Various Artists, “Cheap Beer” LP

cover-cheap-beerThe debut release from Replay Records is the compilation Cheap Beer. Comprised of local acts from the Lawrence and Kansas City area, this is a primer for anyone wondering what’s worth checking out in Kansas. While acts like Mouthbreathers and Dark Ages have seen releases earlier this year on In the Red and Sorry State, respectively, others such as Fag Cop and Rooftop Vigilantes are probably only known to those who troll the TermBo forums.

Hopefully, though, those four bands will hopefully draw some attention to Der Todesking’s angular post-punk or Spook Light’s garage rockabilly, allowing the lesser-known bands to make an impression outside the Midwest.
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Grain Belt Beer’s Nordeast

nordeastWe’re cheap beer connoisseurs here at the Nuthouse. If it’s cheap and decent, it’s been cataloged by taste, price, and location. If in Texas, you drink Lone Star. If in eastern Missouri, you drink Stag. If you’re in Kansas, you drink Hamms or Pabst Blue Ribbon. Those on Cancun vacations might be sipping Victoria, sort of like Old Milwaukee, though actually more interesting than Tecate or Corona. If you are sampling the beer in Punta Cana Dominincan Republic more than likely it is Presidente beer, which is practically the national beverage. If you’re in a financial pinch and in need of malt and barley libations anywhere, Miller High Life (bottles – not cans) will do, too.

Half the fun of traveling is discovering what the cheap go-to is for any region. I’ve discovered that some cheap beers outperform the local microbrews in terms of flavor and drinkability quite a bit. Grain Belt Beer‘s Nordeast is one of those. I brought back probably seven different kinds of beer from my trip to Iowa City, and split everything up between myself and two gents from work, and we all agreed that the Nordeast is about one of the best cheap brews we’ve had.
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