I haven't done a "Christmas Tree" post for a long time here on this blog, in fact, why does anybody still print a blog? Why aren't I on the Booger or the Twit or the Snappy or the HughTewb or..or..or... I like the old and antiqued. I like tradition. I like DEVO. Under this genuine Yuengling Tampa Gift Shop bag hails a tradition I've had since moving out way back. Putting beer cans on my Christmas tree. Of course one tradition that I would have liked to keep is video tape or audio tape on the tree, but that only happened once when I lived with someone employed in television. We also had a Art Modell Urinal screen. That was on a junk blog post long ago. This one is about the BEER man. But first...

Footstar. K-Mart. They had shoes. Way back when, that was my place to buy shoes. We had a Super K-Mart nearby and well, I was a cheepdog. I bought anything less than 30 dollars and walked around in my new kicks until they got old and the soles wore out or the lip became undone. Did I just call tennis shoes KICKS? I'm trying to be young and hip and get off my lawn. Shaq had a brand of shoes. I bought said shoes. They were my size but they weren't "wide width". I wore them for a bit and replaced them when they had a really cheap sale on shoes. So, they went into the box. I took them out of the box when I moved to my house and got a bigger Christmas tree and wanted a place to store the beer cans that I was going to put on the tree. 2006. Meanwhile, as all cheap unworn shoes do, the soles on these turned to cement. Meanwhile Shaq came to Cleveland to play his last year with a young Lebron James. Maybe I should have kept them just for that, but the rubber at the bottom was now ORANGE so out they went. I'll always have the shoe box. Funny, but shoe boxes are still something I prize. I keep my best office supplies in a CROCS box under my bed.

There they are. My beautiful Christmas beer decorations. Several of these beverages are not made anymore. When I think of how many of these beers I drank and enjoyed. How many I  drank and threw up. How many I drank and gave back to the sewer systems. How many I drank and wished that I had a Torpedo or my own brewery (not one of those silly plastic kits with plastic bottles to put the plastic beer in it. ) Plastic pee-pull. Oh Baby. Your such a drag.  *skitch* Frank Zappa. Thanks.

We'll start with Pittsburgh Brewing's nearly last gasp. Augustiner Lager. It was a good beer that tasted like an "URN" with more body. The bottles were an innovation that PB and Alcoa made and  PB went all in. I was buying several of their beers in these bottles. Iron City and IC Light were consumed quite a bit. They brought out this brand when Yuengling was getting more popular. Compete or shrivel right? I liked this beverage but I usually bought one of PB's retired brands that they kept making cheap and became my favorite case or two beer whenever I went to Pitt.

When I first bought beer in Pitt, I had to get used to going to a distributor and buying a case of beer at a time. Not by 12 pack, no 6 packs. No 32/40 ounce bottle available. Just a case of 24. There was a  beer distributor that was just down a hill from my friend's house (everything in Pitt is just down a hill) called "Beer World". It was an old United Dairy Farmers distribution/packing center. It was hot in the summer and cold in the winter because it was a factory after all. Now it was the new "Superbeerstore" because they carried acres and acres of beer beverage. I walked in the first time and noted they had J.J. Wainwrights Evil Eye Honey Brown for 8.99 a CASE. I was used to buying 12 packs for 5.99. 24 beers for 8.99? What was this elixir? I tried it. It was decent to good. Really. This was my new beer and stayed that way for two-three years. Now the only honey brown made is a Genesee product. It's just not the same as 'ol 8.99.

Here is the last "ODD" PB beer I had, actually after I stopped buying their beers. They used to brew this beer and give it away at Christmas and it became a bit of a thing. "Olde Frothingslosh." "The Pale Stale Ale With The Foam At The Bottom"  I don't really know the full history of this beverage but since it was at the Pitt superbeerstore, I tried it. Meh. Just like any other cheap beer. I almost wonder if this recipe was different because the slogan is a little different leading me to believe that it was an ale but on mass/limited release, was made a lager. I've told the history I had with PB before on this blog. I got three different beers, one from another STATE yet they all developed a spoiled taste. The QC man that I sent an e-mail too said "it's storage." That's when I discovered the nectar that is Yuengling and never looked back.

Yep. I've said this is a great beer that pretty much puts all the other like offerings by BudMillerCoors (BMC) to shame. Still a regional brewer, still only in the East side of the country, They have several different types of beers when you don't like the flagship. Some say it's too sweet or too "odd" tasting because it does have more of a profile that your average light beer beverage, but that's why I like it. Old superbeerstore carried everything they brewed and I tried everything Y! (my shortened nickname for Yuengling) had to offer. They had a cheaper beer that they have been brewing forever as their original competitor to BMC...

It tastes like Miller High Life. Maybe a bit better with a bit more flavor. That's it. That's all. It's $2 cheaper a case that Y! Lager. Not bad. My understanding is that years ago, Yuengling brewing was a local favorite selling a variety of flavors that had fallen out of favor with beer beverage drinkers. Then they came up with "Traditional Lager" and that became so popular, they actually had to stop selling in a few states as they were using all their brewery space to brew it. They added a new brewery, expanded back to to the states they were in and slowly have been adding states on the strength of the brand. So much that in some places, when you ask for a LAGER you get a Y! beverage. They bought the Tampa brewery just because Strohs was was vacating it, and expanded to Florida. Now they are doing seasonals and developing new flavors. They came to Ohio after the Tampa tour guide said "NEVER" when asked When I can get a pitcher of Y! for $5...I'm home.

Here is the other Y! product that I call "Chet In The Can." This is a traditional ALE brewed the way that the world viewed ALE until the LAGER became the standard heavily advertised swill of the 60's 70's and 80's. This ale was brewed so it was a bit of the bitter a bit of the hops flavor. It is a classic dry yellow burp beer. I liked it since the first time I tried it. The only other ale like it way back when I first started drinking Y! was Ballantine. I would buy B! in a six pack as a change up and tasted great. At superbeerstore, you had to buy 24 bottles, and because this costs more to produce, it cost an average of 3-4 bucks more. When you're buying a stock of beer to take to Ohio (before Y! came) that made a difference. Ahh, but occasionally, they would get "CHETS IN THE CAN" . Still more expensive than other Y! but 6-7 bucks cheaper than when it was in the bottle. PLUS, because it wasn't sold in a green glass bottle, it tasted fresher and became my preferred way to consume this beverage. Haven't had it in awhile as when I go to Pitt, I gets me a 12 pack of Ziggy Zocky.

Similar can colors. Similar beers? Not really. Both brewed by the Pabst company in name only. (Brewed under contract by Miller.)  I have Old Style once a year when I'm in Chicago. It's a Chicago beer beverage. They are making it to an older recipe supposedly, but I find it to be a bit better than BMC offerings but not enough to drink it regular. When I didn't go to Chicago last year, I found a 6 Pack at my local, and enjoyed it. I'll need to do that again as the Pansamatic has kinda put the keebash on the reason for going to Chicago. 2021 or BUST! Meanwhile, PABST! I have went on and on about how this beverage is the autoworker beverage. It has flavor that as my young beer drinker pallet grew, I could appreciate the taste. Yes, there are HOPS in beer and sometimes you can taste those hops! I prefer the 24oz cans. More to swill, less trips to the fridge. Pansamatic life has forced me to get these in 30 packs, but I use a 30oz tumbler to serve the 24oz size.  Oh yeah, did I mention I only drink about 48 ounces total once a week? Pansamatic. Lots of calories in beer beverage, so it stays my treat when I'm doing my radio show..because everybody wants their host to be drunk and burp a lot right? We do it all for...awww forget it. 

Genny beer beverage. The green can is their one a year 'bock beer". It's incredibly okay, but I don't really like bock beers. I don't even know what makes a bock beer a bock beer. Sort of like a brown beer but a bit sharper to the flavor. I guess it's a winter thing? "Celebrator" is the only brand of bock beer I ever liked. It's the import sold in 4 pack bottles with plastic goats on a red string tired around every bottle. It's costly. While it's a fine beer, for my dollar, I'll take Sierra Nevada Torpedo Extra IPA. Ahh, but Genny made my favorite cheap beverage. Genesee Red Lager. Yeah, it was cheap tasting, but had that sharpness of a "red" beer while being smooth like a lager. They sold these in 30 packs for 14.99 last I remember. (I think my last 30 pack was 16.99.)  They had "sort of" started making a red again as a J.W. Dundee beer, but it wasn't the same. In that case, it was a cleaner taste than 'ol Genny Red. I'd still be drinking these today if they were available. Beeeeeeeerrrrrr.

I'll wrap this entry with two of my most recent decorations. The Wyndridge has a dog on the can! See that! It's a dog on a beer can! Not since Alex from Strohs or Spuds McKenzie had their commercials for brews has there been a DOG on a CAN of beer. Um...well...never one with a MONACLE! Col. Klink's  dog. Where is that KINCH? Yeah, it's the only reason why I made this can an ornament. As for the beer it contained? Like most flavored porters, too sweet and too artificial for my tastes.  The other is Rivertown Hala Kahiki. A pineapple fruit beer. My friend in Pitt and I used to go across the world in Pitt to hit up this microbrew. They had some awesome food. Huge salads, great sandwiches and the absolute best FRUIT BEERS! I'm not a fruit beer fan but  if the brewer at Rivertowne made it, it was great. I guess this was their most popular because when they started canning their beers, this was the only fruit beer that was consistently available. The one "treat" I used to savor was called "Cranton Randall Ell" named after a Steelers team member. It was a cranberry beer that really was unique. Sweet and sour and mellow like a sweet tart but neither won over the other. It was a masterpiece. They changed the name for one batch and they didn't offer it again. It didn't sell. A few years later, the microbrews went belly up. Last I checked I could still get some of Rivertowne beers being made in conjunction with another local Pitt brewer. Really! A great cranberry beer! Never seen one since unless you buy a LAMBIC.  Phew. Nice ornament though. Junk Blog. -Ric