If you have not noticed, the first sign of fall is here, preceding falling leaves, chilly nights, and hay rides:  Pumpkin Beer.  I noticed this seasonal phenomenon on the shelves of a local beer store two weeks ago and had to grimace...isn't it a bit too early (then not even mid August) to begin weighing down the shelves with the cliché "craft beer fall?" In a way, I was thrilled.  I am looking forward to some respite from this insane heat and humidity that is part and parcel with living in Missouri, but really, brewers...there are other  ingredients that are associated with fall.  And yes, I realize there are other seasonal brews out there--like the many various renditions of 'Oktoberfest' beers--but the hallowed pumpkin beer always hordes coveted beer shelf realty space. I just don't get it...both from a taste perspective and from a business perspective.  No, I don't like pumpkin beers, not even the revered Dogfish Head Punkin beer.  But at least I am willing to concede that just because I don't like a particular style of beer doesn't mean that my opinions are industry standard.  Beer is subjective. But from a business perspective, were I to open a brewery, my absolute ...

As my title indicates, this post is geared toward my fellow beer bloggers. I love the beer blog world.  I really do.  There are occasional skirmishes, sibling banter, profuse writing, a myriad of opinions and a whole host of other particulars that I love about you guys and gals.  No doubt, it's a tightly packed and fairly crowded world of activity...that's just fine with me.  Of course, there are those who know a whole lot and those who know only a little.  There are those who think they know more than they do and those who think less of themselves than what they deserve.  Personally (and minus a couple people out there), I try to take most of it in stride. Fledglings are my favorite, but mature beer writers are also a hoot.  However, there is one thing I really don't like. I think my least favorite type of beer blogger is one that doesn't really blog at all.  No, I'm not talking about our recent hiatus from consistent writing.  I'm talking about the regurgitater, the plagiarizer, the flat out thief and "the let me just post the posts of everyone else and never actually write anything."  Now I'll be the first ...

Beer geek.  Beer nerd.  Beer nut.  Beer enthusiast. Beer connoisseur.  Beer expert.  Beer snob. There are practically as many designations (many self given) for the beer carouser of discriminate taste as there are beer styles.  Some approach such labeling with contempt; others with open arms.  But perhaps an less oft discussed designation is the the "Beer Know it All."  We all remember the know it all in second grade.  He/She jumped at the opportunity to lavish his/her unsolicited wisdom upon you, and quite often that wisdom was incorrect. I stumbled upon "the beer know it all" the other day.  The store had a fairly decent selection of beer.  As I was admiring it I noticed a woman with a list in her hand.  She looked confused, but I didn't want to impose my knoledge upon her, uncertain that she actually needed any help.  I'd rather the vast beer knowledge in my temple be solicited. A man stocking the beer cooler walked by and she asked him for help finding "filtered wheat beer" for her husband.  His response, laced with confidence, gave me a chuckle and bears repeating: Uh, yeah, we don't have any filtered wheat beer.  (actually they did, which I pointed out to ...

Many of you have noted, I'm sure, that Nate and I have not been as active on our blog or yours.  Normally, we are all over the place.  I try, at a minimum, to stop by every blog on our blog roll daily.  I try to comment almost as often. However, it's been less frequent lately.  Don't worry, we are going to be back on the ball but we've both been pretty swamped lately. Nate just moved with his five kids...I can't imagine the packing and unpacking alone.  On top of that, he's been working on the place they are living in and looking for a job.  For my part, well...the reason I've not been writing much is that I'm really busy lately.  I know that many of us could say that same thing, but I'm busy in a way that I've never been before.  First off, I have a job after a big drought, so I went from all the time in the world to a work week.  But that's just the tip of the iceberg. During the 4 1/2 months I was off, I was not brewing while depleting my reseverves of homebrew.  Now that I have a job, I'm ...

When it rains, it pours.  When the sun is bright, it’s blinding! Since we don’t delve too much into our personal lives, some of you may or may not know details of what goes on for us on a day to day basis.  But in the interest of getting to know you better and for you to do the same, I’m going to write a bit of recent personal history. Andrea and I moved to California slightly over one year ago for her to work on a Ph.D, and it was very tough from the beginning.  The whole thing started with me trying to transfer with a company (Lowe’s) that I had been with for about a year and a half.  The whole time I was an exemplary employee.  But lost in the amorphous mass of corporate structure, I had to take what was only a part-time job here.  On top of this, I was working another part time job, and so I was driving about 1 ½ hours a day.  When I landed a full-time job elsewhere, I was thrilled. Well, it turned out to be a place with quite possibly the highest level of disfunction imaginable.  At any rate, my time ...

...when such a common denominator as beer is involved. A little known fact about me is that I can be slightly introverted.  While I have no problem with public speaking, regardless of the size of the crowd, I tend to put up my guard when it comes to first time social interaction.  Nonetheless, when Bull E. Vard invited me to brew show down that he and several other Kansas City beer bloggers frequently hold in which two breweries' similar styles of beer are pitted against each other in a blind tasting, I jumped at the chance.  Although I'd never met any of these guys in person, Bull E. Vard and Yeti (who does tours for Boulevard Brewery) pulled strings to get me (a guy they'd never met) on a booked up tour at Boulevard last December. The event was fantastic, as were the attendees.  Seriously, as awkward as I typically feel around new persons, none such awkwardness existed with these guys.  Their approach to the beer showdown was simple and absolutely un-pretentious.  Instead of judging each individual beer down to the molecular level, the gents simply blindly taste two beers and vote for which they prefer.  There is no arbitrary scale (like ...

My wife and I celebrated our eighth anniversary recently; time is flying by.  For the celebration, my wife surprised me with some tickets to see Buddy Guy and B.B. King.  It was a late night before work the next day, but I had fun.  When we got to the Hollywood Bowl, we saw the eight dollar Heineken's and a myriad of other over priced and under-flavored beers. Fortunately, we were allowed to bring in some brew of our own.  Believe me when I tell you how nice it is that we were drinking some Firestone-Walker Double Barrel Ale.  Nothing fits the blues better than a nice beer (well…maybe if we had some BBQ it would have spot on). As we sat listening, sipping, and enjoying, B.B. King was playing, and he said something that got me thinking about how widely cheap beer still permeates our culture.  First of all, having seen the beers that were stocked, I was already considering the fact that bad beer is still a massive part of the way things are.  However, B.B. really got me pondering. He talked about the blues and feeling good, which is stock material for a blues singer.  Then he mentioned something ...

Last year around this time I posed the question on Twitter (a service I find I lack time for these days):  "Would you rather go to #GABF or Oktoberfest?"  I rarely ask questions like this on Twitter, as it seems like pandering for standing on the social networking site, but I really was interested.  Only a few responded, maybe 4 or 5.  I am hardly a presence.  But, I was surprised that not one person preferred Bavaria over Colorado. I know that hands down, the greater beer selection would be had at the Great American Beer Fest.  Beyond my wildest dreams, I'm sure, there would monster IPAs, sour ales, and obscure beer-blogger-bragging-rights brews just waiting to be quaffed, were I able to pony up the cash for enough tickets.  I'm sure the scene would be cool...lot's of beer enthusiasts swishing their glasses and sharing stories, beer authors and beer greats chatting it up, and so on.  But how would the culture fare?  Could it move beyond JUST the craft beer culture?  Colorado's cool and all...I've been there and found it interesting. Oktoberfest would be a different story.  For the most part, the beers would be similar and selection would be whittled down ...

Though, I've been absent for a while from Thank Heaven for Beer, absence is not without excuse. Last week we packed our belongings into a truck and drove three states away, from Toledo, Ohio to Kansas City, Missouri...no simple feat considering we have five kids. The home we are moved into is great—nearly double the square footage of our old home—but it needs a LOT of work. Black mold, water damage, a forest in the backyard (which I already cleared and am now covered in poison ivy from head to toe to where the sun don't shine), and overall '70s feel, complete with shag carpeting. Moving in and looking at the amount of work that needs done was overwhelming, and the first few days we couldn't even sleep there. The house did not feel like “home”, but a project...that is until the first night we actually slept in the house and we were able to crack open a couple of brews for the first time and spend some much needed alone time. [caption id="attachment_5410" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="The New Pad Is Refrigerator-less (bringing on the class)"][/caption] I am sure plenty of folks might roll their eyes and sigh, “Always bringing it back ...

As most of our readers know, Nate and I are insatiably interested in opening a brewery.  Through recent encounters, I've personally been reminded to put my money where my mouth is.  As a result, I began looking into the concept/cost of operating on a nano scale... but I'm jumping ahead.  Actually, I've spent some time looking at the TTB website, requesting a brewery packet, and looking into the various aspects involved in becoming a legal brewery.  I won't bother you with the woes of government, but I will say that I've learned a lot and that my brewing kettle fire is brighter than ever. All of us are aware that life encounters can lead us meandering down the most unexpected paths.  Through a calculated encounter, I met someone who may be very helpful for the future of a brewery.  In reality, she already was. Let it suffice to say that I began taking the future even more seriously.  But one piece of the puzzle was still missing: real people who had really started a nano brewery.  Sure concepts are great but I'm the type of person that likes speaking and learning from other human beings. In comes Hess brewing (I have to ...