P A G E 6 B O R D E R B A T C H B R E W I N G S
As I sit here pondering life thru beer goggles over a Lakemaid I can ’ t believe that it ’ s almost the Fourth of July . For starters a little aside on Lakemaid . This afternoon I finally got my 49lb . Muskie . Been trolling for that for awhile . Still looking for a decent size Catfish & have yet to land a Smallmouth Bass . The other evening I was enjoying a Lakemaid with fellow Border Batcher Chuck Fowler before a local small town huh-rah-rah event . If you must know it was Medford ’ s Straight River Days . Over that pre-event Lakemaid Chuck proclaimed something to the effect of , “ this is the perfect marketing plan , I don ’ t see why every beer doesn ’ t have ‘ babe ’ labeling .” Now he may of said something like “ Babeling ” or I might just of heard that , given the slurred speech / hearing that often accompanies a few beers in the system . Regardless , I think he ’ s definitely onto something . Look for Chuck in his new Lakemaid t-shirt that his family got him for Father ’ s Day . Now that ’ s love . And as far as the event , well it was way better than I expected . Chuck had to twist my arm a bit to get me to go as I intended to do some home brewing chores that evening . Overall given the questionable live music performance , domestic beer choices , & the fact that Chuck ’ s wife Amy tried to make venison out of a couple of fawns on the way to Medford , I ended up having a really good time . Thanks Chuck for dragging me out of the brewing cave !
Onto something of more substance . Well probably not , but I needed a segue for the change of subject . I should have mentioned above that I was pondering life thru beer goggles under my new lid . Yes , there ’ s a story about that . I don ’ t recall where it begins , but I ’ m fairly clear on the middle & the end seems to make sense . My new “ lid ’ is a vintage look Schell ’ s Brewery ball cap . I ’ m certain than many of you were accustomed to seeing my smiling skull beneath a Guinness cap in numerous Border Batch photos . I don ’ t recall the exact setting but I ’ m pretty sure it was a Bock Fest about two or three years ago ( if you have substantial proof to the contrary keep it to yourself - this is MY story & I ’ m stickin ’ to it ) that Col . Tom challenged me as to why any self-respecting Border Batch would be wearing a Guinness hat in the first place . In my best Irish brogue I responded that when Schell ’ s produced a Dry Irish Stout that ’ d I ’ d retire that old Guinness hat in favor of something a bit more New Ulm appropriate . Now I ’ m sure that by now most of you are aware of the fact that Schell ’ s has brought back the rather popular Snowstorm of 2006 as a year round specialty craft beer labeled as Schell ’ s Stout . True , it ’ s not my stout of choice i . e . the Irish variety , but I ’ m so darn proud of Schell ’ s stepping outside the mold as a brewery producing mainly German styled beers that I fulfilled my pledge early . As far as Sweet Stouts go , Schell ’ s Stout is a fine a beer as one could ask for & best yet as breweriana collectors , Schell ’ s has graced us with beautiful packaging for this brew . If the latest rendition of the Dark label & this Stout label are indication of what the near future holds , I think we are in line for some stellar pieces with long term future interest . Notice I didn ’ t say value . They may well have value ( pretty much anything remotely collectible does ), but I think the true measure of the advertising is in it ’ s artistic value not it ‘ s monetary value . I ’ ll shout it from the top of my soapbox & Jay ’ s too if I can knock him off long enough to have my say , that these last two labels have top notch artistic value . If either of them was produced as a can during the correct time frame for the lastest COY ( Can of the Year ) contest , then the Border Batch would be handing Ted back to back trophies at Stubie Fest this year . WARNING : Extreme point of view approaching . Personally ( no offense to the companies & designers involved intended ), but the offerings for COY this year disinterest me so much that I have no compulsion what-so-ever to cast a vote .
Since we ’ re into the part of the article where I tell you what I really think , I ’ ve got to add a little bit about world beer styles here . Some time during the Day at August Schell Weekend Extravaganza Tom , Jay & I had a little go around about Stouts . You might even go so far to say that it was borderline heated . Or at least as heated as anything can get between Outlaws . No surprise Tom & Jay weighed in for the corner of the malty sweet goodness of English-styled Sweet Stouts & myself , as the Irish underdog , pulling for the dry roasty bitterness of the Irish Stout . Advocate what you will , but after much debate we resolved on the age old & well respected conclusion that , “ You like what you like , & that ’ s why there are so many styles of beer to choose from .” And that to me sounds like the wisdom of great bar room philosophy . I suppose now that I ’ ve given in to the change of headgear early , that when Schell ’ s finally comes out with that Irish Stout that I ’ ll have to get our resident artist to design me an Schell ’ s Irish Stout / Schell ’ s Outlaw tattoo !