Wisconsin loves beer. Beer brewing and drinking is so intrinsic to Wisconsin's cultural fabric that even clueless television executives noticed it when they created Laverne and Shirley. Whenever we passed a town that sounded familiar, yet I knew I had never been there, I'd say to Dilf, "Why does [insert town name] sound familar?" And he'd say, "Because [insert beer company name] is brewed there."

I don't recall passing the Hamm's brewery, though. Do they still make Hamm's?

Anyway, the whole beer thing is no big surprise; Wisconsin is/was heavily settled by people of Germanic and Scandinavian descent, no doubt because the landscape and weather closely mimicked that of their homelands. But then I started to think, Germans certainly have the beer making thing in their genetic code, but what about the Scandinavians? I could think of British ales, Czech pilsners, Irish stouts, even Japanese beers. But I couldn't think of one Swedish, Icelandic or Norwegian beer. Danish, yes. But what about those Viking homelands? Where are their great beers?

It turns out that I'm not crazy, for once. Swedes don't brew, and I only found one Norwegian brewing company.

Once again, I have become easily irritated. Why this time? Because Hägar the Horrible is a big fat hairy liar, that's why. They always show him chugging beer with his buddies.



First, Dik Browne misspells his first name, now he tries to foist historical inaccuracies upon us. For shame, Mr. Browne, for shame. Clearly, Hägar the Horrible is full of hot air.