Beer Review: Sprecher Mbege

Sprecher Mbege

A couple of weeks ago we were in the Henrietta (NY) area, so we had to stop in at Beers of the World. Every time I venture inside that place, I turn into a fucking zombie. Same thing happens to me in a comic book shop. Anyways, one of the beers that I emerged out of there with was the intriguing Mbege.

Mbege is concocted by Sprecher, a brewery hailing out of Glendale, Wisconsin. I have read from multiple sources that they make the best damn root beer in the world, although I have yet to acquire a bottle. Back to Mbege, it had some very interesting characteristics that made me decide I had to give it a shot. First of all, the label has parrots on it. Speaking of which, I love stories about animals getting wasted, but enough with the tangents...

Obligatory Implied Drunkenness Photo

 In addition to having potentially drunken parrots on the label, Mbege is a sorghum beer brewed with banana juice. I have never had a sorghum beer or a beer brewed with banana juice before, so that pretty much sealed the deal. 

I still need to develop my beer critic vocabulary, so these reviews are going to be more straight up than technical in nature. Something you may have noticed from the photo of the bottle is that Sprecher professes Mbege to be fire-brewed, African-style. When I bought it, I didn't really know what that meant, just that it sounded cool. After some research, apparently fire-brewing increases ester production, which gives the beer a little bit of a sweeter taste. It also gives the drinker the liberty of envisioning an African shaman mindfully tending your brew, which is rad. A lot of you might be scared off by the prospect of increased sweetness, but I can promise that Sprecher achieves an admirable balance of sweetness in Mbege. It has a really unique flavor. You can definitely taste the banana juice, but it also has a nice alcoholic bite to it - it's pretty strong, at 7.0% abv.  I thoroughly enjoyed it, and would definitely recommend it. 

7.0% abv

Rating: 4 out of 5

Comic Book Review: The Traveler #1

The Traveler #1

When I first heard about this series, I was stoked. A comic about a dude with time travelling powers written by Mark Waid, under the direction of Stan Lee?!? How could you go wrong?!

Unfortunately, they found a way. I'm pretty sure that a zombie bit Mark Waid right on the face or something...and then shoved quaaludes down his throat while he was gasping in horror, because this first issue was a borefest to the Nth degree. Don't get me wrong, there were a couple of cool moments sprinkled in here or there, but the majority of it was just generic feeling, and boring as hell. If I had paid cover price for it, I would have been pretty pissed.

Legion of Super-Heroes #3,
written by Mark Waid

Let me just preface this by saying that Mark Waid is one of the best writers in the medium. His runs on The Flash and Legion of Super-Heroes are some of the best comics ever produced. That's why this issue was so mystifying to me. The story begins with a villain possessing Magneto-like powers wreaking havoc. Fair enough, but the stupid part is that this villain decides to chase around and attempt to kill this random woman for about 75% of the issue. Apparently we are supposed to care about her, because she was on the phone with her son right before this villain decided that she had to die. Of course, the Traveler steps in and saves the day. Snooze... The art was not terrible, but it wasn't very good either. It was a little bit cartoony, which can work sometimes, but it just wasn't doing anything for me here.

The villain chasing random mom all over Hell's half acre...

The cool parts were the instances where Mark Waid extrapolated on the Traveler's powers. For example, in one scene the random woman and the Traveler seek refuge in a construction trailer. The villain uses his magnetic powers to send the trailer sky high, with the intentions that it will plummet back down to earth and kill them with the impact. The Traveler simply jumps out of the airborne trailer with the woman, and uses his ability to control time to achieve a slow descent. Pretty cool.

Overall, there was some huge potential here, but it just didn't pan out for some reason. Maybe the subsequent issues will show vast improvement, but this one was so disappointing that I don't intend on giving the series another shot.

Rating: 1 out of 5

News: Etrigan the Demon Mini-Series to be Written by Anthrax's Scott Ian

Scott Ian throwing up the
sign of the horns...

Today was an amazing day for news of future comic book releases. First there was covert agent Venom, and now it has been revealed that Scott Ian of Anthrax will be penning a mini-series starring one of my favorite characters of all time, Etrigan the Demon! The two-part series will be illustrated by none other than Sam Keith. Non-comics fans might recognize his creation, The Maxx, from the awesome 90's MTV cartoon era. 

Ian's tweet announcing the project...

Etrigan the Demon is wicked! Pun intended. Created by comics legend Jack Kirby, Etrigan is the son of the demon Belial, and the half-brother of Merlin. He speaks in rhymes (most of the time - I hope Scott Ian writes him that way), and is bound to Jason Blood, an immortal from the Middle Ages. There is not a release date yet, but Ian promises ancient mythology and lots of violence. Hot damn, it's good to be a comics fan right now!

The Demon and Aquaman, from Brave and the Bold #32

News: Ongoing Venom Series by Rick Remender to Launch March 2011

Tony Moore's Venom in
covert agent gear...

This March, Marvel is launching a new ongoing series starring Venom. It will be written by Rick Remender, and illustrated by Tony Moore. I'm pretty psyched about it! Rick Remender wrote the outrageous FrankenCastle Saga (think the Punisher + Frankenstein...seriously). He's a prime example of the current up-and-coming generation of comic book writers that is revitalizing the industry with their incredibly creative and fun concepts. I don't know much about Tony Moore, but after googling his art, and seeing his illustrations of Venom, I'm definitely sold.

Tony Moore's "My cover is blown and now
I must destroy everything" Venom...

I'm not up-to-date with all of my Spider-Man continuity either, so it was a surprise to hear that Eddie Brock is no longer a host for the Venom symbiote. They haven't revealed who the new host will be yet, but they have revealed that this series is going to kick major ass! Remender described it as international high-adventure a la The Bourne Identity, mixed with "ferocious hardcore violence fans of Venom would expect." This new Venom will be undertaking covert operations in locations such as Eastern Europe and the Savage Land. Count me in!