Wednesday Fun Quiz

I won a House Party from Budweiser, and my party is this weekend. I am prepping for the party and trying to plan fun things to do. I got a bunch of free stuff for the party and vouchers for Budweiser products. I thought that it would be nice to do a quiz about Budweiser this week, since I am trying to brace myself for drinking Budweiser this weekend. I have been going over all of the "suggested games" that Budweiser sent me and thought I would steal one of their trivia questions. You can find the answer here.
How I won this Budweiser party escapes me honestly. I applied for it laughing because I thought they would see my blog, or read my questions about using the vouchers on Goose Island instead of Bud products. I never thought I would win, but I did. I even had to take a survey to say how familiar I am with the Bud family of products and if I drink them and if I recommend them to friends (which I answered no to). I am guessing that they are not desperate for hosts, because I know people who didn't win it. My only conclusion is that they want to change my beer-snobby mind by sending me free stuff... well played Budweiser... well played. We will see how it works out.

I have my vouchers, and I am going to the store Friday night. I got coupons for charcoal and sausages too. We got cool Frisbees, t-shirts, cups, beer coozies and $5 mail-in re-bates to give out to our guests. This is all under the auspices of promoting their limited edition patriotic cans. If you haven't seen the commercial, here it is.

I think that the patriotic can is cool looking, I will admit that. I am not sure why they are so excited about a limited edition can... but hey, I am getting free stuff so I can't complain.

Needless to say, this weekend's post will be all about our Budweiser party. Since I haven't had Budweiser in like 7 years, it will be interesting.

Don't forget to take this weeks quiz, answers will be given next Wednesday.

New York Beerience

 Last week I was on a business trip to New York City, and had the chance to have a couple beers while I was out there, not lucky enough to have an on-time return flight though.

At Brinkley's in NYC, I had Empire Cream Ale. I thought it was really tasty, with a mild bitterness that sort of mellowed out as the beer went on. It was a gorgeous color with a nice head and lacing on the glass. It was the perfect ending to a day of travel, and went great with my sweet potato gnocchi (yum!). I have to say that I will be keeping an eye out for this beer, but as of yet, it isn't being distributed to my liquor stores, or if it has I haven't seen it. You should check out the reviews on Beer Advocate for this beer. They also have a list of the top rated Cream Ales if you want to find one by you... we are lucky enough to have Spotted Cow close enough to us.

Empire Cream Ale


















Shock Top





The second beer I enjoyed in NYC was Shock Top. I know that this beer is from California, but it was on tap EVERYWHERE we went, including the bar in LaGuardia where I had mine. I thought it was a nicely spiced Belgium style ale. It reminded me a lot of Blue Moon, which is on tap everywhere by me. I like Blue Moon enough to order it if I am out, but I wouldn't say it is my favorite beer. I think that Shock Top is the same caliber beer, a middle of the road beer that will appeal to the masses.Overall, I think it is okay. The Tapper with the Mohawk made me anticipate a much more wild flavor than I got. I wouldn't suggest you go out of your way to get this beer, but if it's that or another mass-distributed, mass-produced appeal to the masses beer, I would order it again.



Shock Top Tapper