Horn21

If the sort of company that you keep hasn't reduced your marriage to rubble by this point, I think you've somehow done something to convince her to stick around for the long haul. We probably need the Surly Oddsmaker to come up with some worthy extracurricular lines for the weekend. BTW and I plan on going DEEP into the wallets of our victims over the next 96 hours.

Is LCC the place that's known for kids blaring all manner of music around the course, or nah? I might be thinking of Brookhaven. Definitely sounds like Brookhaven.

Their chef's tasting option is actually scheduled out the same as the a la carte option. You just let them know which one you're doing. They have reservations every 15/30 mins from 5-8:45p during the week and 5-10p on the weekend for both options. We've never been rushed there. That's unfortunate that it happened to South Austin because it's the kind of place that makes for a really enjoyable 2-3 hour meal, and by and large the staff is aware of that. Pro move: Ask for the mini spatula for plate-cleaning purposes.

barley swine is the best restaurant in austin. you guys have mentioned some nice runners-up, though.

If anyone in Austin is hard up for some Blanton’s, the liquor store on Riverside in front of Emo’s has 2 bottles behind the counter for $73 per. I love it, but I have a couple bottles, and that price tag is too rich for me.

Smoked meat sandwich at Schwartz’s Deli. Trust me, do not leave Montreal without eating it.

My haul over the last 2 weeks isn’t quite at Bozo’s level, but it’s not terribly far off... Blanton’s ($58) W12 ($26) WLW ($87) THH ($87)

I won’t rehash, but there are some great additions on this thread. Having lived here for 20 years, a great sandwich, imo, was few and far between. I mean, a truly amazing sandwich. For me, that changed with fricano’s. The Ainsworth was a sandwich that got me to enjoy ingredients that I swore I would never eat. And the surprise of it was like getting a grab bag at the baseball card shop as a kid. Paul’s Reuben and The Jonah also get a nod for me. Regardless of the specific sandwich, Fricano’s is on my personal iconic Austin list.

I can’t see an immediate run on McKenna because of this SF award. Sure, it may see an uptick in demand, but the people who follow the SF spirit awards most likely already knew that this was a great value bourbon. Until you start overhearing people at the gas station and grocery store talking about it, I wouldn’t be too concerned.

Paging@chitwood

I didn't see this before my previous reply. I agree with you 100% on this.

I think a lot of those cities with triple the number of breweries by population-to-breweries compared to Austin also have a much great population density surrounding those breweries. I feel like the ease of public transportation obviously plays a big role as well. Austin isn't that difficult to get around, but the closer the breweries are to me and the closer they are to each other, the more likely I am to visit them with frequency. I've been to Zilker and Lazarus more than I have Live Oak's new location, not because I think they're higher quality than LO, but because they're close to my house, close to each other, and close to other places I frequent. Assuming breweries in and around Austin grow in pockets, like they have with Burnet/Metric, East of downtown, and even out on Fitzhugh, then I do think Austin has some continued room to grow. And I do agree with you that first and foremost, a brewery better produce quality beer. However, with trips to the breweries being such a communal thing that people often do in groups, making it easy and fun for people to plan trips and bounce around from place to place is almost as important, if not more so, than the quality of the brewery for a lot of folks, IMO.

I don't know what the current supply/demand numbers say, but from a personal anecdotally-speaking POV, it became pretty saturated about ~2 years ago for me in Austin. Between brewing my own beer, tracking down the latest happenings/distribution of out-of-state unicorns, and watching new local breweries open and flourish between 2005-2015ish, it finally became too much to stay on top of for me. I'm certainly not at the level of you and BC, but I do consider myself someone who has had a high level interest in beer culture and all that it entails. However, it reached a point about 2 years ago where I found myself defaulting to some really great local beers that are readily available and that I know and love. Seeking out the new latest and greatest just fell of my radar, almost overnight it seems. I don't know if this is the type of saturation you speak of, but personally, I'm now at a place of being okay with staying in my comfortable corner of ABW and H&G with a dose of other local standbys here and there. A few years ago I would have been counting down the days for a new brewery in the works, and now I'm good if I check out a new place within its first year of operation.

Today was my first trip to the Flag Store in about a year. $7.50 singles of KBS and 4-pack of Backwoods for $14. I would have bought them out 5 years ago. Today it was a pass for me.

Hi.

Now you're just taking unnecessary shots at PR and making him out to be a monster. That bread would have been inhaled before the receipt for it was even printed.

No doubt. I got grief from a couple buddies last year for being in the "fuck PR" camp because of that stuff. They thought I was nuts for hating on Captain America. I just don't buy the sob story coming from his parents and sister.

This isn't an either/or situation. There is more than enough room in the asshole universe for all of them to be assholes. His sister is in her 20s, I believe. She's old enough to be an asshole all on her own. And of course, there is plenty of room for Patrick Reed to be an asshole, which he certainly appears to be. Having said that, and as Shane Ryan pointed out, it's pretty rare for a person to sever familial ties for no reason. And the current narrative is being shaped largely by Patrick's parents, as their side is the only one speaking publicly. IMO, I think the most likely reality is that Patrick Reed is an asshole, with an asshole sister, both being raised by assholes and he happened to marry an asshole. Sounds like the entire lot of them would fit right in around here.

I think Shane Ryan did a great job of describing why Reed is disliked in a series of tweets after he won on Sunday... https://twitter.com/ShaneRyanHere/status/983350776855711744

That seems to be an accurate statement regarding the established guys on tour when Phil was the cocky young guy coming up. I think the current tour guys really like Phil quite a bit. I think that is partly because a lot of the young guys grew up as fans of his and partly because Phil has grown up and isn't the same guy he was 20 years ago. I have no doubt that the Ryder and Presidents Cup guys are huge fans.

I am living that now as my index continues to skyrocket. (Raises hand) Wedges and putter have added 2 strokes to my index since early March. I have won zero monies on the way up. Saturday was a blast despite 40 degrees in April. It was an enjoyable walk around the course, and the 3 Frozen Deep Eddys post-round were the big prize.

Tiger was a featured group. We are going to miss most all of Jordan’s live shots tomorrow.

I didn’t start many threads on Shaggy, but this one was my best. It makes me happy to see it rebooted here. Here’s to hoping that I break out the old equipment before too long and get back to this great hobby.

Ya think? One of the best players in the world and lock for the Ryder Cup.

Well, if you’re in Austin or going to be here any time, send me a PM. I’m happy to share.