You know we could all learn something from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.  Here is the evil queen and her magic mirror who always had to tell her that she wasn’t the fairest one of all.  Well DUH! Anyone could see that except the person themselves.  It is amazing how many people think they […]

Who doesn’t remember the rollicking antics of Joey, that lovable dolt from the hit show Friends?  Well, I don’t for one.  It made it two seasons, and I think I watched about 10 minutes of one episode.  When Hollywood has a hit show that has run its course they try to spin off a character […]

Well the 2009-2010 NFL football season has ended.  So I know many guys, in particular, will be wandering around the house on Sunday wondering what to do.  Well fortunately for us this year there are some good options to get us over the hump from the lack of massive contact sport watching.  First and foremost […]

So, just like that,  no more football. While the Pro Bowl is a useless and unwatchable football game, it was always there to ease us into the oblivion of the NFL offseason.  It is the methadone to the heroin that is NFL football, a gentle step down the ladder.  But not so this year – […]

Monks, by and large, are an interesting lot.  Perhaps it is only because we see their antics and are not acquainted with their everyday lives that I think that, but the things they have come up with for entertainment certainly are interesting.  This is a picture of Buddhist Monks holding four spears that are supporting another […]

I have said before on this blog that when you develop a brew and sell it to people for their hard earned money that you set yourself up for criticism.  It is like any one else that puts things into the market place, they are constantly dealing with critics.  Metallica comes to mind here.  I […]

Kevin (Dark Lord of the Stout) has once again come through in a big way .  A few weeks ago, he gave me a nip of 2009 Sam Adams Utopias, and I gushed about it.  This time it was Brew Dog’s Tactical Nuclear Penguin, another ultra rare hyper-ABV beer.  Unfortunately, it was a totally different […]

Why I’m talking about Beer and Food for the big game of course!  What better to do on Super Bowl Sunday but to have a few friends over, make a bunch of snacky food and have some great beers to top it all off.  If the game is good that is a bonus, and if […]

Few of us are able to taste anything without the world around us creeping in. Your mood, where you are, who you’re with, what you crave at the time and other such factors all play a role in the way you process tastes and how you categorize them in your brain.  I’m sure there’s scientific research to […]

Our pal Peter over at Simply Beer was kind enough to invite me to participate in his latest beer Brawl podcast.  This time it was all about the session beers, just in time for The Big Game (I’m afraid of NFL lawyers so I didn’t use the other term for it). I’m not going to […]

There are certain things in life that make my overactive mind settle down.  Johnny Cash can do this, as can the plainly written books of John Steinbeck.  For some reason cooking on the grill falls into this category as well.  All of these things have a meditative effect on me that blocks out the chaos […]

So these are a couple of the cans I picked up this week.  The 21st Amendment Brewery has made the investment in a canning line, and beer–good beer–in a can is becoming more mainstream all the time as can technology and canning techniques have improved dramatically, and more breweries are making the investment, I’m sure […]

Knowing I’m a little over-focused on (some may say obsessed with) beer, my sister Wendi sent me a link for a ginger cake made with stout.  Being the baker I am, I immediately passed the recipe on to my wife and begged her to make it.  Because she loves stout beer and because we were […]

In her book “The Death and Life of Great American Cities” author Jane Jacobs looks at what goes into the making of a great city.  There are many factors that need to combine to make a place truly special, and if certain of these factors are neglected or overlooked the city suffers.  For example in […]

Well, I’ve had a breakthrough of sorts when it comes to sours.  I was hanging out with some fellow beer nerds Friday night recording a Beer Brawl podcast for Simply Beer.  After we wrapped up, a few beers were popped open that weren’t part of the podcast.  Consider it an after party of sorts, without […]