The Latest in Beer News

Around the horn in beer, because . . . Beer. It's what's for dinner.

Aggro-rocker Dave Mustaine is "looking for a new company to manufacture Megadeth Beer," according to an article on Blabbermouth.Net. Apparently a French Canadian brewery called Unibroue has produced a couple of brews in Megadeth's honor. One's called À Tout le Monde Ale, and the website says this:

This saison ale was brewed at the request of Dave Mustaine, lead singer of heavy metal band Megadeth. It uses a dry hopping technique and, to date, has the lowest alcohol content of any Unibroue beer. À Tout le Monde Ale honours the mutual passions and friendship of Megadeth’s Dave Mustaine and Unibroue’s Brewmaster Jerry Vietz.

"Lowest alcohol content" and heavy metal . . . two great tastes that go great together. À Tout le Monde, for those of you who didn't take four years of French in high school, means "to all the world," or "to everyone." How very peace and love, Dave.

They did another called Saison 13, which sounds only vaguely different than the original. The article details the red tape that has made Mustaine seek a new partner. But color me surprised that this partnership even existed.

Maybe Lars can team with a Danish brewery for something called Kærlighed og Kram. 

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Local Norfolk brewery SmartMouth, owned and operated by friends of mine, has been a top dog around here for the last 5-10 years. They raised a few eyebrows around here a few years back when they made a big to-do as they issued something called Saturday Morning Marshmallow IPA. 

Sounds gross, doesn't it? Eh . . . it's actually far better than I thought it would be. Details are here.

It came out in limited release form before, but it's now on tap at the brewhouses and in tall boy cans for distribution. It's worth checking out if you happen upon it, or you can just come down and hang with the Whitdog and I'll snag you some.

Here's the write-up:

If you can recall weekends of watching cartoons while you separated the colorful little marshmallows from your favorite box of cereal, then this brew is for you. We tossed pounds of marshmallows into this batch (toasting some for flavor), then added loads of citrusy and tropical, fruity hops. The result: nostalgically ridiculous.

Definitely odd.

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And finally, you probably should have figured that a Maryland brewing company would come up with this offering at some point, right?

This West Coast Double IPA packs a punch. Citrus and pine notes come together in a higher ABV beer that sneaks up on you. Though it doesn’t come from the west side of Baltimore, we feel like we should warn you……Omar’s Comin’!!

This was released last year by Smoketown Brewing in Frederick, MD, and yep, it's called Omar Comin' (Or Omar's Comin'!, depending on where it's printed. Can says the former.) 

Seems like this should be more dangerous than 8.4 ABV, even though that packs a punch. I doubt that it will take aim at unseating, say, the King of Beers, but if you do come at the king . . . well, you know.

They should shelve this one for a while at the brewery. Just to have a campaign that reads: 

“Spread the word, darling. Omar back.”

Enjoy your beer drinking escapades, and be careful out there. Until the next time...

This Week in Wrenball: There Are Mountains

Sublime confluence of superstition, laziness, and Gheorghian repetitive tendencies this morning, as we get you ready for the Tribe's 2:00 tip against top-seeded UNCW in the CAA Tournament semifinals.

As we told you previously, W&M needs senior Omar Prewitt to play to his potential to have any chance of breaking history's grip on the program. Prewitt scored 10 of the Tribe's first 16 points on the way to a 20-point, 13-rebound effort in a 71-66 quarterfinal win over Elon. One down.

Number two will be much harder, and 71-66 is more likely to be a halftime score than a final. UNCW dropped 101 on W&M in the teams' first meetings before the Wrens turned the tables, scoring 96 to blow the Seahawks out in Williamsburg. Both teams have strong offenses and like to play at reasonably quick pace. Wilmington is deeper, and in Devotae Cacok have an inside presence that the Tribe is hard-pressed to match.

The Tribe are underdogs, there's no question. For them to reach their third CAA final in four years, a lot of things have to click. You know what one of them is.

This Week in Wrenball: Omar Comin'

On Wednesday night, William & Mary made history. For the first time since the founding of the
Colonial Athletic Association in 1985, the Tribe won a game while holding sole possession of first place in the conference this late in the season. That jumble of words is about as tortured as the emotions of W&M fans right now, wondering if this is the year.

The win over Elon boosted the Wrens' record to 16-8, 10-3 in conference play, and avenged W&M's first loss of the conference slate. The Tribe is 8-0 against the top six teams in the league, and 2-3 against the three cellar-dwellers.

Sophomore guard Daniel Dixon missed the Elon win with a hamstring injury that may keep him out for a few weeks. Dixon's having a breakout season, third on the team with 11.2 points per game, and second in the CAA in three-point percentage. He's knocked down 45.6% of his triples, making all six of his attempts from deep in the Tribe's 100-79 drubbing of Hofstra. His perfection in that game set the school record for most three-point makes without a miss. Dixon followed that performance up with a career-high 25 points in a win over JMU. He's also an active, athletic defender.

W&M is among the deepest teams in the league, but it's fair to say that Dixon's absence bears watching, especially if it drags into March. Sage CAA heads don't think the Tribe can win the league tournament without the 6'5" sophomore.

Omar gunnin'

While Dixon's emergence has been one of several important stories for the Wrens this season, fellow second-year player Omar Prewitt's season had Tribe fans scratching their heads until recently. After the CAA's reigning Rookie of the Year scored a meager eight points in W&M's first win over JMU, his scoring average stood at 10.9 points/game, below his freshman tally.

Since that time, though, Prewitt's shaken off whatever sophomore slump had ailed him (for the most part, though he only tallied a total of 11 points in wins over Hofstra and UNCW), averaging 15.8 points per game in nine games (18.7 if you throw out the pair of stinkers). Prewitt connected on 59.7% of his field goals over the span, which saw him put up three 20+ point totals and a career-high 30 against Delaware. His scoring average has risen to 13.2 per game, and his confidence is headed the same direction. Prewitt's 18 first-half points paced the Tribe to a 42-23 lead against Elon.

Prewitt showed a bit of a gunslinger's confidence in the 2014 CAA Final against Delaware, his driving dunk pacing the second-half run that nearly carried the Tribe to the title. His indifferent play in the early part of this season was a cause for some concern, though the rest of the Tribe's contributions masked some flaws. Tellingly, Prewitt's made 86% of his free throws in his current streak, after making only 55% through the season's first 15 games. For a shooter as talented as Prewitt, that latter number is close to inexplicable. His resurgent form speaks to a confidence that's vital to W&M's ultimate success.

All the pieces are fitting together, with senior Tom Schalk putting up a career-high 13, including the game-winner, against UNCW, junior Sean Sheldon adding a solid 7.8 points and 4.8 boards, and underclassmen Greg Malinoski and Oliver Tot giving Tony Shaver solid minutes.

And we haven't even mentioned Marcus Thornton (80 points away from W&M's all-time scoring record) and Terry Tarpey, both of whom are likely (or at least deserving) first-team all-CAA selections.

People in the know are saying things about W&M's talent. Unprecedented things. Things that at once make me proud of this team and anxious about the next few weeks. The Tribe is showing up in all the mock brackets posted now, and even if that's only because the leader of every one-bid league gets the default slot right now, it's easy to dream.

Dreams die hard, don't they.

But sometimes they come true.