How many times have you heard that phrase? How many times have you said it yourself? It seems like everyone in the craft-beer loving community wants to be involved “professionally”. But what does that mean? For some, they want to be in the trenches and on the front lines. They want [...]
It is either a testament to my growing older and more jaded and cynical, or an affirmation of my good taste, but I had the revelation today that I am hopelessly out of touch with what is “in”, as least as far as our mainstream media goes. On the eve before my thirty-ninth birthday, [...]
As we continue our journey to explore the craft beer scene in St. Petersburg, Florida, I am going to take you outside the city proper and to a couple of my other favorite places in Pinellas County. I have often mentioned them in other articles, but they really each deserve to be talked about [...]
As Cask Ale Week begins in England (or so I am told), the celebration began early in Tampa Bay. A charitable event by Whole Foods Market was brought into the realm of craft beer at Cigar City Brewing on Saturday, offering a selection of cask ales along with several other kegs, and food provided [...]
Beer festivals come in all shapes and sizes. From the huge like the Great American Beer Festival in Denver to the niche market like the Organic Brewers Festival in Portland, craft beer festivals are generally about the same thing: celebrating and enjoying great beer. Saturday’s Beer Fest put on by the Florida Brewers Guild was [...]
As I have mentioned several times in the past, Florida is often looked upon by craft beer lovers as somewhat of a wasteland when it comes to the production and availability of good brews. And this is not an entirely undeserved reputation. But as I have noted on more than one occasion, things are changing [...]
Not surprisingly, many craft beer lovers are also homebrewers, and I am no exception. Conversely, nearly every home brewer is a craft beer lover… or else why would they do it? The logical progression is to go from being a lover of beer to being a brewer of beer as well. After all, why would [...]
Okay kids, grab your taste buds and your Walt Whitman. Carpe Diem!
As you have been learning in our educational series, there are four primary ingredients to beer: Water, Barley, Yeast, and Hops. It is my pleasure – and honor – to talk to you about my favorite ingredient: the hop.
‘Twas two nights before Christmas, and I realized with shame I’d forgotten to Hop Press; (it starts with my name). The other gang members were writing with vim, In hopes that St Arnold would recognize them. The hopheads were nestled all snug in their beds, With visions of simcoe and cascade still in their heads. [...]
Coming on the heels of my Hop Press cohorts Mark and Michael, I have been thinking about the stigma assigned to macrobrews by so many craft beer enthusiasts, myself included. Generally, the rule has been thus: macrobrews bad, craft beers good. There are many reasons to feel this way, and only some of them actually [...]
