One of the highlights of the MLB All-Star Game in Milwaukee was seeing legendary Braves hurler Warren Spahn (and Willie Mays, too!) in person, albeit from a distance.
These are the kind of players that seem almost like mythological gods of the diamond to my generation.
So, you know I want to try the new Spahnie beer just introduced by Spahnie 363 and brewed by Oklahoma's Choc Beer Company.
The beer is the Krebs, Okla.-based Choc's first kolsch-style beer and to create it, brewmaster Michael Lalli uses Wisconsin malt, imported German hops, proprietary German yeast and bottled conditioning. The result is a crisp and smooth ale.
The beer is available in Milwaukee, Oklahoma and Arkansas.
"It's so exciting to know that many toasts and good memories will be shared while drinking Spahnie 363," said Spahn's son Greg in a statement.
"My father could not have asked for a better memoriam than that."
Choc owner Joe Prichard's dad Bill was a life-long friend of Spahn's and that connection sparked the idea for the brew.
"I fondly remember when dad would pack up the family and hit the road with several cases of Choc beer in the car to visit the Spahn's in Milwaukee during the summer," says Joe Prichard.
"So came the inspiration to produce a beer that would pay tribute to the American legend Warren Spahn and the legacy of the friendship between a great beer maker and a legendary baseball player."
Spahnie 363, LLC is co-owned by Joe Prichard and Greg Spahn.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
