I love Spring.  It is perhaps my favorite season.  Flowers blooming, trees budding, new life all around.  It seems to happen every year that spring is just too short.  Around these parts it seems like we go from a high in the 40s to a high in the 80s overnight.  This year it seemed like […]

As you may know, I’m visiting the Beer & Whiskey Parents here in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, a lovely part of the world just outside Milwaukee.  And as you definitely know, I’m obsessed with beer and I’ve been foaming at the mouth in anticipation of trying some delicious brews I can’t get back in New Jersey.  

Well, someone’s gone and done it!  BeerAdvocate has rated the top 100 beers on the planet.  How did they do it?  Well it’s all explained here, but should they have done it might be a better question. One thing I have come to learn about brewers is they are all passionate.  They put their heart […]

Well it is August, and many people who are currently employed are taking vacations.  I just got back from 5 days up north, and Jim is currently in Milwaukee with his family, visiting with my sisters and my folks.  He will then escort our mother back here to Idaho for my Son’s wedding.  Unfortunately Dad […]

On my recent foray up to Northern Idaho we took a day to tour the lakes region, which includes the areas around Coeur d’Alene and Sandpoint, Idaho.  Well one of my favorite Idaho Breweries just happens to be located just outside Sandpoint, Idaho in the small town of Ponderay.  The Laughing Dog Brewery is a […]

I’m back and ready to tell of my travels.  This will be done in two parts, because there is simply too much to tell in just one post.  Tomorrow I will put together a post of my trip to Laughing Dog Brewery, but today I’m just going to let you all know where I was […]

One of the coolest (and most frustrating) things about craft beer is how regional the industry is.  Not everything is available everywhere, so you have to make the most of your opportunities while traveling. I’m headed off to Milwaukee soon to visit The Beer & Whiskey Parents, and I’d love to hear suggestions about which […]

Looks like things are afoot at the Harpoon Brewery, as they are filming some sort of home brewer challenge there this evening for the History Channel.  Details are scant, but it sounds like a pilot for a show that blends a little bit of Peter Kennedy’s Iron Brewer concept with Sam Calagione’s new show “Brewed.” […]

I’d like to say thanks to Elena and Bill and Tomi and Charles from Manor House Brewing for inviting me to their latest beer tasting event this weekend.  The weather was perfect and the beers were wonderful as always. For those unfamiliar, Manor House is dream of two couples from Northern New Jersey who started […]

Well I’m finally ready to pass judgment on my oak-aged bourbon porter, my first-ever home brew.  I had it four weeks after bottling and thought it was a mess and needed to spend more time in the bottle.  That was a few months ago, and now it’s time to crack one open and see how […]

I don’t think I’ve ever had a bad beer from Smuttynose, and I know I’ve had a few that were very good.  But for some reason I usually pass them over in the beer aisle.  I think it might be their packaging, as while some brewers scream for attention at the shelf, Smuttynose seems content […]

Thank goodness the weekend is upon us!  It’s been a long week around here and I’m looking forward to a little R&R.  Even more than that, I’m looking forward to a tasting party being held by my pals over at Manor House Brewing.  It’s always a casual affair, with a predefined beer tasting menu and, […]

It seems Oskar Blues has the tiger by the tail, or sticking with our theme here, the great white shark by the caudal fin. They recently pulled out of Idaho and seven other states because they can’t keep up with demand in other (apparently more important) markets.  Don cries about this in our latest podcast, […]

As many of you know, Dogfish Head honcho Sam Calagione has a new TV series coming out on the Discovery Channel called Brewed. You know, the TV show Don and I almost got. Anyway, part of the show will feature Sam traveling with his archeologist pal Pat McGovern to recreate ancient ales from the remnants […]