put up from some fun down here and also from my last beer-full weekend in Wisconsin, but I currently can't find my camera cord among the boxes and other piles of la-ti-da, so I'll get to that as soon as I can. Also, my apartment doesn't have internet, so I will be coming to you from internet cafes across the coast. This should be fun, so stay tuned.

Beer spills out the truth

OK - I'll come clean. This past weekend I really went to the Minnesota State Fair to see the Backstreet Boys in concert. Yes, it's true. They were my childhood sweethearts, my passion and my obsession and nobody can take that away from me. And ... they are still awesome.

These pictures take me back every time - and hopefully can offer you a little bit of their flavor. Trust me, it won't turn you gay. Just sexy.

I actually saw the Backstreet Boys for the first time during the good ol' days of middle school at Milwaukee's own Bradley Center. So, what's changed over the past years? Well, the boys now consist of four members, instead of five (one decided not too continue on because he's too old to be a BSB. Come on, doesn't he understand you're never too old for anything?) Secondly, I'm 22 years old now, not 12. I can, and did, drink beer before, during and after the concert. It was awesome. And that thought brings me to the ever-famous and a little behind beer of the week.

Lyssa's Beer of the Week: This week's pick is Minnesota grown Premium Grain Belt. A beer that I learned about during college due to Eau Claire's proximity to Minnesota and an overwhelming population of Minnesotans at the school, it's a cheap domestic brew that tastes better than just that. Trying to be economical in this day and age, my friend and I ordered a pitcher of it at the fair. She'd never had it before, but said she enjoyed it.

Worth-A-Try scale: (10 - way worth it. 1 - um, don't bother.) Not that it is a beer to brag about, but for the price I think I'll settle on an 8. It'd be an affordable way to get the fridge stocked again - but also a chance to stock it with something new.

*Blogger's apology: I know I haven't been keeping up on my posts much since leaving JSOnline. However, please stick with me  because I plan to write more once I am situated in Florida. As of now, I am too occupied packing and catching up with friends, who seem to like distracting me with beer. So, sorry for slacking. Check back for more regular updates in about a week, when I will be relaxing with the sand in my toes, the sun in my eyes and a beer in my hand. 

Time flies when you're drinking beer

Honestly, I can't believe how quickly that twelve weeks with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel blurred into a vision of my past. Time sure does fly, and beer definitely helps us all keep ticking along.

Speaking of flying, beer and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel - I don't know how I missed this little tid-bit of news back in June. (Well, maybe I do, because the only news of it I could find on the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel was a two-sentence woohoo! note on NewsWatch. But, this is not a rip on JSOnline.com, because they obviously have bigger fish to fry. It's more of a cover-up for me, because I should just know all the news when I work at a newspaper, right?)

Alright, already, what story, you say? Well, Delta Airlines now serves Leinenkugel's Sunset Wheat on all their flights. What?! That makes me want to get a job as some high-and-mighty business woman who travels Delta across the country every day. Me and Sunset Wheat would become great friends. (Although somebody once told me they thought Sunset Wheat tasted like fruity pebbles. Despite the fact that I like the beer, every time I drink it I think about that comment and do, indeed, taste fruity pebbles.)

You can scroll down about a quarter of the way and find the short tid-bit about this beer in the air on JSOnline.com, or read a brief but a bit more intuitive story posted on LeaderTelegram.com (The Leader Telegram is in Eau Claire, Wis., my precious college-town news), or read a longer version posted on BeerAdvocate.com. According to the article, its the first craft brew Delta has offered above the clouds.

On a different note, last night officially marked the end of my tour-de-Milwaukee. My little hole-in-wall I called home for three months is now an empty, white space. But, I'm glad to say my last night went out with a semi-bang.

After packing, Nick and I (for new blog readers or to those who need a refresher course, Nick is the other brewmaster of our small home brewery) headed over to Real Chili for some dinner. I'd been told about this place before, and ironically found a coupon in my awesome coupon book I told you about here, so we decided it would be a good way to go out in style.

I was a bit aprehensive at first. The restaraunt seemed a bit outdated and somewhat of its own hole-in-the-wall. I was even my scared by the overflowing bowl of meat placed in front of me (my childhood chili is a bit more relative to a bowl of soup.) But, when I bit in I was pleased. It had a real chili flavor (haha, Real Chili) with a little bit of a kick. Good thing my friend Sam Adams was there to wash it down for me - well, their Boston Lager, that is. I'd never had this brew before and it was pretty good. Definitely a meal worth having again.

Then there's this place I am going to take the liberty of informing all you still-Milwaukee residents about, because I am sad that I never got a chance to experience it. I received an email from the manager about a week ago telling me all about it, but in the hustle and bustle of getting ready to pack up and ship out I didn't have time to drop in for a brew. It seems it may be some sort of competition for the place I found in Florida (Coasters Pub) that I was bragging to you all about, although I guess that's not really competition. Maybe sister bars, you know - like sister cities?

Anyway, the bar is called The Bomb Shelter and denotes itself as a classic Milwaukee tavern. It has a beer list with a running count of 136 different brews (Coasters only chimes in with 127. Once again, I guess Wisconsin still wins.) The manager tells me the bar opened on June 21, and boasted of hosting "oddball stuff you won't find anyway else in Milwaukee." If anybody gets a chance to check this place out, stop back to my blog and let me know about its level of awesome-ness. That way whenever the wind blows me back to Milwaukee I'll know if its worth stopping in for a brew.

In the meantime, I'm heading home for a couple days until I head up to Eau Claire to visit some friends and then over to the Twin Cities for some Minnesota State Fair fun. Being unemployed, my schedule isn't piled up too high, so until I leave I have myself a seat at home next to my parents beloved purchase: their kegerator, stocked with Redhook ESB. I've never tried it before, so it sounds like it should be a good time. Until then ...