Jimmy Fallon plays beer pong with Anna
Bud Light Lime? Nooooo… that is most certainly not “subtle genius.”

First a hop shortage, now a beer tax
NC Gov. Beverly Perdue, in her bid to stir-up much-needed funding for the state, has proposed a 5% alcohol tax hike. Beer is alcoholic, of course, which means that, if the bill passes, your foamy glasses of goodness are going to cost a bit more. The Beer Guy has the full story. These antiquated “sin taxes” drive us crazy. Keep your morality out of my beer. (One loyal Bruisin’ Blog reader calls her Gov. “Prude.” Ouch.)

Are Portland and S.F. stuffing the ballots?
Anyone and everyone in Asheville who has a clue about the beer scene here has heard about the Examiner’s “Beer City USA” poll. (Please vote, if you haven’t already!) Polling ends on May 7, just in time for American Craft Beer Week, when the “winner” will be announced. Yesterday, Asheville was behind Portland by the most votes since polling started. Today, we are ahead, and a Twitter post from Charlie Papazian himself says “Explanation: Pretty obvious ballot stuffing for S.F. and Portland. Those votes were removed. Counts lowered. Will monitor more regularly.” Really? Ballot stuffing? Asheville’s back on top with a respectable lead, but we’ve got population density against us. Spread the word! There’s a lot of trash-talkin’ from the Portland folks, too, leaving a bad taste in our mouths. We here in Ashvegas are small, mighty, and polite. (And by the way, our town is spelled AshEville, with an “e.” And to the person who asked, “Whoever heard of Asheville?”: Ummmm, George Vanderbilt?)

Actions by Stupid People: Part I
You should never, ever do this.

Actions by Stupid People: Part II
ShamPow! Yikes, that is nasty, Vince. (So is the jacket.) Billy Mays is celebrating loudly somewhere. (possibly NSFW)

Portman Group just won’t go away
The British watchdogs are at it again, raving over “extreme beer.” *gasp* But BrewDog is putting up a fight: “Despite the group rejecting complaints against three of BrewDog’s other beers, Punk IPA, Rip Tide and Hop Rocker, its managing director, James Watt, accused Portman of being ‘outdated’ and ‘out of touch.’ He did, however, concede that his company had been provocative. ‘We thought we would give them something worth banning us for,’ he said.” Bravo!