Stubby Buddy Vol. 3

Stubby Buddy Vol. 3

from Blackguard

Stubby Buddy Vol. 3 [20 pages, digest size, $? stubbybuddyzine (at) gmail.com + www.facebook.com/StubbyBuddy ]

A zine dedicated to beer? Ding dong. This could be my new favourite zine! [Thanks to Sticky, who sent me a bunch of zines to review, and this was one of 'em.]

First up, a look at the increasingly idiotic Australian drinking laws, including the 'alcopop' tax which was intended to prevent under-age drinking, even though 80% of drinkers are men over the age of 25. Also the study (from the University of Adelaide) that recommends breath testing for drunk pedestrians (which would mean a woman who drank a bottle of wine at a restaurant over a two hour period would legally not be allowed to walk home, and neither would a man who consumed a six-pack of beer at a friend's bbq).

There's a newly introduced section devoted to sustainable drinking. Drink beer from cans, dude - they are the easiest to recycle. If you're gonna drink from bottles, brown bottles are better than green bottles (added metals that are harder and more expensive to remove) or clear bottles (which require extra processing to prevent your beer from becoming 'light-struck').

Some new beers are reviewed - Arctic Fox Brewing's American Pale Ale, Rekorderlig's Pear Cider (Yum! Gotta find me some of that!), Broo's Premium Lager and Holgate Brewhouse's Temptress Chocolate Porter (oh man, that one sounds good too!).

In another article, the history of Pilsner is revealed, followed by some Australian pilsner reviews. (At this point let me admit that with beer, I'm not fussy. I've never had a beer I didn't enjoy. ... Except for Tooheys New. Holy shit how the fuck do they fuck that shit up so bad?)

I really loved Barfly's Rant, a well-written and savage attack on knobs who order coffee at a pub, in this case during a rush on the bar. 'I've got thirty people to serve real drinks to, and this bitch wants me to make her and her wanker boyfriend a bloody coffee. I could happily sand her face off.' Best rant I've read in a long time.

Stubby Buddy rocks the kegs. Zine of the month, no doubt.