Beer Here!

In Heaven there is no beer
That's why we drink it here
And When we're gone from here
All our friends will be drinking all our beer-

I tried to come up with something we all can do to make the world a better place, and decided we could start by drinking an Iron City Beer today. It's no secret the Brewery (cool old picture at that link), is having it's share of problems and the workers have accepted deep concessions to keep the barrels rolling, so to speak.

Iron City has been the beer of choice in my family for over 100 years. But the beer has been flowing a lot longer than that:

FROM THE LABEL:
- In 1861, over 100 breweries competed to quench the thirst of Pittsburgh's many citizens. Around this time, a German immigrant named Edward Frauenheim began brewing a beer so rich and full-bodied that it became the drink of choice. A few years later he met a fellow named Leopold Vilsack and a partnership was formed. Soon a brewery was erected on Liberty Avenue. Today, this landmark till stands, the only brewery to survive from that era, producing beers as legendary as the city they come from. Brewed and bottled by the Pittsburgh Brewing Co., Pittsburgh, PA.

"It was bigger than the Kennedy Funeral." That was how the widow of America's Polka King, Frank Yankovic, described his funeral in October of 1998. Frankie lived to be 83, and I'd say he drank a lot of beer in his day.

So what's the connection with "Weird Al" Yankovic? Frankie did record novelty-type records with "Weird Al," who may have been a distant relative. He also has worked with author and singer Kinky Friedman ( who just recently ran and lost the race for Governor of Texas,) and the actor Drew Carey.