Billy Idol has got great style!  Whether you like his music or not, you have to admire his unabashed and unapologetic approach to his life and his fame.  He openly admits to drug use, and has said he uses recreationally, but hasn’t ever been addicted to anything.  Again he states the truth, he chose to […]

The first oak aged ale I can remember having is Innis and Gunn’s English Pale Ale.  It’s a well-mannered beer, a gentleman’s brew with a malty flavor and smoky scotch finish.  It’s a perfect companion for many situations and generally enjoyed by many folks, even mother-in laws who don’t normally drink beer. If Innis and […]

What do you get when you combine an insane amount of hops in a beer that uses plenty of two row malt and Munich malt, and age it in the bottle before releasing it?  Leafer Madness from Beer Valley Brewing in Ontario, Oregon.  Their web site states that in addition to the two malts there […]

Van Gogh was an amazing artist.  Some of his most inspired, I think are his paintings of wheat.  The colors, the shadow play, the texture, and depth of these paintings seem to me to be some of his best work.  I also like the analogy to bourbon, the color the depth, and mouth feel (texture) […]

It had been a while since I stopped by my local beer shop, so I decided to pop in the other day. I used to be a regular at this place until I got a new job and my routine changed a bit. The new gig put a big beer store with a great selection […]

With a purposeful grimace and a terrible sound he pulls the spinning high tension wires down!! I remember as a kid watching the Godzilla movies and just loving the carnage and destruction.  I would watch all the hokey monster movies with Mothra, King Kong, thatflying turtle thing! They were awesome, they’d fight each other, and then Godzilla turned […]

OK…so these are Buddhist Monks, but the question is what kind of MONK-Y business do the Trappists get into? Think about a bunch of guys, all they do is brew beer and yeah pray some, I’m sure they need to sample their brew…I’m just saying I bet the Nun’s convent down the road has had […]

This weekend I had the pleasure of sampling Autumn Maple ale from The Bruery.  Instead of using pumpkin like many of the other seasonal ales, the Bruery decided to go with yams.  Yes, sweet, sweet yams. Are they nuts?  I wasn’t sure either and eagerly anticipated tasting this very unusual seasonal brew…

There he is!  Its Jimmy Smits.  Its got to be, it looks just like him.  I’m in Vegas at a conference, there is a commotion over by the convention center, and there he is, tall, dark, by my wife’s account handsome…Its got to be him.  She would kill me if I saw Jimmy Smits and […]

Rip Van Winkle was an idle man that incurred the wrath of his wife because of his laziness and the fact that he didn’t get anything done around his homestead. The story goes one afternoon he wandered up into the mountains and met a band of ghosts playing 9 pin. He joined them and drank […]

I’m a big fan of Long Trail Double Bag Ale, so I was intrigued when I saw they offered an Imperial Porter in a big bottle.  The fact that the bottle was labeled “Brewmaster Series” further piqued my curiosity.  The fact that it was less than $3.00 for a 22 ounce bottle and had an […]

I’ll be the first to admit that I have a lot to learn about beer.  I usually try to do this before others have the chance to point it out, but unfortunately I give them plenty of opportunities (see all the posts below).  This is actually a great thing, because learning about beer is great […]

Some things are bad, some are just OK, others are good, and then a few are truly special.  Take art for example, if you asked me to draw you a picture that would be bad! Not an artist, and never have been.  If you asked my brother Jim to draw you a picture, that would […]

Its October and the parade of pumpkin flavored beers has started down the beer aisle of your favorite stores and watering holes.  Who came up with the idea to put pumpkin in beer anyway?  The answer to that question may never be known completely, but one thing is certain there are a number of them […]

You see her in the slinky black dress, her green, almond shaped eyes twinkle in the twilight, and her high cheekbones and raven hair speak of the mysteries of far away places.  You absolutely need to learn more about this enigmatic vision of a woman.  You move closer, slipping in next to her at the […]