When I describe Sunday fundays I often get a quizzical look from the person I’m talking to. Why would you want to do that? It doesn’t sound like much fun to me.

Sunday fundays are not for the weak at heart or the old at mind.

 

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I'll come right out and admit I don't know much about wine. I know it's good to experiment, so I'm starting from scratch.

So when I heard about a wine that tells you what to pair it with, I was sold.

 

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A colleague forwarded this link to me recently. It’s about a new book by food writer Robin Goldstein, called “The Wine Trials.” 500 people tasted more than 6,000 glasses of wine in a blind test. Now that's a party.

 

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I took a trip to Belgium several years back, and was astounded to find the country has such a huge variety of Belgian beers. Obviously, at the time, I was new to the wide world of European beers. It started on the plane ride over, when they offered us Stella Artoise, which is like the Bud of Europe, you can find it anywhere. 

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Everyone has a favorite, and co-worker Andrew Wolfe (you may recognize him from the Off Track blog) has a number of them to share with readers:

 

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If you didn’t hit the floor on Cinco de Mayo, then get back out there and join IUGO at Margaritas in Nashua for a tequila tasting May 6 from 5:30-7:30.

 

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Get your pen and pencil out. Here's a few sure bets for you beer folk. 

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If you're looking for something to do this weekend, there are still tickets left to the Beer Summit in Boston. 

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Recently I tried the new Moscato from Barefoot Wine. It retails for about $6.99. Moscato stands for “musky”; the grapes come from the Muscat family of grapes. They are used to make table wines, sweeter sparkling wines, or dessert wines. Barefoot describes theirs as “semi-sweet.”

Oh no… it’s way sweeter than that.

 

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If you want to find out more about locally made wine, check out the Made in NH Expo this weekend in Manchester.

 

 

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So what do you do when your neighbors hog the washer and dryer for nearly a week? Write a note, you might say, asking them to take their clothes out of the machines so that you can have some clean socks and underwear. And what if, when finally the clothes are removed, the washer goes on the fritz?

 

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If you needed yet another reason to love Wisconsin, I've found one. 

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You know when you get a bartender that's ignoring you, and you think, "I could just stick my glass under that tap and get it myself"?

 

 

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AOL release it's top ten brewery tours in the U.S. this week.

Coming in at No. 7 is the Harpoon Brewery in Boston. The brewery was picked for its tastings.

 

 

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You know spring is right around the corner when you see spring ales springing up (sorry) at the supermarket and in breweries.

 

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Sam Adams has announced its 2008 Longshot American Homebrew Contest.

If your friends are constantly complimenting you on the brews you make, or even if they're not, you may want to consider entering.

The winning beer will be featured in 2009 Longshot 6-pack.

Go to the Samuel Adam's Web site for contest rules.

Ever have one of Pepperidge Farm's Milano cookies?
 

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On Friday, I headed over to the Wine Society in Tyngsborough for its Wild & Wacky brews tasting. We tasted a dozen different beers, which were from faraway locations such as Belgium, Germany and Japan, and ones closer to home, such as Colorado, Delaware and even Pennichuck in Milford. 

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With St. Patrick’s Day around the corner, visions of Guinness are in most die-hard drinkers’ dreams. But what about it’s black and tan counterpart?

Bass has come up with a marketing tool just in time for the Irish holiday to make sure you don’t forget about them on this day.

 

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Many bars and restaurants around here fail to offer a wide assortment of Mexican alcohols. In fact, many locals maintain that Corona (ick) is the solution to many of life's problems. I recently moved here from Southern California where I went to college. Without getting into much detail, I hold myself as somewhat of a connoisseur of the country's proudest libations...with the exception of cheaper tequilas of course.

 

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Got an email from the state liquor store the other day announcing Spanish and German wines are one sale from Feb. 25 to March 30.  I'm always happy to see Spanish wine go on sale.  My absolute favorite value wine is Hoya de Cadenas -- a fantastic tempranillo with a big, bold Spanish taste.  It goes well with everything (everything that's not wimpy and pallid flavor-wise, anyhow, but who wants to eat something like that to begin with?) and  you can get it for under $10.  I brought some to a wine tasting party a few years back.  One of the activities was a blind price estimation - everybody had to guess and then the person who'd brought the wine revealed the name and price.  Nobody guessed under $20 on this one -- and that was a few years back!  If you haven't met tempranillo wines yet, you should, and this is a great introduction.  ¡Salud, amigos!

Welcome to After Hours, a new blog dedicated to beer, wine and spirits.

 

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