Beer

IFIND IT REALLY sad that there are some people who are basing there decision of who to vote for on who they would rather have a beer with. If W. is re-elected, chances are he'll be drinking alone. Those of us in the lower and middle class probably won't be able to afford to buy a beer. People need to wake up and vote on the issues. Gore was a bore, but he wouldn't have made most of the country poor. Now is the time to atone for that mess of an election in 2000. Don't leave it to the conservative Supreme Court to "reappoint" W. Let's elect John Kerry and take our country back.

Beer is no longer the cloth coat of beverages, once associated with fast food and cheap dates, acceptable only at the beach, on the foul line, or in front of the television, according to Hal Rubenstein in Elle magazine. Beer has become as fashionable as high-topped sneakers. Currently, the most popular new beer in California is a light, spicy Mexican beer called Corona. What is unique about Corona, however, is how it often is served - with a wedge of lime pushed down the neck of the bottle.

Beer bonbons Beer and chocolate have long been classic companions. But they can now be savored in the same sweet gulp with this exquisite six-pack of brew-infused truffles from Christopher Curtin of West Chester's Éclat Chocolate. Crafted as a limited edition fundraiser for Philly Beer Week, Curtin tapped six outstanding local beers to flavor these confections. I especially liked the bright smack of Victory's Hop Wallop, the dark richness of Stoudt's Fat Dog imperial stout, and the fruity pucker of Iron Hill's Belgian-style cassis sour ale.   A pretty pilsner Sip your beer in style with this hand-blown Pilsner-style glassware from Simon Pearce.

THE Daily News editorial "Wrong Cure for Stop-n-Gos" (July 6) correctly indicates that the beer-to-go permit process violated the due process rights of storeowners because City Council commingled legislative and prosecutorial functions. But the editorial rationalizes Council's actions by using these businesses as scapegoats for many of the problems in the city. So it's necessary to provide the other side of the story. Your editorial states that granting a state liquor license to a store depends on Council's acceptance of a beer-to-go permit.

Sidled up against the polished cherry-wood bar, watching the bartender tip a tall, slender glass at a perfect 45-degree angle beneath the shiny brass spigot, creating just the right frothy head on the amber ale I had ordered, an image flashed through my head: Boy, had my beer-drinking come a long way since the days I sat with my college friends on a park bench in the median on Broadway, passing around a bottle of Colt 45 hidden in a paper bag. ...

GRATITUDE TO Harrisburg lawmakers reaching their long arms into the way the city does business is not something we welcome every day. In fact, the messages we send are usually the opposite: Whether it's the takeover of the city Parking Authority or Harrisburg's attempts to Big Foot our zoning authority over casinos, our usual message is "Go away. " But we're grateful for the new state law that puts some sense back into the process of issuing stop-n-go beer takeout licenses.

It definitely wasn't Miller Time in Yeadon Thursday night. Upset with a growing problem of teenage drinking, about 30 residents packed Borough Hall, wanting reassurance from council members that they and police would monitor the sale of beer at a deli on Church Lane. The residents are concerned about the proposed expansion of Span's Deli, at 706 Church Lane, into a convenience store with added seating for patrons. Although the deli has sold beer for about 15 years, residents said the expansion would add to an underage drinking problem in the neighborhood.

Phillies fans - well-known for their ability to boo losers - get a chance to bellow loud and clear about the food and drink lineup at Veterans Stadium. A City Council committee holds a public hearing today to hear fans' opinion of the ballpark grub. The lead witness is Joe Sixpack, the People Paper's voice of the beer-drinking public. Councilman Jim Kenney organized the hearing after the Daily News exposed the half-million-dollar suds-skimming scam perpetrated by the Vet's concessionaire.

Martha Warburton of Middletown said she was disappointed. Not angry or vindictive, just disappointed. She and her husband, William, had appealed to Judge Melvin G. Levy in Delaware County Court Monday to hand down a jail sentence for James Bewley, 25, for buying beer for four teenagers, including their 17-year-old daughter Heather, on the night of Aug. 9, 1988. Heather was killed later that night in an auto accident related to the teen drinking. Levy listened attentively to the Warburtons' impassioned plea and, after noting that Bewley, of the 300 block of South Providence Road, Nether Providence, had no record, sentenced him to three years' probation and a $750 fine.

"Sometimes the best wine for Thanksgiving is a beer," says Lynn Hoffman, professor of food and wine at Drexel University and a fan of good beer. "There are a lot of big, loud flavors at Thanksgiving, and not everybody likes wine enough to have a big, loud wine to go along with it. There are a lot of people who are just uncomfortable with the idea of wine. It not their family beverage. They don't drink wine . . . and Thanksgiving is not the time to educate them. " Hoffman proposes either a light-flavored beer to cut through the intense flavors of the meal and refresh your mouth, or a more intense beer that will stand its ground next to the richest stuffing you can put on the table.

YOU KNOW a microbrewery has stepped it up a notch when it graduates from kegs to bottles and cans - and not just because the beer can be shipped to more drinkers in new destinations. It's one thing to fill up a half-barrel with 15.5 gallons of brew. It's a whole 'nother thing to spray exactly 12 ounces of those gushing suds into an assembly line of fragile glass and dentable aluminum containers. It takes a lot of cash, plenty of floor space, technical experience and unending patience to handle the touchy, highly calibrated packaging equipment.

A JAZZ GUITAR leans against an armchair in a corner of Adam Schmidt's Old City office. "I don't play it nearly as much as I used to, which is actually why I brought it to the office," says Schmidt, 31. "At home, I don't find enough time to play. So I try to take a break and play every once in a while. " It's ironic, Schmidt admits: He has too much work at home, so he brings his personal life to the office. More often than not, the two worlds are one and the same for the young entrepreneur.

WITH Philly Beer Week just five weeks away, word is beginning to spill about many of the new brands that the locals will be showing off for the festivities. Consider this your early checklist. *  Manneken-Penn , Dubbel, 7.5 percent alcohol by volume. For the third year, Philly Beer Week sent a local brewer to Belgium to collaborate on a one-off, and for the third year he came back with something different. This year it was Chris Wilson, of Weyerbacher, and Tom Peters, of Monk's Cafe, traveling to Brasserie de la Senne to produce what is being described as a "Belgo-American Dubbel.

HARRISBURG - Gov. Corbett's push to liberalize Pennsylvania's beer, wine and liquor laws drew broad criticism from anti-addiction groups during a Senate committee hearing yesterday. The hearing in front of the Senate Law and Justice Committee was the first for senators on the subject as Corbett applies heavy pressure to get a bill to his desk by June 30, when the Legislature wraps up business for the summer. "We have issues in this commonwealth considerably more important than how convenient or inconvenient it is to buy a bottle of vodka," said David Bender of the anti-addiction group Compass Mark.

WHY DO bars serve nuts? I'd always assumed it was to make you thirsty so you'd drink more beer. But that's only half right, as the taste and smell experts from University City's Monell Chemical Senses Center proved to me on a recent afternoon of sudsy experimentation. The center's researchers were gearing up for the Philadelphia Science Festival, the citywide nerd expo that runs through Sunday. Beer drinkers in particular will want to dip into Monell's fun presentation tomorrow at Yards Brewery, where they'll explain the chemistry behind beer-and-food pairings.

Sly Fox helped pioneer the craft-beer can revolution. Now, it's ripping the top off the genre altogether - literally. Gently yank the tab on its new "360 Lid" and nearly the entire end of the can is lifted off for wide-open sipping. Smell the hops! Take a big, refreshing gulp. No more small-hole, aroma-deprived glugging. Developed by Northeast Philly's Crown Holdings (and first seen at the World Cup), the 360 made its North American debut this spring with Pikeland Pils cans exclusively available at Citizens Bank Park.

WHAT'S with all the beer and food pairings? It's getting that you can't down a mug without someone shoving a plate of ale-braised Brussels sprouts under your chin. Wednesday night, Nick Macri, the chef at Southwark, at 4th and Bainbridge, laid out a four-course menu pairing imaginative dishes (seafood stew and hot-pepper relish) with suds from Ardmore's Tired Hands Brewery. Friday, the new Victoria Freehouse, on Front Street in Old City, will throw down a variety of British-style bitters and complementary English-themed plates.

Update: The victim was identified Thursday as Ali Fausnaught, 19, a recent transfer student to West Chester University. She was from Brownstone, Pa., in Lancaster County, the university said. A family friend who answered the phone at the Fausnaught's residence said the family was not available to speak at this time. ---- A 19-year-old woman plunged to her death from a rooftop party at a three-story apartment building late Wednesday afternoon near Temple University, police said.

USED TO BE, spring beer meant one thing, and one thing only: bock. Darkish, sweet, mildly strong, full-bodied lager meant to brace you against the last vestiges of winter and welcome the daffodils. It was liquid bread, the beer of Lent, of happy, dancing goats celebrating the verdant early days of the season. Paulaner Salvator . . . Ayinger Celebrator . . . Dock Street Illuminator . . . Anchor Bock . . . and so on. Bock beer is still alive and kicking but, lately, American beer makers have been giving us a whole 'nother take on the season - a lighter, spicier version of spring beer.

A Delaware County teacher has been charged with furnishing alcohol to two of her students. State Police arrested Katherine Leigh Preusser, 33, an English teacher at Ridley High School, on March 23, after a car in which she was a passenger was pulled over and open beer cans were found inside. Two students also were in the car at the time, one of them driving, officials said. Preusser was charged with corruption of minors, furnishing alcohol to minors, drug possession, and other related crimes.