Now if I could only find a 40 of Burger

From Wednesday's Enquirer:

Hudy Bock Beer comes back
BY JON NEWBERRY JNEWBERRY@ENQUIRER.COM

Christian Moerlein Brewing Co. is resurrecting another of Cincinnati’s historic beer brands for this weekend’s Bockfest celebration. Hudepohl Bock Beer will be available on draft at restaurants and bars participating in Bockfest beginning Thursday.

Hudepohl and various other versions of bock beer, a dark lager traditionally packaged with a label featuring a goat – “bock” in German – have heralded the coming of spring in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky since the 1800s.

Cincinnati-based Christian Moerlein bought the Hudepohl-Schoenling brands last year, returning them to local ownership. It has marketed Hudy Delight beer since then, but the Hudepohl brand has otherwise been absent for years, and Hudepohl Bock hasn’t been produced since the 1980s.


The company brewed only a small batch using one of the original recipes, said Greg Hardman, owner of Christian Moerlein.

“We’re bringing it back as kind of a test to see how people like it,” he said. “Based on that reaction, that’ll determine what we do. This is a big stretch for us. We’re bringing back one of the true great brands of the city.”

Hudepohl 14K, a lighter lager than the bock version, was the most popular Cincinnati beer brand through much of the 1950s and 1960s. Sales slumped in the 1970s and 1980s as national brands such as Budweiser and Miller came to dominate the industry, and regional breweries shut down across the country.

Hardman, who now brews his beer at the Lion Brewery in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., hopes to open a brewery in Over-the-Rhine once he re-establishes his brands and builds sufficient sales volumes.

Hudepohl Bock will also be sold downtown at the inaugural “Bock and Brats Cincinnati Beer Toast” on Fountain Square from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday.

The event is sponsored by the Brewery District Community Urban Redevelopment Corp., an Over-the-Rhine non-profit group. It will feature Cincinnati beer and sausages, including bock beer, bockwurst and bratwurst.

Participants are invited to take to the stage and give a toast appropriate for the occasion, with an engraved plaque awarded for the winning entry. The toasts will be shown live on the square’s giant video screen.

BROOMBALL

The Broomball Championship is set for the new Fountain Square rink this Friday.
Here's the big question: what's the spread?

To Gag or Not to Gag

Everyone tells me I'm getting old when I admit that I podcast Bill Cunningham. You should check out six minutes into his hour 2 from yesterday here.

He's interviewing Liz Carroll's UC Law '99 lawyer, Adam Bleile.

Bill Cunningham: You represent Liz Carroll only on the matters pending in Hamilton County not Clermont County, correct?
Adam Bleile: That’s correct, officially speaking. I don’t want to be subject to the gag order in Clermont County.
Bill: It’s got nothing to do with Clermont County.
Adam: Well, officially (chuckle) I don’t have anything to do with Clermont County. But, I speak with Greg Cohen probably every break that they get there and I’m generally in Court.

(Questioning goes on to describe Liz Carroll’s story, alleges Amy Baker’s perjury and discusses whether Liz Carroll will testify and suggests that other unnamed witnesses may be called to contradict her testimony)

I think we'll be hearing from Judge Ringland on this one. As you may recall, he gave Deters the OK to talk, but not Mark Piepmeier. It's nice to know you can (officially) decide to exclude yourself from a gag order.

It got me thinking. I have a civil case against a well known insurance company that everyone will agree screwed my client out of coverage. Mediation is coming up. Perfect case for the press, but when?

Never too early to think about tailgates.

Bjorn and I have discussed the possibility of tailgating at two games this year. Usually, one is enough. But the people seem to like the gathering, so we will try to make it happen. Two dates to keep open are Sept 22nd (vs. Marshall) and Oct 13th (vs. Louisville. It will depend on start time, for some reason UC likes to start it's Homecoming game at noon, and that's simply not enough time. Spead the word, and remember we have a special treat planned this year.

What's Been Going On in Indiana?

BUD:

I thought that there was already a law against having sex with animals. No?

I can't believe that they actually quoted someone saying, "They don't just stick it to animals."

WWHD?

BUD:

I am very curious about what Huffman is up to these days. Cincinnati, DC, teaching, rock climbing, what? Max, perhaps you could post a schedule for the last year or so to include jobs, locations, descriptions, interesting trips, etc?

WASHINGTON DEFENSE OF MARRIAGE

MOOSE:

I'm sure that this is getting a fair bit of press in Bud's neck of the country. I'll excerpt it below. Suffice it to say, some crazy liberals obviously enjoy tweaking the religious right:

On July 26, 2006, the Washington Supreme Court issued their ruling on Andersen v. King County, decided jointly with Castle v. Washington. These cases sought to overturn Washington’s Defense of Marriage Act, which bans same-sex couples from the hundreds of rights, protections and privileges which state law provides through marriage. In their ruling, the Supreme Court claimed a “legitimate state interest” in defining marriage exclusively for the purpose of procreation and child-rearing. The justices then used this interest to declare that same-sex couples are properly barred from marriage because they are incapable of procreating.

In response, a group of concerned citizens formed the Washington Defense of Marriage Alliance this past August. Our agenda is to shine a very bright light on the injustice and prejudice that underlie the Andersen decision by giving that decision the full force of law. Over the next few years, we will propose three initiatives to the people, each focusing on a different aspect of Andersen. The first initiative will make procreation a requirement for legal marriage. The second would prohibit divorce or separation when a married couple has children together. The third would make having a child together the equivalent of marriage.

On these links you will find: the press release; the Washington Defense of Marriage Alliance's homepage; and the actual text of the Act.

My favorite part is where the Andersen court mentions Bud's favorite marriage priviledge: spousal immunity (page 6).

Bud's Still Got It

BUD:

I haven't enjoyed a day like this Saturday since the Summer of Bud. A friend is getting married in a couple of weeks, so about 20 guys got together for a bachelor party: flag football in the afternoon, then poker (3rd place finish for Bud, not too shabby for my first cards in literally 2 1/2 years), then to a gentlemen's establishment. Good times.

I was also introduced to a couple of recent SNL gems (Box and Lazy Sunday). They probably aren't too new, but they were new to me. I was pleased to see that SNL can still put out some quality stuff.

Moose, I am already primed and ready for October in Vegas!

Take that Friedman

Bud:

Here is an article that seeks to temper some of the enthusiasm that people like Thomas Friedman have stirred up for the growth of the high tech industry in India and India's accension to superpower status in the new "flat" world.

Moose, you were in India recently, what's the word on the street?

Thank God It's Over

BUD:

I enjoy the Super Bowl, I really do, but 2 weeks of lead up time and a finite number of mildly-interesting stories really wears on you:
1. Peyton Manning not having won the big one. I really didn't have any strong football affinity for either team, but you better believe that I was rooting hard for the Colts to win so we could put this story to rest forever. Seriously, now that Peyton Manning won his championship and Barbaro has been laid to rest, I feel like I can finally move on with my life.
2. Rex Grossman getting trashed. The guy is an NFL quarterback, and the Bears have two other veterans on the depth chart. If he's so bad, how did he win the starting job, and why aren't the Bears using someone else? It all hinges on the offensive line, anyway.
3. A black head coach winning the Super Bowl. Or is it African-American? Seriously, can someone (Jesse Jackson, Samuel L. Jackson, Michael Jackson, anyone who might be qualified and willing to step up and make a decision) please figure out which term we are supposed to use. If anything, I'm embarrassed that the two black coaches thing was such a big story. To quote George Costanza, I really don't feel like I should be talking about this.
4. Let's just be glad that the Saints lost to the Bears. Can you imagine if New Orleans was in the Super Bowl? Hurricane Katrina, Reggie Bush, Archie Manning -- it's giving me a headache just thinking about it.

By the way, was anyone else worried that Prince was going to get electrocuted during the halftime show?

Dispatch from the frozen capital

This morning I stopped by the courthouse on the way to work to see if I could get a peek at the Libby trial. Sure enough, the benches reserved for the public were half full and I sat 5 rows back from Libby and his team of about 12 attorneys. One young defense attorney looks like a combination of Moose and Jack Black. His greatest role was putting the partner's microphone on his lapel. Libby is probably an inch shorter than Moose. And Fitzgerald is a lot taller and heavier than he appears in photos. I could place other UCLaw grads as look alikes on both teams and in the audience. Media muckity mucks were in attendance, the only one recognizable to me being Nina Totenberg.

I stayed for a couple arguments without the jury and then some defense questioning of an FBI agent on the stand. Couple comments:

--Defense counsel seemed way too argumentative with judge Walton. He had ruled that the gov could enter into evidence some articles recovered from Libby's files on the presumption that Libby had probably read them, especially an article with underlined passages. Even though the judge had clearly made up his mind, defense counsel essentially said "you're wrong, no human or member of the jury could possibly heed your instructions to disregard prejudicial parts of the articles." Why didn't he just say, "we respectfully disagree" and take it up on appeal? Aren't you just pissing off the judge?

--Defense counsel is possibly alienating the 80% female jury by constantly referring to Ms. Plame as "the wife."

--Another defense partner constantly mispronounces "th"s as "f"s, and I'm not sure it's not intentional to appear more down to earth. If it is intentional, don't you risk losing some jurors as much as gaining others by grating on the former's appreciation of correct pronunciation?

--I have no jury experience but they seemed very interested in the case. And they were very social with one another during pauses. That usually bodes well for the prosecution I think.

Place your bets everyone, chances that:

--Libby will be acquitted. I'm thinking 1/1 so far.
--W will pardon Libby if not acquitted. I say 2/1.

lopez