Katie from Gonzo Gastronomy had the good fortune to taste BrewDog’s Tactical Nuclear Penguin and Sink The Bismark back-to-back earlier this week and has lived to tell about it.  And (unlike me) she appreciates these beers for what they are – a raw, visceral head-pounding good time.  Her account is below in the way only […]

Founders is quickly becoming one of my favorite breweries for several reasons.  First on that list is that we share the same philosophy – ordinary beers are to be avoided.  You can taste this point of view in just about every beer Founders brews, as each is bold, memorable and delicious. Founders takes this philosophy […]

Usually a beer label will turn me off if it’s too cutesy or if the beer has a pun for a name (looking at you HE’BREW).  For some reason, I feel if they’re trying so hard to grab your attention with kitsch, the beer inside must not be that special.  It’s a stupid way to […]

Last week the guys over at Thank Heaven for Beer put together a Sip With Us Saturday and invited me to participate.  Well, I’m not sure if I am the brightest bulb on the tree or not, but I took that to mean that they wanted a review of the beer that I chose, so […]

So let’s skip to the end – this is an awesome beer.  I love it.  As you may know, I’m a little over focused on bourbon barrel aged beers right now, and this puppy delivers as well as any brew out there.  The thing I don’t get is the name…

Here I am back at the Super 8 Motel in Grangeville, Idaho.  And I’m sure you all will notice that this time I have a respectable glass!  Not using the plastic Super 8 cup this time.  Well there is a story behind this glass.  See I took some heat from you all last week when […]

This is the time of year that I begin to think about spring and summer.  Jim just posted about the Long Cold Winter last week, and when I went outside this morning and it was 25 degrees out, I began to think about summer and as much as I complain about the heat, I love […]

Well here we go again.  I’m in Grangeville, Idaho on business and I’m again in the hotel watching sports and eating my dinner by myself.  I just hate to sit in a restaurant by myself and eat a dinner alone.  It is depressing, so I have gotten rather good at adapting.  Does the hotel room […]

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 […]

I’ve always regretted that I have never read Catcher in the Rye.  I don’t even really know much about the plot of the book at all.  Stuff happens.  I’m betting bad stuff.  Somehow I got through 12 years of primary education and eight years of college without it being required reading.  If you know much about me, I […]

If this were the Dark Ages, I’d be roasting on a spit right now, because I’m a huge fan of Heresy.  Not the religious type  (but I’m probably guilty of that, too), but of Weyerbacher’s wonderful barrel-aged stout.  Heresy starts life as Weyerbacher’s Old Heathen imperial stout, which is then aged in oak barrels that […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]