Greetings, friends, Rebels, rivals, and Michigan Faithful (and beer lovers!)

I've been getting a lot of emails and comments lately about beers - recommendations, suggestions for future MnB posts, criticisms of reviews, and recommendations for weekly posts/breweries to try.  So, I thought I'd just make this an open note - post on the thread or email me if you'd like any beer questions answered.  I'd be happy to poll the rest of the MnB staff, because we're all beer lovers.  My taste isn't exactly discriminating, but I tend to go out and find one or two good craft beers a week to try, so if you have any recommendations for me to try/post about, I'd be more than happy to go out and get 'em.

I love having roughly $20 a week in "supplemental beer" income.  Try it.

Anyway, email me at MnBRememberBo (at) gmail (dot) com or post in the comments.  I'll try to get back to as many as I can during the course of the season, probably posting on a Sunday or a Monday.  We've had more commenters and more dedicated readers than I can ever remember, so let's make this a solid group effort and talk beer.

And to those of you not in the Ann Arbor area, I'd love some recommendations/questions/etc.  Red Cup Rebellion, the fantastic Mississippi SBN blog and good friends of us at MnB (see: Miss State, hating) is a great source for your less-crafty beer inklings, as are the boys in green up at TOC.

-RB 

PS: No Domers on this one.  I don't like having people talk about Guinness incessantly.  Go over to MGo.

Not to preempt Magnus's excellent post about recruiting (read it below) but it's Friday, and you all know what that means: a semi-occasional instruction from the site about what to drink.  Congratulations to James Ross, the newest member of the Michigan Wolverines' latest recruiting class.  Speaking of class, that's what we're all about here at Maize n Brew.

Today, though, I'm going to depart from the regular MnB tradition and discuss to you one of my favorite traditions: the 137th running of the Kentucky Derby.  Tomorrow afternoon, for about two minutes, CBS or whoever will have a rather pent-up call for a horse race.  It's THE horse race.  Most of you know this.  But it's not just a race.  It's a time for people to get together and make a day out of two minutes of excitement.  Women in sundresses and hats, and men in the classiest stuff they can find (or have their wives/girlfriends foist upon them. MnB is in favor of this.)

How is this relevant to you, dear readers?  Quite simple.  The mint julep.  

It might be my favorite drink.  I love beer, but I've been a bourbon guy ever since my first real job was working for a bourbon company.  I'm biased, sure, but nothing beats a good bourbon, cold, on a warm summer's evening.  No, it's not a tailgate drink or even a party drink.  It's an old man drink if anything.  But many can appreciate the taste of a good, solid Kentucky Bourbon.

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Yes, I know it's been a while.  The work week is just about done, the season is now over for Michigan's last revenue sport, MnB updating has been regrettably light, and you've probably earned a weekend rest.  Don't worry, Michigan Faithful.  I feel your pain, and encourage you to drink it away with me.  By now, your rage at what might-have-been with Michigan Hockey has subsided slightly, you're getting excited about Brady Hoke being a MAN and 40 (plus) and you're wondering which RB Michigan's going to MANBALL all over their opponents this fall.  You might have even noticed some of the newfound optimism over at MGo that we've been missing for so long.  And, of course, you need a beer.

Over the past couple weeks, we've steered you to some darker, heavier beers, but in light of all the springy weather, I thought it fitting to recommend a less heavy (but still Hoke-worthy) brew.  Your Friday Beer is none other than (possibly Dave's favorite) the Paulaner Weissbier.  'Twas a hot day on a Barcelona beach, and I needed some lunch.  My spirits soared when I saw none other than the familiar golden label staring at me from the fridge of my chosen eatery.  And by golly, I made the right choice.

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Forgive the tardiness of this post, for I was at a rodeo last night and didn't get around to getting something up.  Yes, you heard that right, I was at a rodeo.  To be more specific, I was at the Stockyards Championship Rodeo in Cowtown Coliseum in Fort Worth, Texas.  I had never been to a rodeo, nor had I ever really thought that I had occasion to go to one, mostly on account of my continuing to possess the entirety of my set of teeth.  I was happily, gleefully, wrong.  Ladies and gentlemen, if you've ever wanted to see a cowboy wearing a full hockey helmet and face guard get clean knocked out whilst attempting to ride a bull who has had his testicles bound as tight as a poolside Italian's then you must rectify this situation immediately. 

via www.rwongphoto.com

In some sports, the genesis of competition is easy to figure out.  I mean, "Hey, I bet I can run to that rock faster than you" is basically how Track started, right?  Imagine how bull riding started:

Cowboy 1:  I'm just gonna get on the back of this thing and see how it goes.

Cowboy 2:  Wait, I've got an idea - let's twist up his balls so that he jumps around a little bit first.

It says a lot about the region that gave us bull-riding that this was considered a fairly good idea at the time, and something that we should build an institution around.  Bull riding, however, is far from the only sport at the rodeo.  They have one event where they turn loose a scared to death calf, and have a cowboy ride up from behind it, rope it around the neck, get off his horse, body slam the calf to the dirt, and tie at least 3 of its legs in a manner fit to please John Marston himself.  It's quite literally the first thing that has elicited a pure "holy shit that was awesome" from yours truly in quite some time.  And don't worry if you think it sounds cruel to the calf.  It is.

Of course, the events in the ring are only half the equation, which brings me to the drinking instructions portion of this post.  Beer drinking is the other tradition at the rodeo, and in Texas it doesn't get much better than Shiner Bock:

via 2.bp.blogspot.com

Brewed by Spoetzl Brewery in Shiner, TX, "That Little Brewery in Shiner" has been a Texas institution since it first opened its doors in 1908.  It is the oldest independent brewery in the state of Texas, and is now distributed in 41 states.  The best part of the Spoetzl story comes during prohibition, when the company stayed afloat by distributing Ice, and making a product called "near beer."  Near beer was a malt bevarage containing little to no alcohol, which was sold legally during prohibition.  However, the only way to make near beer palatable was to add alcohol back into it by way of injecting it through the cork at the top of the keg.  The result was called needle beer.  So basically, Spoetzl stayed in business by saying "we'll make it taste like beer, you do the rest."  Noted historic food critic Waverley Root described near beer as such:

...Such a wishy-washy, thin, ill-tasting, discouraging sort of slop that it might have been dreamed up by a Puritan Machiavelli with the intent of disgusting drinkers with genuine beer forever.

Thus we see the vast improvement over a shitty situation that simply adding booze can provide.  This "slop" kept an entire brewery open and in business.

So what can you do this weekend?  I recommend going out and grabbing some Shiner Bock if you're in one the the 41 states in which it's now distributed, and putting a little Texas into your life.  Who knows, maybe flip on Versus at about 1:25 AM and find some Rodeo to take in.  As Hank Hill once said, "Everyone’s a Texan. Change planes in Dallas, and you’re a Texan."  

We've already had a deluge of posts recapping Michigan's glorious and improbable run to the second/third round of the NCAA Tournament.  I'd just like to add my voice to the chorus for just a second and say exactly how proud I am of Tim Hardaway Jr., Darius Morris, Zack Novak, and every other player on the Michigan team.  Coach Beilein did an amazing job in turning around a 1-6 Big Ten start, taking a young, young, young team farther than anyone thought possible.  I've heard a lot of people saying "If Morris' shot hadn't clanked off the back rim, think what would have happened..." but honestly, even after a heartbreaker, I'm totally okay with how this team ended its season.  It was a fun run, one that these kids will remember for the rest of their lives.  For my part, this team will go down as my favorite Michigan team of all time, at least until next year's scrappy bunch wins it all.  (HT to Bacari Alexander for the black socks-shoes combo, because we all know it was him.)  Good work boys, I'm really, really F'ing proud.

Life goes on in the tournament, but not for Duke.  (I was going to link to the Duke SB nation page, but it doesn't appear they have one.  This is why they lost, not some jinx)  By the tournament, I mean the real one, not this one, you know, the one everyone thought Michigan would scrape into.  Anyway, do check out the second half of Arizona's surprising upset - they went on a very Michigan-versus-Tennessee run in the second half, outscoring Duke something like 55-33.  Oh well, we're all happy Duke's out, right?

For every team everyone hates, there's generally one that everyone loves, and this year there are plenty to choose from.  Except for me as a Georgetown homer, everyone seems to like VCU, and some other team from Richmond seems to be doing well.  My favorite cinderella team?  Butler.  Don't care that they went to the championship game last year.  They lost their best player to the NBA and just went about their business with another babyfaced assassin, Matt Howard, leading them to upsets of Duke and Wisconsin.  They're my pick to go to the Final Four from the insanely weak whatever-it-is bracket in the bottom right of my SBN sheet.

A couple of fun teams lost yesterday, those being Steve Fisher's SDSU bunch and the Cougars of BYU, who were a fun group to watch play basketball until they kicked one of their best players off the team for, you know, being a normal human being.  I vehemently disagree with this SI article - regardless of how you feel about BYU's incredibly stringent honor code, I'm of the opinion that kicking Davies off the team seriously crippled their chances at a deep tournament run (echoed in the article linked above), and therefore punished the rest of the team unfairly.  As for SDSU, best of luck to Steve Fisher.  He's got a great thing going over there, and he'll always be a kickass coach in my mind.

This is all well and good, you say, but where's the beef?  The answer, of course, is that the beef is a beer.  And your beer for watching Friday's games is a nice, springy beer from Warren's own Kuhnhenn Brewery, the Loonie Kuhnie. Go get one.

HT: ratebeer.com

Not much of a pale ale guy myself, but this has a real nice citrusy finish to it.  It's kind of like those college freshmen who say they love Blue Moon because they're trying to be classy, then put five oranges in it to dull the taste of beer.  On second thought, it's nothing like that.  It's a well-balanced hoppy beer with a light hint of orange and lemon.  A tad bitter, but balanced nicely with a caramel finish.  If you've got the time, go check out the other beers from Kuhnhenn's, which all look awesome, and have tested very well in world beer competitions.

Now that you've got your beer, who should you root for tonight?  Obviously, Kentucky should be your strongest rooting interest, but don't put too much faith in that one, because Sullinger is going to destroy the Wildcats inside.  Perhaps a Shaq-style defense would work best - let Sully score his points and lock down Lighty and whoever else that School Down South has on their team.  Go 'Cats!  Richmond also plays a #1 seed, Kansas, so I'll root hard without much faith for them Spiders as well.  The most (or least) entertaining game will probably be VCU/Florida State, a defensive battle waiting to happen between two surprisingly low seeds.  I like VCU in this one, but I'll be pulling hard for FSU to avenge my Hoyas... Anyway, enjoy your basketball and your beer.  March is very much upon us - it's 60 and sunny where I'm writing this, so I'm certainly enjoying myself.

Until next time - Cheers, Michigan Faithful!

(ed note: Kyle has gone into hibernation for a bit, but YFD lives on!)

We open our tale this sunny Friday with a story of Michigan basketball.  At 2:25 today, they'll face off against the Fighting Illini of Illinois.  Of course, you know all of this.  You know that a win cements them in the Field of 68 for the Big Dance.  You also know that Sparty's fighting for their postseason lives after being swept at the hands of YOUR Michigan Wolverines.  

But that's not all that we can be thankful for on this fine Friday.  Perhaps you've been following a little scandal south of the border in That State Down South.  Perhaps you've heard of a guy named Chris Cicero, and why he might be OSU's Ed Martin.  Perhaps you've gotten sick of bickering and investigative reporting and are bored of that weird sport they play with a round football.

Regardless of what you know or what you care about, I've got just the thing for you.  It's a beer so good even Jim Tressel should probably drink a few to "pound" his sorrows away until they grow up.  Or perhaps he could hold them for some "collateral, if you know what I mean".  All right.  Enough with the (deserved) punnery and on with the primary issue of the day:

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National Signing Day?

Pff.

How about National Drinking Day?

Much better. With the snow descending upon much of the Michigan fanbase, many of us will be finding ways to entertain ourselves in the midst of 30+ inches of snow.  This means school's out for the first time in Chicagoland in 12 years.  You college students get to stay in and study drink.  You adult-ish types get to decide whether to fire up the ol' virtual desktop or just kick it with ESPN, Netflix, or whatever your video weapon of choice is.

But for those of you who are lucky enough to enjoy being of legal age, today should be a day to sample fine beers.  That's what snow days are all about.  From Stroh's to my favourite Vicious IPA, we here at Maize n Brew heartily condone the responsible consumption of delicious hoppy beverages.  We even enjoy some entertaining ways to consume such beverages. 

Before I get into that, though, let me spotlight a beer you should all try.  Instead of reaching for that case of Coors Lite or whatever's in your basement, if you're able to get to a store or are lucky to live in Kalamazoo, check out Bell's Brewery.  They make some fantastic brews, some of which are available internationally.  If I can drink 'em overseas, you should get off your asses and check them out.  I'd recommend two in particular - their Winter Seasonal, the Hopslam Ale, is a fantastic lighly flavoured ale with a honey-malt taste.  Also check out their best offering if it's still on the shelves - their fall seasonal, Hell Hath No Fury, is dark with a strong coffee and ginger aftertaste.  Wicked.

Look, we're not elitists here at Maize n Brew, at least not about our beer.  (I happen to take great pride in being an elitist about my football team.)  But I respect whatever brew you choose to consume today.  Go drink some Stroh's, or reach back for something from Bell's or North Peak or GLBC or whatever you choose.  College bros, Natty Ice is calling your name.  Today, special emphasis on the Ice.  (Disclaimer:  I wholeheartedly and completely despise everything related to Syracuse, and the color orange in general - Hoya Saxa!)

I suppose we should talk about some football too though.  So, in honor of National Signing Day, here's a good game to play.  Head over to Mgo's NSD overkill livestream and drink to the recruiting trolls.

NSD Drinking Game - MnB Style

Drink:

Every time Michigan gets a commit.

Whenever you hear JaDaveon Clowney's name mentioned.

If you cannot leave your driveway, go back inside and finish a drink.  Don't try to leave again.

Any time the discussion of 18 year old kids' bodies creeps you out.

Whenever Brian from MGo sounds depressed.

Whenever you hear the words "winter storm warning"

If your power goes out due to snow, finish your beer.  Hell, finish the case.

Each minute beyond zero that a recruit's announcement presser lasts.

Every time you try to fire up the ol' computer for "telecommuting."

When you see snow.

Any time Fred Jackson compares a commit to Jesus or similar.

Good luck, Michigan Faithful.  Enjoy your day.  I welcome your suggestions in the comments.

You've probably seen this by now, but just in case I figured I'd bring it to your attention. This is bad. It is almost as bad as "We Are Notre Dame" as written by Morris Day and The Time (Oh We Oh We Oh) and subsequently ripped off by some dude from Iowa who finally got the Hawkeyes' revenge on the Irish, albeit a generation or two too late. Chubby, white kids attempting to be clever by "rapping," and yes, the quotations are necessary, about their favorite school and turning it into a promotional "music video." While, sadly, this isn't that uncommon, what is unusual is that the University is apparently footing the bill for this debacle and actually allowed these buffoons access to their archives and facilities to shoot it. 

And... oh God... is it bad. Not quite some bozo in a leprechaun outfit playing a bass shaped like whatever Prince is signing his name as, but it's bad. Quick note to the producers, never allow fat, pasty, and/or anorexially skinny white boys to wear tank tops. Ever. One thing worth pointing out is that there are hot chicks in the video. So they have that going for them. But the rest is retina and eardrum scorching. But that's not the funniest thing about it.

If you seach the interwebs at tad bit you find out that certain IU supporters are actually proud of this abomination. Being proud of this is the equivalent of putting up a video of someone inserting a catheter up your ding dong, and smiling the entire time because you're having physical contact with another human being in your private region. Thankfully, this appears to be a limited subset of the fanbase. Others, well... they're not so enthusiastic.

Watch, laugh, cringe, feel bad for real IU fans. Just not this guy:

Do not feel bad for him. We clicked "here" because everyone likes watching a trainwreck in slow motion. Especially one where you can see the train go halfway trough the minivan, collapsing the entire frame into a slab of french toast, before the laws of physics actually require the car to give way and travel with the oncoming locomotive.

So watch the wreck and just be happy you don't have to be the guy using a sponge to clean up the contents of the minivan afterwards. Enjoy.