Sleepless in Midland

99 bottles of beer on the wall, make that cans, please

For a heavy beer drinker 99 bottles is probably a good start. But for the rest of us it's a bit much.

But by golly, Pabst has come out with a 99 can pack. Although the cans don't quite hit the right note for the song, it's a good gimmick, nonetheless.

Pabst Blue Ribbon Is Selling a Limited-Edition 99-Pack of Beer for the Party That Never Ends. Quote:

Ever wonder what 99 cans of beer looks like? Probably not, but now you have the answer — because Pabst Blue Ribbon (PBR) has a pack filled with that many cans of beer.

The limited-edition pack first hit Quebec just in time for Christmas in 2017, but it looks like it has hit the United States for the 2019 holiday season. However, it appears that it’s a pretty exclusive item, so you might have to search a bit. We’ll keep you updated when you get confirmation on distribution.

A drinking buddy in college days used to recite the message he said was on the label, "Pabst Blue Ribbon, selected as America's Best in 1893." Well, OK then.

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3:08 PM 11/23/2019

Texas lawmakers should abolish the archaic package store liquor laws

Governor Abbott is boasting about a bill he signed allowing customers to order beer and wine delivered to their homes. That sounds reasonable considering that it might eliminate some drunk drivers going back to the store for one last beer run. And the beer lobby is probably celebrating mightily.

But if the governor and the legislature really wanted to serve the drinking public they would get rid of those package store laws that prohibits the sale of liquor at stores other than liquor stores. Other states allow it, and they don't seem to be having any problems with it.

Efforts this year for a repeal of the law are falling flat -- the package store lobby must be fighting it tooth and nail.

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10:59 AM 6/5/2019

While other states wrestle with legalizing marijuana, Texas struggles with Sunday liquor sales

State Rep. Richard Peña Raymond (D) introduced H.B. No. 1100 on 1/25/2019 which would remove Sunday from the list of days on which package stores could not sell liquor. New Year's Day, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day would remain on the list.

Seems prudish that such a law exists, but it took a long time to even get this far. In an ideal Texas it would be legal for grocery and other retailers to sell liquor. But no. Prudish attitudes once put into law will linger for a long time. But to be fair to indecisive lawmakers, package liquor stores would fight tooth and nail to retain exclusive rights to sell liquor, and they would pay their lobbyists dearly to make sure lawmakers preserve their exclusivity and prevent more competition.

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2:34 PM 1/30/2019

Moderate drinking might help prevent dementia

The other day we talked about that shot of whiskey at the end of a busy day. One doesn't have to look too hard to find articles out there telling us alcohol is bad for our health. Well, the good news is that a drink probably won't kill us. And here's more good news.

'Moderate' drinking may be a brain buffer:

The study, which followed 9,000 British adults for over two decades, found that both heavier drinkers and abstainers had a higher dementia risk than moderate drinkers. ...

People who were nondrinkers in middle age were 47 percent more likely to eventually be diagnosed with dementia, versus moderate drinkers, the findings showed.

Meanwhile, when people drank beyond moderate levels, their risk of dementia rose in tandem with their alcohol intake.

Among people who had more than a drink per day, dementia risk rose by 17 percent with every additional 7 units of alcohol they downed per week.

They defined moderate as 14 "units" of alcohol per week. The "unit" is a measurement used in the U.K. A unit of 80 proof whiskey (40% alcohol), is equivalent to 25ml or 0.85 oz. So 14 units of whiskey would be slightly under 12 ounces.

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2:32 PM 11/6/2018

A shot of whiskey makes a perfect end to a busy day.

But oh my, there sure are a lot of good selections available. My current favorite is Devil's River Bourbon, but given the large selection and the fact that I'm a newcomer to the pursuit of fine bourbon, that could change overnight. One I would like to try is Colkegan Single Malt Whiskey made by Santa Fe Spirits, but currently the closest retailer where it's available is a hundred miles from here. And sadly, Texas lawmakers have not seen fit to allow shipping liquor to or within the state -- probably a holdover from the days of prohibition.

Meanwhile, let's indulge in some trivia. Mentalfloss has a beginner's guide to the topic in What’s the Difference Between Scotch, Whiskey and Bourbon?:

The Federal Standards of Identity for Bourbon stipulate what is and what isn’t bourbon. For a whiskey to call itself bourbon, its mash, the mixture of grains from which the product is distilled, must contain at least 51% corn. (The rest of the mash is usually filled out with malted barley and either rye or wheat.) The mash must be distilled at 160 proof or less, put into the barrel at 125 proof or less, and it must not contain any additives. The distillate must be aged in a new charred oak barrel. (Most often these barrels are white oak, but they can be any variety of oak.) ...

The main difference between scotch and whisky is geographic, but also ingredients and spellings. Scotch is whisky made in Scotland, while bourbon is whiskey made in the U.S.A, generally Kentucky. Scotch is made mostly from malted barley, while bourbon is distilled from corn. If you’re in England and ask for a whisky, you’ll get Scotch. But in Ireland, you’ll get Irish whiskey (yep, they spell it differently for a little colour). On this side of the pond, we have our own local color, too. The difference between Tennessee Whiskey, like Jack Daniel’s, for example, and Bourbon is that after the spirit is distilled, Tennessee Whiskey is filtered through sugar-maple charcoal. This filtering, known as the Lincoln County Process, is what distinguishes Tennessee Whiskey from your average Bourbon, like Jim Beam. The name, Bourbon, comes from an area known as Old Bourbon, around what is now Bourbon County, Kentucky.

On top of these types of whiskey, we also have Rye, which can refer either to American rye whiskey, which must be distilled from at least 51 percent rye or Canadian whisky, which may or may not actually include any rye in its production process.

So generally, Scotch is whiskey made in Scotland. Irish Whiskey is made in Ireland. Bourbon was originally identified with whiskey made in Bourbon County, Kentucky, but it can be made anywhere in the U.S. There are even a few bourbon distilleries in Texas.

And there are plenty of customers for it -- look for sales to skyrocket on Monday before the midterm elections. See Poll: Democrats Are Stress-Eating More, Drinking Republicans Under the Table Due to Midterm Election Stress.

Coming up: Artificial whiskey.

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1:59 PM 11/4/2018