The Mason Jar

This week's blog has to do with my new found discovery from my trip back home to Colorado ... drinking beer from a mason jar. It was the night before I had to fly back to North Carolina and I was in Denver hanging out with my friends from home Aaron, Josh and Dane. We all went to Toby Keith's I Love This Bar and Grill where I also met up with my friend Tanya and her husband Joe. I had heard about this place before but I had no idea it would be as great as it was.

After we all got there Josh bought a round for all and they came over with 32 oz mason jars filled with beer. Once it hit the lips it was so good and I said "fill it up again." The beer tasted as good as it ever has coming from the jar and I knew from that point on Toby Keith was a genious. Not only was his beer in mason jars a great idea but he also had really attractive ladies who were called "Whiskey Girls" who were around all over the place. It was a great bar for all types of people and also featured a mechanical bull and live music. It basically had everything I want in a place - great beer, gorgeous women and live music.

Here are some other little known facts about mason jars. They were invented and patented by John Landis Mason, a Philadelphia tinsmith, in 1858. Mason jars are made of soda-lime glass and come in a variety of sizes including pint, quart, half-gallon and cup, as well as in wide-mouth and regular-mouth openings.

Now prior to this week I had only ever thought of mason jars as being used for canning goods. My grandparents used them for that very reason all the time, canning pickles, green beans, jam, peaches and other things. I had never thought of them being used for drinking beer. It is hard to wrap my mind around the fact that I almost missed out on this for 30 years.

The trip to Toby Keith's bar has got me thinking now that I am back East. One of my first goals for next week is to find some mason jars to load up my cabinet with. I will be splurging for the quart size which was just about perfect last weekend. This is something I recommend to all and will start spreading the word throughout the South although I bet some people probaby drink moonshine from mason jars in the back woods of Guilford County.