THE CURE FOR WHAT ALES YOU

First, it's one of the truly great pleasures and freedoms we have on earth to sip a quality beer among friends with a fine cigar. Beer is a great accompaniment to K State Football or most any other sporting event. I am sure it goes best with K State football. It is from the Earth and God has put it here for us to enjoy. In moderation.

Generally speaking, if I'm going to take the time to have a couple of beers, it's going to be good beer. As the slogan of New Glarus Brewing says 'Life is too short to drink cheap beer.'

In the time to come I will tell you about the difference between porter, lager, pilsner, stout, ale, bock and other kinds of beer. I will also explain the brewing process. And what beer snobs mean when they say 'Oh the bouquet is too hoppy.' Yeah, gimme a break. Snobby critics are for wine. Real men drink beer. There are also health benefits to moderate intake of the non 'light' beers, proven by numerous university studies and medical professionals across the world. Men's Health magazine likes to point that out in most every issue.

Need I say more? Guinness is simply the best beer money can buy. It is full, rich, creamy. Another term is stout. A couple of pints of this stuff will definitely spoil your appetite. I shudder to think of the calories per pint! If you cannot find Guinness, try Murphy's Pub Draught or Boddington's creamy luscious ale.

Other Beers that I really enjoy:

	The sister of Guinness. What many call a lager. It is used to make a drink called a 'Black and Tan.' This involves putting Harp on the bottom and Guinness on top. Like water and oil, the two do not mix unless provoked. The pint has never lasted long enough in front of me to see if they separate again.
	Another great beer from the British isles. It is also combined with Guinness on occasion. It is not a black and tan. It's a black and 'something'. It is very smooth, satisfying, easy to drink. Trust me, there aren't too many European beers I've had that I do not like.
	Sam Adams has a wide variety of beers. All of the beers I have had from them are absolutely wonderful. I enjoy their staple, the Boston Lager, the most. I also like Cherry Wheat and Cream Stout (Guinness is better). They have seasonal offerings. The Winter Lager and Summertime Ale are both really good in my experience.
	A Coors product that's a really quality beer. At one time they had the Red. Then they had a Killian's Honey Lager in 1996 to complete with Dundees Honey Brown. Didn't care for it. They also had a green label Irish Lager. Didn't care for it much either. Killian's red is smooth, satisfying and not too filling. AND it's non union
	If I'm going to drink plain old beer, bring me a Coors product. It's born in the Rockies (that's what Pete says) and most importantly it's Non Union. Miller and Budweiser are staunch old-time union shop. Coors does this by communicating their desire for the well being of their employees with something other than money. If you're in the Denver area, their Golden location is wonderful. They also market Blue Moon (the Belgian Ale is to die for!) at Coors Field in Denver. Blue Moon is also available nationwide. In the microbrew explosion of the mid to late 90s, Blue Moon had wheat, raspberry and even pumpkin beer. Otherwise it's Coors Light for me. The Silver Bullet. Crisp but light on the stomach it is a great accompaniment to the backyard burger cookout or with chips and dip watching K State Football.

Sure there are other beers that I like: Lienies (made in the Wisconsin North Woods), Grolsch, St. Pauli, Keystone, Sierra Nevada Porter. My general tendency is the darker the better.

One brand I really like is New Glarus brewery located about an hour up the road in New Glarus, Wisconsin. A small Swiss community with beautiful, traditional shoppes and restaurants, it's well worth the hour or so drive from Rockford. There is a lot to see and do around New Glarus. It's a big tourist attraction in the summer. Lots of Cheese, beer, wine. It's great to be descended from Europeans!

MICRO BREWERIES

What a fad those hippies in Colorado started. There were very few of these 10 years ago. Now they are a dime a dozen. Even Rockford has one, although I highly do not recommend them.

A couple of Micros that I DO recommend:

The Church Brew Works (Pittsburgh, PA): Just go through downtown and follow Liberty to about the 3300 block. If you're coming in from the north you can take the downtown north bypass and get off on the 31st Street Bridge (maybe it's the 29th?). There a school across the street and the brewpub is the turn of the century catholic church on the corner.  Quite the upscale menu for a microbrewery. However they have some stupendous beers and the atmosphere is like no other. Pious Monk Dunkel's Ale is my fave here! You sit in pews from the church. The brew equipment resides on the former forward altar. The bar is setup around the former confessionals. Their slogan on the shirts, along with the church's stained glass rendition, is 'And On the Eighth day, man created beer!' TOO HILARIOUS!

Valhalla (Pittsburgh, PA): What is it with PA and these great brewpubs? This one is in the area Northeast of downtown in a nice area with a bunch of restaurants and lounges. It's before you get to the Church. Pretty much a warehouse district along the river. Good beer and a menu that will please more tastes than the Church. But not 10% of the atmosphere as the Church.

Squatters (Salt Lake City, UT): As if there's another Salt Lake City. Good food. Their motto is 'the cure for what ales ya.' Really good beer. It's downtown two blocks north and one block west of the Little America Hotel (the original one with the tower and garden rooms). There's a parking lot right beside it.

I'm sure there are more that will make this list as they come to mind.