First Annual Mo Stash Bash

Come celebrate the glorious hirsute facial accoutrement that is the mustache at the first annual Mo Stash Bash. Not only will the cost of entry ($5) snag you free Maker’s Mark bourbon, but you will also be helping raise cash money for the Lance Armstrong Foundation and the Prostate Cancer Foundation. Let’s help our boys take care of their boys and have some drinks while we are at it!

Mo Stash Bash
Monday, Movember 30th, 7PM
The Independent at 501 Studios
501 N. IH-35

http://mostashbash.com/

Unofficial AIS Trip: Wurstfest

Inaugural Members of the AIS will be marauding around Wustfest Saturday, November 7th, 2009. Join us, as we drink from glass boots and consume mass quantities of potato pancakes, fried foods, and encased meats. Admission is $8.00.

Come One, Come All - Return to Planet 9

July 24th at Karma Lounge. Not a meeting, meeting but an outing. :)
It's gonna be fun!

An informed perspective

If you have the time, be sure to check out David Hanson's wonderful site, Alcohol: Problems and Solutions, especially the wonderful article The Legal Drinking Age:Science vs. Ideology. Here is a choice quote from Dr. Hanson:

"People become responsible by being properly taught, given responsibility, and then held accountable for their actions. We don't tell young people to "just say no" to driving, fail to teach them to drive, and then on their 18th birthday give them drivers licenses and turn them loose on the road. But this is the logic we follow for beverage alcohol because neo-prohibitionism underlies our alcohol policy."

Here here! The doctor is in, and he recommends a prescription of logic and responsibility.

I'll drink to that.

Yuri's Night in Austin

Independence Brewery Tour

Our visit to the Independence Brewery in South Austin was a success. It was much more crowded and sunny then we had anticipated, but we had a lot of fun tasting beer and conversatin'. My favorite part was the plethora of dogs running around. The brew was tasty, I liked the Pale Ale the best. We all had a great time and then visited the nearby Catfish Parlor for deep fried goodness. I do believe the Austin Imbiber's Society will be back to visit the Independence Brewery again.
Here is their website:
Independence Brewery

The Tipsy Texan

AIS member Dee submitted this blog for our all important society's review.
http://www.tipsytexan.com/

I dug around in the older articles and found:

Tipsy Texans LIVE at Z'Tejas

Tonight we will be serving up classic and modern cocktails at Z'Bar, next door to Z'Tejas on 6th St. The Art of the Cocktail runs from 5-9p every Sunday. Great cocktails and half-price appetizers to ease you back into the week...

I propose we have an outing one sunday night and mosey on down to check it out.

Here is a recipe from The Tipsy Texan using Paula's Texas Orange some of us may have sampled at our inaugural meeting.

Manchaca Cocktail
1 ½ oz Flor de Caña 4yr
¾ oz Paula's Texas Orange
½ oz fresh lime juice
½ simple syrup
Combine ingredients in an ice-filled cocktail shaker and shake vigorously; strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

Notes from the inaugural meeting

Hello Fellow Imbibers,
Here is what we discussed at the meeting:
Austin Imbiber Meeting Places and Gathering Ideas

• Edward 40 Hands Malt Beverage Party - Taping 40's to our hands and drinking them
• Chickenshit Bingo at Ginny's Longhorn Saloon
  
• North Side Pub Crawl - Poodle Dog Lounge, La La's ...
  
• Local Brewery/Distillery tours
• Wurstfest in New Braunfels
• Booze Related Arts and Crafts Gathering
  flask in a book
  bottlecap logo keyrings
• We need to Recruit a Doctor... I can't remember why
• Contribute recipes
• Boardgame and drinks party
• Wahoo's Mug Program
• Calibration Party - use breathalyzer to determine what it feels like to be legally drunk
• Volunteer to do cadet training as "Real Live Drunks"
• We should have a "learn drinking songs" gathering
• Cereal Party/Saturday Morning Cartoons/ Pajamas - I'm not sure how this relates to booze
• Educational Home Brew meeting with the Hagans
• Regional tasting parties i.e. Japanese Beer, Sake, etc. anime porn ;)
• Gary suggested an annual meeting celebrating the end of prohibition, March 23, 1933 it lands on a monday this year, so we'll all take tuesday off
  

Austin Imbiber's Society will have Bimonthly (more serious- ha! ya right) house party meetings and in between that we will do bar meetups, etc. The next outing will be Saturday April 4th from 1 - 3 at the Independence brewery. The next party will be in May possibly at Gary & Dee's house and 50's cocktail themed.

Manny made Annie a drink called "The Grape Ape" which consisted of:
Pink Grapefruit Juice, Vodka, Ginger Ale, and a Lime.

Special note: Absinthe is the worst hangover ever.

Each member has their own title that is silly and booze related. We may get some shirts made. The fronts shall say "ehhh... we're drinking", the backs say "that's the whole point"
We could also get cocktail shakers engraved with our member names.

Manny will build a sign from spare parts at work.

We would like to build a mobile bar and keep an inventory of alcohol with it. Everyone can contribute whatever they desire and how much.Here is what we have so far:
Vodka: Savvy (2) bottles
Dripping Springs Vodka
Tito's Vodka
Myers Dark Rum
Paulas Texas Orange Premium Liqueur
Paula's Texas Lemon Premium Liqueur
Bombay Sapphire Dry Gin
Wine: Texas Hold'em Grand Reserve Red
Texas Hold'em Grand Reserve White
Beer: Jasperilla Old Ale (2)
Saint Arnold Lawnmower (4)
Saint Arnold Amber (5)
Real Ale Rio Blanco Pale Ale
Real Ale Brewhouse Brown (4)
Real Ale Fullmoon Rye Ale (4)
Shiner Bohemian Black Lager
Shiner Bock
Shiner Blond
Shiner Kosmos

Mixers
Reeds Extra Ginger Brew (3)
1 2L Coke


Austin Imbiber's Society determined we should adopt a street with the Keep Austin Beautiful program. Most people thought it should be downtown for the most visibility and we'll only have to do it 2 times a year.

Rachel suggested we could help with greenbelt clean up for community contribution on Earth Day or otherwise. We could also feed the homeless... or give them alcohol.. have to check on that one.

We wish to evaluate all the sober ride programs in Austin and see which are the most effective.

Another note: Bacon Salt is RAD!

Conan Drinks Hard Liquor and Shoots Guns With Hunter S. Thompson

Conan's strange encounter with legendary author and gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson.

Comrade in arms?

I came across an organization that is also, at least in its own words, dedicated to the concept of personal responsibility and drinking. The American Beverage Institute (ABI) is a restaurant trade association whose stated primary purpose is to protect the onsite consumption of alcoholic beverages for businesses that are part of the hospitality industry.

From their website, http://www.americanbeverageinstitute.com/ :

“The American Beverage Institute (ABI) is the only organization dedicated to the protection of responsible on-premise consumption of adult beverages. ABI's strength stems from its composition -- ABI is a restaurant trade association, representing America's favorite restaurant chains as well as hundreds of individual restaurants and on-premise retailers. And thanks to our strong relationship with the nation's leading beer, wine, and distilled spirits suppliers, ABI proudly serves as the voice of the hospitality industry on adult beverage issues.”

There is no mention on their site about promoting the rights of drinkers, but rather, the AIB’s perspective seems to be one of coming to a logical consensus on what constitutes responsible alcoholic consumption. In the About section of the ABI website they state that they privately fund research for studies on alcohol consumption, public safety, and drunk driving. If these are truly unbiased studies then they could be very beneficial towards informing sensible alcohol legislation.

I believe that legislation related to alcohol consumption should be based on fact, and not perceptions or opinion. This is unfortunately regardless of the good intentions a law maker may have for proposing legislation that will affect the community at large. Without unbiased studies on alcohol consumption and public safety there will always be a gap between the actual and the perceived risks associated with drinking.

I do have to wonder if the studies (which I have yet to find online) are in fact unbiased and accurate. This is because the AIB is managed by Berman and Company, a public relations company owned by Richard Berman. Richard Berman is a Washington based lobbyist, who according to Wikipedia.org, “…runs several industry-funded non-profit organizations such as the Center for Consumer Freedom and the Center for Union Facts.” There seems to be no end of controversy surrounding Berman and his organizations, and while I can agree with much of what Berman is purportedly fighting for ("right of adults and parents to choose what they eat, drink, and how they enjoy themselves…” etc),I have to wonder if a Washington lobbyist whose non-profits are funded by specific industries (such as tobacco heavy hitter Phillip-Morris) really is out there fighting for the everyday American and not for the industries that he represents.

What do you think, fellow imbibers?

Booze Test

Monday got you down? Name that alcohol. Take this test.

Bacon Vodka Recipe

Have you had bacon vodka? It's perfect for bloody marys. Here's a recipe to make it yourself. It's pretty easy but it only has a shelf life of one month before it tastes like hairspray.

Fry up three strips of bacon.
Add cooked bacon to a clean pint sized mason jar. Trim the ends of the bacon if they are too tall to fit in the jar. Or you could go hog wild and just pile in a bunch of fried up bacon scraps. Optional: add crushed black peppercorns.
Fill the jar up with vodka. Cap and place in a dark cupboard for at least three weeks. That’s right- I didn’t refrigerate it.
At the end of the three week resting period, place the bacon vodka in the freezer to solidify the fats. Strain out the fats through a coffee filter to yield a clear filtered pale yellow bacon vodka.

Decant into decorative bottles and enjoy.

Alcohol and Coffee are Good For You!

Taken from The Times Online:
Red Wine. Again, if you read a newspaper more than once a year, you'll have heard about the benefits of red wine, the "French Paradox" and the like. Like chocolate, polyphenols are the key - chemicals such as tannins and flavonoids in the grape skin and seeds that are powerful antioxidants. Also important are the procyanidins, which help to reduce blood pressure and lower cholesterol. Another ingredient, resveratrol, slows ageing of the heart, bones, eyes and muscles and can even deter cataracts, at least in mice. As for chocolate, red wine must be consumed with moderation. Certain traditional red wines from southwest France, Sardinia and Crete appear to have the most magic ingredients.

Coffee contains antioxidates and tannins that help protect the heart and unblock the arteries. It's also good for the liver - one cup per day cuts the risk of alcoholic cirrhosis by 20 per cent; four cups a day reduces the risk by 80 per cent, which is good news if you're on a red wine diet.

Guinness. Makers of the Irish stout used to market it under the slogan "Guinness is good for you" - until they were told to desist. Research published in 2003 from the University of Wisconsin suggests that they were right all along: a pint of the black stuff is as effective as an asprin in preventing blood clots, and much tastier. Again, it's all about antioxidants.

Now if we could just prove vodka gives you the ability to fly...

How to: Build A Mobile Bar a.k.a. BAR2D2

This is necessary - oh so necessary! I had posted before about a mobile bar, but now I can build one! Instructables has provided humankind a great service by giving us step by step instructions to create this wonderful behemoth. Link

Welcome to the Austin Imbiber's Society Blog

This is the official uniform for each member. Well, not really. It is encouraged, though. The Austin Imbiber’s Society is a celebration of all things imbibed for the joy of human kind. We, as a group, find that alcohol is often demonized. If used responsibly and when people have personal responsibility, alcohol may be enjoyed to its fullest capabilities. Anyone and everyone can join our celebration of spirits, as long as they are over 21. We are currently looking for sponsors in the Austin area and plan on working within the Austin community to raise awareness on the joys of imbibing. Ahem, cough cough - Spec’s we’re looking at you!