WE'RE MOVING

We have a .com! You can now find us at theeducatedpour.com We're bigger, faster, and snobbier. I hope you like red curtains, because we've also just added "Theater View" to our video watching experience. Check it out!

What a downer!

This guy tells the truth in a creepy way. If you are trying to lose weight or build muscle, alcohol handicaps you in a most extreme way:

Please Excuse The Snobbery: Hipster Brewing

I'm always keeping an eye out for booze-related news, so when a friend sent me this article from yesterday's New York Times, you'd think I'd be happy. But instead it just inspired The Snobbery.

Having been born and bred in Queens, I have a special contempt for Brooklyn hipsters. They're like East Village hipsters but instead of being talented starving artists with no real purpose, they have jobs as graphic designers and web technicians and just pretend to have no purpose.

Immediately upon reading the article, a few things came to mind:

#1: I bet they read "The New Yorker." Yep.

#2: The operation is being funded entirely by the guy. He is either a) the gay best friend, b) in love with the girl but she "doesn't want to ruin their friendship" and the pathetic sap keeps trying anyhow, or c) boning her. Further research found the third scenario to be case. Well at least he's getting bang for his buck.

#3: They prepared to start a business by taking a seven-week trip through Europe. What? Who decides to spend thousands of dollars on a vacation before investing your life's savings (or rather, his life savings) in a business venture? They claim it was to see if they were compatible. They're already dating each other!

(Besides, everyone knows the best way to ensure unconditional trust between two people is to have some deep dark secret from their past. Instead of spending several grand going through Europe, they could have achieved the same end by going upstate somewhere, murdering a hitchhiker, and hiding the body. That's just smart business.)

#4: Their business plan is assembled on random pieces of paper and, no doubt, a few napkins from their favorite sushi restaurant. They also only sell out of the Brooklyn Flea, which is open only on weekends. Are they really moving that much merchandise that they can cover overhead, support themselves, pay back their investment, AND turn a profit? The economics baffle me.

#5: Each batch only brews a gallon of beer at a time to save space. That's a little under 11 beers, which, for someone like me, is just your average Sunday night. And I'd argue a traditional home brew kit doesn't take up a whole lot of space to begin with.

#6: Screw healthcare. Obamacare is right around the corner! *Conservative facepalm.* Then again, this is the New York Times.

My personal gripes aside, an investigation of their website proves the Brooklyn Brew Shop to be an intriguing option for the home brewer. Their kits are small, but quite inexpensively priced at $40 apiece. And damn, do they have good taste. The kit that gets top billing is for a Belgian-style trippel and they have a wide-array of Belgian yeasts. Furthermore, they seem to be padding their revenue by hosting brewing class/tastings, which might be worth a visit.

I'm curious to see what Tim, our resident home brewer thinks of this. What about you?

The Alcohol Snob

He's a dick

Drinking Songs: Is Drinking that prevalent in music?

if love and rejection of it are the #1 theme in music, what's #2? One may think that drinking may be at least in the top 5 most over used themes.

We've all heard drinking references in songs: Country songs about whiskey, irish pub songs about pints of beer, and rap songs about patron and crystal. But are there really enough to say its a worn out theme?

I went through my itunes to see what i could fish out and found only about 75 references of booze out of nearly 2000 songs. Am i missing a truck load of booze tunes? Lemme know what you think

Home Brewing Revolution

Its estimated that 750,000 americans brew beer as a hobby. Why home brew you ask? Well...

1) For 30 bucks you can make 60+ beers. Thats more than 2 cases of beer or aka 50 cents for a quality beer of your choice. So if an average 6 pack is 7.99 + tax, that means you triple your moneys worth!

2) No preservatives = better tasting and fresher beer

3) Make a beer that fits your exact taste.

4) Be a part of a underground family of brewers

5) As Kevin says, "Take your alcoholism to the next level. Now you don't have to go to a store or bar ever again!"

6) Its fun!

7) Drink Smart, Drink Well

But, as Reading Rainbow's Levar Burton once said, you don't have to take my word for it:

Next week The Educated Pour will dive into home brewing!

Episode 3: Red Wine

Episode 3 of the ongoing series exploring the wide world of alcohol. This Month: Red Wine.