The Lion in Winter

Beer #333 Stegmaier Oktoberfest, Lion Brewery, Wilkes-Barre, PA

The election is finally over and done with; one party goes home happy, and the other gets to spend the next four years blaming everything that goes wrong in their life on the President.  While I'm on the topic, all of the nitwits out there threatening to move to Canada need to stuff a sock in it.  America is an incredibly resilient nation, and your bitching and whining doesn't help anyone.  Caveat: Donald Trump and his lunacy are welcome to move out at any time, really.

Anyway, I'm down off my soapbox.  Had an incredibly productive day in the office - wish every Wednesday was like today.  With that in mind, I feel I've earned the right to unwind with a beer, and tonight it's the Stegmaier Oktoberfest from Lion Brewery, in not-too-far away Wilkes-Barre.  It shows off a hazy amber with a lingering white head, and you pick up a floral (soapy?) aroma of malt.  The taste has a sweetness, and you get floral notes as well.  Probably not as much malt as I would expect from an Octoberfest beer, but a fine, easy drinking beer regardless.

Oktoberfest in November

This brewery has a cool history, dating back to 1905 when it opened as the Luzerne County Brewing Company (shout out to the county where I was born).  It survived Prohibition by making "near beer", and was purchased and renamed Lion Brewery in 1933.  Stegmaier was another Wilkes-Barre based brewery, which was purchased by Lion in 1974.  This brewery isn't quite as old school as nearby Yuengling, but anything that survives 117 years and a Constitutional amendment gets some credit in my book.

Thing to Think About Today:
When thinking about what to tie in, I thought of three things immediately that might work:
1. Penn State Nittany Lion in some way, shape, or form.  Here's a picture of me & the Lion from 2010:

And,our tailgate mascot, Tailgate Cheetah

However, I talk about Penn state a good bit in this blog, so I don't really need to do it again (despite me just talking about it).
2. Snoop Dogg's recent conversion to Snoop Lion.  However, I don't have any pictures of me and him together.  Yet.
3. Some old Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom style videos of lions in Africa.  However, that seemed too violent, considering half the nation is contemplating a move to Canada today (seriously, stop it).

So, that brings us to the Yeah Yeah Yeahs singing Gold Lion, an always fun song for your long distance running mix.  Seriously, add it in.  You won't be disappointed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jiCgkH4g7c

"I've been around a few, tell me what you saw I'll tell you what to....oooh oooh"