AGE AIN'T NOTHIN' BUT A NUMBER
By Colin Burch
For Weekly Surge
You've probably seen the television ad for Hooters' 25th anniversary.
One of the Hooters girls, amazed at her company's age, says, "That's older than I am!"
It's a foolproof way to target the hot-shorts-and-chicken-wings demographic - after all, women are in their early twenties only once in their lives, but men are pigs for life.
My excuse for stopping by was the new 83 Lager. Hooters was born - prior to many of its servers - in 1983. Ergo, 83 Lager. It has been advertised as a microbrew, even if it is produced by megabrewer Anheuser-Busch.
I drank two pints, $3.75 each, at the 3901 North Kings Highway location, and found 83 Lager to be the best kind of malty, with the good kind of sweetness you look for in amber-to-brown beers. Not much was going on in the hops department, although it finished with a light tap of bitterness.
You'll probably like 83 Lager if you're fond of Samuel Adams Boston Lager, Yuengling Lager, and hot girls serving you beer.
The back of my receipt said, "25 Never looked so good!"
But I recalled the menu's ad for the Hooters calendar: buying one is "the only way you'll get a date in this place."
On the way home, I passed the Myrtle Beach Mall (formerly Colonial Mall) location, where the sign said, "83 Lager - It's What's For Dinner."
NASCAR table wine
NASCAR Team Owner Richard Childress has another project you might not have known about. The man behind drivers Jeff Burton, Kevin Harvick, Scott Wimmer and Clint Bowyer is also owner of Childress Winery in Lexington, N.C.
I found Childress Vineyards' Classic Red Table Wine, Classic White Table Wine, and Classic Blush Table Wine at Wal-Mart on Kings Road (near the S.C. 22 and U.S. 17 interchange) for $7.87 per bottle.
I tried the Classic Red at home. I had mixed feelings about it. Like most table wines that have no indication of the grapes involved, it leans a little too sweet for my tastes. However, it finishes on the semi-dry side, which means the idea behind Classic Red isn't merely to splash in the sugary alcohol between bites. It would probably go well with a broad range of foods, and it would probably appeal to wine drinkers who aren't worried about nuance, subtly, and essence.
The un-offensive taste, affordability, and novelty of a NASCAR Team Owner's wine are probably enough for Classic Red to make steady sales.
Check out the Web site at www.childressvineyards.com.
Beer drinking, blood sucking
It is with a heavy heart that I pass along what Dr. Sanjay Gupta told me via CNN one morning last week.
You know summertime involves drinking beer outdoors, and in South Carolina, drinking outdoors involves mosquitoes.
Well, according to Dr. Gupta, apparently beer-drinking makes mosquitoes more likely to pursue your skin. Maybe the mosquitoes like a little beer with their blood?
While I'm smacking my skin and waving my hands around, I'm thinking, why can't sexy female vampires be attracted to beery skin?
Consider a bite from a sexy vampire versus a bite full of West Nile Virus. The choice is clear.
Oh well. Load up on the Deep Woods Off spray, and lay off the garlic.
Contact Colin Burch - the Beerman - at beerpour@yahoo.com or visit his beer blog at http://maltyhops.blogspot.com