Lager

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.

T ake me out to the ballgame, buy me some hummus and coddies. That is the tune I sang Friday as I ate my way around Camden Yards, sampling the fare, taking its temperature with an instant-read thermometer. I have been doing this task at the opening of the baseball season here since 1992. On the eating front, this season looks promising. The fundamentals - hot dogs and cold beverages - were strong. The newcomers - hummus, coddies, deli sandwiches and a new kind of crab cake - had their moments.

All quiet at Bernstein's watch party At JD's Smokehouse in Canton, the Bernstein party is sequestered upstairs in a room with four TV cameras, two bored bartenders and three stuffed deer heads on the wall. No sign of Democratic state's attorney challenger Gregg Bernstein, but his banner is flying proudly, right above the Reingold Lager sign behind a makeshift podium. As the polls close, a rep said he's going home to "regroup" and show up down here a little after 9 p.m. Supporters are starting to trickle in, and a rep from the police department is hanging out in the corner but made sure to say that there isn't an official police presence.

IT HAS BEEN a long, hot and largely unpleasant summer. But I am here to tell you that if you're sitting in the sculpture garden of the Baltimore Museum of Art, sipping fine wine, eating quality crab cakes and eye-balling young, firm bodies wrapped in black leather and fishnet hose, you soon forget about the heat. That is one coping mechanism I have employed this summer to deal with the rotten weather. It falls under the general category of tossing down a lot of liquids, including a bevy of crab-friendly wines and a new light beer.

On Easter I think of lamb. Who doesn't? But I also think of ale with the lamb chops. I didn't use to think of lamb and beer as a couple until I saw them together one night.It happened at a Maryland Micro-Brewed Beer Dinner at Sisson's in South Baltimore a few weeks ago. The idea was to match some of the beers brewed in Maryland with various dishes. It was a night of unusual pairings. A night when you found yourself turning your head and saying, "Those two? Together?" But for the most part, each matchup worked.

Happy Leap Day. We're carpaying this extra diem, how about you? For its Leap Day celebration , B&O Brasserie is offering 29-cent National Bohemian beers and house-made pretzels with stout-cheddar sauce on Leap Day from 5 to 7 p.m. Anyone who checks in on Facebook with two or more other people for dinner will receive 29 percent off food. All guests at the table must order dinner. Down in Fells Point, Kooper's is offering $2.90 Yellow Tail Ale, and its sister restaurant, Slainte , is offering $2.90 Heavy Seas Classic Lager.

It is the most wonderful time of the beer year. It is Oktober, when the "c" becomes a "k" and when fests, brats and special beers are in high season. In Oktober, brewers have a clean shot at the public palate - no distractions like the eggnog that shows up at Christmas - and they have ideal beer-drinking weather. All that sunshine, all that crisp air, all those falling leaves can make a person mighty thirsty. Historically the person with the primal thirst was Bavaria's Crown Prince Ludwig.

For the first time, there will be craft beer at the Maryland State Fair, which begins Friday at Timonium Fairgrounds.  Raven Beer, Heavy Seas Brewery, DuClaw Brewing, Dog Brewing from Westminster, Brewers Alley and Flying Dog Brewery will all be served at one big booth belonging to the Brewers Association of Maryland. BAM, a trade organization that represents the state's breweries and brewpubs, made the deal to bring the breweries to the fair. The association sees the State Fair as a platform to promote their products and to telegraph that their business "supports local jobs, local farms and local communities," BAM said in a statement.

Putting a high-quality beer in a can used to be heresy among craft brewers. Some still feel that way. Lately, however, a handful of breweries around the country have broken with tradition and started putting complex, pricey brews in cans. A few of these high-end products -- three canned brews from Colorado's Oskar Blues Brewery, at $7.50 a package and up -- have arrived in Maryland just in time for warm weather. Pilsner Urquell, a well-regarded lager brewed in Europe, also recently began appearing in local stores clad in a can, and costing about $6 a four-pack.

All events are tomorrow, St. Patrick's Day, unless otherwise noted. An Poitin Stil Irish Pub & Restaurant, 2323 York Road, Timonium, 410-560-7900. Four-day "Stil Smilin' Festival 2000" today through Sunday. Live music and entertainment from afternoon till late night: Lakewalk, Off the Boat, Maggie's Leap, Barry Nelson, Rigadoo, Irish dancers, Ed McBride, Spalpeens. Outside tent with beer, Irish food and memorabilia. Sunday at 12: 30 p.m., bus service to the St. Patrick's Day parade in downtown Baltimore.