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. […]

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.  […]

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 […]

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 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 […]

Different brewers are handling the rapid growth of the craft beer marketplace in different ways. Some are rushing to expand their on-site brewing capabilities to keep up with demand, like the folks over at Oskar Blues, who make delicious beers that Don can no longer get.  Why can’t he get them?  Because like many other […]

I just happened across this infographic from the design firm Belancio.  We’ve covered most of the health benefits of beer here on the site, but this brings them all together in one place and arranges them in an easy-to-digest manner.  It’s perfect for printing out and hanging on the fridge.  This way you can point […]

For some reason (lookin’ at you John) there’s a lot of bear talk on this site.  It might be due to Don’s burly nature, or the fact that “bear” almost spells “beer” or that a bear can totally kick a lion’s ass (science says so!).  Whatever the case, it was all lollipops and giggles until […]

I just came across a great article by Tom Philpott over at Mother Jones.   In a nutshell, Philpott lays out how 80% of the beer consumed in America is brewed by two corporate entities; SABMiller and Anheuser-Busch InBev.  He also notes that most of the beers these guys make totally suck.  You got that […]

File this under “never going to happen.” A caterer who runs the Capitol Cafe in the basement of the Ohio Statehouse wants to turn the space into a pub for after-hours events.  Lawmakers and the public would be able to reserve the space in the evenings, after all the touring schoolchildren are back home and […]

Here’s more evidence that they do things wrong in Idaho. First off, a woman named Victoria Hill steals a can of beer from a store in Boise. But the beer she swipes isn’t something good like a Yeti or Dales Pale Ale – ooh, I forgot, you can’t get Oskar Blues in Idaho any more! […]

It turns out there’s a lot more you can do with beer around the house other than drink it.  You can trap slugs and fruit flies, get rid of those pesky brown spots on your lawn, fertilize your garden, and restore the natural luster to that old table in your living room.  Beer is a […]