Get the beers in Stephen Fry!

Stephen Fry named ‘Person I would most like to have a pint with at the Great British Beer Festival’

Stephen Fry has been voted the most popular person to have a pint of real ale with at the Great British Beer Festival, which starts on Tuesday August 2nd.

Over 600 people voted for the person they would most like to enjoy a pint with at the beer festival and Mr Fry stood head and shoulders over other TV celebrities, politicians, royalty, sportsman and other illustrious figures.

Some of the reasons for why beer lovers chose the well educated TV legend included:

“The quipping would be as good as the quaffing.”

“He's a very knowledgeable man who would appreciate the delights of Real Ale”

“His wit and humour would make it a perfect accompaniment to a perfect pint of Ale!”

“Because he would give an anecdote whilst supping a good pint.”

Unsurprisingly, the charismatic Oliver Reed was voted 2nd. Top Gear presenter James May was voted 3rd, with Winston Churchill and Brian Blessed making up the top 5.

Tony Jerome, CAMRA Head of Marketing, said:

‘We thought we would have some fun to find out who real ale lovers would like to have a pint with at the showcase for British real ale. It was not a surprise to see such an interesting man like Stephen Fry coming out on top.

‘I am sure there would be some fascinating debate between Messrs Fry, Reed, May, Churchill and Blessed over a few British ales!’

The women with the highest votes were Kate Middleton and Lady Gaga, who shared 11th spot with David Cameron.

The 600 people who voted were entered into a prize draw to win pairs of tickets to the Great British Beer Festival. To view some of the other suggestions from the lucky winners visit - gbbf.camra.org.uk/blogpost606

OSKAR BLUES BECOMES MOUNTAIN HEADQUARTERS FOR BREWSKEE- BALL CRAZE: "WE'RE GOING TO GET YOU GUYS SOME REAL BALLS!"

LONGMONT, Colo…Oskar Blues has formed the official OB Brewskee-Ball League, creating the Rocky Mountain arm of the National BrewSkee-Ball League and earning the Oskar Blues Brewery “some real balls.”

Brewskee-Ball http://brewskeeball.com is a sanctioned competitive sport currently played in New York City, San Francisco, Wilmington, N.C., Austin, TX, and now coloRADo.

The Skeeson starts October 3rd, and games will be played each Monday night at 6pm at the Tasty Weasel Taproom in Longmont. The season will go until every team has played each other. The league caps out at 18 three-person teams, and the cost to join is $60. The champs will get FREE entry into the next Skeeson. To sign up, players can email ob@brewskeeball.com. The Tasty Weasel will be offering “Skee fo Free” nights leading up to the tournament, stay tuned to the Oskar Blues facebook page for details: http://www.facebook.com/BrewedAndCannedByOskarBluesBrewery

Created by the owners of Full Circle Bar (http://fullcirclebar.com ) in Brooklyn, NY, Eric Harris Pavony and Evan Tobias re-invented the game of Skee-Ball for adults in a modern and exciting way. Since establishing the first-ever competitive Skee-Ball league in New York City in 2005, Brewskee-Ball has fashioned a loyal network of teams, players and fans across the country.

Dale Katechis, founder of Oskar Blues, got the BrewSkee bug on a recent visit to FCB. Dale, brewery president John Bryant, and a few other OB team members returned from their experience determined to bring BrewSkee-Ball to Colorado. “They talked about brew, and we talked about Skee,” says founder Eric Pavony. “It was clear they had the same obsession with their beer that we had with Brewskee-Ball.”

FCB has garnered the respect and following of craft beer lovers as its selection of American craft beer in cans continues to grow, making Oskar Blues a natural choice for their Rocky Mountain connection. “We were attracted to the idea of canned beers because we had no basement and didn’t know what to do with empty bottles,” says Pavony. “Plus, we liked good beer and by 2009 there was plenty available in lightweight, easily recyclable and portable aluminum cans. We soon found out the many other benefits of the can: they chill faster, keep beer fresher and they look pretty awesome on a magnetic chalkboard. We were in love.” This affection has made FCB's canned beer collection one of the most comprehensive in NYC with nearly 70 different American craft beers. “We were already big fans of Oskar Blues, and their beers were among the first we selected. FCB proudly serves the entire Oskar Blues can arsenal.”

FCB is complete with a professional Skee-Ball stadium where league and tournaments are played. There is a Hall of Fame, Wall of Champions, stadium seating and the bar itself is made from old Skee-Ball lane parts. Friends and fans can also watch all the Brewskee-Ball action on a TV above the bar, which shows live video of the stadium at all times.

Wine Bar - From the beer store

Contribution by Stevie Kirby

There’s nothing better than coming home at night to a nice, tall glass of good red wine. AM I right? That’s what my husband and I had been saying for years and I don’t know why it took so long to click, but we finally realized it was time we open up our own wine bar! We found a spot near our house, went through all the legal hurdles involved with getting a liquor license and contracted with some suppliers in the area. I talked to an interior designer and my husband went to Bank-Card-Processing.com to look into credit card processing – it didn’t take long before we were all set! We love owning our own business and there’s never any shortage of great wine for us to try…all our friends have started hanging out in the bar and I sure wish we’d just had the courage to do this about a decade sooner! Making money is great but making our own money is even better – all hail the entrepreneurs!