Good Beer, Bad Liquor

It’s been awhile since we’ve had a guest on the Todcast, so it was a pleasure to welcome Mathew Shockley of PLB Comics this week. Mat  has been the designer behind all of the Burley Oak labels so far and Todd and I got a sneak preview of the upcoming Belgian women series.

For those who’ve missed it, Burley Oak has debuted three beers — The Dirty Blonde, The Brunette, and Rude Girl  —  as part of their next big push into Belgian beers. The three have been so well received owner Bryan Brushmiller has elected to bottle them as a series. Because the female form is something that, well, intrigues Shockley, Bryan turned him loose on the project.

Todd and I only got to see sketches, but it looks as if these are going to be killer bottles filled with killer beer. Stay tuned to the Todcast because once the bottling is complete, these beers won’t last long.

In other State of the Beer news, Bryan added strawberries and mint to Just the Tip. Neither of the tastes dominate and the result is a third flavor, not unlike a soft Crunch Berries aftertaste, that adds complexity to the breweries simplest most accessible beer.

When Bryan started Burley Oak, he was careful to keep his beers accessible and to make sure he had something for everyone. His confidence has increased to the point where he understands how to produce flavorful and accessible big beers.

This week on the Todcast, I debuted the Gross Liquor Quotient on my own blog Tony Russo, No Relation. It is the product of my compulsion to try the $1 single-serve liquors sold at the front of most liquor stores and my wish to excuse my compulsion.

My kids are good with math so I asked them to come up with an algorithm that would allow me to rate the tastes of these admittedly vile alcohols.

There’s plenty more in this week’s Todcast including a rundown of the most recent Gentleman’s Club in the Todd Man Out section, an Oscar diatribe and more beer insights from Bryan. Take a listen…