July 4

we will be open at noon, as usual, and celebrating our country's independence with patriotic beer-drinking. We might have a special or two, as well. If you're in town for the weekend, it should be a good time to come out; the crowds will be much smaller here in Brooklyn and everyone will be in a good, long-weekend mood.

Date of Obama raffle/prizes to be awarded.

Good news--we've talked with Sixpoint, and they're planning on selling Hop Obama indefinitely, and at least through the Democratic convention. So we've settled on August 28, the day of Obama's speech at the convention, as the date for our Baraffle. That gives everyone plenty of time to collect lots of tickets, and gives us time to decide on big, fancy prizes. Ideas include a bike (environmentally friendly!) or one of the limited-edition art prints the campaign is selling. Smaller prizes will include Obama and Sixpoint t-shirts, among other things. If you have any prize ideas of your own, let us know.

Hop Obama: A New Hope.

Citizens, rejoice--Sixpoint has finally made a new batch of Hop Obama, and we're one of the first NYC bars to get it. Our keg arrived approximately 10 minutes ago, and will go on (with our bobblehead tap handle) as soon as another beer kicks, probably tonight or tomorrow. We're doing a different Obama promotion this time, and those of you reading this blog are the first to know how to take advantage of it: each time you order a Hop Obama, use the code word "hope" (as in "I hope this Hop Obama will be as good as the last one I had"). Every time you do, you'll get a ticket for our Baraffle, where we'll be awarding customers Barack and Sixpoint t-shirts, as well as other related merchandise. Date of the raffle and exact prizes TBA, but until then collect as many tickets as you can.

Robot alive and drinking, but, as usual, delayed.

The most recent robot update: Alex, an intern at our robot-building company, Tellart, who had been making major progress on several mechanisms, left over the summer, which has delayed us by another couple months. But before he left, we resolved the major sticking points in the robot project, namely the arm/wrist and the drinking mechanism. Now it's just more minor problems to sort out. Current robo-picture:

Pass the Pigs has arrived.

One of the best games of all time, Pass the Pigs, has arrived at Pacific Standard. Remember this one? You have two molded plastic pigs which you throw like dice. The attitudes in which they land score you points. For instance, a mere "sider," with the pig on its side, is 1 point, but a "leaning jowler," where the pig lands butt in the air with its jowl to the ground, is 15 points. We encourage you to play here at the Standard as soon as possible. We may give you a free beer if you manage to roll a leaning jowler in front of the bartender.

Sixpoint Emasculator on tap.

We just got the newest Sixpoint creation, and only the second lager they've ever done: the Sixpoint Emasculator Doppelbock. It's a malt blast, with a bunch of German strains you don't often see in these parts, as well as German lager yeast and hops. It's a perfect example of the Doppelbock style, sweet, roasty, malty, with a solid hop and alcohol backbone. Due to all the specialty grains, it's super-expensive, but worth a try anyway; this lager won't be around for long.

Opening early Wednesday and Thursday for Euro 2008.

As many of you already know, we've been showing the Euro 2008 games, and have had a large and enthusiastic audience. We'll open early to show the semifinal matches Wednesday and Thursday, and of course we'll have the final on Sunday. Dates and times:

Semifinals:

Germany vs. Turkey 2:45 pm Wednesday
Spain vs. Russia 2:45 pm Thursday

Final:

Germany/Turkey vs. Spain/Russia 2:45 pm Sunday

See you then(s).