Author Archives: Tasha

A Horrifying Homebrew – Part I

For the longest time, I didn’t have a lot of interest in homebrewing, despite the fact a large number of my friends homebrew. And, as I make more friends who are into beer, that proportion is going up.

At some point long ago, my friend Rob (of the attractive cuff) shared with me a link for a peach-blueberry lager and asked if I wanted to brew that with him. I, frankly, am ALL OVER peaches and blueberries and beer, so the answer was an instant and immediate yes. We had to modify the plan a bit, but we ended up with a shared 10 gallons of peach beer, blueberry beer and peach-blueberry blended beer. They were pretty darn tasty, but 5 gallons of beer is a great deal of beer for one beer drinker.… Continue reading →

Speakeasy Booze

The correct answer, as far as I’m concerned, when someone invites me to a free beer event is always a resounding yes. Always. So when Jeremy of SubBeerBia asked me if I wanted to attend the Chicago launch party for Speakeasy Ales and Lagers as his guest? You KNOW I was all over it. I hadn’t even heard of the brand before that moment and I was all over it.

I’m sure no one is surprised by this.

So, Speakeasy Ales and Lagers. I didn’t know a darn thing about them, except their name, until I got there. I tend to like to be surprised. This probably makes me the complete opposite of your average blogger who gets an invitation to a launch of a brand they know nothing about.… Continue reading →

Beer 1Up! Awesome. Maybe Beer Gets 2Up!

As most of you know, last Saturday I spent a solid chunk of the day at Emporium Arcade for a beer event. I was hoping to spend the day with at least 30 of my nearest and dearest beer friends.

It was more like 60 to 80 of my nearest and dearest. Holy Crap. It was unexpected and unbelievable. It was fun. It was so much fun. It’s actually been hard to write up, because it was so much fun that it’s been difficult to take it all in (still) and then put it all back out there for you.

Still, I want to do a bit more of a wrap-up than just the t-shirt contest post. (Still running, by the way! If you haven’t voted yet, please do!)… Continue reading →

The Fate of BEER is at Stake!

Okay. It’s actually nothing so dramatic. But it IS the fate of these two folks, one of whom will will get a chance to spend a day with the folks at Flesk Brewing in Lombard! Brewday! Good times!

Also good times? Last minute, the kind folks at Naperville Ale Fest gave us two tickets to add to the grand prize here! NICE. Talk about the fate of beer. The winner here is going to get to have a brewday and then have a day of trying all KINDS of new beers.

One of the features of Beer1Up was a t-shirt contest. We had categories of “beer-themed” and “video-game-themed”. The plan was to award a bottle of Dayman Coffee IPA, donated by Aleman to the winners of each category.… Continue reading →

“Life as a Rural Med Tech” at Antijenic Drift

I’ve been slammed with the last minute preparation for Beer 1Up, as well as, honestly, just processing the loss of a dear friend. Ergo, my writing has slipped and I don’t have a long post for you guys today.

That said, I’ve been reading a few things, in particular over at my friend Jen’s blog. It’s the week of the year when she particularly highlights her job and the work of others who hold similar jobs. And, frankly, it’s fascinating. I’ll have something up based on an interview she gave me about her job next week, but I don’t want you guys to miss out. Here’s all the entries she’s ever done for “Lab Week”, and I encourage you to check them out.… Continue reading →