Funky Monkey

Like the beer! When I lived in Manhattan, I had a friend named Michael Jackson. Whenever he introduced himself, people would ask: "Where's your glove?" or "Where's Bubbles the Chimp?" or "Can you moon-walk?" Local comedian/ sportswriter Sam Adams has taken advantage of his famous name (trust me, people aren't asking him how he strategized the Boston Tea Party or whether he was the leader of the American Revolution) by using the website address www.likethebeer.com. So when I met bartender/mechanical engineer/brewer/co-owner/cutie Dennis Miller at North Star, it took everything in my power to stifle a rant about how I loved it when the comedian of the same name said he "would call the French scumbags, but that, of course, would be a disservice to bags filled with scum." Instead, I asked him for his specialty cocktail, and he came up with one faster than that other Miller could come up with some esoteric reference to Queequeg. The Funky Monkey ($5) brought a Mason jar filled with Stoli O, Chambord, pineapple juice and a squeeze of an orange -- a combination that was fruity, but not trying-to-get-a-cavity sweet. Although it seemed a tad out of season for December, it was an outstanding effort for a guy who's concentrated on brewing beer for the past seven years. And while it was nothing like beer, it was exactly what I wanted.