Samuel Adams

It's not just politicans wagering on NFL playoff games. Earlier this week, Heavy Seas Beer owner Hugh Sisson proposed a wager on the AFC Championship game between the Ravens and the Patriots to Jim Koch, chairman of the Boston Beer Company and Samuel Adams beer.  Here's the exchange, which happened over email on Wednesday and Thursday: Hi Jim Straight up bet - 1 case of my Loose Cannon IPA for 1 case of your Boston Lager, Ravens...

It's not just politicans wagering on NFL playoff games. Earlier this week, Heavy Seas Beer owner Hugh Sisson proposed a wager on the AFC Championship game between the Ravens and the Patriots to Jim Koch, chairman of the Boston Beer Company and Samuel Adams beer.  Here's the exchange, which happened over email on Wednesday and Thursday: Hi Jim Straight up bet - 1 case of my Loose Cannon IPA for 1 case of your Boston Lager, Ravens...

William Crawford Samuel Adams, a retired administrator of the city's school bus system and a historian of Baltimore County African-American communities, died of cancer Saturday at Gil- christ Center for Hospice Care. The Columbia resident was 72. Born in Lutherville, Mr. Adams grew up in a historically African-American neighborhood on Bellona Avenue. He later researched the lives of the families who lived there and published his findings. He attended the old Lutherville Colored School -- and years later was named director of a museum created at the former segregated school.

J.A. Murphy's Tavern has some big shoes to fill. Lulu's Off Broadway closed in December 2007, and its building sat vacant until owners Joel Anthony Gallant (J.A., for short) and Keith Murphy took it over a couple of months ago. Murphy and Gallant kept the vintage back bar but redid the rest of the place. Lulu's, the comfortably cluttered, welcoming neighborhood staple, is now the plain, open J.A. Murphy's - named after its owners. Rather than make it an Irish pub or a sports bar, Gallant and Murphy decided to keep an open mind with their tavern and see where their clientele takes them.

If an everyday pilsner is a family sedan, then Imperial Pilsner is a turbo-charged sports car. "It is not a beer for beginners," says Jim Koch, brewer and founder of the Boston Beer Co., which brews Samuel Adams beer. Rather, he says, "it is a treat for beer connoisseurs." Samuel Adams Hallertau Boston Beer Co.$10 for four 12-ounce bottles The label promises an intense hop experience, and this copper-colored brew delivers just that. The bitterness initially took my breath away. Something to sip while nibbling a big blue cheese.

THE MAN SITTING across the table from me in the Camden Club was telling me what I wanted to hear: "It is a great time to be a beer drinker in America." So said James Koch, the scion of a Cincinnati brewer and founder of the Boston Beer Co., maker of Samuel Adams beers and the most prominent microbrewery in America. "Sam Adams and the other American craft brewers are making the best beer in the world," he said. At 51, Koch is still the slim, boyish-looking type he was 14 years ago, when I first met him at a beer tasting in Washington.

NOTICE: Gregory P. Kane may be a potential rapist.Having subjected myself to the same bit of calumny that some male students at the University of Maryland College Park were subjected to recently, I will now give my reaction to the act that calumniated them: A group of women at the university selected their names at random and put them on a list along with this notice:"These Men May Be Potential Rapists."The act was one of propagandistic genius -- a bold, daring masterstroke not equaled since the days of Samuel Adams.

William F. "Bush" Bringle,85, a World War II aviator who worked his way through the ranks of naval air forces in the Pacific Fleet and in Europe, died of pneumonia March 19 in San Diego. He was a retired admiral. Roy Lee Johnson,93, a retired admiral who ordered Navy ships to fire on North Vietnamese torpedo boats in the Gulf of Tonkin during the Vietnam War, died Saturday in Virginia Beach, Va. He ordered the attacks after the torpedo boats fired on two U.S. destroyers on Aug. 4, 1964.

AFTER TASTING this year's batch of holiday beers, Christmas is looking mighty fat, spicy, and fruity.I say fat both because holiday brews are traditionally richer than the everyday beers, and because this year the holiday beers are so numerous. I tasted 28, and I missed a few on the market. I say spicy because several brewers put spice in their holiday brews. And I say fruity, because some brewers add fruit flavors to their special beer.I did most of my tasting as a member of a gang of seven hop heads who gathered at Hugh Sisson's new Clipper City brewery on Hollins Ferry Road.

J.A. Murphy's Tavern has some big shoes to fill. Lulu's Off Broadway closed in December 2007, and its building sat vacant until owners Joel Anthony Gallant (J.A., for short) and Keith Murphy took it over a couple of months ago. Murphy and Gallant kept the vintage back bar but redid the rest of the place. Lulu's, the comfortably cluttered, welcoming neighborhood staple, is now the plain, open J.A. Murphy's - named after its owners. Rather than make it an Irish pub or a sports bar, Gallant and Murphy decided to keep an open mind with their tavern and see where their clientele takes them.

Samuel H. Adams Jr., a former all-city halfback and an electrician who returned to college in his 50s, died of heart failure Tuesday. He was 84. Mr. Adams, of Ellicott City, was born in 1924 in Baltimore. He attended Polytechnic Institute and was named an all-city football player. After high school, he joined the Army Air Corps. He served as a second lieutenant and was a navigator aboard a B-17 bomber from 1943 to 1946. After getting out of the service, he attended the University of Maryland and played on the football team for several years.

If an everyday pilsner is a family sedan, then Imperial Pilsner is a turbo-charged sports car. "It is not a beer for beginners," says Jim Koch, brewer and founder of the Boston Beer Co., which brews Samuel Adams beer. Rather, he says, "it is a treat for beer connoisseurs." Samuel Adams Hallertau Boston Beer Co.$10 for four 12-ounce bottles The label promises an intense hop experience, and this copper-colored brew delivers just that. The bitterness initially took my breath away. Something to sip while nibbling a big blue cheese.

Dr. Hyman Engelberg, 92, the personal physician to Marilyn Monroe who announced her death and ruled it a suicide, died Monday of natural causes in a Santa Monica, Calif., nursing home. Dr. Engelberg treated nearly 100 Hollywood stars, including Burt Lancaster, Danny Kaye, Rita Hayworth and Walter Matthau. He also was known for his prolific writing and research, including a 1965 study documenting why smokers were more likely to suffer heart attacks than nonsmokers. But he is best known for his actions Aug. 5, 1962, when he called the Los Angeles Police Department at 4:25 a.m. to report that Miss Monroe had committed suicide.

William Crawford Samuel Adams, a retired administrator of the city's school bus system and a historian of Baltimore County African-American communities, died of cancer Saturday at Gil- christ Center for Hospice Care. The Columbia resident was 72. Born in Lutherville, Mr. Adams grew up in a historically African-American neighborhood on Bellona Avenue. He later researched the lives of the families who lived there and published his findings. He attended the old Lutherville Colored School -- and years later was named director of a museum created at the former segregated school.

THE MAN SITTING across the table from me in the Camden Club was telling me what I wanted to hear: "It is a great time to be a beer drinker in America." So said James Koch, the scion of a Cincinnati brewer and founder of the Boston Beer Co., maker of Samuel Adams beers and the most prominent microbrewery in America. "Sam Adams and the other American craft brewers are making the best beer in the world," he said. At 51, Koch is still the slim, boyish-looking type he was 14 years ago, when I first met him at a beer tasting in Washington.

William F. "Bush" Bringle,85, a World War II aviator who worked his way through the ranks of naval air forces in the Pacific Fleet and in Europe, died of pneumonia March 19 in San Diego. He was a retired admiral. Roy Lee Johnson,93, a retired admiral who ordered Navy ships to fire on North Vietnamese torpedo boats in the Gulf of Tonkin during the Vietnam War, died Saturday in Virginia Beach, Va. He ordered the attacks after the torpedo boats fired on two U.S. destroyers on Aug. 4, 1964.

Having beer with dessert was a new culinary step for me.It was different than those nights, years ago, when I vainly searched the fridge for ice cream and ended up settling for a beer. That beer was the dessert of last resort.But this, this porter with rice pudding and whipped cream, was part of a planned menu. It was served by a real chef, at a restaurant.Most important of all, it was good. I could have eaten two helpings.I had the beer dessert last week when I was in Philadelphia at the Samuel Adams Brew House.

Samuel Adams, 48, ice cream company officialSamuel Adams, a lifelong Baltimore resident and a former supervisor for Embassy Ice Cream Co., died of heart failure Wednesday at Stella Maris Hospice in Mercy Medical Center. He was 48.Mr. Adams, who lived in West Baltimore, attended Edmondson High School. He began work in the Baltimore offices of Embassy Ice Cream in 1979. Health problems forced him to retire in 1995.He was a member of Greater Bethlehem Temple, 8334 Liberty Road in Randallstown, where services will be held at 7 p.m. tomorrow.

Samuel Adams, 48, ice cream company officialSamuel Adams, a lifelong Baltimore resident and a former supervisor for Embassy Ice Cream Co., died of heart failure Wednesday at Stella Maris Hospice in Mercy Medical Center. He was 48.Mr. Adams, who lived in West Baltimore, attended Edmondson High School. He began work in the Baltimore offices of Embassy Ice Cream in 1979. Health problems forced him to retire in 1995.He was a member of Greater Bethlehem Temple, 8334 Liberty Road in Randallstown, where services will be held at 7 p.m. tomorrow.

AFTER TASTING this year's batch of holiday beers, Christmas is looking mighty fat, spicy, and fruity.I say fat both because holiday brews are traditionally richer than the everyday beers, and because this year the holiday beers are so numerous. I tasted 28, and I missed a few on the market. I say spicy because several brewers put spice in their holiday brews. And I say fruity, because some brewers add fruit flavors to their special beer.I did most of my tasting as a member of a gang of seven hop heads who gathered at Hugh Sisson's new Clipper City brewery on Hollins Ferry Road.