Keg

Despite a legal drinking age of 21, surveys of Maryland young people find time and again that consumption of beer and wine far outstrips their use of any other illegal substance. Underage drinking is a widespread problem that will be controlled only through a wide variety of approaches. But legislators have a chance this session to close one especially troublesome loophole by requiring a simple registration procedure for kegs of beer.Keg parties are a popular way to fuel underage gatherings with alcohol.

North Korea's recent threats to target South Korean and American cities with atomic destruction have the shrill belligerence of a 6-year-old's temper tantrum. But while few analysts believe North Korea has the means to carry out its threats, U.S. and South Korean officials would nevertheless be unwise to ignore them. With tensions on the peninsula higher than at any time since the end of the Korean War, there's great danger a conflict could break out by accident or through miscalculation.

When it came time to return the keg of beer, I couldn't do it. There was still beer left in it. Lots of beer.It was tough to tell exactly how much was left over, but using the old-knock-on-the-side-of-the-barrel routine, my guess was that the keg was half full. This was embarrassing to me, for several reasons.First of all it meant that I had bought too much beer for the gathering of about 60 co-workers held at a colleague's lovely -- at least before we descended upon it -- Mount Washington home.

From the Midnight Sun blog: On Thursday afternoon the cramped Canton bar Nacho Mama’s was log-jammed. Inside the bar, which is decorated like a shrine to National Bohemian, there were more people than Mr. Boh logos on the walls. The waitresses had a hard time delivering their regular orders. It wasn’t a flash-mob. The crowd, evenly split between young and rickety old-timers, was there to toast the tapping of one the first keg of Natty Boh in 15 years. Last week, Boh owner Pabst Brewing Company announced it would start selling the beer on draft, which since 1996 had only been available in in bottles or in its iconic gold-on-white cans.

A recent law requiring anyone who buys a keg to register his name and address with the retailer has curbed the number of large, underage beer bashes throughout the state, enforcement officials say.Dennis Theoharis, a license commissioner in Montgomery County, said he believed the 10-month-old law has foiled many young entrepreneurs -- usually 21- or 22-year-olds, just old enough to purchase a keg legally -- who, in recent years, have charged teen-agers admission...

Keg parties are the target of a proposal aimed at curbing teen-age drinking.Parents of teen-agers, the Governor's Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse, and police officials testified yesterday in favor of legislation that would require the registration of beer kegs.The bill would make adults who purchase beer for underage drinkers accountable by enabling police to track down the person who bought the keg, proponents say. Currently, they say, kegs are untraceable.The proposal, one of 37 liquor-related bills considered by the House Economic Matters Committee during a five-hour hearing, met strong opposition from the liquor industry, which argued the measure was unnecessary and burdensome.

Endorsing Rehrmann for governor means getting Sauerbrey. The question is why.Bill intervened to bring an Irish settlement. Tony Blair retaliates by meddling in the Middle East.A Chicago jury found that extortion and threats are wrong even when the perpetrators' hearts are pure. Oh, those Chicago juries.Be patriotic. Drink a keg for the Whitbread sailors.Pub Date: 4/22/98

Phoenix Emporium Situated on the corner of historic Old Ellicott City's Main Street and Maryland Avenue, the quaint Phoenix Emporium welcomes patrons of all ages for lunch and dinner. Good food and a local favorite feel make for a great midday pitstop or late-night hangout. Where --8049 Main St., Ellicott City Call --410-465-5665 Notable --Serves more than 80 types of beer. Vibe --Bring the family in for a feast of burgers, ribs and fries. Later in the evening, leave the kiddies at home and celebrate another week's end by throwing back a few. What to wear --Casual is key. Dress code: shirt, shoes, pants, period.

"MY CUP runneth over." This biblical image usually symbolizes happiness. But when that cup holds alcohol and the fingers grasping it belong to a teenager, society expects the worst. Such youthful overindulgence is hardly a modern problem. Little has changed from the days of the Roman Empire, when toga-wearing teens probably swigged wine from the family vineyard while their parents fretted. Today, the image of a teen toga party awash in alcohol still fills adults with dread, especially during the spring months of proms and graduation parties.

Threats of a trip to the steam pot worked about as well in yesterday's Media Crab Derby as threats of a trip to the glue factory might work in the real Preakness.The fact is: Blue crabs can't race.They can pinch. They can blow spit bubbles. They can steam up red.But make 'em race, as the Lexington Market did for its second annual Preakness Week crab derby, and the Chesapeake's finest tend to make like deadbeats. Nonetheless, about a dozen local radio, television and newspaper personalities each picked a live crab from Faidley's Seafood, then proceeded to shout, clap and otherwise cajole their crabs -- however s-l-o-w-l-y -- toward the finish line.

If you've stayed away from the Internet or Baltimore bars in the past two weeks, you might not have heard that National Bohemian is back on tap. Owner Pabst Brewing Co. made the announcement in late January and has sold kegs of the historic Baltimore brew to at least 80 locations in Maryland. Some eight bars were selected to host official keg-tapping parties, and while most of them have happened already, there are two — White Marsh's Della Rose's and Columbia's Frisco Tap and Brew House — that will take place next week.

It's been 15 years since National Bohemian left Maryland, but Patrick McCusker remembers it almost as bitterly as the day Robert Irsay took the Colts out of Baltimore. He grew up with the beer. In the 1970s, everyone's basement bar sported pictures of three icons: the Colts, the Orioles and the dapper, mustachioed Mr. Boh. This week, McCusker and other fans of the popular beer got some small satisfaction. Owner Pabst Blue Ribbon announced that Natty Boh would return to the state, on tap. "It's not as big a deal as the Colts coming back to Baltimore, but it's pretty close," said McCusker, who owns Canton's Nacho Mama's, the bar and restaurant that will tap the first keg of Natty on Feb. 3. Until now Boh was only available canned or by the bottle.

Aida Bistro & Wine Bar closed its original location of six years on Thanksgiving Eve. One week later, on Dec. 2, Mary and Joe Barbera reopened a new Aida across the way in Columbia Gateway office park. The new location gives the Barberas a few things they always wanted but were never able to have in their loyally followed and well reviewed Italian restaurant. An expanded kitchen allows them the extra space they always wanted to add a lunch operation. Aida had always been a dinner-only location, and Joe Barbera knew he was losing out on the potential business from his business park neighbors.

The murderous rampage of Cho Seung-Hui was barely over when the country shifted into its usual post-tragedy mode of second-guessing and finger-pointing. Here was a favorite topic of the howling masses on cable and radio talk shows yesterday: Cho Seung-Hui was a weirdo. He hardly spoke to his roommates at Virginia Tech. He didn't make eye contact with anyone. He wore sunglasses all the time. He seemed angry and depressed. He wrote creepy things about death in his English class. So how come no one flagged this guy as a problem before he gunned down 32 people?

Football season coincides with tailgating, and for many fans the beverage of choice for these parking-lot parties is beer. Yes, there are pretty tasty wines that come in a box, and the cocktail crowd can fire up blenders that whirl away when plugged into a car's cigarette lighter. There are oceans of sports drinks and bottled waters to satisfy nonimbibers and designated drivers. But at most pre-game shindigs, suds hold sway. Consider, for example, the tale told by Marc and Gary Scher, better known as the Poe Brothers, who for the past 10 years have presided over their prize-winning tailgate operation on Lot G at M&T Bank Stadium before Baltimore Ravens home games.

Phoenix Emporium Situated on the corner of historic Old Ellicott City's Main Street and Maryland Avenue, the quaint Phoenix Emporium welcomes patrons of all ages for lunch and dinner. Good food and a local favorite feel make for a great midday pitstop or late-night hangout. Where --8049 Main St., Ellicott City Call --410-465-5665 Notable --Serves more than 80 types of beer. Vibe --Bring the family in for a feast of burgers, ribs and fries. Later in the evening, leave the kiddies at home and celebrate another week's end by throwing back a few. What to wear --Casual is key. Dress code: shirt, shoes, pants, period.

Threats of a trip to the steam pot worked about as well in yesterday's Media Crab Derby as threats of a trip to the glue factory might work in the real Preakness.The fact is: Blue crabs can't race.They can pinch. They can blow spit bubbles. They can steam up red.But make 'em race, as the Lexington Market did for its second annual Preakness Week crab derby, and the Chesapeake's finest tend to make like deadbeats. Nonetheless, about a dozen local radio, television and newspaper personalities each picked a live crab from Faidley's Seafood, then proceeded to shout, clap and otherwise cajole their crabs -- however s-l-o-w-l-y -- toward the finish line.

All across the state, from the mighty University of Maryland at College Park to modest Villa Julie College, commencement exercises are being held this week, featuring keynote speeches by the likes of Hillary Rodham Clinton, Colin Powell and the ever-quotable Captain Kangaroo. Each speaker will take the podium and attempt to deliver an inspirational addressto a sea ++ of fidgety young graduates, whose main concern at the moment is: "I hope there's enough ice around the keg."Since no one ever actually listens to a commencement address, columnist Kevin Cowherd delivers one of his own to the Class of 1996, filled with the kind of insight every new graduate needs after the keg is kicked.

"MY CUP runneth over." This biblical image usually symbolizes happiness. But when that cup holds alcohol and the fingers grasping it belong to a teenager, society expects the worst. Such youthful overindulgence is hardly a modern problem. Little has changed from the days of the Roman Empire, when toga-wearing teens probably swigged wine from the family vineyard while their parents fretted. Today, the image of a teen toga party awash in alcohol still fills adults with dread, especially during the spring months of proms and graduation parties.