Ok, the first contest of 2007 is upon us and, while Stan is mulling his options, let me think a bit about my own picks. If I win I am giving the book to my dentist's office:

• The keg that never drains: When I was a home brewer with an acre vegetable garden, I used to brew super-low beers like a 2.8% highly hopped ordinary bitter. I used to take it out to the garden by the small bucket and sweat it off. It was exactly what beers like English mild and pre-popularity lighter saison and biere de garde were all about - sources of fluid that kept you going and kept you safe from the dangers of water in the world before public health standards. Safe daily fluid is something I am going to need on the desert island...so is there a beer out there like that? I tried an Anchor Small Beer a few years ago. That is the sort of beer I am thinking of but I may need more research.
• Friday's beer: this one is for relaxation rather than refreshment. It has been a hard week on the desert island and there is a kicking-off-the-shoes night of fire ant wars to watch over by the coconut tree. I need something with a bit of oomph and right now my oomph of choice is Stoudts Double IPA. Orangy and hot, it could go with the bush country fish curries I would be making. Big and brassy, it would get me through bout after bout of throw-the-rock-at-the-other-rock, my desert island sports break between innings of fire ant wars.
• Sunday's beer: after the inevitable guilt and regret that too much throw-the-rock-at-the-other-rock on a Friday night would give rise to on Saturday, Sunday's beer needs to be something that put things back in order, allows you to re-enter the place you need to be. I am thinking of a dubbel and the pretense of monkish contemplation they impose on you. I'll need a glass shaped like a chalice. I can make one from a coconut. But what dubbel to put in it? I am thinking Rochefort 6 or Ommegang, two variations of malt meets spice meets burlap. What to do?

Which reminds me. Get your votes in by February 22nd.