The key to properly enjoying a really fine brew is home brewing. Hard to have a traffic accident when you never leave the driveway. In addition, you can brew better beer than any of the micros at a small fraction of the cost. If any of you attend the Taste thing, check out the Lil' Ole Wine Maker Shoppe booth. They are really nice people from down in Merrill.

The best beer I ever had was at the Ratskeller in a former East German town of Stendal Germany. They happened to have a firefighting museum that I had to check out while I was there. Anyway, We had the local beer "Koenig Ludvig Brew" - dark and thick, and room temp, but it was delightfull! Black bread, homegrown horseradish, and wild pig for supper too! I was the first American they had seen there since before the wall went up. Very interesting!

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*** The opinions expressed herein are uniquely MY OWN and should not be construed as an endorsement of any sort by my employers or of any professional associations to which I hold membership. I can dig myself into holes just fine without their help, thank you very much***

I don`t know if it`s available in your area, but I think Lakefront Brewery is brewing the best beer around. www.lakefrontbrewery.com

Ken,
I like Lakefront's Riverwest ale, but my current favorites come from a little brewery in Olympia, WA called Fish Tale Ales. Their Imperial stout, barley wine, & an Imperial IPA that they brewed in honor of their 10th anniversary called "10 Squared" are all great tastes.

I've got a buddy who home brews & has won or placed in national competitions. Like Dave said, his creations easily rival the micros. He & two friends made a hard cider last year that took first place in the American Home Brewers Assoc. national contest. It was their first attempt at making cider.

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What if there were no hypothetical questions?

baby: you are DEFINETLY NOT a Dr Atkins fan!

Baby, if the docs followed their own advice they'd outlive us all I suppose but they don't. They drink, smoke, overwork, don't get enough sleep, etc, etc, etc. We all end up the same. It's the quality of life that counts. You can sit in your house and do nothing your entire life IF that's what you consider quality and look just wonderful at your funeral. As for me I choose to slide in broadside and out of breath with a smile on my face.
By the by, it would take a six pack of beer to come close to the amount of calories in a Big Mac, which I don't eat. Too unhealthy. And those brains cells that are dying? They were the slow ones

I was wondering what people thought of Tomahawk's Own "Log Jam Beer."

There are a few of us here in Chicago that love it!

We on Lake Alice are honored to have such a quality brew outside our backdoor!! Not so easy to get to by boat though. Log Jam brews are great, I would like to get them in Southern Illinois.

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Life is not measured by the amount of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.

I like Log Jam's Brown Ale. I wish they'd try to add an Imperial Stout or a Barley Wine to their product line.

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What if there were no hypothetical questions?

ODDS BODKINS! BE CAREFUL MULLIN!

Drinking too much Log Jam will turn to you into a
PACKER BACKER!

On the potatoe pancake subject, my father used to come through Merrill from Sheboygan for his fishing trips to some lake up north of here. I think it was Squirrel Lake ??? Anyhow, he swore by the potatoe pancakes at Champs Restuarant in Merrill. He and his fishing partner said they were the best. They still make them there on a certain night.
Next, about the lady who licked her maple trees. One day many years back I was in the woods cutting firewood and I slashed off a small maple that was about a half dollar size in diameter to make room for my saw at the tree I was felling. It must have been just the right timing for the sap to run because I had never seen anything like it before or since. That cut end gushed up so much juice it seemed like a water fountain(bubbler). I drank juice for several minutes from that sapling and it was delicious. That must have been an exceptional syrup year.