Entries from November 2005 ↓

Luxist has a great list of cool–and increasingly expensive–alcohol gifts that are sure to be a hit. If you have some spare cash, I'd really like the Sam Adams Utopia

The Kegbot can tell you how much you've drank (or is it drunk?), who is currently drunk, and all kinds of other useless stuff. The main kegbot appears to be idle, but the San Jose kegbot has current stats.

Link via: Engadget

Not to be outdone by their neighbors to the north at beerhunter.ca, SevenNites.com gives you a happy hour search engine for Seattle. My favorite part is the link to check for happy hour right now! Isn't technology great?

Want to know where you can get a drink in Toronto at this exact time? You are in luck, thanks to beerhunter.ca This is a great Google Maps mashup that shows you in a glance where you can get your booze (and beer). As the site explains, you can't just get beer and liquor anywhere in Ontario:

Those of you who aren't from the province of Ontario may be unfamiliar with how you buy beer, wine or liquor here. Booze can only be bought at one of four types of places:

“The Beer Store”. Its formal name is “Brewer's Retail”, and it used to sport signs that bore those words, but since everyone called it “The Beer Store”, they re-branded in the 1990s. Since the liquor stores are owned by the provincial government, many people believe that the Beer Store is also under the same ownership. This is not the case. The lion's share is owned by swillmeisters Labatt (which these days is owned by Belgium's InBec) and Molson (actually Molson-Coors). The remaining sliver is owned by Sleeman, makers of some actually drinkable stuff. It is, as the Beer Hunter site puts it, a cartel.

The Liquor Control Board of Ontario, a.k.a. LCBO. This one is owned by the Goverment of Ontario. A few of years ago, in response to calls to allow privately-owned liquor stores, the provincial government sponsored TV ads in which “Augur” from the craptactular locally-produced TV series Earth: Final Conflict talked about how the LCBO generates CDN$1 billion in government revenue every year, and wasn't that just dandy? In other words — the government spent tax money on ads talking about how great booze taxes were. I wish I'd thought up that scam. There is one small upside: the better LCBO branches — you know, the ones in higher-tax bracket neighbourhoods — have a great selection and are some of the most beautifully-appointed liquor stores anywhere.

Independent microbreweries. The good beer is available from Accordion City's selection of micros, such as Amsterdam, Mill Street and Steam Whistle (sometimes known as “Skunk Whistle”, as the Steam Whistle brewery tends to serve their oldest, just-past-its-freshness date beer at events hosted at their brewery).

The Wine Rack. I know little about this independent wine store other than the fact that they somehow got a deal in which they can sell wine and other non-beer, non-pure-liquor beverages.

Link via: Joey (Accordion Guy)

OK, so here we are four days after the Orlando Beer Festival and I still haven't done a writeup. Such is life when home improvement takes over for a couple weeks. Until then, check out a few photos.