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Drunk Off … Er, In Your Ass?

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tampon
A mix of thanks and “how could you” to Stephen Beaumont for tweeting this story, because now that I know it, I can’t unknow it. According to Digital Journal, a growing trend among Phoenix, Arizona, area youths — disturbingly both girls and boys — is to get drunk by soaking a tampon in vodka and inserting it … well, you get the idea. According to the report, the practice was first identified in 1999, in the Oxford Journal of Alcohol and Alcoholism, although in that instance they wrote about just three case studies all of whom were adults in their late twenties to their mid-thirties. Also, in April of this year, the same thing was reported to be happening in Germany, too.

The latest story’s origin is a Channel 5 KPHO Phoenix TV report, where a Dr. Quan is the medical source, saying they’ll get a “[q]uicker high, they think it’s going to last longer, it’s more intense.” School Resource Officer (whatever that is) Chris Thomas adds “[w]hat we’re hearing about is teenagers utilizing tampons, soak them in vodka first before using them. It gets absorbed directly into the bloodstream. There’s no barrier, there’s no stomach acid to prevent it.” Dr. Quan agreed. “I would expect it to absorb pretty quickly as well, because it’s a very vascular structure.” Okay, that’s probably enough to give you the idea of what “butt chugging” is. Two things leap to mind.

One, this has got to be a hoax. Kids messing with adults and them falling for it hook, line and sinker. Maybe it’s just me, but when I was a kid, not only would this have never occurred to us, but even if it had, we would never have tried it. Heroin addicts shoot up between their toes to avoid detection. Same deal here, apparently, but there are just too many simpler ways to avoid detection than this. It’s just too much committed effort for most people. Or is that just me? Plus, mainstream media, and television in particular, loves a good scare story, something that puts fear into its viewers. This story is dripping with cautionary words, something else for parents to be “concerned” about. Perhaps some idiots did try it, but a growing trend? I’m just not buying it. You?

Second, if it is true, however doubtful, it shows the futility of having 21 be the minimum legal drinking age and avoiding any real education before that time. People will find a way to do almost anything if properly motivated. And few things motivate a teenager more than being told they can’t do something. I keep hearing that line from Jurassic Park in my head. “Nature will always find a way.” And so it goes.

tampons-soaked-in-vodka

UPDATE: Thanks to Rick at Pacific Brew News for sending me this Tiny Cat Pants post In Which I Debunk the Vodka-Soaked Tampon Myth.

Beer In Ads #473: A Glass Crafted To Keep Beer Colder

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Wednesday’s ad is for Artois, when the brewed more than just Stella. I don’t the ad’s age, but it certainly looks retro and highly stylized. Anybody know when they used the slogan “Pass on something good?” But the ad isn’t even about the beer, but the glass, which apparently is “A Glass Crafted To Keep Beer Colder” with an arctic setting to drive home the point.

ArtoisColder

Wikio Beer Blog Rankings For November 2011

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wikio
The November 2011 standings have just been released for Wikio’s Beer Blogs. Beervana increased his streak at the top to three consecutive months, with the rest of the Top 10 shuffling around. Here’s what happened to the Top 20 over last month:

Wikio November 2011 Beer Blog Rankings

1Beervana (=)
2Brookston Beer Bulletin (+2)
3Brewpublic (+4)
4A Good Beer Blog (+10)
5Appellation Beer: Beer From a Good Home (-2)
6The New School (-4)
7Drink With The Wench (-1)
8It’s Pub Night (+4)
9Washington Beer Blog (-4)
10Top Fermented (Not in Top 20 in October)
11Hoosier Beer Geek (-3)
12Seattle Beer News (Not in Top 20 in October)
13Yours For Good Fermentables (Not in Top 20 in October)
14Oakshire Brewing (Not in Top 20 in October)
15KC Beer Blog (+4)
16San Diego Beer Blog (+4)
17Road Trips for Beer (-6)
18Seen Through a Glass (=)
19The Brew Site (-4)
20Beer PHXation (-4)

Ranking made by Wikio

As usual, I included the relative movements of each blog from last month. Four new blogs emerged in the Top 20 that weren’t there last month, which is exactly what happened last month. Otherwise, there were a number of moderate swings, with movement 4 or 6 places being the most common. As always, I continue to stress that this is just a bit of fun and that we shouldn’t take it too seriously. Until the final month of 2011 ….

Beer In Ads #472: Biere Du Lion

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Tuesday’s ad is an another old classic, by Eugene Oge, a French illustrator who did a number of great beer adverts during his lifetime from 1861-1936. He was a major figure in the Belle Epoque and did many outstanding ads for resorts, food, and all sorts of beverages and brands. This is the second of his I’ve featured, the first being Biere au Diable. This one, Biere Du Lion, I think was a Wallonian brand, from Brasserie Vervifontaine? I love the expression on the drinking fat man.

biere-du-lion

Montana Beer

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montana
Today in 1889, Montana became the 41st state.

Montana
State_Montana

Montana Breweries

Montana Brewery Guides

Guild: Montana Brewers Association

State Agency: Montana Department of Revenue Liquor Control

maps-mt

  • Capital: Helena
  • Largest Cities: Billings, Missoula, Great Falls, Butte, Bozeman
  • Population: 902,195; 44th
  • Area: 147046 sq.mi., 4th
  • Nickname: Treasure State
  • Statehood: 41st, November 8, 1889

m-montana

  • Alcohol Legalized: December 5, 1933
  • Number of Breweries: 30
  • Rank: 21st
  • Beer Production: 993,496
  • Production Rank: 43rd
  • Beer Per Capita: 31.8 Gallons

montana

Package Mix:

  • Bottles: 34.6%
  • Cans: 53%
  • Kegs: 12.3%

Beer Taxes:

  • Per Gallon: $0.14
  • Per Case: $0.31
  • Tax Per Barrel (24/12 Case): $4.30
  • Draught Tax Per Barrel (in Kegs): $4.30

Economic Impact (2010):

  • From Brewing: $41,418,747
  • Direct Impact: $307,661,400
  • Supplier Impact: $129,447,052
  • Induced Economic Impact: $178,191,531
  • Total Impact: $615,299,983

Legal Restrictions:

  • Control State: No
  • Sale Hours: On Premises: Closing 2am
    Off Premises:
  • Grocery Store Sales: Yes
  • Notes: ABV > 16% wine sold in state-contracted stores, ABV < 16% may be sold in grocery stores.
    Brewery tasting rooms cannot serve beer after 8 pm (10am-8pm) and can only sell 48 oz. per customer per day.

montana-map

Data complied, in part, from the Beer Institute’s Brewer’s Almanac 2010, Beer Serves America, the Brewers Association, Wikipedia and my World Factbook. If you see I’m missing a brewery link, please be so kind as to drop me a note or simply comment on this post. Thanks.

For the remaining states, see Brewing Links: United States.

Pink Beer … You Know, For The Girls

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pink-beer
Apparently there’s yet another misguided attempt to reach women with the aim of tempting them to try beer by making the color of the beer pink. This time it’s a group of young South African women attending Durban University of Technology who came up with the idea for the beer, which they’re calling Pink Fantasy, according to a post yesterday on Beer Universe. Needless to say, all of the women I know who love craft beer drink it because of how it tastes, not because it matches their shoes. Are there really women in the world who, when pressed, would actually say, “well, I’d try beer if only it wasn’t that unpleasant orange … or golden … or brown … or black? But if it was pink, like Barbie, maybe I would actually get over my ignorant phobia that beer is bitter and how I just know I won’t like it. Maybe I’ll finally give this kicky new pink beverage a try.” Sheesh. I could keep ranting, but I think Ginger Johnson from Women Enjoying Beer said it best in these two posts: Still Not “Getting It” and Marketing Beer to Women, Part 4: No Pink.

High Alcohol, Low Calories: Bud Light Platinum

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abib
This is a bit of a head scratcher. Though it’s been rumored for a while now, apparently it is coming, as AdAge is reporting that the TTB has given label approval for Bud Light Platinum. Though thought to be somewhere between 6% and 8% a.b.v., AdAge indicated the new low-calorie beer will weigh in at 6% and have 137 calories. Regular Bud Light is 4.2% a.b.v. and has 110 calories. And as regular Budweiser is 5% and 145 calories, it’s hard to see the point. Apparently, the idea is “to tap into the rising popularity of craft beers, which tend to be fuller bodied with more alcohol.” Sure, just throw in some alcohol, that should fool people. Apparently they’re missing the point that craft beer drinkers want flavor, not just higher octane. But given how successful the big brewers have been at convincing people to drink low-calorie light beers, I have little doubt this couldn’t work, too, however illogical I find the very notion of light beer.

ABI has also apparently registered the domain name budlightplatinum.com, but it’s not yet an active website. There’s not even a placeholder there so it may be some time before we see the actual beer. ABI has also not yet made an official announcement or sent out a press release.

Bud-Light-Platinum

Beer In Ads #471: Herbert Leupin’s Umbrella Beer

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Monday’s ad is an interesting ad by famed Swiss illustrator Herbert Leupin. I’m not sure what beer this ad is for or when it was created, though he worked mainly beginning in the late 1930s and then took up paintings around 1970. So we can safely say it was between those dates. I love the simplicity, though, and the cartoonish hand holding up the umbrella.

herbert-leupin-umbrella

El Cerrito Brewpub Owner Injured By Police During Occupy Oakland

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elevation-66
I was really hoping to avoid writing about the Occupy Oakland horrors currently going on in the city I used to call home. But last Thursday, Oakland Police apparently injured yet another war veteran — two tours, one each in Iraq and Afghanistan — simply trying to walk to his home, rupturing his spleen in the process and refusing him medical attention for eighteen hours! It turns out the man, Kayvan Sabeghi, is a co-founder of Elevation 66 Brewing, a new Bay Area brewpub which opened in nearby El Cerrito this past September. As a result of his beating, Sabeghi ended up in intensive care fighting for his life, but nobody knew about it until Friday, because the police that beat him bad enough to give him a lacerated spleen and a few broken ribs ignored his pleas for help, instead hurling insults at him and calling him a heroin addict, an alcoholic and a diabetic, none of which were true.

So that means the police injured not only another war veteran, but also a small business owner — in right wing parlance a “job-creator” — who according to what I’ve read posed no real threat to the peace at all. What’s perhaps most disturbing of all is the comments on news websites where many are suggesting his story is not true, or he deserved it or simply applauding the police for hurting him. That people can be so cruel is not exactly news to me, but it’s still pretty hard to stomach.

The Daily Kos posted a story, now updated three times, on Friday, which includes an interview with the victim’s sister. There are also reports on the UK’s Guardian, Reuters and the Huffington Post.

The El Cerrito Patch also covered the incident, as they’d previously written about his brewpub, Elevation 66, in Made-In-El Cerrito Beer: Elevation 66 Brewer Describes New Pub’s Approach. In addition to the brewpub’s website, their Facebook page also has updates about Sabeghi’s progress. Let’s all wish him a speedy recovery. And if you’re hankering for a beer, perhaps a trip to El Cerrito is in order.