Let the Games Begin!
The Beer Olympics combine the competitive nature of intramural sports, with the enough beer to drown a small village. But, if you’re going to partake in the most sacred of competitions, you have to do it the correct way.
Basic Rules
Teams must be made up of no more than 6 participants, and no fewer than 4. Every team must have an equal number of players.
4 teams minimum, no maximum.
Ideally teams will have the same number of girls on them, to avoid one team being at a disadvantage.
There needs to be between 15-20 cans of beer allocated per player, per team. It’s always better to air on the side of caution and go with the bigger number, because if you run out of beer mid-competition, you are disqualified and your team loses a set number of points, and it’s not like any extra beer would go to waste.
Every team competes in every event, but not every team member.
For scoring, you take the number of teams you have, and award that many points for first in each event (6 teams=6 points for first). Last place always gets 1 point. Every team in between…you get the point.
To avoid confrontation, teams represent a color, not a country. There’s no way I’d represent any country besides the good ole’ Canada! (And I know my fellow bros echo that sentiment)
Opening Ceremony
Teams are introduced. Coming out to a legendary song is not only awesome, but also encouraged.
The order of events are announced (as decided upon by team captains).
Trash talking commences.
Events
Volume Chug: Number of Participants – Whole Team
This is the best event to start off with. Not only does every team member get to participate, everyone gets really drunk, really quickly.
Rules:
1. Each team is given one large bucket.
2. Into the bucket 1 can of beer per team member is poured.
3.The clock starts when the first participant beings to chug, the clock stops when all the beer has been finished. Points deducted if there is an ‘excessive’ amount of beer spilled.
4. Fastest time wins.
Beer Pong (Beirut for you traditionalists): Number of Participants – 2 per team
Tried and true, beer pong is a staple of every BROlympic event. However, this isn’t your mother’s 10-cup.
Rules:
1. In lieu of said tradition 10-cup, 21-cups are played with (6-5-4-3-2-1 rack).
2. Each team is allowed two members per side.
3. 1 celebrity shot per team, per round.
4. If the ball is bounced into a cup, that cup and another are to be consumed by one team member. If the ball is bounced, it can be swatted. If a player knocks his own cup over on a swat, a penalty is assessed. He/she must chug a can of beer, and while they’re doing that, the opposition gets to shoot until that can of beer is finished. Regardless of how many cups were hit and by whom, “rollback” and “fire” rules do not apply during penalty shots.
5. In official Beer Olympics play, in the spirit of speeding up competition, “catching fire” and team “rollbacks” are allowed. Fire is achieved after a single player hits 3 cups in a row, and rollbacks occur when team members both hit cups in the same turn.
6. If both players on one side sink the same cup, the game is not over (as is tradition), the opposing team has to chug 3 cups each, including the cup that was hit twice.
Body Shot/Funnel Relay Race: Number of Participants – 4 per team
For this event, each team needs 4 participants. A girl (This is why having at least one girl per team is crucial. Hopefully you get the thin girl who has a little divot in her stomach when she’s on her back, but if you get a “bigger” girl, you’re taking that shot out of the belly button, son), a bro to take the shot off of her, a bro to hold the funnel, and another bro to actually funnel the beer. You cannot hold your own funnel, there is no “I” in team. The girl lays down on a table, and one shot of an agreed upon liquor (usually tequila) is poured on to her. Salt is then spread in a line on her chest, and a sliced lime is put in her mouth. Before “go” each team is allowed to pour the beer into the funnel. On go, the bro funneling has to get down on a knee, finish his beer, get up and then run across (ideally the lawn) and tag his other bro in, who then runs to the end of the yard, takes, the shot, licks the salt, grabs the lime and then sprints back to the finish line (which is on the opposite side of the lawn from the girl). Fastest time wins.
Rules:
1. Starting Positions
- Funnel holder and funneler: Start at the finish line
- Bro taking the body shot: Directly in the middle
- The girl: On the opposite side of the yard from the finish line
2. A point-deduction penalty is assed if:
- Any beer is spilled from the funnel
- Any alcohol is left on the girl
3. If any player cannot hold their alcohol for this specific event, that player is disqualified, and the team must finish the Olympics one man down.
Flip Cup: Number of Participants – Whole Team
At this point in the day, your motor skills are on par with those of a mentally handicapped penguin, that’s why flip cup is the perfect game to get into. Everyone knows how to play, and in this event there are no penalties. Only difference is in the Beer Olympics, there is one anchor per team. The person who is going last has to chug two cups of beer and successfully flip both cups. Once everyone on the team has been an anchor, that round is considered completed, and the points are tallied up. In the event of a tie, one more round without anchors is played.
Civil War: Number of Participants – 3 per team
Congratulations. You’ve made it to the final event. Civil War. This game follows the basic rules of civil war; three cups per person, once your cups are sunk, you’re eliminated. If the ball is shot, and bounces off of a cup and to the side of the table, it’s fair game for each team. Only the person closest may retrieve that ball, no jumping across the table. While they’re down, their teammates can protect their cups from bounce shots.
Rules:
1. Once your eliminated you may do nothing more than offer your team moral support in the form of catchy cheers. No celebrity shots, no drinking their beer for them.
2. Points are based on how many cups the winning team has remaining at the end of each round.
IN THE EVENT OF A TIE
There is to be a case race. However many teams are tied send up two representatives (unless 4 or more teams are tied, then one each). A 30-rack is then placed in the middle of them. On go, they have to drink as many beers as they can. When the case is done, or when all sides have decided they can’t drink anymore, whichever team has the most empty beer cans on their side is declared the winner.
Closing Ceremonies
Once all the points have been tallied up, a winner is declared.
Only gold medals are given out, because first place is the only place that matters in the Beer Olympics. If you’re not first, you’re last.
Any leftover cans of beer are allocated to the winners.
Now, take this knowledge that I’ve bestowed upon you, and make your parents proud, as a Beer Olympian.
Source: Beer Olympics
Photo Credit: Shutterstock
Many consumers have a beer once in a while when going out, without putting much thought into it. Others, however, are passionate beer drinkers who take several things into account when choosing their beer, and beer apps aim to improve the whole experience. From what beer would go best with your meal, be it salmon or burgers, to locating a craft brewery serving that special pumpkin ale you’ve wanted to try to a review of which establishments have the best cheese boards and wings to go with those beers to helping plan a beer-sampling road trip, these apps up the enjoyment level of the beer-drinking experience.
Both iOS and Android users can choose from a slew of beer apps available, either free or paid, but not all of them are worth your time. Here are 5 beer apps (in no particular order) generally rated at the top of their category:
1. Untappd
Untappd is one of the most popular applications in its category, with numerous beer drinkers relying on it to improve their experience. The app is easy to use, has a clean design, a strong community and several other neat features that place it at the top of beer-drinking apps. Untappd lists nearby establishments serving craft beer so you can get an idea of available options, while user reviews and photos aim to paint a picture of what to expect from a certain establishment.
The app will recommend different beers, give you badges as you try out more brews, allow friends to compete, and let users share their experience on Facebook, Twitter, or Foursquare. Lastly, Untappd also works like a beer journal, keeping track of the beers you liked or disliked based on your ratings. Untappd is a free app available for both iOS and Android, as well as other platforms.
2. BeerMenus
This free app is widely considered the best tap list finder, as it features frequently updated tap lists that enable users to find out what’s available on tap at a certain establishment before the go. The app will deliver notifications when a specific beer becomes available, or in case there are any changes to the “On Tap” menu, and it also lists available options. BeerMenus is available only for iOS, but interested beer lovers can also use it online.
3. iBrewMaster
Widely considered one of the best apps of its kind, iBrewMaster aims to get you started in the art of brewing your own beer. The app comes with 50 preinstalled recipes, but users can buy more through the app or create their own recipe. For personal creations, the app will provide estimations regarding alcohol content, calories, color and IBUs, the International Bittering Units scale, a measure of the actual bitterness of a beer from the alpha acid from hops. iBrewMaster can guide users through the whole process, offering info on everything from availability of ingredients to the fermenting process, bottling options and others aspects of home brewing. The app costs $6.99 and is available for both iOS and Android.
4. Elixr
This free app basically provides a Yelp feed that lists drinks instead of bars and restaurants. Elixr delivers a slew of photos into one’s feed, organizing everything into clean listings that are easy to scroll through. The whole app is revolving around specific drinks, allowing users to check in with their individual beverage. Simply put, instead of checking in at a certain bar, you’ll check in with the specific beer you’re drinking. The app even has a geolocation map of nearby bars, which can help users find the beer bar that has the type of brew they like. Elixr doesn’t deal exclusively with beer, as it offers such info on all sorts of drinks, but its beer community is quite dedicated. The app is free and available for download on iOS and Android.
5. Any Beer ABV
This free app has an extensive trove of roughly 13,000 ABVs listed in its database, allowing users to easily search and find out how much alcohol is in that beer. The app lists the alcohol by volume content of beers both domestic and imported. It’s quite straightforward and easy to use. The app is available for iOS and Android.
Photo Credit: Shutterstock
There has always been some kind of pride associated with drinking in colder climates like Russia, Canada, or Alaska, under the assumption that they produce stronger brews up there because it helps to keep them warm. Many Americans have dismissed such sentiments as myths, but when it comes to Canadian beer being stronger than American beer, there is a bit of truth to that claim.
Why some people don’t see any difference
Some people argue that Canadian beer is not stronger than American beer. They even claim that the strongest Canadian beers are no match for the highest alcohol-by-volume (ABV) US beers.
These people claim that the “myth” of Canadian beer being stronger than US beer was a result of the differences in how alcohol was traditionally measured in the two countries. While Americans used the alcohol-by-weight (ABW) technique, Canadians used the alcohol-by-volume (ABV) method. So, what is the difference?
For starters, alcohol is less dense than water (weighs about 80 percent as much as water). So, a typical 12-ounce macro lager can that has 5 percent Alcohol by volume actually has 4 percent alcohol by weight. Because of differences in labelling, Canadian brews (measured in ABV) appeared to be more potent than American beers.
Canadian Beer is still stronger
Today, most American beers also use the ABV method. Using the same measure, full-bodied lagers in both countries tend to be contain between 4.0 and 6.1 percent ABV.
While American breweries can claim to have some really strong beers, like Samuel Adams Triple Bock (17.5% ABV), Canada also has a selection of strong beers, like Critical Mass (17%), The Black Bullet (15%), and Korruptor (16%). That said, Canadian craft beers tend to be higher in strength than those produced by macro brewers.
Some American breweries produce beers with less than 5 or 6% ABV because of restrictions imposed by laws. But still, the difference in beer strength between the two nations is only marginal, and may not really warrant the king of national pride that Canadians have in their beer.
Photo Credit: Canadian or American
There may be some good news brewing for fitness and beer enthusiasts: Somewhere in the north, a Canadian beverage company has concocted a low-alcohol, protein-packed “fit beer” that is expected to be marketed as a sports drink later this year, if funding allows.
The so-called Lean Machine “recovery ale,” created by a team of food scientists at Vampt, touts itself as a healthy alternative to traditional ales, with only 77 calories and 0.5 percent alcohol by volume. And it’s supposedly enriched with nutrients, antioxidants and electrolytes to help replenish the body after a good workout.
The idea, says Vampt founder Ian Toews, is to create a beverage that aligns with the active lifestyles of young beer lovers, while promoting responsible drinking.
“We just thought that maybe we could do something that would support a drinker, make it still socially fun, and help them accomplish what needs to be accomplished after an aggressive workout,” he says.
We wondered what science had to say about this seemingly contradictory, but nonetheless appealing, pairing. Can beer really join the ranks of Gatorade and Powerade to become the next go-to sports drink?
Turns out, the idea isn’t as farfetched as it might seem.
You see, when we exercise, our body gets sapped of some key components. We lose fluid and electrolytes through sweat as the body tries to cool down. We also draw down our small stores of carbohydrates and proteins as we put our muscles to work. By the end of the workout, our body needs to get all those things back to recover.
This is where sports drinks come in. They’re full of carbs, sodium and all sorts of nutrients to keep our bodies hydrated and energized during and after exercise. And beer may be able to do that, too — if formulated the right way, says Ben Desbrow, a sports nutritionist at Griffith University in Australia.
Beer itself contains a small amount of carbohydrates and electrolytes, he says. It’s not enough to do your body any good after exercise, but researchers like Desbrow have been experimenting with ways to reformulate beer so it’ll have the properties of a sports drink without the dehydrating effects of alcohol.
In a study published last December in the International Journal of Sports Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism, he and his colleagues found that beer’s dehydrating effect can be weakened by changing its electrolyte content — a good first step into turning ale into a sports beverage.
By lowering the level of alcohol by volume to 2.3 percent and adding salt, they found that the manipulated beer actually hydrated their sample of athletes better than traditional ale.
Plus, he adds, since beer is plant based — the key ingredients, aside from water, are barley, hops and yeast — it contains a whole range of naturally occurring nutrients that manufactured sports drinks don’t have.
“A properly formulated beer beverage is likely to do you no more harm than you are likely to get from a sports drink,” Desbrow says. “In fact, it probably is likely to do you more good, because it’s got a lot of these sort of natural compounds, like polyphenols, that are actually good for your health.”
He’s talking about compounds found in plants that are believed to have anti-inflammatory and antioxidative effects. A 2011 study in Germany suggested that polyphenols in beer may be especially useful for those who go through prolonged strenuous exercise, which tends to lower the body’s immune function.
In the study, those who were given nonalcoholic beer every day for three weeks before and two weeks after a marathon reported fewer incidences of upper respiratory tract infections and were up to three times less susceptible to the common cold.
So that’s the good news. The caveat is that for beer to be a good sports drink, you’ll have to lose most of the alcohol. And the reasons go beyond just dehydration.
For one, excessive amounts of alcohol can impair protein synthesis, the process by which your muscles repair themselves after exercise, according to a study published last month in PLoS One.
“It impairs some of what we call the protein signaling molecules in the body. These are the traffic lights that turn on protein synthesis,” says John Hawley, an exercise and nutrition researcher at Australian Catholic University, who led the study. “[Alcohol] dims the traffic light signals. So ultimately, that whole muscle protein synthesis is slowed down.”
His study found that when athletes binged on alcohol after an intensive strength-training workout, their protein synthesis decreased by nearly 40 percent.
Now, the athletes in Hawley’s study did a lot of drinking: They consumed roughly eight shots of vodka mixed with orange juice over a three-hour period. Hawley says it’s not clear how more moderate drinking affects the recovery process, but “my guess is that any alcohol impedes it a little bit.”
So how will a low-alcohol beer like Vampt’s Lean Machine ale fare in the market? Hawley notes that consumers haven’t always embraced drinks that mimic alcoholic favorites without the buzz. In the 1970s, he says, a whiskey-like, non-alcoholic beverage called Claytons hit the shelves in New Zealand.
“It lasted on the market three years,” Hawley says. “So there’s your answer to that.”
But Vampt’s Toews says he’s not too worried. His company is in the midst of consumer taste tests for its recovery ale in Canada, and “Canadians know what a good beer is,” he says.
Source: Beer as a Post Recovery Drink
Photo Credit: Courtesy of VAMPT
Guinness is a Light Beer
There is nothing sexier than a tight, sexy little blonde takin’ a big thick Guinness to the face. It’s hot in the same way as a beautiful lady making a giant sandwich her mouth-bitch. Well, it turns out that Guinness is actually a light beer and helping them stay hot! Guinness has only 125 calories and 10 carbs… less than both Budweiser and Coors! A balanced bro-diet contains lots of Guinness.
Germany Has Its Own Beer Pipeline
Our German bros are in the only forward-thinking country looking ahead and putting into place measures on how to handle a true beer emergency. Bars in the Veltsin-Arena are interconnected by a beer pipe several miles long. It’s a popular soccer area and the demand for beer became so great that it actually was invented as the preferred way to keep up with those thirsty soccer freaks.
The White House Brews Its Own Beer
That’s right.. the leader of the free world gets his own fresh White House brewed beer. Who knows how many major cultural and world changing decisions it may have been responsible for. Obama personally pays for the equipment and ingredients and White House Honey Ale is brewed by the White House chefs. Obama busts it out sometimes on the campaign trail and is the first President in history to brew his own beer… he is now dubbed BRO-bama.
Space Has Tons of Booze
If you happen to find yourself floating through the cold depths of space… you’re probably gonna be a little freaked out. Naturally, you might want a drink to calm your nerves. Depending on where you are aimlessly floating in space, you might be in luck. If you’re about 10,000 light years away you could run into an enormous floating space keg. Scientists discovered a floating ethyl alcohol space cloud that contains enough of the good stuff to make 400 trillion pints of beer. Why we aren’t figuring out a way to get to this cloud should definitely be a pivotal issue in the upcoming presidential election.
Barley Beer Was Invented in Iran and is Now Illegal for Most of Its People
In early Mesopotamia, in what is now Iran… beer made from delectable barley was created by some ancient Bros. The production and consumption of beer has been illegal in modern day Iran since 1979 and is punishable under Islamic law. They should just go ahead and rename Iran, Iran-outta-that-country-as-fast-as-possible-to-get-some-beer! That would be a sweet country name to say for Olympic broadcasters.
77 Percent of America’s Hops Come From Washington
It’s hard to have beef with the state of Washington. You can’t get mad at people in Seattle because it rains so much and that’s bad enough. But now, everyone in the USA has a reason to hail Washington state as one of the most important and revered places on the planet. Why, you ask? 77 percent of our country’s hops come out of Washington. We must protect it at all costs. The world will probably help us protect Washington, since it also produces 40 percent of the hops for the entire globe. Terrorists don’t make hops.
The Oldest Known Recipe in The World is For Beer
Beer has been the refreshment choice of bros across the world for a very, very long time. In fact the oldest recorded recipe ever unearthed wasn’t for some silly juice cocktail… nope–it was for beer. Some ancient Meso-bro-tamians figured out how awesome beer was and took their time to chisel it onto stone, so no matter how drunk they got–they would never forget how to make that delicious beverage.
Former Australian Prime Minister Once Held A Beer Chugging Record
Our Australian bros know exactly the right stuff to look for in a leader. They want a guy who can handle all the different problems Australians face (wallabies and spiders mostly.) The Australian people also know that to be a great leader… you must be able to pound some beers. Former PM, Bob Hawke set a record for drinking 2 1/2 pints in eleven seconds. That is worth some votes.
Jimmy Carter Legalized Home Beer Brewing
Jimmy Carter earned himself Bro status on October 14th of 1978 when he signed H.R.R. 1337. It was a magical bill that removed taxation from home brewing and basically made it purely legal to make for family and friends. Carter, your are an icon for bros we respect not only that you are hundreds of years old… but the impact you made on the beer world. HAIL JIMMY CARTER!
Andre The Giant Could Out Drink Any Bro On The Planet
Andre the Giant was such a large man, that nobody would ever talk sh*t to him about how he’s always stompin’ around in a torn women’s bathing suit. But the sheer magnitude of the man was not the only reason to respect him. He enjoyed beer and put it away like a true giant, putting away 119 beers in six hours. The Ultimate Warrior’s bitch-ass could NEVER do that.
Photo Credit: Shutterstock
Source: Facts about Beer
Yesterday we were warned of the health dangers associated with alcohol – not to mention bacon, ham and sausages.
Today there is more cheering news from a different set of scientists. They have come up with the perfect excuse for heading to the pub after a game of football or rugby. Their research has shown that a glass of beer is far better at rehydrating the body after exercise than water.
Researchers suspect that the sugars, salts and bubbles in a pint may help people absorb fluids more quickly.
The finding, which comes from a study at Granada University in Spain, will be welcome news for the legions of evening and weekend sports enthusiasts who enjoy a postmatch pint. It will also ease the worries of those still digesting the report from the cancer experts who linked alcohol and other products to an increased risk of some forms of the disease.
Professor Manuel Garzon, of Granada’s medical faculty, made his discovery after tests on 25 students over several months. They were asked to run on a treadmill under stifling temperatures of 40C (104F) until they were close to exhaustion.
Once they were on the point of giving up, researchers measured their hydration levels, concentration ability and motor skills. Half were then given two half pints of Spanish lager to drink, while the rest were given water.
Both groups were then allowed to drink as much water as they wanted.
Professor Garzon said the rehydration effect in the students who were given beer was “slightly better” than among those given only water.
He believes the carbon dioxide in beer helps quench the thirst more quickly, while beer’s carbohydrates replace calories lost during physical exertion. Based on the studies, the researchers have recommended moderate consumption of beer – 500ml a day for men or 250ml for women – as part of an athlete’s diet. A typical person loses around a litre of water for every hour of exercise in sweat.
People who fail to rehydrate after exercise are more likely to feel tired, fuzzyheaded and suffer headaches.
A spokesman for the Campaign for Real Ale said “moderate levels” of beer had beneficial health effects. Past studies have shown that sensible drinking of one or two units a day can reduce the risk of heart disease, dementia, diabetes and Parkinson’s disease, he said.
The ingredients of beer – which include malted barley, hops and yeast – are rich sources of vitamins and minerals.
Dr James Betts, an expert in post-exercise rehydration at Bath University, said: “People think of alcohol as being a diuretic, but if you are already hydrated, a small amount of beer could be a way of getting the fluid in.”
The best way of rehydrating after exercise was with a sports drink containing sugars, water and salt, he added.
Source: Pint of beer better than water after a workout
Source: Shutterstock
