Cru Jones Society

Colorado Springs is home to the United States Air Force Academy, a college hockey team I hate, some good friends of CJS and apparently some quality beers, well mostly. That’s right, Keithage and I made another entry on our Colorado Brewery Tour bed post. This trip took us south of our home and involved only three of the eight breweries in the general Colorado Springs area. Turns out we developed some of that responsibility stuff our parents always get us about. That and our lives are stupid busy lately and we don’t have the pleasure of taking more than an afternoon for our alcohol hobby. Alcohol hobby sounds so much better than alcoholism.

With a plan in tact, Keithage and I piled into the truck and headed on down. He left the fiancé home to do wedding stuff, or so he says. I think he was kicked out for offering less than ideal input. “Programs? Oh sure, just write the things on there and fold ‘em. I used to make those for the high school theater productions. They’ll be done in no time!” I can’t say that was the actual dialogue, but I bet it’s close. Continue Reading »

There are approximately 110 breweries and brew pubs in Colorado. I know this because Friend of CJS Keithage bought me a map of all of them throughout the state. At that moment we made it our new goal to visit them all. So with 70 some under our belts and a free Saturday (the first one in months) we decided to cross some more off the list. The destinations for this particular Saturday were the sleepy mountain towns of Frisco, Dillon, Keystone and Idaho Springs.

For those of you unfamiliar with the geography of Colorado, those places are roughly an hour west of Denver. That far away meant that we would definitely need a designated driver, so we enlisted the aid of Mama Hart. She was a good sport about it so we bought her lunch. And because the more the merrier, my sister and her boyfriend came along too. Continue Reading »

You know the drill here. You’re at a bar boozing it up with your buddies, and who shows up? A couple of good looking young women carrying a tray of shots filled with some liquor/beer/fru-fru bullshit you’ve either never had or never considered. I normally hate being bothered by strangers in, well, anywhere, but in the case of these ladies, I’ll make an exception. Continue Reading »

When it comes to alcohol the most I ever think about it is, “What are we drinking? And has it gotten me drunk yet?” I thought I would change that for today. As I stared at the bottle of Jagermeister chilling in my freezer I started to say its name, as if it were singing Destiny’s Child to me, and I started to wonder what the hell the name actually meant. So I decided to look into it, and thought I would look up the name origins of some of the other liquors I consume. Now I will share this information with you, and save you some grunt work on looking up things you probably never would, because basically you have better things to do. Continue Reading »

Welcome to the first ever edition of CJS Fact or Fiction. We ripped off this format from 411mania.com’s various sections, who, in turn, had ripped off an old Sportscenter segment that no longer airs. It’s the internet. Plagiarism~! Woo hoo!

To celebrate the inaugural CJS Fact or Fiction (as well as excuse to get cockeyed drunk – St. Patrick’s Day), your heralded CJS founders E Dagger and Lee S. Hart tackle six statements regarding alcohol consumption. Can a man drink a mojito with confidence? Who’s more annoying: beer snobs or wine snobs? Do margaritas actually suck? These questions and more await in our brand new CJS feature.

Pour the drinks, and let’s get started! Continue Reading »

In honor of drinking week here at CJS, E Dagger’s here to give you a rundown of some of the most popular drinking games out there. CJS has field tested all of these games at length, so trust our expertise. Here is a brief rundown of all your college time favorites. Let the drinking commence! Continue Reading »

One of the favorite pastimes around CJS is partaking in a drink or several, as it has been well documented. We know we are not alone in this past time, and we are always curious about your drinking habits. And with all the choices of drinks out there these days, we asked: What are you drinking right now? Obviously not at this moment, unless you’re on vacation or have the most awesome job ever; but currently when you do have a drink what you ordering? We’ve got the first round and the following ones are on our readers. Continue Reading »

I have a pot luck at work and I thought instead of bringing the same old boring crap I got the last minute at the store I thought I would attempt to make something. Keeping with the not being boring idea I thought I would try something I have never made before.  So I thought I would document this hopeful awesomeness with a semi-live blog as I attempt to not burn down my kitchen. Continue Reading »

On the hierarchy of things that interest the Cru Jones Society, beer is probably fourth right behind baseball, fretting over whether or not the movie Rad will ever be released on DVD, and dressing appropriately for the occasion (apparently – given how many posts we’ve dedicated to the subject. See here, here, here, and here for examples).

Two Fridays ago, we linked to a Sporcle quiz asking you to identify the top 15 selling beers in America with the cryptic promise “And we’re in no way done with this list. Stay tuned…” Well, I’m here to fulfill that promise as we journey through the top 15 sellers and I break down my experience with each one. Intrigued? You should be. So crack a cold one, and let’s count this list down, baby! Continue Reading »

In this go-go, fast paced world it has become to quick and easy to hit up a fast food joint for the no hassle meal. I have found I make this experience quicker by never ordering something new from the menu. Seems a bit odd when it comes to places like Taco Bell that has a new product every week, they’re inventing something new, kind of, why shouldn’t I try it? Generally I like to try new things, mainly with my beer, but for whatever reason at fast food places I fear venturing away from the unfamiliar. What follows are my choices from these beacons of obesity. Now let’s super size this sucka and avoid anything new. Continue Reading »

It’s no secret that booze plays a role in my life. Like a good friend it is always there to bring happiness and tastiness. As I may have mentioned before, or maybe I haven’t I can’t remember everything I say, I drink remember, but my two favorite libations are beer and whiskey. I would like to take the opportunity today to talk about my love of the whiskey. Continue Reading »

I remember being young and the thought eating out at a restaurant was a big deal. That doesn’t seem to be the case now that I am older. Now that I have the freedom to eat where I want and when I want, I can pretty much have whatever I want, thus lessening the excitement of eating some place other than my home. But I was thinking back at some of the places I loved when I was wee lad and how I miss those days, kind of. Continue Reading »

Welcome back to the CJS Monday Confessional Desert Island. Our regulars and staff have all become stranded on a desert island for some reason, and we’re finding out how everyone’s handling it. Last week we found out which 5 albums everyone would have for their listening pleasure. And really, what are some good tunes without a good brew? So with that in mind, we asked the following question: What one beer are you drinking for the rest of your days on this island?

We received many excellent confessions this week, and we’re excited to share them with you below. As always, CJS Staff answers first, and our Regulars follow. Our final Desert Island question will come at the end. If you’re in position to do so, feel free to crack a beer as you read the responses. Although, our website analytics tell us our readership peaks at about 8 a.m., so maybe the beer should wait. Unless you work graveyard shift or have raging alcoholism to feed, of course. Regardless, let’s dig in. Continue Reading »

As I sit here listening to Reel Big Fish sing about beer and ponder which liquor currently in my collection will go best with my orange juice, I can’t help but to think about the way drinking has changed as I have aged. Sure some things are obvious like hangovers. And apparently some things never change, like mixing hard alcohol with orange juice on a weeknight. Actually I settled for an orange juice neat since I have nothing that would be good with the juice. I don’t know if that is a fail or a win. I suppose that’s a change, in the past that would have easily been a fail. Continue Reading »

If you’re Catholic, in any way devoted, you likely spent part of your weekend in the Confessional. Well, the Cru Jones Society likes to take weekends off and aren’t in the mood to hear any of your shit. That’s what Mondays are for. And this week we have a fine collection of confessions from CJS readers and staff answering the question: What is your guilty pleasure drink? Stay tuned until the end as we reveal our final guilty pleasure question, which is likely the guiltiest pleasure there is. For now, have a drink on CJS. Continue Reading »

I am currently trying to reduce the amount of sugar in my diet. At times this seems like a hard task. Mainly when I’m at work and every other office or cubicle has a damned bowl of candy on their desk. But with will power I have been pretty good about ignoring it. I also try distracting my mind and I started thinking about the names of some candies, much like I did months ago with soda.

So I started doing research into how some candies got names that were some what baffling. You know what I found out? Not a whole lot of people know why candies have the names they do. Seriously I was doing a lot of searching and not a single website could tell my why Twix is called Twix. I was able to find out is used to be called Raiders, but no information as to why it was called that. They changed the name to Twix in hopes in would sell better. But no information was found on why those in charge chose the name Twix. Same results with Skittles. So due to the internet being full of information that doesn’t help, and the fact that a lot of candies have boring origins like named after its creator, Mr. Heath, I narrowed my list down to four candy bars. One of which I have only had maybe twice in my life. Well, working with what I have, I present to you the origins to four candy bar names. Continue Reading »

Although summer doesn’t officially begin for another 20 days, the weather has been summer-esq around the CJS headquarters. We have been enjoying the lovely afternoons and evenings by sitting out on the porch drinking. While we do enjoy “The Official Drink of Summer,” the Gin Rickey, we also have other favorite summertime drinks. Since we are border line alcoholics, we wanted to know more summer fun drinks and so we asked you to tell us your favorite summer libations. Let’s check out ours, and then we’ll get to yours. Continue Reading »

Welcome sinners and saints to another edition of the Monday Confessional. This week we tackled the question: What restaurant do you refuse to eat in and why? The world is full of choices, but invariably, you’ll end up out with friends and despite a bevy of opportunity to get your grub on at any of several delightful establishments serving a wonderful selection of delicious food, your idiot friends somehow always suggest a place you hate. Here’s a small snapshot of the places CJS staff and readers don’t like to go. Continue Reading »

It’s anniversary week here at CJS. That’s right, this week we’re celebrating one year on the net and one year of wasting your time. We have some fun surprises this week so be sure to check in. But right now we’re going to start the celebrating the one way we know how, with alcohol! Though we may not want to celebrate with theses drinks since we asked you what your alcohol kryptonite is? What can you no longer drink? What did you O.D. on in college/high school/grade school that makes you want to ralph just thinking about it?

We’ll start with the CJS staff because we fear change. Then your responses will follow. And by the time it’s over, nobody will want to drink again. Bottoms up! Continue Reading »

The foam dome will be the last of the three new drinking products we test drove during the annual CJS Rendezvous in Tucson, Arizona. The concept of the foam dome is a simple one: take one hat, attach cup holders to the sides, and add two straws that come together in a “T” shape whose business end goes to your waiting thirsty mouth. The flabongo, and pool pong racks both earned praise from CJS, will the foam dome fare as well? Continue Reading »