Beer and Baseball

I kicked off my vacation week with one of my favorite activities that I would do every day if it weren’t so bad for me: happy hour.

We occasionally go to a neighborhood place simply called The Pub that claims to be an English pub, but they have all sorts of beers including Alex’s local favorite, the Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale. This sweet beer is served in a 10-ounce snifter and is pretty good when it’s on tap. The beer is aged in, well, bourbon barrels, and it takes on slight bourbon scent and flavor. More and more local places are carrying this beer.

I chose a Bass. Previously, my favorite beer in this situation would be a Smithwicks, but after discovering the knowledge available to me through Barnivore I can’t really stomach it anymore.

This place has half-price half-sized appetizers during happy hour, so although you’re not exactly saving money you do save calories unless you have a group to share the food. We usually get the fried pickles, and they’re just the right blend of spicy, crunchy, vinegary and battery and hot from the fryer.

Then we headed out to the baseball game. The Phillies were in town to play the Reds. Our loyalties are split between our current hometown and our previous hometown, so I cheered for both teams. Maybe that’s the beer talking. But here’s what makes Cincinnati better than Philly, at least to me: we drove downtown in 10 minutes, parked on the street for free, and got $5 tickets and had a great view. We sat on both sides of the stadium throughout the game.

So far, the Reds won last night and put up a good fight tonight, only to lose in extra innings after a huge come-from-behind tie. I’d say that’s a pretty good showing for a team that recently was made fun of on Glee. I only searched for a minute and couldn't find the quote, but there was an episode when Kurt’s dad took Finn to a baseball game, but it was hardly a major league game because they were headed to Cincinnati. Eh, I don’t think I can argue against that they way a local would.