Lushness Comes with Age

Tonight, I joined the beer tasting club at Growlers, a pub in Creve Coeur, because I've decided that I'm too Bud Light-centric. In public, anyway.

Growlers has a 131-beer selection, plus cigars and scotch and the like. As a member of the beer club, if I drink all 131 beers, I get a free engraved beer stein (along the way, I'll also pick up a gift certificate and tee shirt). How cool is that?

So, in the interest of informing my beer-drinking reader(s), I'm going to give a review of every one of those 131 beers.

Tonight, I partook of Czechvar (#112) and Pabst Blue Ribbon (#35).

112: The Czechvar has a bit of a sharp taste, but no aftertaste. It's a nice mid-weight brew, with a good color and a taste that probably goes with just about anything.

35: Did you know that birds don't have bladders? They extrude nitrogeneous waste through glands in their rectum. But if a sparrow could take a leak in a glass, you could call it PBR and it would be about right. Blech.

Now, onto the NFL Picks!

Chicago at Pittsburgh - The Bears have won 8 straight games, and yet they're considering benching Kyle Orton, their mistake-free quarterback, for a man who I believe is made entirely from Faberge' eggs. As whiny as Ben Roethlisberger is, at least the Steelers stick with him when he's healthy. PIT
Cleveland at Cincinnati - The Bengals have guaranteed themselves their first winning season since 1990. It's hard NOT to overlook the Browns, but I don't think the Bengals will let themselves slip now. CIN
Houston at Tennessee - This is like deciding whether Milton Berle or Bob Hope is more dead. HOU in a shocker.
Indianapolis at Jacksonville - David Garrard is more mobile than Byron Leftwich, but his unfamiliarity with the offense this season is going to be hard on him. IND
New England at Buffalo - The Bills have struggled offensively the last few weeks, so they solve that problem by benching one of their top two wide receivers, because he had the audacity to point that out. Screw them. NE
Oakland at N.Y. Jets - It's got to be rough for Randy Moss, knowing he missed out on a great sex cruise to play with Marques Tuiasa..sassapo...sposasa...Kerry Collins's backup. Oakland is the better team, but weather plays a factor. NYJ
St. Louis at Minnesota - I put too much faith in Ryan Fitzpatrick last week to beat the Redskins. And has anyone else noticed that the Vikings have won 5 in a row? MIN
Tampa Bay at Carolina - John Clayton says Carolina is peaking. I say that the Buccaneers really miss having Brian Griese (second team in a row he's been better than average for). CAR
N.Y. Giants at Philadelphia - This is just going to be ugly. NYG
San Francisco at Seattle - This is just going to be ugly (dance remix f. DMX) SEA
Washington at Arizona - A tough call. Kurt Warner has four 300-yard passing games out of his last five, and nobody in their right minds can blame Kurt for this team's struggles. Actually, the fact that Arizona has one of the worst run-blocking offensive lines in pro football is the problem. Weather won't be a factor, but Washington's top-10 pass defense will. WAS
Baltimore at Denver - Denver is a very quiet team this year. This is a good team to face when you want to quietly rebound from a quiet loss. DEN
Kansas City at Dallas - Tough call. Could go either way, but the magic quarter says it'll be the Cowboys. DAL
Miami at San Diego - Another tough game to figure out. The Chargers have to hope and pray they can back into the playoffs, while the Dolphins are a surprising 5-7. A tossup I give to the Chargers. SD
Detroit at Green Bay - Who's in a worse position: Matt Millen or Brett Favre? GB
New Orleans at Atlanta - I had very high hopes for the Saints this year, because I believe in emotions winning over owner apathy and lack of talent. Boy, was I fooled. ATL