Things That Are Wrong with The Beer Wench’s and The Northdown’s Posts

I got so goddamn frustrated reading both 6 Dirty Lies Men Tell About Women and Beer, by Ashley Routson (The Beer Wench) and 5 Reasons The Beer Wench is Bad for Beer by Kate Gallagher (owner of The Northdown) that, honestly, the first draft of this piece may have involved me saying they’d both made themselves look… bad. Yes. Bad. That’s what I wrote in that first draft.

I was deeply dismayed. Both women have good points. Needle-sharp points. If only they both hadn’t proceeded to throw those points in dairy lagoons. Because, frankly, I hate looking for a good point in a pond of shit.

For a variety of reasons, I ended up swimming in these manure lagoons, so I decided to share the joy by giving you the needles without the manure.… Continue reading →

Five Years. Holy Cow, Five Years.

I have been blogging for five years now. It’s kinda overwhelming to consider, honestly. I’ve published (as of this post) 508 posts, so theoretically a rate of 100 posts/year. Not too shabby.

Of course, there’ve been ups and downs. I basically took 2011 off, which wasn’t hot. But Steve from Drinking and Writing Theater once called my blog “the best beer blog in Chicago.” He was talking to someone else, even! He was sober at the time! So that gave me some serious ups.

I love this online space, and I plan to inhabit it a long time. That said, I also want to stretch my wings, so two things will be changing, a little. I’m going to start looking for more places to guest post at and I am launching a new blog, Getting Ready to Go.… Continue reading →

Photos

Yes, I drank a beer made with bugs. Yes, it was beautiful. Yes, it tasted great. I would like more, please.

I went to an event that paired food with beer. Of course. BUT! Also with performance art. Mostly comedy. It was a fun, fun time.

I finally got to try a cocktail that really involved edible flowers. It was fantastic.

Which made me all the sadder to realize I will not be growing these guys or any other edible flowers this year. Time got away from me, and I didn’t get my plot planted before we left for a long trip. Someone else will be using it this year, though I’ll still be part of the community around the garden.

I tried Indonesian food for the first time.… Continue reading →

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  • Wednesday, May 13, 2015
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Overwhelmed. I lost track of time. How did it go from the end of Beer 3Up to the beginning of Chicago craft beer week (CCBW)? And how did it go there without a post from me??

I lost track of time because I do not have a ton of it right now. Or, rather, I have the same amount as every other human on earth, but in addition to my normal things (like sleeping more than some of those I admire have to sleep), I’ve been working on a new brownie recipe, a new beer cocktail recipe, a new vegan dinner recipe, plotting out CCBW shenanigans, unsure if I want to shenanigan, working more hours, opening my big mouth and telling my co-workers I want to sit the Certified Cicerone exam at the end of the year…

I sat down the other day and wrote a “big” to-do list.… Continue reading →

Beer 3Up! It rocked!

I have to be honest with you guys. I love the Beer XUp events so much, but they are a good deal of work. Just before the event, I was pretty tired. I was even wondering if it was going to be worth it.

Ha! Silly me. It’s always worth it. I enjoy the ever-living hell out of the event, and meeting new folks. Trying new, new, new beers and more. Usually pinball, but this year I didn’t even manage. Ridiculous!

Still, what fun it was. I had a number of delightful new, delicious beers. I couldn’t possibly have all of them, which is a damn shame. There were eleven new beers to try, though, so there was NO WAY. No way.

Next year, more of you should attend, so we can beer share.… Continue reading →