Nate from Thank Heaven for Beer once said something that stuck with me – it’s easy to brew a big, bold dark beer because there’s plenty of flavor to hide your mistakes, but it takes skill and craftsmanship to brew a truly remarkable pilsner.  It’s a style of beer that seems pretty simple on its […]

Well it’s back to reality after a long and pretty mellow weekend. I went to a couple of parties, hung out with the family and enjoyed a good number of beers. I also played waaay too much Red Dead Redemption for such a sunny weekend, but what can I say, I love playing cowboy on […]

I’ve had this thought percolating in my head for a little while that has finally bubbled to the surface. There are a lot of similarities between the world of craft beer and the world of indie music. I have come to realize that these two things (both of which I adore) occupy the exact same […]

Well, our “Best Beer State” poll has certainly stirred the pot, with lots of folks arguing why their favorite beer brewing state is the best. We’ve seen many impassioned arguments for Oregon, California, Pennsylvania and Colorado.  It seems these are the top dogs when it comes to crafting and exporting great beers. But one guy […]

As a fan of Lost, I have to say last night’s finale was both deeply moving and very, very satisfying.  I wish I could say the same for the beer I chose to mark the occasion. I was out in the garage last night surrounded by many great beers, trying to decide what I should […]

This is a conversation I’ve had with many beer nerds, and one that never seems to end in a conclusion.  What state produces the best beer? Now, where you live will make you a biased, I think.  I’m in Northern New Jersey (the part without lots of Snooki’s and The Situation’s running around), happily nestled […]

I stopped in this morning to get my hair cut by my buddy Jill. She’s super-talented with scissors and it’s always a long wait to get in her chair, but not if you slide in first thing on a Wednesday morning, which is exactly what I did.  While I was there, we started talking about […]

We’re teaming up again with the guys over at Thank Heaven for Beer for another round of Sip With Us Saturday.  The idea is that everyone drinks the same type of beer on Saturday, then we all report back on our experiences and somehow world peace is achieved.  Actually, I’m not sure about that last […]

So I’m a quirky guy sometimes, and I’m occasionally motivated by strange things.  Take beer labels for example.  If a label is too cartoony or the name of a beer is a pun, I’ll usually avoid it like the plague.  Something inside my head tells me that if they’re trying so hard on the label, […]

Don and I recently visited the Victory Brewing Company in Downingtown, PA and had a beer-soaked blast.  I was thinking about our trip over the weekend while enjoying a growler full of Victory Storm King I picked up at the brewery, and came to the conclusion that every beer nerd in America needs to visit […]

Olmecs, Toltecs and Aztecs, oh my! Everybody thinks that life was so hard back in ancient Mexico. There was the unforgiving jungle, murderous rituals and no cable television.  But they had beer, so how hard could it really have been? New Holland‘s El Mole Ocho isn’t a recreation of a historical brew like Dogfish Head’s […]

If there are two things I love it’s craft beer and indie music.  Imagine my delight when I discovered this video featuring Will Oldmam (AKA indie folk heavyweight Bonnie “Prince” Billy) and Dogfish Head brewmaster Sam Calagione.  Sam plays a robot who has happily removed humans from the brewing process, and he gives Oldham a […]

To me, this sounds like a simple, happy life: You’re a brewery worker, spending your day helping to make a respectable assortment of lagers, pilsners and ales. Even better, there are coolers placed around the brewery, and you’re allowed to enjoy the fruits of your labor any time you like throughout the working day.  There’s […]

So I got my first taste of bottling my own beer this weekend, and I have to say, it’s equal parts tedium and anxiety.  First there’s all the work it takes to get the bottles ready – taking off the labels (nightmare!), cleaning the bottles, sanitizing the bottles, arranging the bottles, etc.  The only fun […]

If you guessed bathing with beer, you’d be wrong.  If you guessed taking my first shot at bottling my own beer, then *ding*ding*ding* WE HAVE A WINNER!!  What you see above are bottles soaking in the tub so I can easily remove the labels when I return home tonight. In the meantime, my four year […]