This photo was taken by Sam Adams drinker Jeff Dodge after Hurricane Irene blew a tree over onto his recycling bin.  When the dust cleared, one bottle remained, impaled up to its shoulders into the trunk.  Say what you will about Sam Adams’ beers, but there’s no denying that they use quality bottles! I guess […]

Here is a really interesting video interview with Sam Caligione from Dogfish Head Brewery by Bloomberg Business.  Shows the entreprenurial side of Sam. http://www.bloomberg.com/video/72805872/#ooid=1sYTRvMjoE8bTzRglikfl-TPe_VLJYbv

Dear Martin and James, I give up. I’ve railed against your over-the-top concoctions for the past couple of years.  For some reason I ALWAYS feel compelled to post about your silly “stunt beers,” getting myself into a froth about how you are exploiting the pure nature of craft beer to make a name for yourselves. […]

This is a tale of two breweries.  Two breweries separated by 2000 miles and almost as far apart philosophically.  The thing that brings these two breweries together is a love of great beer and the desire to make it well, and they both do.  Seeing as they both make great beer, we can actually drop […]

Here’s a nice infographic created by Gene Ullery-Smith showing the good and the bad when it comes to beer stats.  Already a beer nerd, Gene is just getting started into the wonderful world of whiskey, so perhaps he’ll be a regular in these parts (or just stick around long enough to figure out Don is […]

I came across this “Vice Tax” doohicky put together for TurboTax by the folks over at Five Column Media using stats from 2008.  It’s pretty interesting to see which states are pro-alcohol and which states are pro-alcohol-tax. New Jersey seems pretty reasonable, taxing spirits at $5.50 a gallon and beer at 12 cents a gallon.  […]

Where we had lunch, and home of the world’s most giant urinal. The world’s most giant Urinal. This picture doesn’t do it justice, but this was like peeing into a sarcophagus. And count them! That is seven urinal cakes in the bottom! Bottling line. More Tanks and Pipes Lagering Tank

I’ve wanted to visit New Glarus, Wisconsin to check out the New Glarus Hilltop Brewery for a few years now.  I finally took the plunge last week, when Don and I were in Milwaukee taking care of family stuff.  It was an emotionally draining week and we figured we could use a break, so we […]

Hi all, just a quick note to tell you Don and I are alive and well.  We’ve had some sad family business to attend to this week, and we’ve gathered in Milwaukee – the spiritual home of the Galligan clan – to see our dad off this mortal coil.  There’ll be a tribute to him […]

As a guy who lives about 30 miles north northwest of New York City as the cow flies (and no, I didn’t leave out the “r” in crow, I’m thinking of Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton here), I have to say I’m a bit on edge about all this Hurricane Irene business.  A couple of […]

I’ve developed a bit of an obsession over the past few months with a pretty lowbrow treat: Munchies Cheese Fix Snack Mix.  I think it’s absolutely the best one on the planet, beating out anything Chex or Cheez-It or Annie’s or Utz can whip up.  Why?  Because it’s the SuperFriends of snacks. 

Hate to be a bother, but we need your opinion. The blogging template we use has a “feature slider” thingy that displays our latest three posts in a flashy and animated way on the top of the home page.  While it was neat at first, it started to bug me a little.  The headlines were […]

I know folks up and down the east coast are all shook up about the 5.9 magnitude earthquake we had today.  I could feel it in my basement office here in New Jersey, although as my chair swayed I just assumed I was having some sort of mini-stroke.  I am 40 now after all. I […]

It took them five years of searching the world to figure it out, but scientist have concluded that the forebearer of German lager yeast may have originated from beech trees in Southern Argentina some 600 years ago.  The study is co-authored by Todd Hittinger, an evolutionary geneticist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.  I wonder how […]

The great thing about being a loudmouthed moron is that sometimes smart people respond to your buffoonery with interesting information.  Such is the case with my post yesterday about Schlafly’s plans to expand their brewing operations using contract brewers. The obvious answer to why they chose this route is financial prudence.  Why take on a […]