The signs of shifting seasons are all around us. Temperatures are warming, flowers are blooming, birds are chirping at 6 am, and local beer is transitioning from the rich, darker styles of long winter nights to the light, thirst-quenching varieties of long summer days. It’s time to lighten up and enjoy the changes happening to […]
Fresh for Fall
Fall is one of my favorite times of year – when the hot summer days give way to the chill of the approaching winter season, and the crisp light beers of summer are overtaken by the richer flavors of colder days. Creatures begin to slow their paces as temperatures drop, and we all take comfort […]
Crowler Killed The Growler!
Meet the Crowler – tall, sleek, recyclable, and packing 32oz of pure beer goodness. Why the crowler craze, you say? Let me count the ways… First off, you should know – Crowler Killed The Growler! Or at least it’s killing the growler… slowly… like CDs killed cassettes or video killed the radio star. Or like […]
The Beers of Summer
But I can see you Your golden color shining in the sun You got your branded glass And a nice, fluffy foam, baby I can tell you my love for you will still be strong After the beers of summer have gone There. I’ve weeded out the people who can’t stand cheesy humor. If you’re […]
Pet Peeves of a Certified Cicerone®
Everyone has them – specific actions or visual cues that unreasonably set you off the deep end. It’s the sound of someone chewing, the way toilet paper is placed on the roll, or how your significant other leaves their wet towel on the ground after a shower. It’s the small bit of OCD in all […]
Gruit; A Hopless (but not Hapless) Beer
These days, you don’t find many hopless beer styles. But hops in beer are a relatively modern idea. Before hops were used starting about 1000CE, beer was brewed with a mixture of herbs and spices called “gruit” (pronounced grūt, rhymes with root ). It’s not a sexy word, but it’s an interesting story. In the […]