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If the nation’s liquor stores bolt their doors, can bootleg liquor be far behind? My favorite time of day is cocktail hour. While I love any number of bars and restaurants, my favorite place to enjoy a cocktail is my home. Thanks to my professional requirements, I have an abundant supply of some of the best whiskies and wines in the world. In addition, the service is impeccable (there’s no trying to get the bartender’s attention—I am the bartender), the pours are always perfect, there’s no last call and I don’t have to worry about driving home. And now, like...

MILLERSBURG, Ohio (AP) - Authorities in the heart of Ohio's Amish country say they arrested more than 70 people in a raid at a weekend party in a field that was expected to attract hundreds of Amish youth. More than 40 officers converged Saturday on the Hardy Township field after concerned parents notified the Holmes County sheriff's office of a large party expected to attract over 1,000 Amish from Ohio and neighboring states. Investigators say 73 people, including 35 juveniles, were taken into custody and charged with underage consumption of alcohol.

Each held Saturday on $1.5 million bondTwo Broward County men were among three arrested this week in a nighttime police raid after they planned to attack four police stations, President Barack Obama's campaign headquarters and Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s house, according to court documents. The men arrested Wednesday in an apartment building in the Bridgeport neighborhood. They're accused of trying to make Molotov cocktails ahead of the two-day summit that starts Sunday. They were each held Saturday on $1.5 million bond. Brian Church, 20, of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.; Brent Vincent Betterly, 24, of Oakland Park, Fla. and Jared Chase, 24, of...

20 years ago, my wife gave away my carboy and put dog food in my ABS plastic bucket that I did my first ferments in. I have constantly reminded her of that violation. This Christmas, she bought two brew kits for me. So of course, I had to try it out right away. I did a kit for a Honey Brown Ale - Similar to Newcastle. Yesterday, I cracked open a bottle with friends.

An Inspector General review of emails in Hillary Clinton’s inbox found at least four instances where information she received should have been considered secret at the time she received it. The matter has now been referred to the FBI. The Wall Street Journal reports that the Inspector General only looked at a small sample of Hillary’s inbox, just 40 emails. Of those 40, four were found to have information classified “secret.” A spokesperson for the IG told the WSJ the emails “were classified when they were sent and are classified now.” Though the remainder of Hillary’s email has not been...

A recycling facility in Silicon Valley is trying to trace a woman who dumped a rare Apple 1 computer, which just sold to a private collector for $200,000. The company wants to give her a cut of the proceeds: $100,000. The firm — CleanBayArea — said the woman dropped off boxes of old gadgets and “e-waste” one month ago, but didn’t leave any contact information. “She said that her husband had passed away and that she had decided to clean up their garage,” the company said in a statement. After searching through the boxes a few weeks later, a recycling...

MILPITAS (CBS/AP) — A recycling center in the Silicon Valley is looking for a woman who dropped off an old Apple computer that turned out to be a collectible item worth $200,000. Victor Gichun of Clean Bay Area says the woman dropped off boxes of electronics that she had cleaned out from her garage after her husband died. She didn’t want a tax receipt or leave her contact information, and it wasn’t until a few weeks later that workers at the recycling center opened the boxes to discover an Apple I (one) computer inside. It was one of only about...

WASHINGTON (AP) — No, it's not always a room filled with wires and glowing blue lights. It's probably not even the size of your furnace. The personal email server used by Hillary Rodham Clinton during her time as secretary of state was probably about the size of your office desktop computer and could have been tucked quietly in a corner somewhere. She's come a long way since 1997, when Clinton's staff bought the then-first lady a copy of the book "E-Mail for Dummies." Setting up your own email server is something only the geekiest of tech geeks do because of...

I'm not sure if you guys have heard, but Pakistan is great this time of year. Most of what I know about Pakistan comes from watching Homeland which is probably based on a true story or something. Anyway, second and third world countries have really stepped up their game in the firearms production.

Obama's & His Dark Sayings; The Wrath of God On America http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rrp6wUkTGjY

I have been experimenting with making my own apple pie "moonshine". I am using 190 proof Everclear..looking for advise or maybe a recipe.

Beer aficionados are pouncing at the rare opportunity to buy one of the world's most elusive and revered beers for the first - and perhaps only - time in the United States. It is called Westvleteren XII, and it is often hailed as the "world's best beer" by reviewers and fans. Westvleteren XII is produced by Trappist monks in Belgium and sold at the abbey of Saint Sixtus in the Belgian countryside. The beer can usually only be purchased by reservation at the abbey - and reservations are extremely hard to come by. But when the abbey found itself hurting...

A surprising anecdote from a White House pool report this morning: Campaign official also offers up that potus was talking about white house beer, which apparently the white house brews, she said, and one cafe patron requested a bottle, so potus sent out to Ground Force One and gave him one.

As I mentioned in a previous entry, I went experimental on this batch of mead. I was concerned that fermentation was stuck and I honestly was afraid I might have to start over. My curiosity finally got the best of me last evening so I decided to sample and bottle it, if it was any good. Here is a list of what you need to bottle your mead. Getting ready for a cold winters night. EVERYTHING MUST BE STERILIZED! Bottles (20-24 per 5 Gal) Corks A container of water big enough to hold the corks Press to place the corks...

In the spirit of authenticity, a home-brewer attempts to recreate a founding father's beer recipe. It was last Thanksgiving. I had my heirloom turkey, local yams and organic cranberries. I had donned my waxed-canvas apron and consulted vintage recipe books. I was ready to eat. But on this, the most heritage-chic of holidays, what should one drink? Wine felt too stuffy; a six-pack not ceremonial enough. I was stumped. Then I discovered George Washington's beer. Or, more precisely, a recipe for it, referenced in a few old home-brewing books. Scribbled on the last page of one of Washington's journals is...

Political pollster Nate Silver summarized the results of a recent Gallup poll this way on Thursday. "In case there weren't enough reasons to be depressed about the country: Popularity of beer at record low." OK, it's not crystal clear that a record has been shattered, but the nation's adoration of beer has dropped to its lowest point in the past 20 years among adults, according to the poll that was released Wednesday. Among those asked which alcoholic beverage they would most often drink, 36% said beer was their pick. Beer just beat out wine as the top choice. Wine was...

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has signed a bill that officially classifies beer as alcoholic. Until now anything containing less than 10% alcohol in Russia has been considered a foodstuff. The move, signed into law on Wednesday, will allow ministers to control the sale of beer in the same way that spirits are controlled. Russian alcohol consumption is already twice the critical level set by the World Health Organization. Although vodka has long been the traditional tipple in Russia, beer has soared in popularity, being marketed as a healthier alternative to spirits. Over the past decade, beer sales in Russia have...

WE might not have our own space program yet, but we sure as hell have our priorities right. Two Australian companies have developed the very first space beer. With the space tourism industry preparing for take off as early as next year — Saber Astronautics Australia teamed up with the Four Pines Brewing Company to develop the very first beer that can be consumed safely in space. Jaron Mitchell, the founder of Four Pines, said the creation of space beer was an event for the history books. "Wherever humans have journeyed or conquest to throughout history in the last few...

HELSINKI - Finnish scientists are analyzing a golden, cloudy beverage found in a 19th century shipwreck at the bottom of the Baltic Sea, hoping new beers can be modeled on an ancient brew. The VTT Technical Research Center of Finland said Tuesday that through chemical analysis it aims to determine the ingredients and possibly the recipe used in brewing what it called "one of the world's oldest preserved beers." VTT scientist Arvi Vilpola said he had "the honorable task" of being the one on the research team to sample the brew. "It was a little sour and you could taste...

In July 2010, a Baltic Sea shipwreck dated between 1800 to 1830 yielded many bottles of what is thought to be the world's oldest champagne. Five of the bottles later proved to be the oldest drinkable beer yet found.