This Week in Beer

Whether you’re sipping cocktails at your sister’s wedding or rocking a keg stand at your best friend’s house party (or vice versa!?), booze brings people together. This week we’ve compiled the choicest ale-themed stories to help you make the most of your drunken debaucheries—everything from finding the best bar in town to dealing with those killer hangovers.

Loud Bar Equals More Beer [Scientific American]
This podcast from the Scientific American reports that people drink more in bars with loud music than they do in bars with softer tunes. Apparently researchers conducted some sort of "controlled experiment" to confirm the findings. I only have one question: where do I sign up to participate?

New York on Tap [Metafilter]
If you live in NYC, this Google map mashup tool helps you find the bars closest to you. A lot of them even have pictures and (sometimes humorous) visitor reviews. Take a look when your boss isn’t looking and plan your next bar crawl.

Top 10 Hangover Cures and Preventatives [CollegeOTR]
CollegeOTR delivers 10 tried-and-true tips for curing and preventing the punishment that comes from downing too much of a good thing. A few of these might surprise you: popping aspirin is a big no-no, don’t chase hard liquor with water, and by all means sleep it off.

The Octabong [CollegeOTR]
If you're part of high society, pretentious, or French, you may snub your nose at this beer-guzzling contraption, but for those who wish to keep “living the dream” this is too ridiculous to pass up. It’s an eight-way funnel (looks like an octopus) “that will octuple the fun at any kegger.”