It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Beer: Urtyp Hell Edel Bayer

The next beer advent calendar beer is Urtyp Hell Edel Bayer, yet another helles and the third beer thus far from Privatbrauerei H. Egerer in Großköllnbach, Germany -- again, about a 70-mile canoe ride up the Isar from Munich.  This was just okay.  Nothing too spectacular, but a pretty standard Bavarian helles.

Name:  Urtyp Hell Edel Bayer
Brewery:  Privatbrauerei H. Egerer
Location:  Großköllnbach, Germany
ABV:  4.9%
IBU:  N/A
Good for drinking if:  You're forcing your kids to watch a two-and-a-half-hour black-and-white holiday classic, and you're pleasantly surprised that they're paying attention.
Rating (out of five stars, by quarter star increments):  3.75

Hair Band Friday - 12/20/19

1.  "Every Rose Has Its Thorn" by Poison


2.  "Here Comes Trouble" by Dangerous Toys


3.  "Hang Tough" by Tesla


4.  "Gypsy Road" by Cinderella


5.  "Breathless" by Quiet Riot


6.  "Drop Dead Legs" by Van Halen


7.  "Breakin' All The Rules" by Ozzy Osbourne


8.  "Black-Hearted Woman" by Blue Murder


9.  "Run Riot" by Def Leppard


10.  "Come On and Dance" by Mötley Crüe

Retro Video of the Week: "Merry Christmas (I Don't Want to Fight Tonight)" by The Ramones

Yes, Virginia, even punk bands can make Christmas songs.  In 1989, The Ramones released Brain Drain, their eleventh studio album (and last to feature original bassist Dee Dee Ramone -- though his replacement, C.J. Ramone is in the video below).  The last song on the album was the irreverent "Merry Christmas (I Don't Want to Fight Tonight)," which featured an equally irreverent video about a couple who are at each other's throats, then they get hammered at a Christmas party and make amends, only to have the woman freak out when her man gets her the wrong colored scarf.  We can all relate.

It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Beer: Zwönitzer Rauchbier

The dark beer trend in the beer advent calendar continues, as Zwönitzer Rauchbier was up next.  It's made by Brauerei-Gasthof Zwönitz in Zwönitz, which is not in Bavaria, but rather in Saxony, a little more than 15 miles north of the Czech border and about 65 miles southeast of Dresden.  If you don't already know about rauchbiers, you should know what you're getting into if you ever see it on a menu or at a store or brewery, lest you think it's just some normal variety of German beer.  Rauchbiers are smoked beers that get their unique flavor thanks to using malts that are dried over an open flame.  Some rauchbiers are over the top in their smokiness -- like you're inhaling beer that just came from your fireplace -- but this one isn't too potently smoky.  It's got a nice, full flavor, but at the same time, like all rauchbiers, I don't have any desire to have more than one.

Name:  Zwönitzer Rauchbier
Brewery:  Brauerei-Gasthof Zwönitz
Location:  Zwönitz, Germany
ABV:  4.8%
IBU:  N/A
Good for drinking if:  You've ever thought to yourself, "man, I wish my beer tasted and smelled like a camp fire."
Rating (out of five stars, by quarter star increments):  4

It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Beer: Graminger Kirta and Jubiläums-Sud

Thanks to a slew -- but not a slue or a slough -- of holiday parties in the evenings, I have managed to get a few days behind on my beer advent calendar.  Things aren't going to get any less hectic over the next eight days, so in all likelihood, I'll be drinking my advent calendar beers past Christmas Eve.  Oh well.

There haven't been too many darker beers yet in the beer advent calendar, but that has all changed.  First up was the Graminger Kirta, brewed by Graminger Weißbräu -- a brewery specializing in unfiltered wheat beers (whose two master brewers are sisters) in Altötting, an eastern Bavarian town about 60 miles east of Munich and 10 miles west of the Austrian border.  The Kirta is a dunkelweizen, which might be my favorite style of European beer (apologies to Belgian-style ales).  As the name implies, dunkelweizens are dark wheat beers, using roasted malts, which adds some body and maltiness to the already delicious Bavarian weizen.  This one was excellent.

Name:  Graminger Kirta
Brewery:  Graminger Weißbräu
Location:  Altötting, Germany
ABV:  5.4%
IBU:  N/A
Good for drinking if:  You need a come-down beer when you're chillin' in between holiday parties and trying to get your kids to watch old episodes of Wonder Woman.
Rating (out of five stars, by quarter star increments):  4.5

Tonight, I had Herrnbräu's Jubiläums-Sud.  This is the second beer from Herrnbräu in the beer advent calendar.  As I'm sure you recall, last week, I sampled their Bürgerliches Brauhaus Altbairisch Hell, which was pretty good as far as helleses go.  The Jubiläums-Sud is even better.  It's a dunkel, which is another one of my favorite styles of European beer.  Dunkels are dark lagers that generally have a lot of flavor, little to no bitterness, and a good mid-range of ABV.  The first liter I usually get upon my arrival in Munich is a liter of dunkel.  Jubiläums-Sud is a fantastic example of a Bavarian dunkel.  It's malty, sweet (with caramel and brown sugar notes), and delicious.

Name:  Jubiläums-Sud
Brewery:  Herrnbräu
Location:  Ingolstadt, Germany
ABV:  5.6%
IBU:  N/A
Good for drinking if:  You spent most of your evening telling three children to stop touching things while visiting various stores unsuccessfully trying to find fucking Amazon gift cards in denominations appropriate for said children's teachers.
Rating (out of five stars, by quarter star increments):  4.5

Hair Band Friday - 12/13/19

1.  "Only a Man" by Scorpions


2.  "Sign of the Times" by Quiet Riot


3.  "You're In Trouble" by Ratt


4.  "High 'n' Dry (Saturday Night)" by Def Leppard


5.  "Hold Your Fire" by FireHouse


6.  "Young and Wasted" by KISS


7.  "Make Your Own Way" by Cinderella


8.  "Jet City Woman" by Queensrÿche


9.  "Gonna Getcha" by Great White


10.  "Unchained" by Van Halen

It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Beer: Grandl

Today's selection is a lager called Grandl, brewed by Ankerbräu Nördlingen, which is aptly located in Nördlingen, a burg on the far western border of Bavaria, a stone's throw from Baden-Württemberg, about 65 miles east of Stuttgart and 85 miles northwest of Munich.  Grandl is a fine German lager.  i should have known I was in for a treat when the can itself said "Aged patiently - For a golden color and a classy taste."  Indeed!

Name:  Grandl
Brewery:  Ankerbräu Nördlingen
Location:  Nördlingen, Germany
ABV:  5.0%
IBU:  N/A
Good for drinking if:  Your son is barking for the Yak Woman.
Rating (out of five stars, by quarter star increments):  4

Retro Video of the Week: "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" by U2

This week's holiday-themed Retro Video of the Week is U2's 1987 cover of one of the most iconic Christmas songs of the rock and roll era, Darlene Love's "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)," off of the legendary 1963 Christmas album, A Christmas Gift for You From Phil Spector -- which I have publicly lauded in 2007 and 2018 (an privately lauded 413 times).  U2's version was part of the A Very Special Christmas compilation album, which featured holiday classics sung by various huge artists of the day.  And they made an accompanying video, which is a bonus for my Retro Video of the Week purposes.

It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Beer: Hösl Märzenbier

Today's beer advent calendar selection is the Hösl Märzenbier.  It's made by Privatbrauerei Hösl, which is located in Mitterteich, located in the northeast corner of Bavaria, not too far from Thuringia and Saxony, very close to the Czech border (only about 7 miles), about 85 miles northeast of Nuremberg, and about 150 miles north of Munich.  If you can't find it on a map now, I can't help you.  But let's get to the beet.  I have to say that it's one of the better märzens I've had -- and I've had a lot of märzens, so I implore you to consider that high praise.  It's nice and malty, and just a tad bit sweeter than most others.  Some märzens can have kind of a bitter finish, and this one doesn't have that.  I could definitely see myself drinking liters of this while standing on a bench singing "Viva Bavaria" with 7,000 of my closest friends.  

Name:  Hösl Märzenbier
Brewery:  Privatbrauerei Hösl
Location:  Mitterteich, Germany
ABV:  5.3%
IBU:  N/A
Good for drinking if:  You need a beer in a crimson can while watching the Cream and Crimson.
Rating (out of five stars, by quarter star increments):  4.25

It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Beer: Bürgerliches Brauhaus Altbairisch Hell

Today's advent calendar beer is Bürgerliches Brauhaus Altbairisch Hell.  It's another damn long name, and I don't know about you, but I read the first word as "burger-licious."  This is a really good helles.  It has more flavor and less bitterness than the other helleses that the beer advent calendar has offered thus far.  It's brewed by Herrnbräu, which is located in the Bavarian burg of Ingolstadt, about 50 miles north of Munich.  Ingolstadt has a pretty amazing history.  Among other things, it's where Frankenstein is set, it's where the Illuminati was founded, it's home to Audi and Airbus, and most importantly and most apropos, it's where William IV, Duke of Bavaria, wrote and signed the Bavarian Reinheitsgebot into law in 1516.

Name:  Bürgerliches Brauhaus Altbairisch Hell
Brewery:  Herrnbräu
Location:  Ingolstadt, Germany
ABV:  4.9%
IBU:  N/A
Good for drinking if:  You need a quality beer to help you through a Giants-Eagles game as your fantasy football season hangs in the balance.
Rating (out of five stars, by quarter star increments):  4

It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Beer: Perlenzauber and Landenburger Weizenbock Hell

I didn't have time yesterday to post, but rest assured, fair readers, I did drink at least one beer yesterday.  So here are yesterday and today's beer advent calendar beers.

Yesterday's beer was Perlenzauber, which is the second beer thus far from Privatbrauerei H. Egerer in Großköllnbach, Germany -- again, about a 70-mile swim up the Isar from Munich.  Perlenzauber is described on its rather titillating can as a German pale ale.  Even though I know that "pale ale" in Europe generally doesn't mean the same thing that it means in the States, I was still bracing for some hoppiness, but much to my pleasant surprise, there wasn't really any.  It was just an easy-drinking ale.

Name:  Perlenzauber
Brewery:  Privatbrauerei H. Egerer
Location:  Großköllnbach, Germany
ABV:  5.4%
IBU:  N/A
Good for drinking if:  You just wrapped some presents like a motherfucker, and you need something refreshing to slam before you head to a Die Hard pop-up bar, Bouby.
Rating (out of five stars, by quarter star increments):  4

Today, it was the Weizenbock Hell, brewed by Brauerei Ladenburger, which is located in Neuler, which is not in Bavaria, but rather the next state west, Baden-Württemberg.  It essentially sits in the center of southern Germany.  But enough about towns you will never visit.  Weizenbocks are wheat beers with higher ABV.  I'm not sure where the "Hell" comes in, but as you can see, this isn't as hazy as a traditional wheat beer, so maybe this is just some unholy combination of weizenbock and helles.  Whatever it is, it's delicious, and it packs a solid punch at 7.4% ABV -- but it doesn't taste too strong, so it's definitely one of those beers that can get you in trouble.

Name:  Weizenbock Hell
Brewery:  Brauerei Landenburger
Location:  Neuler, Germany
ABV:  7.4%
IBU:  N/A
Good for drinking if:  You competed quite admirably in a 0.5k winter beer dash earlier today.  Quite admirably.
Rating (out of five stars, by quarter star increments):  4.25

It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Beer: Erlkönig Hell

It's not every day you drink a beer named after a Goethe poem, but today's beer advent calendar selection is Erlkönig Hell, brewered by Erl-Bräu, which is located in Geiselhöring in Bavaria, about 70-75 miles northeast of Munich.  As the name implies, Erlkönig Hell is a helles beer.  It shares a name with Goethe's poem "Erlkönig" -- your classic 18th Century German tale about a child who is preyed on by some sort of demon or fairy known as the Erlkönig, which translates to "Elf King."  This is why it makes sense that it's in a beer advent calendar, as Santa also has elves, albeit nice ones.  The beer is no king.  It's just okay.  It's a pretty standard helles, which means it's a pretty standard European lager.

Name:  Erlkönig Hell
Brewery:  Erl-Bräu
Location:  Geiselhöring, Germany
ABV:  5.0%
IBU:  N/A
Good for drinking if:  You want to feel like you're in pretty much any bar in western or central Europe and drinking the most average beer they have.
Rating (out of five stars, by quarter star increments):  3.75

Hair Band Friday - 12/6/19

1.  "The Way It Is" (live) by Tesla


2.  "Fast Road" by Great White


3.  "Youth Gone Wild" by Skid Row


4.  "Save The Weak" by Britny Fox


5.  "Don't Give Up an Inch" by Poison


6.  "Bottom Line" by Ratt


7.  "Breakdown" by Guns N' Roses


8.  "Long Live Rock & Roll" by Steel Dragon


9.  "Magdalaine" by L.A. Guns


10.  "Bottoms Up!" by Van Halen

College Football: Undefeated After Week 14

I skipped last week, but it doesn't fucking matter, does it?  Yes, Ohio State jumped LSU for the top spot in the CFP rankings last week, but both teams and #3 Clemson remained undefeated.

But before we get there, let's talk about my Hoosiers.  It was a heart attack Old Oaken Bucket game, but IU prevailed in double OT, 44-41, to go 8-4 overall and finish 5-4 in the Big Ten.  It's the Hoosiers' first 8-win season and first winning Big Ten record since 1993 -- when IU was, in fact, two touchdowns from going to the Rose Bowl.  I'm excited to see which bowl we end up in, as it could be the best bowl we've had since the Holiday Bowl in 1979.

And I think the entire college football community outside of Tuscaloosa is thrilled that Alabama will be missing the College Football Playoff for the first time ever, as the Crimson Tide dropped all the way to #12 in the CFP rankings after their 48-45 loss to archrival Auburn.

Anyway, in the latest release of the College Football Playoff rankings, the top four did not change from last week, and nor should it have.  #1 Ohio State destroyed rival Michigan, 56-27 in Ann Arbor -- who is a whore, mind you -- and that was the closest victory margin of the top four teams.  #2 LSU crushed Texas A&M, 50-7.  #3 Clemson stomped rival South Carolina, 38-3.  Finally, #4 Georgia inflicted some clean, old-fashioned hate on Georgia Tech, winning 52-7.

Now we have the conference championship games, where anything can happen, and no one is safe -- except maybe Clemson.  #1 Ohio State plays #8 Wisconsin -- who the Buckeyes manhandled, 38-7, six weeks ago -- in the Big Ten Championship Game in Indianapolis.  #2 LSU and #4 Georgia will square off in the SEC Championship Game in Atlanta, which will create an interesting quandary for the CFP Committee if Georgia wins.  Finally, #3 Clemson plays #23 Virginia in the ACC Championship Game in Charlotte.

Here are the top 4 teams in the CFP ranking, along with each team's best win and worst loss, where applicable:
1.  Ohio State (12-0)
Best win:  #8 Wisconsin (10/26; 38-7)
Worst loss:  N/A
2.  LSU (12-0)
Best win:  #9 Florida (10/12; 42-28)
Worst loss:  N/A
3.  Clemson (12-0)
Best win:  Wake Forest (11/16; 52-3)
Worst loss: N/A
4.  Georgia (11-1)
Best win:  #9 Florida (11/2; 24-17)
Worst loss:  South Carolina (10/12; 20-17)

Here is a breakdown of the remaining undefeated teams and each team's remaining game (rankings are CFP rankings):

#1 Ohio State (12-0)
12/7 – Big Ten championship game (Indianapolis) vs. #8 Wisconsin
Best win:  #8 Wisconsin (10/26; 38-7)

#2 LSU (12-0)
12/7 – SEC championship game (Atlanta) vs. #4 Georgia (11-1)
Best win:  #9 Florida (10/12; 42-28)

#3 Clemson (12-0)
12/7 – ACC championship game (Charlotte) vs. #23 Virginia (9-3)
Best win:  Wake Forest (11/16; 52-3)

It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Beer: Kress Bayrisch Zwickel

Today's half liter of goodness is the Kress Bayrisch Zwickel.  Zwickels are a type of kellerbier, which means they are unpasteurized and, as a result, cloudy.  Sometimes, you'll see "naturtrüb" on German wheat beers or kellerbiers and zwickel, and that basically means that it's gonna be cloudy.  Zwickels are nice and malty, so I enjoy them.  This one is made by Privatrauerei H. Egerer in Großköllnbach, which is in Bavaria, about a 70-mile swim up the Isar River from Munich.  True story:  the "ß" in German is pronounced as "ss" in English.  Another true story:  I like this beer.

Name:  Kress Bayrisch Zwickel
Brewery:  Privatrauerei H. Egerer
Location:  Großköllnbach, Germany
ABV:  5.4%
IBU:  N/A
Good for drinking if:  You deserve a beverage after a night of tree trimmin', if you know what I mean.
Rating (out of five stars, by quarter star increments):  4.25

Retro Video of the Week: "Merry Xmas Everybody" by Slade

As we are now firmly entrenched in the holiday season, as we always do this time of year here at GMYH, the Retro Videos of the from now until Christmas will be holiday-themed.  While the normal parameters of Retro Video of the Week are that a video has to have been from the "MTV Era" -- which I consider August 1981 (when MTV launched) to May 2000 (when I graduated from college) -- I bend the rules for the holiday-themed videos, since there aren't a ton of them and I don't want to have to post "Last Christmas" every year.

With that, I give you a true holiday classic, Slade's "Merry Xmas Everybody."  Lead singer Noddy Holder and bassist Jim Lea wrote the song at the behest of their producer, rock legend Chas Chandler -- formerly of the Animals and the man who was arguably most instrumental in making Jimi Hendrix into a star -- who asked the band to write a Christmas song.  Holder and Lea wrote the song as kind of an ode to a traditional British family Christmas, and with lines like "Are you hanging up the stockings on your wall" and "Does your Granny always tell you / That the old songs are the best," I think it does a fantastic job of capturing the joy and familiality (of that's a word) of the holidays.

The song was an instant success, hitting #1 on the UK pop charts and becoming the band's best-selling single by a longshot.  And thanks to digital sales, the song has hit the Top 40 on the UK pop charts eight times since 2006, not to mention a few times in the '80s and '90s.  And I think I just decided that, should I have the opportunity to sing karaoke at any point in the next couple weeks, this will be the song I sing.

It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Beer: Memminger Gold Märzen

Today's selection is the Gold Märzen from Memminger Brauerei in Memmingen, Germany, which is located in Bavaria, about 70 miles west of Munich -- and more importantly, about the same distance northeast of Liechtenstein.  Basically, what I'm suggesting is that the Memminger brewery is the perfect midway stopping point for a liter between Oktoberfest and Vaduz.  But I digress. Märzen is a traditional Bavarian lager, and it is the type of beer that is typically served at Oktoberfest (and they are also sometimes called festbiers, like the one I had yesterday).  Here comes your history lesson.  Back in the 16th Century, there was a law in Bavaria that beer could only be brewed between September 29 and April 23.  Märzens were brewed in March (or März in German), and they were brewed with more hops and more alcohol, so that the beer would last until the end of September, when brewing was allowed again.  The Memminger Gold Märzen is a pretty good one, and the first sip reminded me of being in the tents at Oktoberfest.  It tastes like Oktoberfest, although I'm not yet seeing triple or buying cheap snuff from the roving Bavarian candy striper -- which is not to say I won't be crushing up and snorting an Altoid later just to make me feel alive again.

Name:  Gold Märzen
Brewery:  Memminger Brauerei
Location:  Memmingen, Germany
ABV:  5.1%
IBU:  N/A
Good for drinking if:  You find yourself rooting for teams that you normally loathe simply because they are playing against teams from a different conference in a "challenge," even though you will never root for Purdue.
Rating (out of five stars, by quarter star increments):  4

It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Beer: Schnaitl Bräu

Tonight's beer advent calendar selection is Schnaitl Bräu, a festbier from Privatbrauerei Schnaitl and the first Austrian beer in the calendar.  The brewery is located in Egglesberg, which is about 25 miles north of Salzburg, and a little more than 10 miles east of the German border.  Festbiers are the style served at Oktoberfest, and they are generally malty and higher in alcohol content than a typical lager.  This one is pretty representative of Oktoberfest-style biers, only it was a half liter too small.

Name:  Schnaitl Bräu
Brewery:  Privatbrauerei Schnaitl
Location:  Egglesberg, Austria
ABV:  5.9%
IBU:  N/A
Good for drinking if:  You're watching your alma mater beat a ranked team after you spent much of the evening battling your five-year-old son about going to swimming class, but winning in the end, if you consider having to take your five-year-old son to swimming class on a Tuesday night winning.
Rating (out of five stars, by quarter star increments):  3.75

Tuesday Top Ten: Favorite Concerts of the Decade

Well fair readers, in another 29 days, we will have reached the end of the teens, and we'll be diving headfirst into the Roaring '20s.  That means that you are bound to see plenty of "best of the decade" lists in the coming weeks, and you can sure as shit believe that GMYH is no exception.

My first "best of the decade" list should come as no shock to any of you.  Other than autoerotic asphyxiation, playing Bean Boozled, and LARPing as Airwolf characters, going to concerts is my favorite pastime.  Sadly, I don't have plans to go to any shows between now and the end of the year, so my concert attending for the decade appears to have concluded.  But between January 1, 2010 -- when I saw the Black Keys at The Riv -- and October 16 of this year -- when I saw Stiff Little Fingers at Bottom Lounge -- I attended over 160 shows and music festivals in over 45 different venues, and I saw over 400 different musical acts in all.  Not too shabby, if I do say so myself.

For my own self-edification (not that my self-edification could be anyone's other than my own), here are the bands and artists that I saw at least five times in the last decade:

1.  The Hold Steady (9)
2.  J. Roddy Walston & The Business (8)
3 (tie).  The Black Keys (5)
3 (tie).  Cage The Elephant (5)
3 (tie).  Gary Clark, Jr. (5)
3 (tie).  The Darkness (5)
3 (tie).  The Gaslight Anthem (5)
3 (tie).  Ghost (5)
3 (tie).  KISS (5)
3 (tie).  The Struts (5)
3 (tie).  Vintage Trouble (5)
3 (tie).  Weezer (5)

Not every show I saw was fantastic, but there weren't too many disappointments over the last ten years.  With that, here are my ten favorite concerts I attended between 2010 and 2019.  I'm not including shows from Lollapalooza, Riot Fest, or other music fests I have been to, since that's just too hard.  Along with the band, I'm listing the date, venue, and location.  I'm going to put them in chronological order.

1.  The Weekend of Weezer
Dates:  January 7 and 8, 2011
Venue:  Aragon Ballroom
Location:  Chicago
Back in 2011, Weezer played the Blue Album in its entirety one night, after a set of "greatest hits," and then Pinkerton in its entirety the next night, after a set including b-sides, rarities, and fan favorites. I love Weezer, and the Blue Album and Pinkerton are my two favorite albums by them, so this was a great time.  For further detail about the shows and the related fun I had that weekend, check out my post here.

2.  Paul McCartney
Date:  July 31, 2011
Venue:  Wrigley Field
Location:  Chicago

The Beatles are one of my favorite bands, and I have seen Paul McCartney a couple times, though when I saw him at Wrigley in 2011, it was the first time I had seen him since 2003.  There is nothing better than hearing a full stadium singing the "nah nah nah na-na-na-naahhh" part of "Hey Jude."

3.  The Darkness, Foxy Shazam, and Crown Jewel Defense
Date:  February 11, 2012
Venue:  The Metro
Location:  Chicago
I have loved The Darkness ever since I heard the first chord of "I Believe in a Thing Called Love."  They broke up in 2006 so that the band could deal with their drug issues, and many (myself included) assumed that would be it.  But then in 2012, they came back with a vengeance, clean, sober, and ready to rawk.  A night after I saw Megadeth and Motörhead at The Aragon, I saw The Darkness, Foxy Shazam, and Crown Jewel Defense at The Metro.  I had never seen (or heard of) Foxy Shazam before, and they were the perfect opener for The Darkness.  High energy and full of rock and machismo.  If nothing else, once they finished playing, I thought that it was worth it, even if The Darkness sucked, since I discovered a new band.  But The Darkness do not suck.  They took the stage and just mowed down the audience.  The crowd was jumping and signing the entire time.  It was just a big party, and it cemented that I will never miss a Darkness show when they come into town.  Here's a post I wrote at the time about my Weekend of Metal.

4.  Bruce Springsteen
Date:  September 8, 2012
Venue:  Wrigley Field
Location:  Chicago
This was the first (and thus far, the only) time I saw The Boss, and everything you have read about how awesome his concerts are is true.  The rain didn't stop him from playing for three hours, and even Eddie Vedder made a cameo.  I wrote about this show here.

5.  KISS
Date:  November 14, 2014
Venue:  The Joint
Location:  Las Vegas
I was lucky enough to see KISS during their residency at The Joint in Las Vegas in 2014, and my seats were spectacular.  That alone was awesome, but then Paul Stanley grabbed my friend's cell phone and took a picture of us.  It's all recounted here.  It may be my top concert experience ever.

6.  Diarrhea Planet and JEFF The Brotherhood
Date:  December 30, 2015
Venue:  Lincoln Hall
Location:  Chicago
Diarrhea Planet recently played their last show, which is a damn shame.  Don't let the name fool you, these guys were great musicians.  I saw them twice in 2015 -- and both times at Lincoln Hall -- and they blew the doors off the place both times, with their four-guitar attack.  As I mentioned at the time, they were like a combination of Weezer, Van Halen, Thin Lizzy, and Phil Spector's Wall of Sound.  I went with the December 30 show because it also included another great Infinity Cat act, JEFF The Brotherhood.

7.  Guns N' Roses and Alice in Chains
Date:  July 1, 2016
Venue:  Soldier Field
Location:  Chicago
I never got to see GNR in the '80s or '90s.  They had broken up by the time I was old enough to drive or had the kind of spending money to buy concert tickets.  I always told my wife that I would pay $1,000 to see GNR if they reunited.  When they did (well not in total, but Axl, Slash, Duff, Gilby, Dizzy, and Matt is close enough), I didn't quite spend a grand, but I went all out and bought front-row tickets and a VIP package.  The band sounded great, and my childhood dreams came true.  A slightly longer recap is at the bottom of this post.

8.  The Hold Steady at Empty Bottle
Date:  June 17, 2017
Venue:  Empty Bottle
Location:  Chicago
By the fact that I saw The Hold Steady more than any other band the past decade (or ever, for that matter), you know that I love this band.  They are fantastic live, and in June 2017, they played at the Empty Bottle -- which holds barely 300 people -- as part of the venue's 25th anniversary concert series, where bands that had played the venue over the years came back.  The show was a sweaty mess of fun, and we were right next to the stage on Franz Nicolay's side.  Lead singer Craig Finn's shirt got ripped off by a fan.  The band slayed.  A good time was had by all.  Click here if you want a more detailed account of the festivities.

9.  The Struts and Gin & Tonic (Struts as Oasis)
Date:  October 30, 2017
Venue:  Bottom Lounge
Location:  Chicago

The Struts are rightfully building themselves into the stadium rockers they deserve to be.  If you haven't yet seen them, I highly recommend it.  This show was particularly awesome because it was the day after my 40th birthday and the day before Halloween, so the band opened for themselves as "Gin & Tonic," which was the band dresses as Oasis, and they played a six-song set of Oasis covers before coming back out as themselves and ripping the place to shreds with their own music.

10.  KISS
Date:  March 2, 2019
Venue:  United Center
Location:  Chicago
KISS is currently on its several-years-long End of the Road tour, which they say will be their last tour ever.  I had the pleasure of seeing them in March when they came to the United Center.  This show will always have a special place in my heart because I took all three of my kids to the show with me.  It was their first KISS show and their first arena rock show.  We wore face paint, and they had a blast.  Here's a preshow pic:

I'm was going to put an honorable mention category in here, but it would be too long to have any value.  Here are my year-end concert posts for 2010 through 2017 (some of which are already linked in the above discussion):
-2010
-2011
-2012
-2013
-2014
-2015
-2016
-2017

I didn't do one for 2018 for some reason, even though I saw damn near 20 shows, but here are my top ten (in chronological order):
1.  J. Roddy Walston & The Business, 2/2/18, Metro
2.  The Why Store, AMZY, and The Straight Skinny, 3/2/18, The Elbo Room
3.  The Darkness and Diarrhea Planet, 4/11/18, Park West
4.  The Struts, 5/9/18, The Metro
5.  Hall & Oates and Train, 5/18/18, United Center
6.  Def Leppard, Journey, and The Pretenders, 7/14/18, Wrigley Field
7.  Foo Fighters and The Struts, 7/29/18, Wrigley Field
8.  Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears and Vug Arkus, 10/4/18, Empty Bottle
9.  Ghost, 11/1/18, The Aragon
10.  Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band, 12/14/18, Allstate Arena

Likewise, I'm not going to do a separate post with my top ten shows of 2019, but here they are in chronological order:
1.  KISS, 3/2/19, United Center
2.  Experience Hendrix, 3/22/19, Chicago Theatre
3.  Mott the Hoople, 4/3/19, Chicago Theatre
4.  Misfits and Fear, 4/27/19, Allstate Arena
5.  The Hives and Refused, 5/20/19, The Vic
6.  Dead & Co., 6/14/19, Wrigley Field
7.  Slutter and The Tossers, 6/21/19, Cobra Lounge
8.  Beck, Cage the Elephant, Spoon, Wild Belle, 7/31/19, Huntington Bank Pavilion
9.  The Hold Steady and Sincere Engineer, 8/24/19, Thalia Hall
10.  Stiff Little Fingers,10/16/19, Bottom Lounge

It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Beer: Hallertauer Craftbier Blau Weisse

If nothing else, this year's version of It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Beer is going to feature some extremely long beer names.  Like Hallertauer Craftbier Blau Weisse.  Try saying that fünf times fast.  Go ahead, I'll wait.  You can't do it, can you?  Okay, let's stop these silly little games.  The HCBW, as I call it for short, is a wheat beer, which you probably guessed from the title.  However, it's not like your standard Bavarian hefeweizen.  Brewed in Hohenthann -- which is in central Bavaria a little more than 50 miles northeast of Munich -- HCBW seems to take some influence from saisons, and it doesn't have the classic banana notes that you come to expect from a Bavarian wheat beer.  It's a saisony wheat, rather than a wheaty saison, so I liked it.


Name:  Hallertauer Craftbier Blau Weisse
Brewery:  Hohenthanner Schlossbrauerei
Location:  Hohenthann, Germany
ABV:  5.6%
IBU:  N/A
Good for drinking if:  You like saying "It's a little dank, but not too dank." 
Rating (out of five stars, by quarter star increments):  4

It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Beer: Käuzle Helles Lager

The first beer in this year's beer advent calendar is Käuzle Helles Lager, made by Kauzen-Bräu in Ochsenfurt, Germany, which is kind of in the middle of southern Germany, in northern Bavaria, about midway between Frankfurt and Nuremberg -- in case you are up on your German geography.  Helles beers are easy-drinking pale lagers.  They are generally not too high in alcohol content and not hoppy at all.  Basically, these are the Budweisers of German beer.  Crushable, but there's nothing that makes them stand out.  This one is pretty standard.  It was light and refreshing with a hint of tartness.

Name:  Käuzle Helles Lager
Brewery:  Kauzen-Bräu
Location:  Ochsenfurt, Germany
ABV:  5.2%
IBU:  N/A
Good for drinking if:  You need a refreshing "come down" beer on a Sunday afternoon after hitting the bottle and the Thanksgiving offerings hard for five days in a row, while watching your alma mater's highly ranked soccer team lose in double OT in the NCAA tournament on a freak goal. 
Rating (out of five stars, by quarter star increments):  3.75

It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Beer: 2019 Edition

As you know, the winter holidays are a time for overindulgence in every facet of your life:  eating, drinking, loving, bad sweater wearing, giving, binge watching, co-worker groping, felching, etc.  Winter is my favorite beer season because I love dark beers.  Like last year and several other prior years this decade, I will once again be engaging in a 24-day weight-gaining enterprise I call It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Beer -- a daily look at a different beers throughout December.

Like last year, I have a beer advent calendar, but unlike last year, it is not from a local craft beer shoppe.  Quite the opposite.  I was in Costco a few weeks ago, as one is when one has a Kerry Gold butter addiction.  But before I could even get to the dairy section, I came across this magnificent box.

It's full of 24 500ml cans of various German beers.  They're not necessarily going to be "winter" beers, but that's fine.  I'll have plenty of Great Lakes Christmas Ale and similarly wonderful dark, spicy, and delicious beers over the next month.  Those will be complemented with these fine German selections, brewed in accordance with the Reinheitsgebot -- which, incidentally, is the nickname my wife has given to my wang.

Like in years past, I'll report back to you via this here blog with a non-technical description of each beer and the following information:
-Name
-Brewery
-Location
-ABV (if available)
-IBU (if available)
-"Good for drinking if" comment
-Rating (out of five stars, by quarter star increments)

As in years past, I may not get a chance to post every day, so I may have a few "catch up" posts, where multiple beers are reviewed.  And without trying to jinx myself, the best part of this beer advent calendar is that the Germans don't tend to make hoppy beers.  Prost!

Tuesday Top Ten: Most-Played College Football Rivalries in Play This Weekend

Well, folks, we've come to the best weekend of the college football season.  It's Rivalry Week.  My Hoosiers travel to that shit stain of a stadium in West Lafayette to battle with Purdue for the Old Oaken Bucket.  You know I despise the Boilermakers almost as much as I love the Hoosiers.  On Saturday, IU better damn well exact revenge on Purdue for the last two years, where Purdue and IU were both 5-6 going into the game, with Purdue winning both games by 7 to go to a bowl, and leaving IU at home for the bowl season.

While Lehigh and Lafayette have the distinction of being the most-played college football rivalry ever (by a longshot too), at 155 games (including this year), I thought it would be interesting to take a look at the games being played this Rivalry Week that have been played the most.  I'm looking at FBS games only -- and actually, many of the FCS rivalry games with more games have already been played, as have some of FBS rivalries that would be on this list if they weren't played earlier in the season (or will be played later this season) -- 

Here are the most-played college football rivalries that are being played this weekend, with the team's current records, the date/time/channel of the games (all times Central), the number of games played, the year the first game was played, the name of the trophy for which the teams play or the name of the rivalry game, and the overall record.

1.  Wisconsin (9-2) at Minnesota (10-1) (Sat. 11/30 2:30 p.m.; ABC)
Number of games played:  128
First game played:  1890
Trophy:  Paul Bunyan's Axe
Record:  Tied 60-60-8
This is the biggest battle for Paul Bunyan's Axe that we have seen in a while, as the winner will clinch the Big Ten West crown.  Minnesota is holding out hope to squeak into the College Football Playoff, while Wisconsin is trying to secure a New Years Six bowl berth.  What's crazy is that this is not only the most-played rivalry at the FBS level, but that the overall record is tied after 128 games played.

2.  Oregon State (5-6) at Oregon (9-2) (Sat. 11/30 3:00 p.m.; Pac-12 Network)
Number of games played:  122
First game played:  1894
Rivalry name:  The Civil War
Record:  Oregon leads 65-47-10
This year's Civil War lost a little of its luster after Oregon's heartbreaking loss to Arizona State this past Saturday -- all but knocking the Ducks out of the CFP -- but there is still a lot on the line.  Oregon State sits at 5-6 after their own heartbreaking loss (a 54-53 shootout loss to Washington State), so the Beavers need to win to secure bowl eligibility, while the Ducks still have a shot at a New Years Six bowl.

3.  Indiana (7-4) at Purdue (4-7) (Sat. 11/30 11:00 a.m.; ESPN2)
Number of games played:  121
First game played:  1891
Trophy:  The Old Oaken Bucket
Record:  Purdue leads 74-41-6
After Indiana's 7-2 start and national ranking, a tough road loss to Penn State and a sloppy thumping at the hands of Michigan at home have left the Hoosiers at 7-4.  For a program without a winning season since 2007, that's still nothing to complain about, but a win over Purdue would give the Hoosiers their first 8+-win season since 1993.  Purdue, on the other hand, has had a disappointing year, riddled with injuries.  The Boilers were supposed to be a dark horse in the Big Ten West, but sit at 4-7 on a campus that smells like industrial effluence.

4.  Clemson (11-0) at South Carolina (4-7) (Sat. 11/30 11:00 a.m.; ESPN)
Number of games played:  116
First game played:  1896
Rivalry name/trophy:  The Palmetto Bowl/The Palmetto Trophy
Record:  Clemson leads 70-42-4
This year's Palmetto Bowl should be a snoozer, as Clemson is nearly a four-touchdown favorite.  The Tigers are playing for a CFP berth, while the Gamecocks are playing for pride.

5 (tie).  Ohio State (11-0) at Michigan (9-2) (Sat. 11/30 11:00 a.m.; Fox)
Number of games played:  115
First game played:  1897
Rivalry name:  The Game
Record:  Michigan leads 58-51-6
Is there any rivalry that jerks itself off as much as Ohio State/Michigan?  Ohio State has already locked up the Big Ten East title, but the Wolverines would like nothing more than to knock the Buckeyes out of a CFP berth.  Of course, Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh is still looking for his first win against OSU, having gone 0-4 thus far.  This would be a huge win for the Wolverines and could give them a New Years Six Bowl, depending on how other games shake out.

5 (tie).  Mississippi (4-7) at Mississippi State (5-6) (Thur. 11/28 6:30 p.m.; ESPN)
Number of games played:  115
First game played:  1901
Rivalry name/trophy:  The Egg Bowl/The Golden Egg Trophy
Record:  Mississippi leads 62-47-6
The Egg Bowl will largely be a game with pride on the line, as Ole Miss is already out of bowl contention.  However, Mississippi State needs a win to become bowl eligible.  The Bulldogs' second-year coach Joe Moorhead is going for his second Egg Bowl victory in as many seasons.

7 (tie).  Georgia (10-1) at Georgia Tech (3-8) (Sat. 11/30 11:00 a.m.; ABC)
Number of games played:  113
First game played:  1893
Rivalry name:  Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate
Record:  Georgia leads 67-41-5
It's a great name for a rivalry, but this year's game doesn't look like it's going to be much of a game at all, with the Bulldogs sitting at 28.5-point favorites right now.  They have already clinched the SEC East title and have their sights set on a CFP berth.  Meanwhile, first-year Yellow Jackets head coach Geoff Collins is looking for a signature win to save an otherwise forgettable season. 

7 (tie).  Oklahoma (10-1) at Oklahoma State (8-3) (Sat. 11/30 7:00 p.m.; Fox)
Number of games played:  113
First game played:  1904
Rivalry name/trophy:  Bedlam
Record:  Oklahoma leads 88-18-7
Bedlam almost always lives up to its name, and this year should be no exception.  The Sooners -- who have already clinched a spot in the Big XII title game -- are gunning for a potential CFP berth, while the Cowboys are having a very solid season at 8-3.  It should be a shootout and a fun game to watch.

7 (tie).  Vanderbilt (3-8) at Tennessee (6-5) (Sat. 11/30 3:00 p.m.; SEC Network)
Number of games played:  113
First game played:  1892
Rivalry name/trophy:  None 
Record:  Tennessee leads 75-33-5
While the matchup doesn't look totally sexy on paper, Vanderbilt has won three in a row against Tennessee -- the Commodores' longest winning streak against the Volunteers since winning six in a row between 1920 and 1926.  The Vols have already clinched bowl eligibility, but you can guarantee that second-year head coach Jeremy Pruitt doesn't want to lose this one.

10.  Northwestern (2-9) at Illinois (6-5) (Sat. 11/30 11:00 a.m.; FS1)
Number of games played:  112
First game played:  1892
Trophy:  Land of Lincoln Trophy
Record:  Illinois leads 55-52-5
It has been a very disappointing season for Northwestern, as the Wildcats are looking at their worst season under Pat Fitzgerald and are missing a bowl for the first time since 2014.  On the other side of the coin, the Illini have saved Lovie Smith from the chopping block, winning four of their last five games after starting 2-4, to become bowl eligible for the first time since 2014.  A win would secure the Illini's first winning season since 2011 and first winning Big Ten record since 2007, which ended in a trip to the Rose Bowl.