I certainly enjoy a good rant from time to time. OK, all the time. And when a rant involves beer and babies, well, I’m all over that.
No matter what breeders might think, bars are not family-friendly. If I am out drinking and sobbing about a bad breakup, I don’t want my cries to compete with those of an infant sitting next to me. If I go to the bathroom to correct my wayward mascara at the end of a long weekend night, I don’t want to watch a baby being wiped down on the soggy sink counter.
Nor do I want to be scolded by parents like the ones at the Gate, a favorite bar, where friends have witnessed a few mothers with toddlers actually wagging their fingers when young people cursed too loudly or got a little sloppy, while conveniently overlooking the fact that alcohol, blaring punk rock and drunken partiers are not pediatrician-approved.
I really haven’t noticed too many children hanging out at bars around Helena, though many of the bars we frequent definitely are not family-friendly. But we will often see a toddler or more strolling about the local brewery. I guess I’ve never had any strong qualms about it, but I can see how this would be annoying at a more jovial bar where you’re just as likely to hear f-bombs dropped by the jukebox as are you are likely to hear them exploding from patrons’ mouths.
What do you guys think? Are bars a no-go for babies? Does this place drinking as a family activity? Is it a bad influence for children?
New York Times City Room Blog — Complaint Box: Baby Barflies
Happy new year, readers! I brought mine in with a bang, good company, and a nice bottle of beer down in Idaho. 
I found the Cuvée Series Two to be a delightful little treat of a beer. I would say the 22 oz. bottle would be great for 3-4 people to split. I’m not sure what this beer costs because I got it as a gift, but I imagine it is more on the expensive end judging from the packaging: a bottle inside a box with tasting notes and such on it. A few friends and this beer made for a delightful start to a new year!
So if New Braunfels, TX doesn’t come through with their huge beer stein, we’ll always have the 
Even so, that was still a positive number in the number of breweries going into operation in America. However, what will be interesting to watch is if we ever hit a plateau in terms of beer makers. Looking at the number of wineries that exist in California alone, I find it hard to believe that microbreweries are even close to skimming the ceiling in terms of market saturation. Of course the economic slide will limit the number of new openings, but it’s encouraging that we’re not losing breweries as quickly as we gain them. However, if you are looking to start your own big-time brewing center, you might want to think twice.
Ms. Dewey said that anyone who wanted to start a microbrewery should either have a substantial sum of money to begin with — or a great deal of patience. “It can be very dreamy thinking about starting your own microbrewery,” she said. “But unless you have several million dollars, be prepared for a lot of hard work.”
…now there’s a 
As naughty as the beer sounded, and with the advertisement of eight separate hops, Sword Swallower had quite a build-up. Despite having the proceeds from sales going to help Coney Island in New York, Sword Swallower turned out to be a last-call-at-the-bar-whabeert-should-I-go-home-with-tonight? kind of beer. This Shmaltz Lager poured a fairly translucent, heavily filtered pearly-amber color that caught the light nicely. It smelled fruity enough, and I was expecting some hits of orange and maybe a bit of spice—no such luck, though. The eight hops began to show through up front, but considering their boasting of these eight special hops, I should feel like I’m biting into a hop plant. Again, no such luck. Sword Swallower actually disappeared quite quickly, and as much as I wanted something to “thrust” against my palate, or give me a throbbing “mouthfeel,” this beer was just a tease.
