Merry Christmas. Yeah.

Welcome in everybody. It's the craft beer republic.

Thanks for drinking. Thanks for joining.

I am Greg, and almost up in the North Pole is the buff Santa I've

ever seen. And that's flexi. What's up, big fella? I am.

Pretty close. Um well merry Christmas everybody.

Hey merry Christmas. Yeah, it's Holly jolly.

You guys hate Christmas I love it I fucking hate it.

But yeah, I best day of the year. All right. Yeah. For you uh.

And then the Scrooge to my other Scrooge.

Yeah, yeah, the Scrooge to my McDuck. So glad to hang out with her.

It's been way too fucking long. Straight from the bowels of New York.

It's Melly. Mel? What's cracking? Oh, some beer is cracking tonight.

Yeah, well. And from one Grinch to the other,

I am happy to say happy anniversary to you guys, because the first

time I joined you was three years ago for the Christmas episode.

Oh, damn. It was happy to be back. That's wild. Yeah.

Gotta have you every year for Christmas now. Happy to do it.

Yeah. We gotta out. Grinch flex. I used to be a pretty nasty Grinch.

And, uh, after having those kids and kids growing up,

and they really are interested in Christmas and love it a lot.

So it's opened up my eyes a little bit to the holiday.

I do have an important question for you guys. In all seriousness.

Original Grinch, Jim Carrey Grinch, or the 2018 Grinch Benedict

Cumberbatch. Benedict Cumberbatch. That is the name Cucumber batch.

Cucumber batch. Is that who it was, 2018?

Yeah, that's the one I like. Never saw it. Oh, it's so good.

You never saw. I mean, I'm an OG Grinch fan.

I'm an OG Grinch fan. I hate the Jim Carrey Grinch.

He's so scary. That one I do not like.

The masks freak me out, and they're even more.

Terrifying when they do the flashback to when he's a little boy.

Yeah. Oh. Absolutely horrifying. Like he's what nightmares are

made out of? Yeah, 100%. Also, that movie is way too

fucking long. It's like 2.5 hours. Is it really? Yeah.

They took, like a 30 minute cartoon and they

turned it into 2.5 hours of garbage. I feel like a lot of movies did that,

especially for a while in like the early to mid 2000.

It was like, hey, we've got this solid 45 minute story,

but people like long shit, so let's see if we can double it and get

our money's worth. You know. What? I've been hating a lot more as I

get older. Christmas long shit. Oh, yeah. You know, like.

Yeah, you go to watch a movie, like, go to the theater, which I don't

know how often you go out to movies. I know Mel hits up movies.

I've not been since Covid. So nowadays the pre like there's

commercials before the previews, you know. Like TV commercials.

Like sponsored ads. So you have like 5 to 8 minutes of

sponsored ads and then it's like you saving. Money on your car insurance.

20 minutes of previews. Jeez. Yeah. You have a solid 30 minutes to

be late to a movie before it even starts.

Yeah, you used to be like ten. So we have the Marcus cinemas with.

I don't know if that's like a big national thing. Marcus cinemas?

I don't think so. So the guy who owns it,

he does this little fucking goofy dialogue where he thinks he's funny

right before the movie starts. So you have that on.

That's how you know it's not national. Oh, it's so bad.

The good thing is, if you go to the discount cinema, they don't

have to pay as much as AMC does. So you miss a lot of that. Okay.

We don't have any of those around here. We used to.

Oh, I love I don't know what it cost me more.

Back in the day, it was the $2 theater. We just.

I don't even know what the real name was.

Hey, you want to go to the $2 theater?

We had the budget in and we had value cinema, the budget. And.

Sounds like one of those sex motels. The Budget Inn is a sex motel,

correct? Thank you. I was going to say like,

that's where you, like, you can rent the room by the hour, right?

It was called the Budget Cinema. I don't fucking know.

No, it was the Budget Inn. We're sticking with that.

A room in a movie. But what kind of movie?

Stay tuned. Yeah. Go into the cinema, as they call it.

They cost like a dollar. It was. It was wonderful. Yeah.

Our $2 theater would have specials where it's like, you know,

$2 a ticket and $1 hot dog, a dollar coke, you know,

all that kind of shit. That's neat. Back in college,

that was the fucking jam. Oh, I could only imagine a poor

little college kid like you. Yeah, poor little old me.

Take the chicks like, hey, you guys want to go see a movie?

Oh, we're going to the budget theater. I'm a backyard wrestler.

It's not a big deal. Yeah, we don't get paid a lot.

We do it for the passion. I'm a college kid now at 40.

Oh my God. Are you as broke as we were in

our 20s in college? Yeah, but I have two mortgages

because of it. Oh. Big mistake. She'll pay more. Yeah.

She's rich. What are we? Who are we kidding? Beer, right.

Beer. Beer and Christmas. Yeah. So show things.

Hey, follow us on the socials at Craft Beer Republic.

Affleck's beer underscore between and, of course, at beer girl.

Mel beer girl underscore Mel all that stuff.

Hey, shout out to our top listing city of last week.

And that was Ashburn, Virginia. Not West Virginia. So we're okay.

Yeah. What's up? Not West Virginia. Most importantly.

We gave Virginia a nickname, not West Virginia.

Virginia is really not a state you hear about too much.

Something to look into. Because West. Virginia takes all the.

Well, yeah, because everybody West Virginia is so scary.

It's terrifying. It's like. Whoa. Yeah.

You know how like, Australia was founded on, like, criminals.

And it's where they send all the bad people.

That's West Virginia to the US, right? Yeah.

That's where we just send all the bad people. Super accurate. Yeah. That.

And then like, a little bit of overflow in Florida. And it's like.

Have you ever met anybody from West Virginia? No.

Because they don't leave West Virginia.

Well, and no one's born there. They get sent there.

And then if you ever go there, you know, you're just passing

through because nobody stays there. They don't let you go. No.

Like they hold you captive. Yeah. They pop your tires and that's the.

That's the end right there. They tie you up,

and now you're somebody's pet. Exactly. If not dinner.

Yeah, well, dinner comes later, you know. Right. That's true.

They season you up. We got a dry age. You.

But who is the West Virginia mountain, mama?

Then it's like West Virginia mountain mama.

She's the mom of every person in West Virginia. Who sings that.

They're all a bunch of. She's really the warden of West

Virginia. Oh, dear. Hey, you know what?

We talk about beer around here, so. So shout out to Ashburn.

Literally, right before he got here, he said, all right,

let's talk shit. And you know what? We're living up to it.

I wonder, do you think, like, regular Virginia talks as much about

West Virginia as we do? Oh, yeah. They appreciate it that we would

call them regular Virginia. You have to call them regular

Virginia. What else are they? Just Virginia. Super regular.

Oh, well, I just want to make sure it's extra clear we're not

calling them West Virginia, because that would be more offensive.

They're like, we couldn't possibly be associated with those cousins,

right? Absolutely not. Because those cousins marry

those cousins. Not invited to the Christmas dinner.

Right? Not invited. Anyways. So. Thanks, Ashburn. Thank you.

Virginia. You know, let me, uh. I'm not a murderer. Virginia.

Not murderer. Virginia. There. There you go.

That's why I have it in my phone from now on.

Uh, if you guys don't mind, I'm going to crack this open real quick.

Am I dead? Oh, I love my beer. I love my game. I love my beer.

I'm so excited for this. I could not find it on untapped.

Is it even a real beer, though? I mean, it came from a can.

The problem is, they have like a whole series of this one, and I

couldn't find this specific one, and it was an old part of the series.

So I was like, well, I'm going with what the can says.

And the can says I'm drinking Almanac Brewing's Love Hazy IPA 6.1%.

Don't know what the ratings are on the can.

It said, is Love Hazy IPA is brewed in support of the Alameda Food Bank,

a nonprofit that offers the assistance to the Alameda community

by providing nourishing food in a respectful and compassionate manner.

Inside this limited edition can is a jolly and tropical treat.

Notes of mango, citrus, and cantaloupe will keep you

feeling cheery and festive. Always like drinking for a cause.

I love my beer. The schnoz is very cantaluppi

that Melanie. Tropical deliciousness on ye

olde tongue jabber. Get it? Oh, it follows suit. Very. Melanie.

I love cantaloupe, by the way. My wife hates cantaloupe, and it

works out perfectly at breakfast. I'm like, give me all your fucking

cantaloupe. I love cantaloupe. Cantaloupes got to be one of

those fruits where it's. It's got to be ripe for me.

Yeah, it's gotta be under ripe. Cantaloupe is very not hard.

Yeah, it's, like, all hard and shit and not delicious.

But give me a ripe cantaloupe. This is good.

This is very cantaloupe. A little bit of tropical,

as you guys can see. Not the haziest beer in the world,

but I'd say it still qualifies as hazy. Yeah, it's a little hazy.

Unfiltered y. Yeah, there's some nice lacing on the

top there where there used to be beer. Great. Yeah, great light body.

Just really easy to drink. I am enjoying the shit out of this.

So. Yeah. Yeah,

I'd say about six months ago I had another love on here that I picked

up while I was in San Francisco. Because these guys are from the

from the Bay area, and that one was supporting.

I don't remember the charity. It was an LGBTQ charity up there.

And so this one is supporting a food shelter.

So love drinking for a cause. Thank you. What's up? Yeah.

Cantaloupe always reminds me of my dad, who has been a musician

my entire life. And he would make these jingles

about things. But every time he cut up a

cantaloupe, he was like, you can get married, but you can't elope.

Like, every time I'm, like, getting a little old. Dad. Yeah.

It's like classic dad jokes. Time you see a cantaloupe?

That's what you think of. I was like, shit, you should

have eloped like your room. You're ruined for life.

I tried so hard to get my wife to elope. Saved so much money.

Funny enough, he did give us an out on the wedding.

He was like, I will pay for you to go to Vegas.

Just. This is a lot of money. Leave it. Yeah. Go to Vegas. Do it.

We did not. We spent the money. On the wedding. I like the worst.

Decision in my life. Kidding. Yeah. Yeah. Love you. Lou. Yeah.

And then there was also that song in the 90s. Cantaloupe.

Doo doo doo doo doo. Yeah. Boop boop boop boop. Funky, funky.

Do you remember this one? No. Cantaloupe. No.

I don't think anybody remembers that song. What? I feel the beat drop.

Jazz and hip hop. No. I hope everybody listening is

thinking. You're making someone knows it.

Vanessa, you know it. If anybody knows it, it's choo choo

is gonna know this. And know. It. Yeah, he's he's old school like that.

He's gonna. He's gonna know it. He knows all the 90s jams.

Hippie dippy bop. Okay. Oh, dear. Speaking of Choo, I was supposed

to hang out with Choo last week, and, uh, Psycho Bear,

as we learned on the last show. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He was coming down.

Choo! Set it all up. We were gonna meet up at eight.

Winning brewing. I guess Psycho Bear got, like,

sick or something last minute, and Choo texted me.

He's like, hey, he's out, we're not meeting up. And I was like, oh, boo.

I guess I'll live to see another day. Drats.

Yeah, ironically enough, speaking of living to see another day.

Instead we met up with non murderer John. No kidding. Yeah.

Deb and Brian, the wife and I, we met up with non murderer John and

actually a couple of his friends. I don't know if he brought them with

him or they happened to be at the same brewery because I don't know,

whatever. Cuz they didn't leave at the

same time. Anyways, um, his friends were great,

very nice people. And, uh, John's always great.

He he had been at pure and was like, hey, you want me to bring you guys

anything like this and this and this? And so we got.

The menu and everything, right? Yeah. Such a great guy.

And even even got us a military discount.

So discount beer is the best kind of beer. But, yeah.

Hung out with him, had some beers. Good times. Did some research.

Afterwards we went to Devin Brian's house and continued the research.

It's never a good thing. No. Here's. All right.

I totally forgot about this. It's horrible.

Brian has sort of a friendly relationship with this local.

It's a liquor store, but the owner is huge into craft beer, so he's

always got these, like, rare things. Back in the day, it was the only

place locally you could find, like Pliny and that kind of stuff.

And he's also he's always got some kegs that are not your standard kegs.

And he found an old keg a few months ago of 20,

I think it was 19, 18 or 19. Bourbon county? No way. Whoa!

And he said something to Brian about it, and Brian's like, oh,

that's funny. You know, if you can't sell it,

you know, talk to me. We'll see. And they're talking like,

do you think it's even good? And Brian to me is like,

do you think it's good? I said, honestly, such a high ABV.

As long as he kept it in the fridge, I think it's probably fine in

the keg. Yeah. And, uh, finally he went down

there and he talked Brian into it, and he goes, look,

I'm going to give it to you. If it's garbage, it's free.

If it's good, give me a hundred bucks. And Brian's like, all right.

And, uh, so the night we were over, there, he goes, hey,

you want to help me set up the keg? So we had a little 2019 ish

Bourbon County that night. Um, it wasn't bad. It was.

It was fine. It was a little raisiny. You could tell it wasn't the

world's freshest beer, but it wasn't, like, disgusting.

I was like, tell him maybe a hundred is too much.

Maybe in, like, the 50 to 75 range for this gig, or just tell me it

was shit and give him nothing. But yeah, it was it was fine.

He probably should have paid you to drink that.

We were like his guinea pigs at that point. Yeah, I.

Think that's kind of neat little beer science.

I do enjoy some science, as you guys know. It was. Real science.

So, um, we got a little sheltered and had a good time, and.

Well, you know, no matter if it's like Budweiser owned,

you know, you're going to get messed up off of Bourbon County.

I once did a Bourbon County tasting like I did, um, like a every year,

I think, from 2017 to 2021. Oh, vertical. Nice.

I did a vertical I it's actually on my page so you can watch it.

I was fucking wrecked. Lou was like,

you seriously drink them all. I was like, well, yeah,

I had to open them all. And then, like, I was by myself.

What else was I supposed to do? Yeah, I mean, the video doesn't

show me. Totally shattered. But then once I stopped it,

I kept. Kept. That's when you should have recorded.

Yeah. Just I mean, I did probably in

my highlights somewhere. Yeah, we did that last year with

Black Tuesday. Nick and Nicole. Yeah. Oh, they had a I think it was

like nine years of Black Tuesday and there was nine of us.

And those things ranged from 18 to 22% of bottle.

Yeah, it was rough. It was uh, they didn't get finished.

They corked him, put him back in the fridge, had some more.

The next day, I blacked out. I was so shattered.

Black the fuck out. I don't know if he listens to

this podcast, but, um. Stop and smell the hops.

He's from new Jersey. He did the vertical taste.

He definitely should. We should tag him in this.

He did? Um, the. What was it? What is it called?

Life after Death star from EC. He did a vertical tasting.

It used to be like back in the day where you had to, like,

get in line, pitch a tent to get this beer here in Middletown.

Um, he saved a bottle every year, and I think he brought, like,

five years worth. And they drank them at, like,

7 a.m.. It's a. Lot. It was a lot. Especially at 7 a.m..

We did that a few years ago with um woot stout from Stone.

We had, I think like 6 or 7 woot stout years and line them all up and,

you know, picked our favorite all that good stuff. Yeah. It's fun.

Got shuttered. It's a good times. It's a nice little like I think last

year we did on Christmas for friends. Miss, um,

bootstrapping was like New Year's. It's a nice little, like,

holiday thing to get fucked up on barrel aged beers, I guess. Yeah.

You just need friends. Yeah. Don't do it by yourself like I did.

That was a bad mistake, right? Friends are very helpful in

situations like that. I'd say they're key.

Yeah, it's kind of a necessity at that point, so. Oh, fuck. Um.

All right, I got questions for you guys.

Before we do that, let's let's, uh, let's see what everyone else

is drinking. Mel, you want to want to tell us

about your shit? Let's make a. Call to Penn.

He calls to the bullpen for beer. Um, have you guys talked about Juan

Soto being traded to the Mets? Well, he wasn't choosing.

Choosing to go to the Mets. Signing a lot of money to go to

the Mets. Not a. Sports show, but, yes, I mean.

Let's go to a Mets game. Uh, I, of course,

have a New York brewery today, and it's a it's an older brewery.

I don't know if you guys have heard of Ommegang.

I'm sure you probably have. Right. Oh, yeah.

I've had a couple of their distro. Yeah, they're up in Cooperstown

again, where the Baseball Hall of Fame is so not a sports show,

but this one caught my eye. It's called Everything Naughty.

It has a bunch of naughty elves on the can, and it is a white

chocolate imperial blonde stout. Ooh, a blonde, 9.5%.

And for the listeners, they are a Belgium brewery,

so they brew that style. Um, not sure how the stout really

equates, but it has, um, coffee, chocolate, brilliant golden hues,

and a rich and smooth, velvety classic stout flavor.

I'm showing the guys, but you can see it's got that

caramel color that we would expect from this type of brewery.

It smells like an Ommegang beer. Let's try it. A little funky. Mhm.

It's like a malty kind of caramel bready smell.

Is that a I prefer craft beer glass. It sure is.

He hooked me up with some of those too.

Andy, if you're listening, I miss you.

um, you know, I think blonde stouts are pretty interesting beers because

they're not as bitter or as coffee. Like coffee notes on the the tongue.

It's really, really malty and caramel y.

And I guess I just don't really know much about, like, a blonde stout.

I like a blonde stout. You don't see it very often.

You don't see them that often. And that's why I was kind of

intrigued. And I'm like, Ommegang. It's been a while and guys,

I have not been drinking beer like whatsoever.

I am so off the map right now. Like I'm in like grad school mode.

I've been just not really drinking much, but I was.

Supposed to drink more in college. When you're like 1818, but I'm like.

41. We meant 2140. Oh yeah. Sure. When you're 21, um,

this is very. Drinkable over 30. I love you for that.

This is a very drinkable stout, like 9.5.

It doesn't feel that way, but I'll tell you, I've been sipping it and I

kind of feel tipsy. You. You have. It's all downhill from here. Yeah.

You get a lot of warmth, and. And I do get that coffee note on

the back end. The white chocolate is lost on me.

Mhm. But white. Chocolate is a very hard flavor to.

Recreate. Yeah. Right. Like I feel like they maybe like

threw it in just to be like this is festive and holiday.

Uh, I would probably give this a seven out of ten. It's a good one.

I almost picked up for the Pennsylvania listeners.

I almost picked up, um, something from Troegs the Mad Elf.

They now come in, like a 12 pack of cans.

Oh, and I, I went to a holiday party earlier.

Is that a hefty one? so hefty. It's like a. 11 or 12%. Oh, shit.

That's big. Yeah, it's a lot. I've never had any drugs.

Oh you haven't? No, we don't give you some.

I definitely could, and I thought about it and I'm like,

that would be really messed up to bring to a party as, like the party

beer people are gonna be hammered, you know? Oh, yeah. But I was.

Like, make a fun party. But then I wasn't sure if I had done.

I wasn't sure if I had done Mad Elf on this show before, and I thought

maybe I had. It's a good one. It's it's got a lot of the

holiday spices in it. So that's what's nice about it.

And like, again, it gets you crunk. But this is a nice change.

And I just really felt like I needed something desserty today.

Yeah, that sounds really solid with the caramel notes that you

kept mentioning. That sounds really delicious.

I mean, it's definitely brewed true to their style.

And if you ever go to Cooperstown, you definitely need to go.

It's a it's a gorgeous, gorgeous Old school brewery like

the grounds are ridiculous. So shout out to Ommegang. This is.

This is good. This is good. Ommegang is one of those, like, weird

in-between breweries like Firestone where it's like, are they craft?

I think technically they still are. They're both.

Both Firestone and Ommegang are owned by Duval. Oh, yeah.

And so, like, I think they still qualify because Duval I think is

still independently owned, even though they're huge.

They do, but they definitely sold out a little over the years.

And I know a lot of the distributors and like a lot of the sales reps

from the specific brewery, but I love them.

And I figured, you know, why not just do like a little throwback to them?

So I still drink me some Firestone. I'm not. It's not shady.

In fact, if anything, it's it's confusion. I never know, like.

Around the holidays. Like grab one, you know.

Yeah, totally. If if stone those motherfuckers

that sold out. If Stone was still putting out

shockwaves, I'd be. Drinking that too.

Oh, so goddamn delicious. Cause it's hard to get in New York.

The choco vaso specifically. Like, we only get, like,

a certain amount. So any time I would see it,

I would grab it up, because it's like that hot chocolate beer that.

Yeah. So good. Also, fuck you, stone. Fuck you so hard and not a

sexual way. No. Like fuck. You. Like we're pissed at you. Yeah.

Suck it. Sell out. Once again, not in a sexual way.

Um, anyways. Christmas traditions. I don't know if we've talked

about this before. We probably have, because it's

always us hanging out for Christmas. But I don't know, you guys do any,

like, drunk booze related traditions on Christmas.

I thought flex might, because, you know, he's from Wisconsin.

No, you just, uh, you. Just get drunk. Drink?

Yeah, that's about it. I don't think there's really a

real tradition for that. I think a lot of the times that

tradition is because I go to my sister's house and then we just,

like, have to have a cry. What? My one sister is a crier.

And then she also likes to get like a, like a more expensive box of wine.

Mhm. But it's. A franzia but. Way better than friends like the

black box or whatever. It's classy as hell. I know.

Yeah. Classy as shit. And she gets two of them.

And so they usually start off with heinekens during the day

while we're all hanging out, and then move on to the box wine.

And every time I'm like, I'm not drinking that box wine,

Becky. And then I have it. And then we're both crying.

Becky's even better. Yeah. It's a lot of I love yous,

and it sounds like. The worst combination of alcohol I've

ever heard. Heineken and boxed wine. Box wine. That's how they do it.

Yeah, yeah. And, jeez. What do you finish it off with

some rumple minze. Oh, my. She's like, how do you know.

My brother in law is from England, so like right outside of London,

like in the country. So it is kind of surprising that

that's what their choices are. But that is the choice every time.

So usually it's a lot of crying. And then I go home and Lou basically

wraps the Christmas gifts while I tell him how to wrap them.

Wait, wait, you don't wrap them till the night of. No, it's our tradition.

We, like, go through everything the night before.

We're not like you. What a pain. It's part of the fun of our.

It's the magic of our Christmas together. What do you.

What do you do? Flex. Like wrap along the way?

Like as you get them. He probably wraps them in August.

That's true. No, we were late this year.

There was one year by like October, we were done with Christmas presents.

Oh, no. This year we fell behind a

little bit. We did start buying til November,

but everything has been wrapped for about like a two weeks.

I still haven't finished all my Christmas shopping.

I have a bunch of boxes over there I'm looking at right now, like I

gotta see what's in them. Even. I was like, we also like finished.

We wrap it up on Christmas Eve. Like we go, Lu and I go and like,

buy the last shit. Like we look at everything.

We're like, okay, we need x, y, z and do it on Christmas Eve.

It's just part of our shit. That's how we do it. We have.

That raises my blood pressure. I don't like to be too far in

advance. You? I'm such a scrooge that, like,

I won't wrap. So the wife knows. Like, if if you want them wrapped,

she's got to wrap them. Otherwise, I'm like,

here's your Amazon box, asshole. Merry Christmas. I don't give a shit.

You just want what's inside. I don't want a wrap. I hate wrapping.

Yeah, I do. Not like wrapping. I don't. Hate it. My dad loves it.

He likes a crisp edge. And both of his children,

me and my brother, are like, we could care less.

One Christmas, we both just threw the gifts.

We got each other into a suitcase and we were like,

the suitcase is not yours. And. And he was like,

I did the same thing in my suitcase. And I'm like, the fuck is wrong

with us? That's so bizarre. What the fuck is wrong with us?

Like literally in a suitcase, like we have nothing. Yeah.

It's not important to us. No, I don't. Yeah. It's obnoxious.

I'll put it in a bag. Here's. Here's your bag,

but I'm not wrapping it. So my wife is really good at buying

gifts for people. Like she gets them. My wife does really great things that

either they wouldn't expect or they didn't know they needed and. Mhm.

Um, it's wonderful seeing the joy on their faces.

But this year I picked up a present for my older brother and I think

it might be the best gift I've ever bought anybody. What is it.

It is the replica WWE Championship igloo cooler, fanny pack.

Oh, I've seen this on the gram. I've seen it so.

I cannot wait to see him open it. Mhm. He's gonna love it and you.

Bet your ass. When we took it out of the box I

was holding that up. I was. World champ. That's right.

And it's got all like the fake diamonds all encrusted around it.

And oh man, it is fucking awesome. I have a wrestling show,

but it was fucking half the time. I almost bought one of those exact

things for Scott because I thought, like, well, who's gonna love

that more than he would? Right. But he never leaves the house.

So I was like, when would he ever need a cooler? Almost make it better.

Like maybe around the house. Wearing it would give him.

An opportunity to leave. Like, he'd be like,

now I have to go somewhere with me. He's just walking around with

beers in his fanny pack. That sounds like Scott. 100%.

You know what? You're not wrong. They say he doesn't have to wear

cargo shorts anymore or whatever, you know? Like.

No, he's resorted to basketball shorts. You know, you hit that age.

That fucking age. Like he's. If it's shorts, it's basketball

shorts. Good for him. Yeah. So, uh, you know,

no cargos for the old man. Damn. But now I've given away a

potential gift for him because he definitely listens to the show.

Well, you get it for him this year. Yeah, he'll forget by Father's Day.

So we're good. Um. Or birthday or whatever.

Yeah, I kind of want one myself. You should get it. Oh, how.

Good would it be? 40 bucks, but it's 40 bucks worth it.

How good would it be if I got one of those and brought it out on

the lake with, like, all my beers are in my championship belt.

I can wear it when I'm on the wakeboard.

I was like, when you're wakeboarding. And you have the championship

belt strapped up on your waist. I fucking need this.

I didn't realize how bad I needed it, I fucking need it.

I need it for the lake. Just get it. It is the best feeling taking it

out of that box and just like. Show's over. I gotta get.

Myself a championship. Belt. You won something.

You didn't win shit, but you feel like you won something.

I am the goddamn champion. Holy shit! Use my language.

The wife is gonna love it. You spent $40. On what? Whatever.

Just be like I love you. I'll get her one, too.

She'll be so excited. Be cool if they like tag team titles

like that. That'd be hilarious. Anyways. Love it.

Mal, you're not a wrestling fan, right? Um.

I mean, not as much as you guys, but clearly. I mean, I, I did.

Do you watch, like, some old school 80s shit, right? Yeah. Of course.

I mean, it was on, like it was on Saturday mornings.

Of course we did. You know, in. The good old days. Absolutely.

Yeah. I met Captain Lou Albano. Did you? Yeah.

And there was like, we got a shirt. My dad, like, wore the shirt.

He signed, and he was like, this is your grandfather.

And I was like, I'm afraid I'm your grandfather.

Cause he kind of looks like me. That's funny. Like, think about it.

Think about the goatee. Like how he had the rubber band

on his goatee. You know what I'm talking about.

And he had big, fluffy hair. He had big, fluffy hair.

And my grandfather had been dead before I was even born.

Both of them, actually. But. Or was he. Right? I didn't know Lou.

I was like three, and I remember it vividly, and he was trying to

pass me off to it and I'm like, I'm not touching him. Get away.

I tried to, like, punch him in the face.

I was like, grandpa's hanging out with Cyndi Lauper.

Oh, my God, that's funny. Good times. I could see that.

Yeah. Good times, good times. But yes, my dad was, like,

the kind of guy that would lie about shit. And they.

We used to call them J isms. He doesn't lie as much now,

but I he's a big hockey fan too. And I remember a time where he

told me that Mark Messier was in our Shoprite, our local Shoprite,

and I was like, but this guy has a lot of hair.

He's like, well, because it's off season, so they

grow hair when they don't have to wear their helmets. Stop it. No.

I swear to God. And I was like, oh. And I was like, Mark, it's so nice

to meet you. Fuck the Rangers. We hate them. We're Devils fans.

I went psycho on this guy and he was just like some local yokel, you know?

And he was like, well, I hate the devils.

And I was like, I'm a school janitor. What the fuck are you talking about?

It was hilarious. And then my dad never told me.

But I puked in the cafeteria. Don't bother. Me.

I put two and two together when, um, pretty much.

He got called out on his shit, and he was like, that's real, that's real.

And I was like, nothing you've told me in my whole life was ever real.

Why was he like a car salesman or something? No, no, that's.

That's Lou's dad. No shit. Yeah. And you can actually find he has,

like, really, really funny Instagram stuff I'll send to you guys,

like, after the podcast because they're making him do, like,

the funniest shit. Like he's the. He's the cog. Father. Hey, car!

Father! I need a loan. Swear to you. She's gonna give you a car.

You can't. Refuse. He does say that. It's a real thing. It's so bad.

So bad. It's good. I need to see these.

I'm gonna send it to you. Yeah, there's.

A local, uh, I think it's a Honda dealership out here where, like,

they do the whole green screen thing, and they're superheroes and,

like, try to make it look like they're flying and it's so bad.

Is it supposed to be bad, though? Yeah.

You know, I think originally it was not meant to be bad. And it was.

And so they leaned into it. And now it's become funny

because it's bad. But originally it was like, oh,

you guys paid for this, huh? Oh, man. Yeah. Good times.

Gross. Where were we? Oh, Christmas drinking traditions.

Mel cries. Flex gets drunk. I have mimosas. That's about it.

Nothing crazy exciting. I'm not an eggnog person or anything.

No, we've discussed the eggnog. No, we don't like eggnog.

Yeah, it's. Gross and weird. Yeah. Deb, when I was talking about

hanging out with Deb and Brian and getting hammered at their house,

she had. We all know that. No, no. Oh, God. No one's drinking nog.

Besides, Erica. Mel, you know about. This, right?

The nog. That's right. Yes. Eggnog and champagne. It's a hard.

No, I don't understand that. It's cream and bubbles and acid.

Like Deb's credit. To. Deb's credit, because she loves

Erica so much, she went. When we first heard about this,

she went out and bought champagne and eggnog.

I was like, well, I love Erica, so maybe she's right. She was not right.

It's disgusting. They don't mix. Deb does love herself.

Some buzz balls. You guys. No no no. No no, I. I do listen to this show.

So when we were over at their house, she goes, hey, guys, I've got a nog

buzz ball. Do you want to try it? And I was like, you know what?

I'll fucking try. It. I threw up in my mouth.

I don't like buzz balls and I don't like nog. This was not that bad.

Really? Was it a cinnamon buzz ball? Like, which flavor was it?

No, no, it. Was like creamy. It was like a legit eggnog buzz.

No, it. Was not that. Bad a buzz ball.

That was an eggnog buzz ball. Oh, already? Nog? No mixing.

Nothing like that. It was pre pre nog in the shape

of a ball. And it was surprisingly not bad.

Okay. Well they created that. Yeah. Certain things you know like

when you make like the French toast shots and stuff, you know,

with like the rumchata and the fireball, like you got to drink

that right away. Like that. Can't sit. Oh yeah. No no no no.

It just separates and then it gets curdled. Disgusting. It's like nasty.

Yeah. Or like car bombs. I love the flavor of car bombs.

Me too. But you gotta down it immediately.

And I'm not a good chugger. We've discussed this.

How bad of a chugger I am. Oof, that that's, like, easy to chug,

though. You got a shotgun. One of, like, the 19.2oz beers.

What? Yeah. You did? Oh, yeah. Cuz I didn't have too much time to

stay after work to chat, you know? The wife's expecting me home.

Here I go. Who's got a screwdriver? So I found a random bolt laying

in the garage at work. Amazing. Pop the hole on that sucker and

went to town. What a man. Best Christmas story I've ever heard.

Yeah, it was wonderful. Hey, you know,

speaking of you drinking beer, let's talk about you drinking beer.

Yeah. In a world where. Craft beer is king, a world where

muscles are bigger than growlers, only one tongue can guide us.

One man, one tongue, one tongue jabber.

In this world, we must find out what is flax drinking.

In lieu of the Christmas. Spirit. Was that a pun? Uh.

You know what? I just caught that. No. Uh, sorry about that.

Uh, I think I told the story last week, two weeks ago, my wife making

me buy all these beers when we went out beer shopping and, uh.

But the Abita Brewing's Christmas ale.

Oh, because it has Santa Claus on the bottle and alligators are

flying his sleigh. Sure. You know, so it's like, uh,

some fun. Cannot. And she said, believe it or not,

she said, the kids will love it. Oh, those were her words. Uh, yes.

They very much enjoyed the alligators instead of reindeer.

First the crocs, now the gators. Yes. It's. Yeah. Well played.

That was a great tie in. Uh, so they're out of Abita Springs,

Louisiana. Is am I saying Abita? Right. Is it Abita? Is it a bitter?

I always say Abita, but that's because I'm from California.

There's no age. There's no age. Yeah. Why do you say Ibiza?

That's like the Spanish, you know, like Ibiza. It would be Ibiza.

Yeah, well, I'm not that classic Ibiza. Ibiza, I'm sure.

I'm sure flex is probably saying this one, right. I don't know.

Anyway, unlike modelo. Modelo? Uh, not modelo modelo.

That's what they. Should call their dark beer

Monte Carlo. Right. That's instead of Negro especial.

Oh, yeah. Uh, so, you know, it's a 5% beer.

They say 34 IBUs. Sure. Only 205 check ins on this

year's 366 on Untappd. No idea what's in this thing.

Uh, they changed the recipe every single year.

Don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing.

Uh, it says smooth tasting dark beer. Only made for three weeks annually.

Mm. So, on the old sniffer here. Super duper multi. Like.

Wildly multi. But you look at the color of

this thing and it's a winter a it's a Christmas ale.

That's kind of what you expect. Yeah. It looks like a red ale kind of deal.

Yeah. Almost a little less a little

more copper than red. Um a little more amber than red than

that copper. It looks like a mad elf. Sure, sure it does.

Um, since you never had one. Your word for it.

Tung Tung jobby working holiday. Jobby.

So it's pretty high carbonation. Um, it's malty. You know, it's malty.

Yeah. There you have. It. Um. But before we got on the show, I told

Mel. I said, I'm drinking a beer. It's not a great beer.

He was like, I'll tell you later when we're recording.

But the story was my wife made me buy it because of the cannot like,

cannot stop. She was fooled, right? Not a beer drinker.

He was thinking algorithm, you know. Right. Bless her heart.

She's a wonderful human. Uh, just, you know,

it's a it's a beer. I don't care if it tasted like

actual piss. I'm just glad your wife was

encouraging you to buy a beer. That's part of the reason I

bought it. Yeah, I'm on board. I'm not even gonna lie.

You know, it's like if she is pointing stuff out.

I couldn't say yes to the orange pilsner because that don't fruit

my pilsner. Sounds disgusting. Uh, but, you know,

it's like pilsner. Yeah. I can't remember what brewery did it,

but they'll probably be out of business because they made an

orange pilsner. Uh, but, yeah, you know, I mean,

they say 36 on Untappd. Whoa. Little friendly.

Yeah, I mean, it's it's a beer. Well, what was the percentage on

that again? Five. Five. You know, like,

it's not even like a winter warmer, you know? Yeah. Um, you know, I.

Was like, if that's like, 8%, then. All right, I'll get on board. Right.

Otherwise I would, you know, it's like a five out of ten.

It's like a two and a half, you know. But I can see it now.

Flex is going to go upstairs after this and his wife's gonna be like,

hey, what'd you think of that beer? It was fucking fantastic.

I did have one. Was it last night or two nights

ago just to try it? I was like, you know what?

I bought it a couple of weeks ago, and I probably shouldn't sit on

it too long. And I cracked it open,

and I just say, ah, that's malty. And then I took a sip and I said,

yep, I ever tasted malt. That's it. It's a medium to dark roasty malt,

and it's a it's a beer liquid bread. Merry Christmas Mary. Yes, indeed.

I always feel like the holiday beers are like that. Like even this one.

They're claiming to be a stout. Like it's got the.

It's just a caramelly, malty malt. That's why usually it's maltiness

with. The winter ale. Mary Maltiness. They gotta be spiced up,

you know? Yeah, yeah. Like the cloves and nutmeg.

You know, the goods and the things that make you feel holiday. Yeah.

That's what needs to be in there. I need that higher ABV because,

you know, you're going to family's house and family sucks, right?

And Mel and I live where it gets cold. So what? Fucking cold.

Right? Just like. What are we talking, like,

58 degrees? Watching Looney Tunes growing up,

you know, they would drink, like the ZX gin, you know?

Oh, yeah. To stay warm. With a skull and crossbones on.

Right, right. So that's, you know, that's what

we need the high ABV for. Yeah. Yeah, it's 11 degrees right now

and feels like negative four. I'm sorry. Like 11°C. No Fahrenheit.

And it feels like negative four right now. If you're out there, don't be.

You better. We're currently on a heat wave at 29.

We're getting that in like two days. Like flex weather comes to me

two days later. I'm pretty chilly over here.

It is currently 75 degrees 50. High today was. 66.

That's shorts and hoodie weather right there. I'm wearing shorts.

Yeah. I was walking around shorts and I

put a little hoodie on to go to the store and cuss out some guy

in the parking lot. Hell yeah. Shorts and hoodie weather. Let's go.

Yeah. 66. That's my favorite. That's like my second favorite

style next to like, a flannel and shorts. But are you.

Hold on when you do shorts and hoodie.

Are we talking short shorts and hoodie? What other shorts do I wear?

Greg? That's why. Okay. Why would they be long shorts?

Why? Why would he? Thank you. Mel. They don't need to be long,

long shorts because it's winter. No, he puts a hoodie on because it's

winter. Because I have. A hoodie on. I'm like, oh, here are my long

shorts for my hoodie. Long shorts are like,

they're four inches past his balls. Oh my goodness.

Halfway down his throat. Maybe five inches. Yeah.

That's long shorts for him. Uh, well, speaking of balls,

there's no transition from that. Let's do a little news before we

get on out of here. All right. The Brewers Association has

found a new CEO. They have named Bart Watson as the

trade group's next president and CEO. He will succeed Bob Pease,

who is retiring from the organization effective January 3rd.

His first day will be January 6th. Watson said, an announcement I

am honored to be chosen to lead the Brewers Association,

and I look forward to building on the strong foundation laid by

the leaders before me. Craft has been going through a

difficult period, and I am committed to finding ways to help our

members navigate those challenges. Our members are incredibly innovative

and adaptable entrepreneurs, and I'm ready to work with them

and for them to support their businesses and bring excitement

back to the category. Huh? Okay. Okay. Good stuff. Let's do that.

Please. And thank you. Yeah. Sales are down at least 30%.

Yeah. It's bad. We had a whole discussion the other

night at some Christmas party about. It's like, so what's up with craft?

I'm like, I don't know. No one's innovating. And we've.

The bubble has burst. You can't just have alcohol and

stay open based on that. Trying to hang on by a thread.

It's been like 4 or 5 local for us that announced or had already closed.

Yeah, like the last three weeks. Yeah.

And one close by us like three days ago. So there you go. That's not bad.

They're they're actually getting bought out by Malibu Brewing,

so I'm excited. They they're one of the OGs in

the area. It's called Lady Face. They were great.

I mean, one of the first, uh, near us.

That's part of the reason I got into craft.

They used to have great food they sold. And the new owner.

Look, it's Lady Face Brewery or ale House and Brasserie.

So we're talking Belgian beers done. Well,

we're talking like Brasserie foods. You're thinking like cafe style,

you know, really nicely done food. and the guy came in and bought it

and was like, you know what I like? I went to Japan once and I liked

some of the food. So we're gonna keep the beer exactly

the same, except and tell the dude to make more IPAs, and then we're

going to have a bunch of, like, Japanese American inspired dishes and

a couple of the old dishes as well. So bizarre. Fucking weird.

And people stopped going, and now it's going to be a Malibu

Brewing location, and I am so fucking excited for it. So there you go.

We'll see what happens. Uh, Senator Chuck Schumer

introduces the bubble bill. Anybody fans of cider around

these parts. When I was. 18. Chuck Schumer is one of our New

York state senators, so I know him very well.

He's been in I feel like, my whole fucking life, honestly.

Your dad tell tell you that he was your uncle or some shit? No, no.

Uncle Chuck. No. No politicians. Um, But we have really fucking

good apples here in New York, so. Yeah. Cideries. Let's go.

All right. Whatever we can do. Well, uh, Senate Majority Leader

Chuck Schumer introduced the bubble tax Modernization Act to

the US Senate earlier this month, a move that is being applauded by

the American Cider Association. The bubble bill would raise the

maximum carbon dioxide allowance for fruit beverages,

effectively decreasing the tax rate for carbonated fruit, wine,

cider and mead to under 8.5% ABV. Existing regulations taxed low ABV

carbonated fruit, wine and mead between 330 and 340 per gallon,

while low ABV carbonated grape wines are taxed at 1.07 again.

So it's just bringing the tax down to stuff that's under 8.5%.

Okay, great saving. Monies and all that. Stuff sugary.

Did you guys watch, uh, Schitt's Creek? Yeah. No. Oh, yeah.

Anytime I hear the words fruit, wine, all I can think of is Herb

Herlinger when she's. So wasted and she's doing, like,

the wine commercial. Yeah. And she just, like,

she cannot say his name. But she seems totally with it until

the end. She reminds me of myself. Way to go, Myra.

We believed you. Herlinger. And have some amazing fruit wines.

Yes. Uh, as flex mentioned,

closures in his hood. Milwaukee's enlightened brewery

is going to close after ten years in business.

Have you been to Enlightened Brewery? Uh, I think I went there once,

and I was really drunk, and I ordered a amber ale, a red ale,

and then I proceeded to pass out on the bar and not even drink the beer.

And then my cousin drove me home, So I think.

That's how you got home, buddy. Thank God you.

Remember it greatly. Yeah. It was it was a it was a long

night of drinking winter ales. We went to a bar beforehand.

Oh, it was a it was like a night before Thanksgiving thing.

All my cousins were in town, so we were all like, hey,

we should all go out and, you know, hang out, get some drinks.

Yeah, well, this lakefront winter ale that I like

to drink every winter was on tap. It was 12 percenter, and they're

serving it to you in pint glasses. I don't think they're supposed to.

No, I mean, this was like. That's why they missed the margin.

They lost a shit ton of money. This was like 12 years ago

before that was like even a thing to not like to serve in

different sizes based on, you know, alcohol percentage.

So, yeah, I was pretty, pretty. Schnockered. Nice. Yeah.

Passed out at the bar and didn't even drink a sip of that beer I ordered,

so I bet it was good though. Sure, it was a good beer.

Looked. Looked fantastic. So great. They're closing. Yeah.

Made one hell of a sleeping buddy. Good times. Wounded on this one.

Did you guys ever use rate beer back in the day?

Can you say that again? Rate. Yeah. Okay. Rate. Beer? No. Uh, no. Okay.

Back in the day, there was, like, untapped.

There was beer advocate, and there was rate with a t rate beer.

And, um, I don't know, like six or so years ago, I'd say. Yeah.

Mid 20 tens. Uh. Let's see. Oh 2016. It says here in the article 2016

Budweiser bought rate beer, at which point everyone lost all

respect for them. Like, well,

Budweiser is gonna obviously up their own ratings and blah blah blah.

So I'm, I didn't even know they were still around, to be honest,

even though I really liked them pre buyout.

But um ABS is expected to shut down rapier starting in February.

That's wild. Yeah. So there you go. No more rapier.

I'm sure everyone is so saddened by this.

I didn't even know it was a thing. Yeah, I did back in the day.

And then they got bought out and I was like, all right, bye bye.

Uh, the founder, Joe Tucker, wrote, it's undeniably tough news.

In closing this chapter, I want to thank each one of you for

being part of the rapier community. I'm truly grateful for all those

who've contributed to our success. ABS venture capital arm Z

ventures acquired the remaining stake in the website in 2016.

He encouraged rapier users to download their ratings and

reviews by January 18th. Could you imagine, like, I have a

spreadsheet of all my rapier reviews? Like what the fuck are you going

to do with those? So anyways, Z ventures also

appears to be defunct. A March 2024 report from AC

ventures basically says that they don't exist anymore.

So already started the process. Yeah. Budweiser's like done like,

ah fuck it. There you go. Yeah, we're gonna fuck it.

Let's get out of here. Awkward transition.

I hope I'm sure no one's actually listening on Christmas Day.

And if you are. Yeah. Thanks for listening.

But thanks a lot, you know. You know, I.

Could tell you might send us a message Christmas morning. True.

We can host a watch party. Vanessa. I was gonna say Vanessa.

Vanessa, please look up cantaloupe and play it for them

so they know I'm not crazy. I'm not. I love you, miss you.

Bye. I'm not gonna listen. I'm just gonna let you. Know that.

Even if you're not full of shit, you're still crazy.

I mean, that's true. Yeah. It has nothing to do with the song.

Just kidding. Love you. All right, let's hit some music.

Music? Wow. Let's hit some music. Let's get our.

Christmas beers are hitting. Clearly, I need another one.

Thank you all for listening. Follow us on the socials at Craft

Beer, at Flex Beer underscore in between and of course at Beer Girl.

Underscore. Mel. 805 538 beer. 2337. Uh, Mel, you do anything next week?

Um, actually. Probably not. Can I hang out with you again?

Yeah. Let's do it again. I'd love that. Yeah. Sounds great.

We like watching you get drunk. Uh. All right.

Hope everyone out there is staying very well hydrated. You know, and.

I'm going to let Mel, this is my Christmas present to her.

Why don't you send us out of here? Um, thanks for drinking.

Thanks for joining. And good night, everybody.

Beer girl. Out.