The last time George Wendt came to Tucson, it was several years ago for a week of exercise and purification at Canyon Ranch.
The "vacation" was his wife's idea.
"She was just all day working out and loving everything about it," Wendt says. "I was thinking, man, if I could I would set up a bar outside the gates of Canyon Ranch for all the husbands."
Wendt, who portrayed wisecracking, suds-sipping Norm Peterson on the sitcom "Cheers," is a beer lover through and through. And now he's turned his passion into a book.
"Drinking With George: A Barstool Professional's Guide to Beer" was co-written with Jonathan Grotenstein and will hit shelves Oct. 20 (Simon & Schuster, $24.99).
The book is full of beer facts and advice, like how to quickly chill a warm beer, as well as stories of Wendt's time with comedy troupe Second City and his relationships with Woody Harrelson, Chris Farley, Farrah Fawcett and others.
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"Beer has been very good to me," says the actor.
Wendt recently talked to Caliente about his new book and his longstanding love affair with porters, stouts, ales and lagers.
Do you remember when you first fell in love with beer?
"Probably my first taste with my grandfather, fetching beer for him. He'd ask me to run to the fridge and fetch him a can of beer. I'd open it with a church key. My mother kept cans of Bud on hand for him. Left to his own devices, I don't know what beer he would have preferred."
What beer do you prefer?
"All sorts. Depends on what I feel like. I'm usually pretty convinced once I've had a sip that I've made the right choice."
Have you ever brewed your own beer?
"One time I did. Somebody gave me, like, a canvas or burlap sack, sort of a brew-your-own thing. It was back when I was doing 'Cheers.' Apparently all you had to do is fill the thing up with water. There might have been another step or two that I'm forgetting now. I was sort of like, I wonder what this will be like. I let it sit there a month and a half, and it was pretty good."
How do you chill a warm beer quickly?
"There are ridiculous ways that probably no one would ever resort to, like spraying it with a fire extinguisher."
Have you ever used a fire extinguisher to chill your beer?
"No I haven't. But one time I did turn a fire hose on Woody Harrelson. We were having a water fight and it escalated. I don't even think I hit him. As soon as I turned it on he vanished."
Sounds like wild times on the "Cheers" set.
"One time he trapped me in my dressing room and I had no liquid to throw back at him. I grabbed a bottle of tabasco sauce and he laughed, but then the next thing you know he's crying, 'My eyes!' "
Did you drink beer when you were on the set of "Cheers"?
"It was a nonalcoholic beer."
Do you have a kegerator at home?
"I have the kegerator. I have a proper keg setup as well. But I don't use them much. My kids, my youngest is 20, there was a period there when they were small and I'd have the keg filled for months and months. And when they got into their teenage years it was like, wait a minute, this is probably a little irresponsible. It's been laying fallow for a while, but now I think I'll start firing it up again."
What do you like to eat when you drink beer?
"I'm a big, fat, suburban middle-aged dad. You could guess — barbecue, sausages, all manner of fatty, greasy meats are good. But hot dogs, honestly, are probably the one constant."
