Beer Fridges

Many of us here at ATK live the suburban dream. 2-story houses, white pickett fences, 2.5 kids and a dog.

Well, okay. Maybe some of us are former-enlisted military guys with short fuses, barely-employed state workers, political wanks and the like. Our suburban "dream" is merely a facade that covers-up otherwise seething mental disorders, but that's why we drink beer.

And in order to add more pleasure to our collective drinking experience, many of us, in our suburban dream houses, wish to install some sort of beer delivery device, and what better way to do so than to occupy our idle, suburban hands with a little DIY project!First, fellow Marine and ATK newcomer Christian links to a guy who converted a normal 25 cu ft fridge into a 4-tap kegerator. Christian has a dream, people, and it is a 4-tap beer fridge. We like Christian here.

From kegworks.com, the definitive keg and keg conversion web site, check out their conversion kits. They have an outdoor keg and some tutorials on building your home bar.

If you are not a member at Beer Advocate.com, which I again assume all of our ATK contributors are, they have a whole forum specific to kegging and fridge-to-kegerator conversions using all matter of freezers and fridges: dorm-sized dealies, chest freezers, normal fridges and the like.

There are a gazillion more resources out there, including an article in Zymurgy magazine (which I could try to scan and add later to this post). Know some? Add 'em in the comments.

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A Lifetime of Music—Year By Year

Though not specifically mentioned, I thought this looked like a really interesting meme from Mr. F.  You start with the year of your birth on Wikipedia and pick you favorite album.  Other ATK contributors and viewers (Tony), give this a try if you want.

1969--Tommy - The Who

1970--Emerson, Lake and Palmer - Emerson, Lake & Palmer

1971--Electric Warrior - T. Rex

1972--Will the Circle Be Unbroken - The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

1973--We're An American Band - Grand Funk Railroad

1974--Autobahn - Kraftwerk

1975--Hair of the Dog - Nazareth

1976--The Ramones - The Ramones

1977--The Grand Illusion - Styx

1978--Van Halen - Van Halen

1979--The Wall - Pink Floyd

1980--London Calling - The Clash

1981--Escape - Journey

1982--The Number of the Beast - Iron Maiden

1983--Seven and the Ragged Tiger - Duran Duran

1984--The Unforgettable Fire - U2

1985--Scarecrow - John Cougar Mellencamp

1986--Licensed to Ill - The Beastie Boys

1987--One Way Home - The Hooters

1988--...And Justice for All - Metallica

1989--Mother's Milk - Red Hot Chili Peppers

1990--Fear of a Black Planet - Public Enemy

1991--O.G. Original Gangster - Ice T

1992--The Predator - Ice Cube

1993--Chaos A.D. - Sepultura

1994--No Need to Argue - The Cranberries

1995--Alice In Chains - Alice in Chains

1996-- Boys for Pele - Tori Amos

1997--Come on Over - Shania Twain

1998--No Substance - Bad Religion

1999--Enema of the State - Blink-182

2000--The Marshall Mathers LP - Eminem

2001--Satellite - P.O.D.

2002--Bunkka - Paul Oakenfold

2003--Faceless - Godsmack

2004--Franz Ferdinand - Franz Ferdinand

2005--The Warrior's Code - Dropkick Murphys

2006--Sam's Town - The Killers

2007--Dark Passion Play - Nightwish

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More Beer Politics

Methinks we were ahead of the curve with our conversation from a couple of weeks ago:

http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2008/07/sleeper-issue-of-2008-beer.html

If you haven't visited this site (FiveThirtyEight.com), it's pretty much a political polling junkie's daily fix.

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Summer Beer Fest & Site Updates

Today is the beginning of the Michigan Brewers Guild Summer Beer Festival! A small cadre of about 12 or 13 of us are piling into a VIP Party Bus, complete with couches and tables, and heading to Ypsilanti, Michigan, to drink to our hearts content. I will take some pix while I am there, and will report Monday. I won't be able to vouch for the quality of the photos, though. Nor of the post, which will possibly be well below our admittedly questionable standards.

So there's that.

There have been some changes here at Around the Keg. All for the better.

First, there are more links. We expanded the brewery links, and will be adding more as I continue to look up their URLs and stick them on. Next, we added a few more blogs to our esteemed blogroll: Christian's "Is This Supposed To Hurt"; Sopor's "Beer, My Universe And Everything"; and ATK Regular George's "I'm Not One To Blog, But...".

The biggest thanks go to ATK Contributor Bob. The sexy new graphic across the top, with our name in colors and different script? Bob.

But the coolest thing is that we now OWN..yes, OWN...the official domain name www.aroundthekeg.com. It's our little piece of real estate on these here tubes. Thanks, Bob.

So enjoy the new look, visit the breweries, frequent the blogs on the blogroll, and revel in the fact that we are officially aroundthekeg.com.

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A Harsh Look at Africa

Kevin Myers, a columnist for the Independent, published 3 essays on Africa that were very thought provoking:

Africa is giving nothing to anyone -- apart from AIDS

Writing what I should have written so many years ago

Is this the tolerance that our thought-police take pride in?

Some quotes:

This dependency has not stimulated political prudence or commonsense. Indeed, voodoo idiocy seems to be in the ascendant, with the next president of South Africa being a firm believer in the efficacy of a little tap water on the post-coital penis as a sure preventative against infection. Needless to say, poverty, hunger and societal meltdown have not prevented idiotic wars involving Tigre, Uganda, Congo, Sudan, Somalia, Eritrea etcetera.

I am not innocent in all this. The people of Ireland remained in ignorance of the reality of Africa because of cowardly journalists like me. When I went to Ethiopia just over 20 years ago, I saw many things I never reported -- such as the menacing effect of gangs of young men with Kalashnikovs everywhere, while women did all the work. In the very middle of starvation and death, men spent their time drinking the local hooch in the boonabate shebeens. Alongside the boonabates were shanty-brothels, to which drinkers would casually repair, to briefly relieve themselves in the scarred orifice of some wretched prostitute (whom God preserve and protect). I saw all this and did not report it, nor the anger of the Irish aid workers at the sexual incontinence and fecklessness of Ethiopian men. Why? Because I wanted to write much-acclaimed, tear-jerkingly purple prose about wide-eyed, fly-infested children -- not cold, unpopular and even "racist" accusations about African male culpability.

To say that I was uncomfortable reading these is an understatement.  Like many, I am appalled at what is occuring in Africa, but I have always wondered if what the rest of the world is doing is helpful to Africa.  Do our policies encourage some kind of improvement or do they alleviate our guilt as Africa slips further into barbarity?

I can certainly understand some of the motivation for Western guilt.  European colonial practices have contributed to current problems.  Unfortunately, the past can't be changed, but we certainly control how we act towards Africa.  While I may not agree entirely with the essays, the author is clearly knowledgable on Africa and he raises some good points that are worthy of discussion.  The fact that some are suggesting he be jailed is sad and does little to help develop some useful policies.  So, ATK readers, what did you think of the essays and what do you think can be done?

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Video of the Week (But Not Every Week) #11

It seems that to allow a taste test in a New Jersey brewery, state law requires that a tour impart some sort of knowledge upon the guests. The proprietor of Cricket Hill Brewery in Fairfield, New Jersey has some fun, taking the opportunity to tell his guests what not to drink.

It’s pretty funny stuff.

They also have a blog.

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Quote of the Day

I saw this over at Lawdog and I must say that I can't agree more.

Folks, when your housepet starts quoting ancient religious texts, rest assured that someones day is about to get Very Interesting, Indeed. Trust me on this one.

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