Getting to Know Your US National Team Through the Magic of Beer

The World Cup starts Friday, and if you're not excited, then I'll apologize in advance for the everything you'll see on this site in the next month. Many of us at Hoosier Beer Geek believe that there is nothing better than the World Cup, and we hope you agree.

If you're already into the World Cup, or just interested and looking to learn, we thought we'd help you along by offering up the Hoosier Beer Geek guide to your US National Team. Since this is HBG, we decided that the the best way to do that is to compare the players to the breweries in your Brewers of Indiana Guild.

Broad Ripple Brewpub/Tim Howard - Rock solid towers that lead by example. Respected by the entire community as one of the best at what he/they do.

Three Floyds/Oguchi Onyewu - Both are known on the biggest of stages. They regularly intimidate the competition, and are irreplaceable in the lineup.

Crown Brewing/Jay DeMerit - Both toil away in the shadow of a bigger player in a similar position (Three Floyds/Oguchi Onyewu), but have proven that hard work has its rewards.

Barley Island/Carlos Bocanegra - Long-time fixtures in their respective teams, they are dependable and versatile.

Sun King Brewing/Landon Donovan - Wildly productive on a local level, both have recently shown to be able to produce results on a larger stage.

Lafayette Brewing/Michael Bradley - Steady engines who lead through a solid understanding of the game.

Oaken Barrel/Maurice Edu - Both play in lesser-known yet underappreciated leagues (Greenwood/Scotland), loved by home fans due to clutch performances in big competitions.

Upland/Jose Torres - Both are steady, solid, and skillful, and known to dazzle with a surprise or two.

Mad Anthony/DaMarcus Beasley - Both hail from Fort Wayne. Oftentimes lost in the shuffle, but are consistent performers that have quite a resume. More decorated that most.

Brugge Brewing/Clint Dempsey - Oftentimes underappreciated by some local "experts" (I'm looking at you Beer Advocate/John Harkes), but wildly creative and a consistent producer of quality.

People's Brewing Company/Jozy Altidore - Newcomers who show the potential to be future stars.

New Albanian/Herculez Gomez - Both stars that hail from the south. They come on to score every time.

So what's on the telly? Football, you say? - Updated

It's no secret that several of the KOTBR are fans of The Beautiful Game. I wouldn't call us soccer snobs, though. In other words, we don't hate on American sports like other soccer fans I've met. Heck, Mike is even a Cardinals fan, as misguided as that may be. But he's also down with Fulham FC of the Barclay's English Premier League, so that redeems him in my eyes (and probably redeems him in the eyes of our biggest Cubs fan, Jason).

We aren't soccer proselytizers, either. We're not going to try to convert you to our way of thinking, though that doesn't mean we haven't inadvertently picked up a convert or two along the way (for example, see our beloved founder, Chris Maples, and his relatively new affinity for Chelsea FC).

So what I'm about to say isn't a soccer sermon of some sort. It's just a public service announcement about the intersection of beer and soccer in this city, which is something that's been lacking since the beloved Rob n' Jay's Chippy went out of business in 2005. You see, there are now two pubs in Naptown that are touting themselves as "soccer-friendly." Since the English Premier League season began in August, both pubs have been opening early on Saturday mornings so soccer-starved Hoosiers can catch a game or two. The pubs in question are the Chatham Tap on Mass Ave and the Union Jack Pub in Broad Ripple. On top of that, both pubs have a decent beer list that is sure to have at least one offering to satisfy any beer geek (that is, if you like beer for breakfast).

The Union Jack opens at 10:00 a.m. on Saturdays and serves breakfast from 10:00 to 11:30 a.m. They update their Facebook page every week to announce the slate of games they'll be showing. Whether the Chatham Tap opens early on Saturdays tends to be more sporadic and not very well publicized. While walking the dog on Mass Ave this past Saturday morning, I noticed that the Tap had opened its doors at 7:30 a.m. for the Merseyside Derby (that's a soccer match, not a horse race to the uninitiated), and it looked like there were about five or six people parked at the bar taking in the game.

The Union Jack posts its viewing schedule every week on its Facebook page. For the Chatham Tap's viewing schedule, I suggest that you call them at 917- 8425.

Cheers!

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Update - 09.30.08

After this posting, which I did with complete blinders on, one of our dearest friends wrote to remind us that his most awesome establishment (the location of our second anniversary party, no less), has always been soccer-friendly. In his words, "we don't open early every week.... We do open early for other big matches though. In fact, I think I saw the author at one, so I know he knows we show football regularly."

The author sincerely regrets his omission. For future reference, any complaints should be addressed to our HBG ombudsman.

That's a joke, by the way. We really don't have an ombudsman.

Please excuse this brief non-beer interlude.

Nails in the coffin or exorcism ritual?



More here.

And I'm drinking a Founder's Dirty Bastard, in case you're wondering.

How to Drink when the Nails go in the Coffin

With the quick strike of Peter Crouch's boot the nails were finally driven into Fulham Football Club's coffin this morning. Soccer fan or not, I think the misery of a big loss is one that anyone can understand. In Fulham's case, the loss to Liverpool meant not just the end of a season (although there are three games left), but a demotion to a lower league, and the end of American television coverage for the club.



That's a bitter pill for fans of the club to swallow. Although there are bigger names in the league - teams that most people have heard of, like Manchester United, Arsenal, or Chelsea - Fulham's continuing support of American soccer (the clubs employs five Americans) made it a natural choice for American fans. With the purchase of just two sports packages on DirecTV, fans of the club could be assured of television coverage of about 95% of Fulham's games. With a finish in the bottom three of the Premier League and relegation to a lower league, Fulham have made it impossible to watch the club on television. In any case, this loss to Liverpool was the final in a series of nails in the coffin - we've seen this coming for some time.

For me there's only one way to send the club off - with beer. So when it happens to you, here's how you do it.

1. Pick something bitter - Your first thought might be to pick something English - after all, this is English Football. But that'd be a mistake - you want something bitter enough to reflect how the whole experience has been for you. No one does bitter as well as the big hopped American IPA's - like my choice, Founder's Devil's Dancer Triple IPA. This best has the highest documented International Bitterness Units (IBU) available, and is dry hopped with 10 varieties of hops for 28 straight days.

2. Pick something special - You're drinking in tribute to your club - a team you've followed through the thick and (more so) the thin of the season - and although times are bad now, not just any beer will do. You wouldn't toast a friend with cheap wine, so don't shortchange your football club. Founder's Devil's Dancer is a limited release, pre-order only beer. I paid somewhere from $4 to $6 for the 12 oz. bottle. This is not your everyday beer.

3. Pick something great - Devil's Dancer is just another great beer from the folks at Founder's, who do consistently great work. Remember - although this English Premiership season has ended in heartbreak, next year your team will be in a league where they might actually win a few games. Your beer should reflect the greatness that lies in the possibility of next year. And besides, the Major League Soccer club you support is on the tv this afternoon. And this just might be their year...