And I call myself a beer lover...

This is just depressing. My friend JJ, who writes a fantastic beer blog (I don't really know how it compares to other beer blogs, but that's because I don't read any others), posted this list of 125 Places To Have a Beer Before you Die. I really, really would like to hit up all these locations some day. In the meantime, I have been to...

The Growler List: 125 Places to Have a Beer Before You Die

1. Great American Beer Festival, Denver, CO
2. Grand Place, Brussels, Belgium
3. U Fleku, Prague, Czech Republic
4. Great British Beer Festival, Earls Court, London, England
5. Oktoberfest, Munich, Germany
6. Augustiner Keller, Munich, Germany
7. Abbaye de Notre-Dame d’Orval, Orval, Belgium
8. The Gravity Bar, Guinness St. James Gate Brewery, Dublin, Ireland
9. Monk’s Café, Philadelphia, PA
10. The Great Canadian Beer Festival, Vancouver, BC
11. Hofbrauhaus, Munich, Germany
12. The Brickskeller, Washington, DC
13. Rick’s Café, Negril, Jamaica
14. The Market Porter, Stoney Street, London, England
15. Cat’s Eye Pub, Inner Harbor, Baltimore, MD
16. Seats on top of the Green Monster in Fenway Park, Boston, MA
17. Mondial de la Bière, Montreal, Quebec
18. Horizon’s Café, CN Tower, Toronto, Ontario
19. Clubhouse box seats at the Saratoga Race Course, Saratoga Springs, NY
20. Beer Club Popeye, Tokyo, Japan
21. The Publick House, Brookline, MA
22. Infield at Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach, FL
23. Henry’s 12th Street Tavern, Portland, OR
24. The Hopleaf, Chicago, IL
25. World Beer Festival, Durham/Raleigh, NC
26. French Quarter during Mardi Gras, New Orleans, LA
27. Piazza San Marco, Venice, Italy
28. Zum Uerige, Dusseldorf, Germany
29. Toronado, San Francisco, CA
30. The Olde Mitre Tavern, Ely Court, Hatton Garden, London, England
31. Turn 4 Suites at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Indianapolis, IN
32. Rogue Brewery, Newport, OR
33. The Wynkoop Brewery, Denver, CO
34. Spuyten Duyvil, Brooklyn, NY
35. Great Lakes Brewing, Cleveland, OH
36. McMenamins Kennedy School Hotel, Portland, OR
37. Atelier am Dom, Cologne, Germany
38. Anchor Brewing Tasting Room, San Francisco, CA
39.The Flying Saucer, NC, SC, TN, AR and TX
40. Arend’s Nest, Amsterdam, Holland
41. Blues Bar, Stone Town, Zanzibar
42. SandLot Brewery, Coors Field, Denver, CO
43. Clark Street Ale House, Chicago, IL
44. Tailgating at a Southeastern Conference Football Game
45. Selin’s Grove Brewing, Selinsgrove, PA
46. The Great Lost Bear, Portland, ME
47. The Map Room, Chicago, IL
48. The Blue Tusk, Syracuse, NY
49. Woolwich Arms, Guelph, ON
50. Beach Bar at the Atlantis Hotel, Paradise Island, Bahamas
51. The White Horse Pub, Parsons Green, London, England
52. Redbones Restaurant, Somerville, MA
53. Lord Nelson Brewery Hotel, Sydney, Australia
54. Falling Rock Tap House, Denver, CO
55. Sleeping Lady Brewery/Snow Goose Restaurant, Anchorage, AK
56. In de Wildeman, Amsterdam, Holland
57. Andechs Monastery, Andechs, Germany
58. Charlie’s Bar, Copenhagen, Denmark
59. PINT Bokbierfestival, Amsterdam, Holland
60. Sierra Nevada Brewing, Chico, CA
61. Kr?ma, Ceske Krumlov, Czech Republic
62. Sapporo Beer Garden, Higashi-ku, Japan
63. Grand Hotel, Mackinac Island, MI
64. Sail and Anchor Brewpub, Fremantle, Australia
65. F.X. Matt Brewery Tasting Room, Utica, NY
66. Delerium Café, Brussels, Belgium
67. Birreria l’Orso Eletricco, Rome, Italy
68. Gösser Bierklinik, Vienna, Austria
69. Bariloche Ski Resort, Rio Negro, Argentina
70. d.b.a., New York, NY
71. Brewer’s Art, Baltimore, MD
72. Au General Lafayette, Paris, France
73. Schlenkerla Brewery Tavern, Bamberg, Germany
74. De Hopduvel, Antwerp, Belgium
75. Mr. Sancho’s Beach, Cozumel, Mexico
76. City Tavern, Philadelphia, PA
77. Die Weisse, Salzburg, Austria
78. Halve Maan Brewery, Bruges, Belgium
79. Tinkoff, Moscow, Russia
80. Le Bier Circus, Brussels, Belgium
81. TY Harbor Brewery, Tokyo, Japan
82. Irseer Klosterbrauerei, Irsee, Germany
83. Stockholm Beer & Whiskey Festival, Stockholm, Sweden
84. Goose Island Brewing, Chicago, IL
85. Copacabana Beach, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
86. Brewery Ommegang, Cooperstown, NY
87. Deschutes Brewery & Publick House, Bend, OR
88. Baumgartner’s Cheese Store & Tavern, Monroe, WI
89. Icebergs Bar, Sydney, Australia
90. Cantillon Brewery and Gueuze Museum, Belgium
91. Dogfish Head Ale House, Rehoboth Beach, DE
92. Belgo Central, London, England
93. Bruxellensis Festival of Characterful Beers, Brussels, Belgium
94. Felix in The Peninsula Hotel, Hong Kong
95. Brasserie Federal, Bahnhof Zurich, Switzerland
96. Heineken Brewery, Amsterdam, Holland
97. Clark’s Ale House, Syracuse, NY
98. The Shakespeare, Aukland, New Zealand
99. Mahar’s, Albany, NY
100. Steamworks Brewing, Vancouver, BC
101. Cooter Brown’s, New Orleans, LA
102. McSorley’s Ale House, New York, NY
103. Kelly’s Caribbean Bar, Grill & Brewery, Key West, FL
104. Rose & Crown Pub, Epcot Center, Orlando, FL
105. The Church Brew Works, Pittsburgh, PA
106. Brick Store Pub, Decatur, GA
107. Sunset Grille & Tap, Boston, MA
108. The Ghost Bar at the Palms Hotel, Las Vegas, NV
109. Norwich Inn/Jasper Murdock’s Brewery, Norwich, VT
110. The Gingerman, Austin, TX
111. Library Ale House, Santa Monica, CA
112. t’Bruges Biertja, Bruges, Belgium
113. beerbistro, Toronto, Canada
114. The Dubliner, Washington, DC
115. John Barleycorn, Chicago, IL
116. Anchor Bar, Buffalo, NY
117. Gritty McDuff’s, Portland, ME
118. Top of the Hill Brewery & Restaurant, Chapel Hill, NC
119. The Bell, Aldworth, Berkshire, England
120. The Golf Tavern, Edinburgh, Scotland
121. Old Ebbitt Grill, Washington, DC
122. 5 Seasons Brewing, Atlanta, GA
123. Tim Schafer’s at Lake Norman, Sherrills Ford, NC
124. Stumbling Monk, Seattle. WA
125. The Happy Gnome, St. Paul, MN

Yeah, that's right. Four. My only consolation is that two of them are in England, and so that gives me some kind of cred (grudging credit to Sean and the CAMRA Good Beer guide). Though why they say to have a beer in Piazza San Marco, I have no idea. Venice is not exactly a beer town.

Bookish brews

This. Is. Awesome.

Now I'm about to go on a ramble. The other day I was idly talking to Dan about how I could accompany my autobiography with a beer tasting. Much like how Rob in High Fidelity can musically illustrate his life, I can illustrate my life through beer. Then yesterday Justin sent me this link, which argues (not unreasonably) that starting an autobiography about your life with booze is one of 40 things that all drunkards should do. So the autobeerography idea got a little tainted by the whiff of, well, alcoholism. However. I still think it's pretty awesome. I would start with tiny sips of Miller (an homage to my dad letting me sip it as a kid). Then I'd move on to a Corona with lime, the first adult beer I ever had. Then, a game of quarters with Coors Light bottles (my hands used to actually get injured from twisting off bottlecap after bottlecap. I'm still a little shocked that my quarters skills were so good, and that I survived). Some Rolling Rock, because, believe it or not, that was my beer of choice for most of sophomore year (I would hide my personal stash in my closet to keep other people away from it). Then on to some English bitters or real ales, in honor of my time abroad in Oxford (really, when my beer appreciation began). Then some good ol' American craft brews, like Fat Tire or Sierra Nevada, my beers of senior year. And then Tequiza, the beer that got me and Sean started on our mad beer obsession. Some highlights from said obsession, including a New York region tasting in honor of the 60 beers I lugged back across the country. Then I'd have to throw in some PBR, because without it San Francisco would not be the same, and finally some various killer beers I've had recently, like perhaps a Magnolia strong beer, and a Double Daddy.

Anyway, all that is just to say that this beer and books conceit is really cool, and if I wrote a novel I'd definitely pair it with a beer. The question is, which one?!

(from Bookslut)

Beer Can House

Just wow:

From 1968 until his death 20 years later, Mr. Milkovisch, an upholsterer for the Southern Pacific Railroad, not only emptied 50,000 cans or more of his favorite beverage but also put the containers to good use, cladding his house and workshop with thousands of maintenance-free flattened beer cans (Falstaff was a favorite) and shading the sun with garlands of tinkling beer can tops and tabs.

Is this one of those boring "What I did with my weekend" updates? Oh well.

Hello to my poor neglected (as of late) blog and readers... I know I've been one of those aggravating non-serious bloggers as of late with infrequent posts. Somehow, I've been overwhelmed at work and not had time to parse through my many bytes of Internet reading to share with y'all. I've also been pretty busy at home. Although part of my business has been me watching Veronica Mars. And, lately, the OC, except now I'm sick, so I have an excuse.

Last weekend was a pretty grand success, and I was punished for it with a nasty cold, which is why I'm home right now instead of still at work. We started off with the inaugural "Dirty Apron Kitchen Club," a cooking club that my friend Peattie and I informally started. We had around 15 people there for it, which was more than I expected and a pretty hard crowd to manage, but still very fun. For dinner, we made stuffed shells from this recipe, which was really easy and really delicious and satisfied the Mom's manicotti craving I get periodically (although no raisins or nuts in it, which I think Mom puts in her manicotti? Oh my God, it's been so long since I had it. Hint). That plus a lot of wine and a salad pretty much sums up the menu. I was very aggressively managing the kitchen and felt kind of bad about that, since I tend to be an overly detailed person and many of my friends (especially not-quite-as-close friends) I think find it a little irritating. Still, the meal worked out and I'm really excited about the Kitchen Club in general. I can't wait to do a Passover menu and a St. Patrick's Day menu. YUM!

Saturday I went wine tasting with my friend Tina. Her roommate works at a country club and had arranged for a few free/private tastings. We had a private tasting (just the six of us in our group in a private room) of Terlato wines, a brand of Rutherford Hill, which was pretty fun and very informative. Every time I go wine tasting I learn a little more and am better able to ask questions and carry out a conversation. I decided I need to learn more about wine, though, since our hostess was making references to how certain wines were supposed to be homages to different Bordeaux regions and I had really no idea how true that was, etc. One interesting thing for me was that the first "flight" we tasted was very geographically based -- two whites from the Russian River and a syrah from the Dry Creek region. I knew that certain wine regions are better known for certain kinds of wine, but had never really thought very seriously about a wine being "a Dry Creek syrah" as opposed to a syrah. Forgive me if this seems stupid, but I finally made this connection the other day. (Suddenly I realized it was like single origin chocolates.) Anyway, we did that and then a tasting at Beringer, where I had only been once before when I was under 21 and driving through wine country with my dad and sister. Back home, Tina and I made dinner with Justin (Dad, we made your peperoncini shrimp pasta and it was a hit, except I don't have a pan big enough to stir it all up together like you do, so it wasn't melty enough in my opinion) and then went out for a bit. I ended up coming home and watching part of Moulin Rouge with Dan.

Sunday Justin and Laurel and I had brunch at Magnolia. I'd always heard they had good brunch and it's very true. I had the cardamom-spiced French toast with garam masala whipped cream and huckleberries. I rarely get sweet breakfasts but this one was really good. The huckleberries were a lot like dried blueberries, only more tart. We also got started on our strong beer tastings at Magnolia and got through three of them before it was time for me to get a manicure with a couple of other girls. I have to say I quite enjoy getting manicures and would like to do them more often. I know I keep saying that. I took a nap before heading out to Magnolia for the second time that day. (Yeah, I know, I'm not sure how this became an idea, but we did do it on purpose.) I was supposed to meet coworkers for more strong beer, except when I got there, the friends I'd invited greatly outnumbered the coworkers, and we ended up sitting on opposite sides of the restaurant. Oops. Still, the 8 of us crammed into our 5-person table had a great time and I had the best reuben ever. It was almost spicy. We closed down Magnolia and I came home to watch more Moulin Rouge. I should say that both Saturday night and Sunday night I watched Moulin Rouge and hung out with Braden and Pat, two guys that Ace knows through work, and who I have only once hung out with before midnight. I was up pretty late Sunday night, except for the fact that I periodically fell asleep on the futon, so it was no surprise when I woke up Monday with this headcold. Since then I've made a conscious effort to vegetate and have turned down two anticipated social events, but I'm kind of trying to save up so I don't suck at my job and so I can have fun this weekend. Blah.

So I'm now something like 12 episodes into the first season of the OC, and then today in the mail I got a package from Bethany containing the entire series of Sex and the City, which is contained in the most ridiculous fuzzy magenta booklet slipped into a plexiglass box and is probably officially my most absurd belonging, and I have a lot of absurd belongings so that is saying something. I have a sort of love-hate thing for SatC and haven't watched it since the series finale, which I am pretty sure I watched on tape in Cristina's dorm room my junior year, and I'm pretty sure I cried. But I'm pretty excited about this set on my coffee table. It's definitely good entertainment for sick Emily.

Education in Intoxication

This makes me miss England. And New York. All at once. Yum. I need to find a place that's quieter than Toronado to sit down and have some delicious cask ales.

What I did this weekend...

I had a GREAT weekend. I won't bore you with the details of how much I drank and where, and with whom (there are a lot of details!), but there were a few awesome places I visited that are actually worth sharing. I am so kicking myself for not having a camera. I'm going to have to go back to all of them, just to properly document. Consider this a mini-tour of San Francisco.

Friday night, 7:30pm:
21st Amendment, for a pint of 21A IPA

Saturday morning, 11:30am:
Limn
For all those chrome piggy banks, fuzzy-like-hair carpets, and $6,500 ottomans that you reallly, really need. Plus, outdoor rooftop gardens and art gallery with paintings made of staples.

Saturday, 1:30pm
South Park
A leetle slice of a London park square in the middle of SOMA

Saturday, 2:15pm
21st Amendment, again, for a pint of watermelon wheat on the patio

Saturday, 3pm
826 Valencia
Why else? For pirate supplies and back issues of the Believer, and Karl, the blowfish (#2) in his own viewing room

(photo from unsure shot)

I love the curvy curiosity cabinets/drawers at 826 - I wish I could put these in my house and store things like paperclips and dishtowels.


(photo from mary jane watson on flickr)

Saturday, 3:30pm
Paxton Gate
The COOLEST random discovery. It's like a crazy taxidermist/gardener/curiosity shoppe, with string of pearls plants, butterflies under glass, fox penis bones (not kidding), loose leaf teas, deer heads, taxidermy mouse art, and so on. I really am obsessed with it. It's literally next door to 826 Valencia and the two of them together make up this great collection of curiosities and weirdnesses. I loved it.

(photo from The Mitzikin Revolution)

(photo from diavolerie)

(photo from pixability)

Saturday, 4pm
some thrift store on Valencia
for a truly awesome dress that reminds me of something Mare Winningham would wear in St. Elmo's fire. It's 80s-tastic. It is an 80s virgin dress. I will post pics.

Saturday, 4:30pm
The Apartment
I wanted to go there because I read on a blog that it was The Place to go for mid-century furniture. Can I afford, and do I need, furniture? No. But I needed to go. We stayed for about 3 minutes.

brief detour to Japantown, then, 5:30pm
Suppenkuche!
For beer! In boots!

(this pic is from when we went to Suppenkuche in March)

brief detour to Niketown (what's with all the towns?) and the Levi Store where Dan and I both purchased ridiculous pairs of jeans, then, 9pm
Tunnel Top
For a dirty martini for me, and caipirinhas and mojitos for the boyz, plus a sort of karmic payback for the time I was supposed to go there and didn't

10pm
Laurel's apartment, for, among other things, forties, a cop mustache, excessive conversation, Colbert ice cream and debate over the best mix cds of all time (playlist to come, or TK as they say in publishing, which means To Come which is silly because everyone knows publishers can spell)

Sunday, 11:30am
Home
for make-your-own bloody marys, proving the point that you (if you were a restaurant) don't need much to become awesome and packed during brunch time

Sunday, 3pm
The DeYoung
Self explanatory. I especially like the apples in the sculpture garden.


(foe-toe from Pengrin)

Sunday, 9pm
TORONADO!
For - Warriors fans, excellent beer, and a lame jukebox. And companionship. Obvi.

(photo from gadgetgeek)

This is the pub where Sean and I went for New Year's Eve dinner (delicious, and great beer, but they had a bit of an issue with credit card payments and made us miss the fireworks above the London Eye).

Anyway, apparently since then they have more of an issue with "40 thugs carrying knives, baseball bats, wooden clubs embedded with nails and hockey sticks."

Classy.