Beer Links

You guys know I don’t shy away from hard conversations in beer, and so when my friend Nora shared There are Almost No Black People Brewing Craft Beer. Here’s Why. on Facebook, I dove right in. In honesty, it says a lot of the same things Bryan Roth did back in August when he asked us to address the whiteness in the room, which is also excellent reading. Frankly, read ’em both.

I enjoyed the heck out of this animated snippet of Garrett Oliver of Brooklyn Brewery talking about how A Career in Beer Will Make You Poor — and Happy, According to Brewmaster Garrett Oliver. The description of “falling in love with beer” certainly sounds right. The full podcast is interesting, though at an hour and a half long it’s only for the hardest-core beer geeks, I think. (Though, trust me, I have more to say on this in a later post!)

My friend Norm is mourning the loss of one of his favorite breweries, Pretty Things. It’s a good reminder to keep supporting places that are just plain good, and a bit of an (unintentional, I’d say) argument against “whale chasing”. “If you really like a brewery, buy their beer. If not, you may be like me and planning on one last grab of what’s left of the beer from breweries you truly enjoy before they’re gone for good.”

When I say, “bottle shop,” what comes to mind? A replacement for your local bar? Probably not, but it turns out that may well be what it is. Bryan Roth has an interesting look at bottle shops, and you’ll see me hanging out in the comments over there.

What about you all? What have you been reading that’s interesting? I would like to expand my reading dramatically, so I’d love some recommendations.