Wine and beer have long been considered polar opposites. One is considered a fancy sip for suit and tie occasions while the other, a cheap chug for blue collared workers. There has never been more evidence to disprove this idea than today, and never a place more suited for the task than Oregon. With bountiful […]
Common Beer Mispronunciations
There I was, seated at a small bar near the Willamette River in the Northwest District of Portland, Oregon. I was newly 23, and an infant in the beer world. I perused the beer menu looking for something akin to Blue Moon when I settled on Widmer Hefeweizen. As I ordered, a garbled, madly mispronounced […]
The Great American Beer Festival Experience
Words and photographs are common tools used to express our deepest emotions and experiences. We string them together in a neat little line on a page in a way we hope will evoke the same emotions we felt while experiencing the event first hand. And yet, even the most captivating picture and descriptive paragraph […]
How to Become a Beer Judge (BJCP) Part II
Well, would you look at that – you’re a Provisional Judge in the BJCP! That is, if you followed the steps listed in Part I of How to Become a Beer Judge. If not, you’ll want to backtrack and get cozy with the study guide. Technically, a Provisional Judge counts as a beer judge in […]
How to Become a Beer Judge (BJCP) Part I
The BJCP, or Beer Judge Certification Program, became a blip on my radar while I was studying for the Certified Cicerone® Exam. While I wasn’t very interested in the program at the time, I was living large with the style guidelines – the Holy Bible of what defines specific styles and subcategories of beer. […]
Bottle Cap Contemplations
The main purpose of a bottle cap is to keep the contents of the bottle from pouring out unexpectedly, and also to provide easy access for when you want that liquid goodness to come out. The life of most caps ends with the hissing release of carbonation, after which they are pronounced dead. Many are […]