Don’t let the sweeping pastures or small-town-USA main drag fool you – there’s something lurking in the fertile hills of Morrisville, Vermont.  Something bold and cunning.  A creature that will attack your senses, yet leave you wanting more. The worst part is that this beast was created by a pair of seemingly charming people who […]

Its turning cooler in Idaho.  The mornings are crisp and the leaves are beginning to turn.  I am always amazed at how quick it happens.  It was just last week I was wearing shorts to my kids football game, and this week I’m wondering if my fall jacket will be heavy enough by 8:00pm.  Those […]

I was in the beer aisle of my favorite store the other day, when one of the employees breathlessly raced to the shelf and grabbed at a bottle of Duchesse De Bourgogne.  He saw that I noticed his exuberance and probably felt he needed to explain himself.  “Have you tried this one?” he asked, his […]

This is a question you’ll get when you tell people you’re from New Jersey. That’s because the Garden State Turnpike runs through the most populous corridor of the state and what exit you live off of can say a lot about your heritage, your lifestyle, and even your income. Some folks in New Jersey take […]

Well the comment heard round the whiskey blog world was when I said I didn’t like Makers Mark, and that I thought it tasted like 89 octane ethyl.  Where do you go from there?  It’s not like I can take it back, my very first post where I reviewed a whiskey was for Makers Mark, […]

I love it when I find a great new-to-me brewery, and Allagash Brewing Company just might fit that bill. I’ve seen the big bottles on the shelf before but it wasn’t until Kevin, a local beer guru, gave them a hearty recommendation that I really took notice. I decided to start with their Victor Ale. […]

That’s what I said to my friend Frank and our wives when I took my first sip of Stone’s Vertical Epic Ale 09.09.09. But let’s start at the beginning.  The beer poured rich and black in the glass, with a beautiful, thick head.  I could smell its very pleasing aroma from three feet away, with […]

Have you ever had something good happen when you were expecting something …um..not so good?  For example have you ever had your best friend come up to you and explain he needs you to go on a blind date?  That he has met the woman of his dreams only she wouldn’t go out with him […]

You can’t go to a beer blog this time of year without finding reviews for pumpkin beers.  This year, one has stood out from the rest with positive review after positive review: Dogfish Head’s Pumpkin Ale.  So I picked up a chilly four pack and was ready to be blown away.  But I wasn’t.  Uh […]

The Reverend Elijah Craig was a very principled man.  He was a Baptist minister that is credited with working with James Madison in 1777 to ensure that freedom of Religion was put into the Constitution of the United States.  He had a calling to spread God’s message to the west, so in 1781 he led his […]

The notion of a flag ship is an interesting concept.  A ship that bears the name of origin that represents the absolute best that a corporation, nation, or world power has to offer.  That seems to apply to just about every example except the bourbon industry. If you travel to New York City and stay […]

When I last wrote I had just completed my dinner and was headed into the Bar at Ernies Steakhouse to watch the Boise State/Oregon game.  Well we found a couple seats at the bar and put the game on the huge old tube TV sets that were suspended from the cieling like a couple of […]

So there are a couple of things that were I truly enjoy in Grangeville, Idaho outside my work that I am doing for the community.  One is Ernies Steakhouse.  Ernie got fed up with not being able to sell his organic grass fed beef on the open market as anything but regular cattle so he […]

So when your meetings are over in remote Idaho County and you have three hours to go until dinner and the Boise State/Oregon game, what do you do in Grangeville?  Well my first inclination is to find a bar and have a whiskey or brew.  Our project manager invited us to his favorite watering hole […]

Thanksgiving when I was a little boy was always an adventure.  We were on the way to my Grandma’s house in Milwaukee, Wisconsin for Thanksgiving dinner and I remember the drive from Chicago sometimes felt like an eternity.  See my mother really didn’t get along with her in laws, but was always very pleasant once […]