65 thoughts on “March 20, 2018: Fanduel”

          1. I'm with you for the most part. There are a couple that I've enjoyed (especially their Snowstorm, on tap), but certain never more than say, Surly or Summit.

            1. To me, Summit and Surly are for pale ales and little else. Schell's has a lot more variety.

              I went to the Surly Taproom last fall and everything had the exact same heavy hops flavor to it. Even the Hefeweizen.
              Every non-Pale Ale I've had from them (save Cynic) has underimpressed me.

              Summit's got a bit more going on with variety, though I'd put Schell's over them on Octoberfest and Maifest options, where they're making the same style.

              1. I will say that the Hop-forward Oktoberfest was a spectacular failure, but I don't feel like the Bender (one of my favorite beers ever) is on the same flavor profile as the others, and the Hell, while not a favorite, isn't, either.

                Summit has a multitude of stuff I like, and a vast assortment of different styles that range from "drinkable" to "very, very good". They're definitely one of my go to breweries.

                1. I usually try to grab whatever beer from the Unchained series is around whenever I go back. Summit had a brief window of availability in the Chicago area (at least the EPA, but others depending on the store), but now I'm back to not being able to find it anywhere. Surly's sure all over though.

                  1. I can find most of the usual Summit offerings up here, but I couldn’t tell you when the last time I saw one of the Unchained series in a liquor store. All of a sudden they just disappeared.

          2. I buy a sampler every now and again, but I usually only end up liking about half of it. They're fine, and I like the fact that they're old school, but they're near the bottom of the ones remaining.

            I love Indeed, and would love for them to pull off a huge upset here.

            2. Yeah... Schell's samplers are usually 6 bottles of "Deer Brand", "Dark", "Firebrick", or "Pilsner". Those aren't their good beers, though I'll take the last two over a lot of other options.

              1. I mean, I don't expect a company to really include a ton of their best stuff in a sampler, but I always quite enjoy the Summit and Sierra Nevada samplers I get.

                1. With Schell's it always seems the way for them to package the stuff I'd never buy with things I would (sometimes exclusives!).

          3. Try something from their Noble Star series of Berliner Weiße Berlin-style wheat beers. Star of the North, Dawn of Aurora, & Tidal Disruption would be good places to start. I like the Cypress Blanc, too, but wouldn’t start there. When I think of Schell’s, these are what come to mind. Their other stuff is fine for what it is & keeps the lights on for the good stuff, kinda like Spotted Cow for New Glarus.

          4. Their Maifest and Oktoberfest are two of my favorites.
            "Deer Brand" is not good. Their Stout (RIP) was phenomenal.
            Their "Shocked" Grapefruit Radler is my favorite fruit beer.
            Their "Goosetown" Gose is my go-to summer beer for hot days.
            Snowstorm is a different style each year and some have been greats, others just OK.
            The Stag Series (limited, one-time-only sixers of whatever style) has had very good entrants as well, and I don't know if I've disliked any.
            I probably own more bottles of the Noble Star Series than I've consumed because when the heck am I ever going to drink 750mL?

            Jace Marti is spending that Primo and Nordeast money on taking chances and most of those have paid off to my palate.

            1. Have you seen the new packaging? I'm, really digging it, with Goosetown being my favorite.

    2. What kind of a bracket is that where the winner of the 5/12 matchup faces the winner of 1/16?
      We should see:
      Surly (1) vs Fulton (8)
      Schell's (4) vs Summit (5)
      Bent Paddle (3) vs Dangerous Man (6)
      Castle Danger (2) vs Indeed (7)
      As it is, 5/8 and 6/7 were flipped. This is to the advantage of Schell's and Fulton and the disadvantage of Summit and Surly.

      1. I always liked Lake Superior's offerings.

        That reminds me of the short lived James Page back in the day, which I enjoyed. One of the dads at the preschool I worked at was a member of the ownership group in the early aughts (his caricature was on the bottom of the packages with the others) so the teachers frequently bought it to support little Georgie's college fund.

      2. The Brewhouse? El Nino is still one of my favorite IPAs. I'm alright that they didn't try to go for scale, and stayed true to the brewhouse model. Also, the best veggie burger I've ever eaten (with bacon on it of course).

  2. For some reason, it took until yesterday’s Polanco news to drive home how soon the regular season is. I’ve fallen madly in love with the NBA again over the past couple of seasons, so I think it bridged the gap.

    I guess I’m surprised we haven’t heard more about Sano. I see stories of his towering home run feats as if nothing is amiss. It’s like I dreamed the whole thing that happened. Have there even been any updates?

    1. I was really into the NBA this season, and then the Derrick Rose thing happened and now I'm having a hard time getting excited to watch anything. If I had League Pass it would probably be different because then I could watch whatever non-Rose-employing team I want.

      I think the last report I heard about the Sano situation was that the MLB is still investigating and that the Twins FO is frustrated by how long its taking. Right now, my enthusiasm for the season starting is waning because of it.

      1. If one of the criteria for supporting a political party was to have a caucus completely absent any bad actors, I could not participate in the political process.
        If one of the criteria for selecting an employer was to have an employee pool completely absent any bad actors, I could not work.
        If one of the criteria for religious affiliation was to have a congregation completely absent any bad actors, I could not practice.
        If one of the criteria for following a sports franchise was to have a roster completely absent any bad actors, I could not watch any sports.

        1. That's why I really haven't been watching any sports lately. Its causing me a lot of cognitive dissonance though, because I still watch movies and play games and stuff, and the political process and having an income are too important not to participate. It's been a really weird year, this 2018.

    2. Every once in a while I see a reference to Sano's problems, but mostly there's just nothing to report. MLB seems to really be dragging its feet on this. Maybe there are reasons why, but I don't know what they are. There wouldn't seem to be that many people to talk to. I have no idea what's taking so long.

      1. It amazes me too. They took forever to even interview Sano.

        There's a part of me that is worried that they want to time things so as to be especially punitive. That it isn't integrity that is driving the investigation but PR. And that irritates far more as someone interested in justice for victims than it does as a Twins fan.

        1. I wonder about that, too. I don't know why MLB would want to hurt the Twins, particularly, but there has to be some reason it's taking so much time for them to make a decision.

          1. I don't think this would have anything to do with the Twins, but this is the first major case in the #metoo era, and I'm sure they don't want to mess it up. There are lots of angles (including, yes, PR) that I'm sure they're considering.

          2. I'm thinking it isn't so much about the Twins as it is about the ripple affect to the (undoubtedly) several other teams with this problem lurking in their future and how any repercussions potentially affect them as well. And the players' union, of course.

        2. The other side of the coin is that they are taking so long so as to make it look like it was an extremely thorough investigation so they can say "We tried really, really hard but found no real evidence and so we aren't doing anything pending any further evidence that comes forward."

          1. Given the reactions from some of the other players, I'm seriously skeptical about this option.

  3. Election judging in the suburbs during the primaries is not the most exciting job, that's for sure. Spending a lot of time playing with the phone.

    2. It could be worse.

    2. Hey man, congrats! (I didn't see super 8, but I really loved Cloverfield, so that's pretty cool.)

    4. He's got a lawyer on board! Smart thinking there. (also, that's pretty great news, doc. I'll buy a ticket, but I probably won't watch as horror just ain't my thing).

      1. It's super weird when you have to counsel your kid to get a tax accountant. I was just hoping he would start paying his own car insurance.

  5. Algonad's buddy Rich Ruohonen sitting next to the Wolves bench in the TSR seats tonight.

    1. Doc Rivers emptied his bench and waved the white flag with 7 minutes left. 4 minutes later and with a 17 point lead, Thibs still has KAT and Wiggins on the floor.

      1. I love how the catcher is basically standing up, and is a mile back from the plate. It's like Little League.

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