Category Archives: Beer!

My Thing

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  • Friday, April 12, 2013
  • In Beer!
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It’s amazing how much beer has become “my thing” over the past year or two. I never would have expected this just a few years ago. Heck, in 2007 or so, Angelique felt the need to request we have a little chat about my discovering booze AFTER they and their homebrewing moved away. (Spoiler: We never did have that chat.)

Now, six years later, I’m almost obsessed. I write a blog that’s slowly being taken over by beer. I’ve been known to go rare beer hunting once or twice (post coming!). Vacations and spontaneous road trips almost[1] all have beer as something I seek out or a major component of the trip. Coffee beers have turned out to be tasty, and are in fact leading me to like coffee – once considered the vilest of all beverages.… Continue reading →

After the SausageFest, I Got into Some Mischief.

It was a busy beer weekend!

I don’t normally go to multiple events in a weekend, but a desire to check out the beers of OffColor Brewing combined with an unexpected chance to meet an internet beer buddy, Jeremy of SubBeerBia and an afternoon free of any other commitments (indeed, Bill was even off to a coffee event one day!) had last weekend’s afternoons booked in dedication of beer.

Before you ask, no, I was not hungover Monday. You didn’t get a post because there were some unexpected issues in our life (like a ceiling leak suddenly getting worse). BUT! I’ll concede it’s a reasonable question.

I met Jeremy and his wife, Sadie, at SausageFest. I also lucked into meeting Lori, a very new twitter friend.… Continue reading →

Beer Trip – Founders and 3Floyds

Last Saturday night, I’d gone to bed in a bit of a bad mood. This happens to the best of us, and typically a night’s sleep takes care of that. At least for me. So, it’s noteworthy when I wake up the next day still in a bad mood. In fact, aside from last Sunday, I can’t remember a time when a solid night’s sleep hasn’t given me a cheerier disposition.

Bill, being awesome, is well-attuned to this sort of thing. He also specifically committed to adventures with me back on our wedding day. So, he did the only reasonable thing he could do. He proposed we go have a beer at Founders Brewing.

For reference, here’s the route from roughly where we live to Founders Brewing:


View Larger Map

Important to note?… Continue reading →

I Actually Drank Something That Smelled Like the Ass-End of a Skunk

And I did so intentionally. I’d say I’m ashamed to admit this, but you all know I’d be lying. I mean, what else was I likely to encounter in a basic course about off-flavors in beer?

Yup, that happened this past Saturday, and I found it fascinating, so I wanted to share a little bit with you guys. And, frankly, encourage anyone who is in Chicago and interested to go try this course. It’s a very educational hour and a half. Well worth the $40 it cost me. Spoiler: I’m strongly considering going again.

The set-up is pretty simple. There’s a classroom and a lecturer with Power Point slides that don’t violate good Power Point rules by too much. Each seat in the class is provided with some of the slides, note-taking space, water and very bland crackers.… Continue reading →

The DuClaw and Antijenic Drift.

Man, horrid title misspellings right after National Grammar Day? What is the world coming to?

Of course, I didn’t misspell anything in my post’s title. Not one word. Honest.

“The DuClaw” being, of course, the brewery in Maryland, not the seemingly unimportant part of a dog’s paw (dewclaw), and “Antijenic Drift” being my very dear friend Jen, not a discussion of the arms race between our immune systems and pathogens.

Beer and friends. My life could be a lot worse.

You guys may recall a post from about two weeks ago concerning the possibility that I might not make it to DuClaw while in Baltimore. After writing that, I realized I genuinely wanted to make a point to visit the brewery and try the Bad Moon Porter again.… Continue reading →