Month: June 2017

After an exclusive three week tour of Europe, Scandinavia, and the sub-continent, Stacey returns to GBS…for Zima. We’ll share tips for how one might enjoy a Jolly Good Zima..well, there’s really just the one way. In the don’t-try-this-at-home department, we’ll talk about gander-pulling as well as some yard games you might actually want to try for your US Independence Day celebration, plus we battle the network stars in an all new Pick Em. Grab a Zima and a Jolly Rancher (get instant Halloween mouth) and give us a listen!

Listen to “Episode 67 Jolly Zima” on Spreaker.

Carrie has made Lauren, Stacey and even Leigh try some weird beers/ciders (The Fling last week is a prime example) over the course of the podcast, but nothing has been weirder or more terrible than drinking Zima, complete with a Jolly Rancher (note Lauren managed not to fling her’s across the table this week).  The 90’s are back and it’s  brought this alcoholic malt beverage with it.  We all had recollections of drinking Zima when it was a thing and one sip of it brought all of those memories back and not necessarily in a good way.  Leigh was left out of this one, which she was thankful for.  Since the classic way to drink this beverage is with a Jolly Rancher we did just that.  Lauren went with sour apple, Stacey and Carrie both went with cherry.  Leigh’s favorite Jolly Rancher flavor is grape and she just ate the candy without having to drink the Zima.  Without the Jolly Rancher we all agreed that Zima basically tastes like flat overly sweetened Sprite.  Carrie remembered that is why she didn’t like Zima when it originally came out, Stacey and Lauren pretty much agreed.  The Jolly Ranchers didn’t do the beverage any favors.  Stacey basically called it cherry flavored cough syrup and Lauren said that it actually got worse. Saying, “It’s instant Halloween in your mouth”.  Carrie didn’t think the Jolly Rancher was terrible, but that it didn’t add anything until the very end.  Lauren and Stacey did manage to finish their share, but not without some serious difficulty.  If  you don’t remember the taste of Zima and are looking for a nostalgia trip then pick some up (remeber it’s a limited release, says so on the package), or just listen to the podcast for our reactions, cause we drank the Zima so you don’t have to!

Leigh’s pick this week comes courtesy of Pivot Brewing’s packaged sales.  The Zeffer Cider Co.’s Zesty Citrus infused cider is crafted in New Zealand and at 5.0% has a great flavor.  The nose on it is very nice, with a pleasant citrus flavor.  It’s not too sweet and the citrus gave it a light, refreshing flavor that you might not find in other ciders.  If you can find this, definitely pick it up, and the bonus is that it comes in a big bottle.

For Stacey’s first beer back to the show she picked the flag for pool beers back up and brought  Boulevard’s Ginger Lemon Radler to the table.  A good Radler is a nice mixture of lemonade and beer and is usually a low percentage. This Radler didn’t disappoint.  Stacey really liked the strong ginger flavor on the beer and  how it paired with the lemon. She thought that it was very refreshing and also did a nice job of neutralizing the taste of the Zima. If you don’t like ginger, this might not be the beer for you, but if you like a good Radler and are looking for a low percentage beer with a lot of flavor for the pool pick this one up.

 

Lauren’s pick this week comes from the fine folks at Sierra Nevada.  Beer Camp Golden IPA is a seasonal offering and actually this is the encore of a beer Sierra Nevada put out  last year.  Normally Lauren doesn’t like IPAs or hoppy beers.  She took a chance on this one and wasn’t disappointed.  She thought the beer wasn’t overly hoppy and had a nice citrus flavor that was actually very refreshing and not heavy, it also help get the Zima out of her mouth.  Even if you don’t like hoppy beers or even IPAs check this one out, especially if you are looking for something different to drink this summer.

This week the CFO surprised Carrie with a Stanley Cup stein and she took full advantage to drink her pick out of the best trophy in all of sports.  Carri’s beer pick is from Stillwater Artisnal brewery out of Baltimore Maryland.  Stillwater was started by internationally known DJ and producer Brian Strumke in his backyard.  He’s paired with artists to design his cans and that clearly shows, Yacht’s can definitely has a sleek modern art feel to it.  Yacht is a  4.2% dry hopped session lager.  Overall Carrie liked drinking the beer out of the Stanely Cup better than she liked the beer.  It wasn’t bad beer, it just wasn’t great and pretty pedestrian.  She bought it as a single, so she isn’t sure how much a six or four pack would cost, but if you like the way you look holding modern art then pick this up, otherwise you might go with something else in the lager category.

 

Celebrate the 4th of July this year like a true patriot by playing these four games straight from the 1700’s and 1800’s, stay away from the fifth one.

Quoits:  A throwing game in which heavy metal rings are tossed underhanded or pitched at short metal stakes driven int the ground.  Quoits is the predecessor to Horseshoe Pitching.  It came to America in the 1700’s, but it evolved into what is now known as Traditional American Quoits (note the British version is completely different).  It’s still played in Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey.  Check out the United States Quoiting Association for more information.

Nine Pins, Skittles and Bowls:  This is basically lawn bowling.  Nine pins is still played today, around the world.

Dollar Pitching:  Usually played by four people with two silver dollars, the silver dollars are pitched into small round holes made for that purpose.  The holes are from 15 to 20 feet apart, each player tries to put his dollar in the hole.  We all agreed that this very similar to washers.

Long Bullets:  Played with a large iron ball, usually weighing several pounds, slung in a strap or thrown.  There are two goals and two sets of players.  Thos near the gal had to prevent the ball rolled in their direction from passing their goal, the winning side succeeds in rolling the ball with enough force to pass the other team’s line and scored the greatest distance doing so.  Andrew Jackson was an expert in throwing the long bullet.  Because the game was played on streets and highways on Saturday afternoons many towns and states passed laws against it for safety reasons.  The game eventually died out, but there’s no reason it can’t be revived, just remember to always call Game Off! when a car is approaching.

THE ONE GAME YOU DON’T WANT TO PLAY:

Gander Pulling:  Take a goose, clip its feathers short on its neck then grease it.  Suspend the goose from a bar between two poles.  A horseman then dashes under the bar at full speed and grabs the goose’s neck and tries to pull its head off.  It often took hours for someone to win.  The winner’s prize usually consisted of contributions made by spectators, sometimes the winner got the goose’s body and he also got drinks.  This game generated lots of betting.

So there ya go, four games you should definitely play this 4th of July to celebrate ‘Merica and one that you really really shouldn’t.  Even if you don’t play any of them make sure you drink plenty of beer, grill plenty of meat and blow up lots of stuff….

 

 

Episode 66: Stacey is still missing, Lauren flings her drink, we debate the Michael Phelps shark race, break down the birds with teeth strippergate punishment and hand out part 1 of our tv obstacle course superlatives.

Listen to “Episode 66 We Flung the Fling” on Spreaker.

We were very excited that Leigh got to participate in the sharin’ beer this week, which came to us via Moonlight Meadery by way of the Casual Pint in Downtown Lexington.  Side note:  The Casual Pint is a chain store that sells packaged beer/cider beverages and has various items on draft for purchase there or as growlers to go.  They also serve food.  Moonlight makes a variety of mead products (all of which are gluten free due to their distilling process), including a rum barrel aged cider that Leigh tried on an earlier show and liked for the most part.  Unfortunately neither Leigh, Carrie or Lauren liked Fling (a rhubarb and strawberry mead) very much.  In fact on accident or possibly on purpose no one is sure which, Lauren unceremoniously “flung” her share across the table and onto Carrie’s phone before we even started recording.  (note the phone is fine).  Either way, however, she did have enough left to taste and determine that it was just too boozie and sweet.  In fact we a pretty much all agreed with that assessment.  Leigh also felt that the ruhbarb was a little overpowering.  Leigh will definitely be trying Moonlight products in the future, but at 14% Fling is definitely one you will want to share or at least drink in very small doses.

Leigh’s pick this week, Original Sin’s Apricot Cider, again comes courtesy of the Casual Pint.  This isn’t a flavor of Original Sin that Leigh had seen or tried before.  It was very drinkable after the Fling, not too sweet with just a hint of apricot.  Worth a try especially if you like Original Sin products and haven’t had this one before, or if you’re just looking for a new cider flavor in general.

Since Wednesday marks the official start of summer, Lauren’s pick this week comes from Anderson Valley and is aptly called Summer Solstice.  Although this beer is  creamy and slightly malty it does have a clean finish.  Lauren thought it was a decent summer ale, nothing to off putting, but probably not a first choice out of the cooler.

Continuing to carry the flag for Stacey and summertime beer in a can, Carrie picked up Bell’s Pooltime Ale.  This Pooltime Ale is a Belgian Wheat beer with cherry juice added.  The beer was ok, but a belgian wheat wouldn’t be a first choice for the pool in our opinion.  Also, Carrie felt that the beer lacked any cherry flavor or distinct tartness of cherries, which would have helped to cut the slightly heavy wheat flavor.  If you like belgian wheats and are looking for something with a cool name and cool art work that would look good sitting by the pool then go ahead and pick this up.

Episode 65 we hear all about Leigh’s adventures in Facebook hacking, find out how we would change the romper/jumper for the better, play a fun game of iconic, lame or sooo played sports music edition and of course talk all kinds of sports while we drink beer.

Listen to “Episode 65: Facebook is Lameconic!” on Spreaker.

The Sharin’ Beer this week, Scary Jesus Rock Star comes from Dark Horse Brewing.  Since Stacey is still out on loan, Lauren and Carrie split this one.  Dark Horse produces some pretty good beer, but this Apricot Chamomile Ale isn’t one of them.  It’s definitely scary, but we wouldn’t consider it a Rock Star.  Like with all the sharin’ beers Carrie and Lauren powered through it, but neither one liked it very much.  There wasn’t any apricot, but there was plenty of chamomile.  If you like the taste of alcoholic tea then this would be the beer for you, otherwise this is a case of the label/name being a lot better than the beer.

Leigh’ pick this week comes from Blake’s Hard Cider, makers of a variety of different cider products.  The Tonic is a cider infused with Cucumber and Ginger.  Leigh actually liked this cider more than she thought that she would.  The cucumber and ginger were both balanced and neither one overpowered the other in terms of flavor and the cider wasn’t overly sweet.  We’ve had a lot of summer/lawn mower/patio beers on the show and Leigh was very happy to find a cider that she felt fit into that category.

Lauren’s pick this week comes from New Belgium, makers of a variety of different high quality beers.  In kind of keeping with a summer theme Lauren chose their Juicy Watermelon, which is interesting because Lauren isn’t a fan of watermelon, it is well documented that she wouldn’t even eat it if it was deep-fried.  This Watermelon Lime Ale is definitely an exception to Lauren’s no watermelon rule.  She really enjoyed the beer and felt like it had a really great balance of watermelon/fruit flavor and lime.  Lauren isn’t a huge fan of fruit beers, but again this one would be an exception.  She would defitnely pick up a sixer of these for some back porch weekend day drinkin.

Carrie picked up the summer beer in a can flag that Stacey dropped when she went on loan and chose a beer from the fine people at Dog Fish Head Brewing.  Dog Fish Head isn’t afraid to put anything in a beer and the Sea Quench Ale Session Sour contains limes, lime peel, black limes and sea salt.  This beer really delivered what it promised in terms of flavor.  Many times a beer will say it has salt in it, but often times the saltiness just doesn’t come through or tastes artificial.   That wasn’t the case with this beer, Sea Quench had a great tart/lime flavor and a nice briney finish.   This is definitely a beer that needs to be drunk in the heat, it doesn’t say quench in the name for nothin’.

This week we welcome Leigh back to the show. Find out if bootlegged movies are still a thing, whether or not we’d eat a fried scorpion and what’s up with all that cheering in softball dugouts.

Listen to “Episode 64 Deep Fried Scorpions” on Spreaker.

This week’s sharin’ beer is actually a sharin’ cider.  Angry Orchard’s Tapped Maple is a seasonal cider with a touch of maple.  Leigh usually doesn’t get to partake in the sharin’ beer but again since this was a cider she got to try it along with Lauren and Carrie.  Leigh actually gave it a pretty high rating, even saying that she could probably drink two of them without getting overpowered with sweetness.  And she found it much more drinkable than Woodchuck’s Pancake Campfire, which is indescribably bad.  Lauren and Carrie thought the Tapped Maple was still a bit to sweet and Lauren was put off by the seemingly artificial maple flavor (although please note, Lauren doesn’t like maple).  However, if you like maple and are looking for something different in the cider category it would be worth picking this up, just stay away from Pancake Campfire.

Leigh’s pick this week was  really nice contrast to the sweetness of the Tapped Maple.  Shacksbury Arlo is a dry semi-sweet traditional cider that drinks very nice at 6.2%.  Leigh really liked it and again really enjoyed it against the sweetness of the Tapped Maple.  If you are looking for a traditional dry, semi-sweet cider in a nice sized bottle pick this up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lauren’s pick comes from Good Wood Brewing in Louisville KY.  Aptly named Hemp Gose, this beer is pretty much exactly as described.  It’s a gose style beer aged on hemp.  Lauren wasn’t sure what to expect from this beer, since she wasn’t sure what the hemp would add to the flavor of the beer.  She expected a possible grassy or maybe earthy taste, she really didn’t get any of that from this beer.  The gose itself was ok, but was way too sour and didn’t have the salty/fruit flavor that you would want from this style of beer.  Lauren didn’t feel like the hemp really added anything to the flavor.  If you are really into sours though, pick this up.

Carrie’s pick this week comes from Oskar Blues Brewery in Colorado.  Fugli is a fruit IPA made with Yuzu and Ugli fruits.  Having the two fruits, Carrie really expected more out of this beer.  Unfortunately the fruit flavor just didn’t come thru.  The IPA was a standard IPA, but Carrie was expecting to get a burst of fruit flavor in what seemingly had the potential to be a nice summer time beer, but unfortunately that just never materialized with this beer.  The final conclusion was that possibly these two fruits were just to subtle to overcome the hops of the IPA.

Looking for some great craft beer in the Central Kentucky area?  Want to see some great Kentucky scenery?  Then take a drive to Lemon’s Mill brewery in Harrodsburg Kentucky. Keith and Jay from the brewery were on our show not to long ago to talk about the beer they are brewing, you can listen to that right here: Listen to “Episode 52 Happy As A Pig In……” on Spreaker.  But as the saying goes, there’s nothing like being there!

If you’re in the Central Kentucky area then get down to Lemon’s Mill Brewery in Harrodsburg Kentucky and sample some awesome beer in a great setting.  Tell em’ Girls, Beer, Sports sent ya!

You can find directions and hours here:  Lemon’s Mill Brewery