Oh, the interwebs. A marvelous series of tubes helping bring beer geeks together though they be separated by many miles. Last Saturday, that is exactly what it did. Long story short? I was chatting with fellow beer geek extraordinaire Lance about his recent procurement of 3 Floyds Zombie Dust. Well, it wasn’t long before Lance was good enough to offer me a trade. Perhaps it was our impatience, or our excitement, or my recent distrust of UPS and a “lost” package… in any case we decided to meet halfway across the state, have lunch, and trade some craft beer. My wife and I made a nice Saturday drive of it and she even threw in one of her stout cupcakes (with Irish Cream frosting) to seal the deal. Read the rest of this entry »

Hope everyone, or at least their spouse, had a good Valentines Day, For myself, it included a trip to the store to pick up flowers, my wife’s favorite beer, Young’s Double Chocolate Stout, and a healthy dose of a number of different flu and cold medications for myself.

Luckily my cold has broken for the most part, and as my reward for joining the ranks of the working dregs, I have decided to open a couple bottles of Real Ale Brewing Company’s Sisyphus, a bottle from 2008 that was gifted to me by my brother and another from 2011, bought last week from Central Market in Southlake, TX. Read the rest of this entry »

On March 17, 2012, to help make it the biggest, best and most enjoyable St. Patrick’s Day celebration yet, Guinness. is teaming up with millions of legal drinking age people all around the world to celebrate by attempting to set a new Guinness World Records (GWR) title for “The Largest St. Patrick’s Day Celebration.”

“Every year, St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated by millions of people all around the world as a special occasion infused with the true spirit of Ireland – it has become the perfect opportunity to get together with friends, raise a pint of Guinness responsibly and enjoy one of the greatest days of the year,” says Fergal Murray, Master Brewer of Guinness. Read the rest of this entry »

I was very pleased to see these Samuel Adams bombers on the shelf. It seems I see plenty of the seasonal variety packs & sixers, but rarely their big, fancy, limited engagement bombers. These must be an exception because I saw these all over the place. “Good on ya!” to Sam Adams for not only producing 3 gajillion different seasonals, but also these more risque offerings that aren’t necessarily aimed at “the masses.” It’s a beautiful thing when a brewery is not “scary” to the macro crowd, still caters to the craft beer crowd, can “evangelize” craft beer by giving the macro crowd new things to try, and be large enough to do this on a national scale. Read the rest of this entry »

Well, after a busy week at work, Friday is finally here. Looking forward to a weekend full of Rahr and Sons’ beer, tomorrow being the anniversary of their roof collapse during a freak snowstorm in 2010. They will be having festivities, including a run for people without the common sense to drive cars, and their brewery tour, which is one of the best ways to spend a weekend afternoon in Cowtown with the missus.

Partly to celebrate the coming of the weekend, and partly to get this done before I am ravaged by a cold that is knocking at my door, I am popping the top off of an Ass Kisser Double IPA by Ass Kisser Ales (although brewed under contract by Rahr And Sons’ of Fort Worth, TX.) Read the rest of this entry »

Amstel Light, a leading imported light beer from Amsterdam, is raising a glass to the Food Network South Beach Wine & Food Festival presented by FOOD & WINE in honor of the 11th year of the prestigious event. On Friday, February 24 th, celebrity chef, author and talk show star Rachael Ray will host the sixth annual Amstel Light Burger Bash®, which is set to take place on the white sands of South Beach. Often touted as the “go-to event of the Festival,” the Amstel Light Burger Bash gathers the best chefs from kitchens all over the nation, giving them the opportunity to show off their unique spin on this American classic in the ultimate burger showdown. Read the rest of this entry »

Anheuser-Busch and its independent distributors in Mississippi have joined forces with Raise Your Pints and other members of the Mississippi Malt Beverage Association to support legislation that would raise the alcohol-by-weight (ABW) limit on beer made and sold in the state from 5 to 8 percent. Mississippi currently is the only state in the country that limits ABW for beer to 5 percent. Read the rest of this entry »

All ye wandering the vast Macro Beer Desert, thirst no more! Introducing Hop Manna® — the first-ever single IPA from HE’BREW Beer® and a gift from the Craft Beer Promised Land. Hop Manna® is the answer to hop heads prayers for a delicious IPA bearing floral and citrus flavors. At 65 IBUs and 6.8% ABV, Hop Manna is crafted to provide session after session of hop nourishment from the Shmaltz Tribe to yours. Hop Manna® is now nationally available in 22 oz. bottles and a limited amount of draft at select bars. Read the rest of this entry »

Well, I have wasted another day of my life at a job that sucks the soul out of me, but I am happy to be here, with you, wonderful beer blog readers.

After a day of listening to people complain about my employer, largely based on their own lack of personal responsibility for their finances (I had a woman literally complain about her delinquency, in essence, because she didn’t read the bill she receives every month), to my faceless dozens, the readers of this blog. It’s nice to be back, I missed the excitement of writing for you all. Read the rest of this entry »

Once upon a time, a very nice lady named Wendy sent me some vouchers for free cheese after I wrote about Cabot cheeses when they attended a beer festival I attended last summer. I was stoked to get them (since I always enjoy Cabot cheeses) and couldn’t wait to pair them with some great craft beer.

But wait I would…It took me a while to finally USE the coupons and another long while to actually partake of the cheese itself. The wait is over. I’ve been fascinated with beer/food pairings ever since I heard of the idea. Wines are often limited in this arrangement by their acidity (at least this is the argument given by beer-food pairers). Not to say that wines can’t compliment a food. On the contrary, they can and have for centuries. However, as we all know, craft beer is truly coming into it’s own, especially the last 20 years or so. Read the rest of this entry »

Last weekend when I landed in Vegas for Super Bowl Sunday I noticed Bud Light Platinum had found great point of sale positioning not only in the airport but also all over Las Vegas. I was excited to try this beer, when Anheuser-Busch hits a homerun as they occasionally do I am the first to give them kudos. This was not the case.

The good news for you Bud Light/Budweiser drinkers is Bud Light Platinum tastes just like your typical Anheuser-Busch beer. The bad news is Bud Light Platinum tastes just like your typical Anheuser-Busch beer. It is so easy for a beer blogger to simply slam an Anheuser-Busch product and move on. Most beer snobs and geeks will applaud this move. I wanted to give Bud Light Platinum a fighting chance so I looked around the internet to find any positive words about this new product. This is what I found: Read the rest of this entry »

This could not be a better week for these two beers to come across my desk. New Belgium Brewing’s Lips of Faith are the perfect beers for Valentine’s Day. Typically, I would not suggest buying your beloved beers on this holiday. In this case, you are safe coming home beer in tow.

The first of this release Biere de Mars is a Bière de Garde. The ale pours a cloudy orange color with a fluffy white head. Biere de Mars has a citrus driven aroma, a perfect fireplace sipper with wonderful citrus and spicy aromas. The dryness of the beer and the funk of the wild yeast give this beer an almost vinous quality to it. You will definitely pick up caramel and cinnamon esters in the nose of this beer. Cinnamon has been shown to increase sex drive it is a natural aphrodisiac.  How can you go wrong with this beer?  Read the rest of this entry »

Las Vegas is known for many things. When it comes to food, Vegas was best known for its endless buffets. These culinary cattle-lines were designed to keep the gamblers moving, in hopes of getting them back to the tables as quickly as possible. Despite these endless buffets, a diner can find a great meal in Las Vegas among the seas of slot machines and neon. A good place to start is Old Homestead in Caesar’s Palace.

Brothers Marc and Greg Sherry, whose family has been involved with the New York and New Jersey operation of this famed restaurant, were hands on in all aspects of the Old Homestead Las Vegas launch. The Sherry’s meticulously select every vendor to insure that the diner is getting freshest, quality ingredients possible. Read the rest of this entry »

This past Saturday was the inaugural Brrr Fest in Coralville, IA, future home of Backpocket Brewing, and I had absolute blast. The fact that this festival was indoors in no way dampened its spirit nor the spirits of those attending. There was great craft beer to be had from all over the Midwest and plenty of new breweries that had been unknown to me until this day. I love discovering new beers! Let’s get started, shall we? Wait! First we should make our pretzel necklaces. Read the rest of this entry »

Hola, smokers of the leaf. It’s Super Bowl Sunday for most people, but for myself, it’s just Sunday. Instead of obsessing over grown men chasing and jumping atop the carrier of a ball, I would rather see men chase a small piece of rubber while ice skating and, in frustration, pummel bodies against bodies, and fists against faces. It’s not that football can’t be exciting; it’s just not my brand of obsession. (Ironically, I have a fair amount of obsession regarding old NFL films summarizing past Super Bowls.) Read the rest of this entry »

The Craneway Pavilion—at historic Ford Point in Richmond , CA—will host the 3rd Annual Chocolate & Beer Festival on Saturday, February 11 from 2-6PM . Spotlighting Bay Area confectioners and brew masters, the event will feature gourmet treats, artisan beers and live music throughout the afternoon. The festival benefits the Children’s Learning Center (CLC, http://www.clcalameda.com ) in Alameda, CA. Read the rest of this entry »