Crooked River Brewing Company - Crooked River Select Lager

Brewed with two row pale, munich and Vienna malts, Crooked River's Select Lager is stored at cold temperatures for 3 months to achieve an extremely clean finish and allow the flavors of the malt and hops to mellow and marry. Here, Stephen hops with classic Czechoslovakian Saaz (used frequently in some of the world's greatest pilsners) and Hallertau hops for their aromatic contributions. We found it deep reddish-amber in color, medium-bodied and mildly bitter. Look for a somewhat fruity palate and a fair amount of caramel maltiness, balanced nicely with a floral hop character. The finish is dry and crisp. Overall, a very refreshing beer that would help cool down spicy foods.

Crooked River Ale Meatloaf

1 19-oz can of stewed tomatoes
1 lb lean ground beef
1 medium onion, diced
1 celery stalk, diced
1 egg
1-½ cup cornflakes
salt and pepper
½ cup Crooked River Porter

Place the stewed tomatoes into a sieve and gently mash them with a wooden spoon, releasing all their juices into a bowl beneath the sieve and saving the liquid for other uses. Put the mashed tomatoes into a large bowl and, using your hands, mix in all the ingredients except for the beer. When everything is thoroughly mixed, add the ale and thoroughly mix it in. Place the mixture into a 9- x 5-inch loaf pan and bake for 1 hour at 350 F (180 C). Feeds 6 adults, 8 hungry shiatsus, or my neighbor, Bill.

Dear Murl,

I've tried to research this one in several places and come up with Bupkus! So I'm thinking the Ole Malty Dog might be able to help as he's pulled off some tough ones in the past. So here goes. For quite some time now, I've been looking for an old Hamm's Beer sign. I'm guessing it's from the 60's or so. It's the one has a rotating scene that scrolls across the sign. You know, like a river and waterfall or something. I even think there was a campfire with moving smoke! It just kind of changed scenes too I think. I saw one the other day in this great dive bar off the beaten path in a pretty dicey neighborhood and offered the bartender $150 for it and he wasn't having any! Any idea what I'm talking about or better yet, where I can get one of these classics?

Fred Stagman

West Chicago, IL

Yo Stag Man!

Great name pal! You going alone tonight, man? Yeah, I figured as much. Stagger Man would have been better though. So you're from "Wego", eh? Don't know if you knew it, but I grew up in Wheaton and Glen Ellen. 'Bout the only thing I remember about West Chicago was kicking your ass in football every year in High School! Go Wolverines! Sure, I was just the waterdog, but I had other important team functions as well…Like running over to the other team's sidelines and sniffing their coaches crotches at critical decision points in the game so as to both distract them and publicly humiliate them.

I know the sign you're talking about. It's great! I need one too! Classic stuff. We had one in our house in college over the bar. Spent many a late night sitting in the Lazy Boy with a bag of Dorritos in one paw and half a brew in the other, completely mesmerized by that waterfall. They first came out just about the time television was making its way into bars and since T.V. was just in black & white, the idea was to create this sort of non-stop color commercial. Hamms, Storz and G. Heileman and other Midwest and Plains brewers issued signs with this kind of rolling scenery. Try the Kane County Flea Market! I bet you'll round one up there. If not, go to Ebay or one of the other big auction web sites. And if you find a couple for under a $100 bones (literally), let me know.

Woof!

Murl.