Folding boxes.  That's what I did for about an hour at the Lost Abbey last Sunday while we were waiting on some friends who were caught in traffic. I saw that the Lost Abbey had tweeted about having a 1,000 boxes to fold.  I'm not intending to brag, but Andrea and I make a great team. We killed 200 or so boxes in a very short time. Right after we started working, Terry (the bar keep) came over and asked me what I wanted to drink.  Fortunately, I'd seen a Tweet the day before containing this phrase, "Gozer the gatekeeper sent me."  Confessedly, this was an odd phrase, but the gate entrance yielded something pretty special.  That phrase secured me a pint of Bourbon-aged Angel's Share. This is not an un-coveted brew, so I sipped it discerningly and slowly.  Not a bad start to the day. Upon the completion of my task, which incidentally, I would have done for the sheer joy of folding those boxes at a brewery, I retired to take a repast with my comrades.  They were sipping some Carnivale, also a delightful brew by the Lost Abbey.  Let's face it, this brewery doesn't make bad stuff. While we were ...

After staying up all night only to find out the announcement would come in the evening, I finally purchased some Dark Lord Day tickets.  Last year's sale day was full of anxiety, but at least I had a general idea as to when the tickets would go on sale.  I'm not complaining—waiting is part of the game. Due to the nature of being human, I might have had a different perspective if I would have been slighted on some tickets after all the waiting.  I know that plenty of people were, given that the tickets sold out in under an hour.  It's just a matter of time until the scum-bags get the tickets on eBay... oh, well...  if only there was some way to guard against this gouging. Some of you will be at DLD as well, and I thought that maybe I could offer some advice for preparations if it's your first time: bring plenty of beer and an attitude that wants to share that beer.  This is no place for hoarding or looking for an equal trade.  Unlike some of the beer festivals I've been to, you can drink some brew and have a good time while standing in ...

I admit that's quite a title for a post.  Well, maybe it will be worth all the words.  Alesmith makes some good stuff.  For instance, Sweedway Stout is widely regarded as one of the best coffee stouts in the business.  Decadence is their yearly anniversary ale and can only picked up on a limited basis, so it pays to hold it back for a little while.  This year's Decadence was a Dunkel-Weisen Bock, which seems to be part of a larger movement, I've noticed.  A lot of breweries seems to be re-visiting different bock styles.  I've seen several helles versions and a few wheat ones as well.  I'm happy to say that many U.S. breweries are doing a much better job on these styles than some of the hefes.  Anyway, I saved this one for a bit and thought I'd give it a try. The Pour: I had to use my Aventinus glass for this bad boy.  I just love watching that active wheat body prop up a huge head.  This beer was a wonderful chestnut color with a billowing and soft head propped up by a flurry of activity.  While the carbonation and head were very nice, they weren't as ...

In an effort to expand our participation on Saturdays, we've changed our procedure a bit.  We were picking beers and asking people to buy them. I'm sure that we are going to keep doing this sometimes, but we are currently trying to come up with some more ways for people to become involved.  It really is hard to get everyone on the same page and to get a particular beer without going on a national scale.  Well, this Saturday is going to be another departure from the norm. Where do you live?  Wouldn't it be cool if we could post a beer review from every state?  That's what I started thinking.  So, if your state has a cool beer or just one that you've been waiting to try, Sip it on Saturday and send us a review.  We want to know what's good.  Any takers? For my part, I've got plenty to choose from in California.  I actually have a beer or two from Indiana that I could review as well.  Please join us...even Dark Lord Dog is participating.

Good stuff is really starting to happen in the Los Angeles (and surrounding area) beer scene.  One of those places is in the works right now. Tony's Darts Away on Magnolia in Burbank is well on its way to opening.  The full-on opening is a month or so away, but I encourage those of us who are in the L.A. area to start amassing the troops and spreading the news about the opening of this place. Let me tell you that they have some info on their site already and are exclusively focusing on California craft beer.  Too often I've seen places that claim 200 taps--but when you get there they've got commonplace stuff and very little room for personal decision, and one of the first casualties these establishments is local/area craft beer (instead, Leinenkugel's Sunset Wheat is on tap); no local stouts, only national ones, can be found. California has some great breweries and some terrific beers.  It's with this in mind that I commend Tony's to you, especially those of you who are locally minded.  Let's shore up the foundations of California beer by supporting this place when it opens.  Spread the word and your arms...get some brew at Tony's. ...

The bottle. Don't let them tell you that Pliny the Younger can't be found in the bottle.  Well, that's where the story really starts.  I knew that Russian River was tapping Pliny the Younger at Lucky Baldwin's (Pasadena) down the street.  I had one problem...I had to work.  So, despite the anticipation, I was stuck not being able to taste it. Having come to terms with it, I called up  friend who I knew wanted to give it a whirl.  She told me that she and some friends were planning to go around 8 p.m., and I immediately advised against it, telling her that it would be gone.  They changed their plans and headed to the pub to get in on the action.  Incidentally, the beer sold out in twenty minutes. It was nice that they were able to try it, so I was happy for them... then the text came: "We got one extra, when's your lunch break?"  I knew that lunch wouldn't be coming until 6, so I couldn't go get the beer.  If I had anticipated it, I would have made it a point to send them with a beer bottle, my capper, and a bottle cap.  I gave them ...

I have to admit it: even when I posted that I didn't know what to expect from Jolly Pumpkin Ale, I sort of already knew.  When I saw that they put out a Flanders Red style sour, I knew that's what I'd end up drinking...despite my self-deception.  I think one of the most interesting aspects of Jolly Pumpkin's beer is their incorporation of local wild yeast and the use of barrels for souring.  From what I understand, they don't pitch wild yeast in their beers at all.  That is to say, they don't buy cultured wild yeast from a company to put into their beer.  That's a fun and interesting approach that is, in part, responsible for the fact they have a cult following.  At any rate, I had to try the La Roja. The Pour: You can see for yourself (above) how lovely the pour and head really were.  Of course, I picked a glass that was particularly conducive to maintaining head and was evocative of a lambic glass.  The head was well retained and had a nice, creamy, off-white hue. I'd call the body, which had a nice touch of haze,  a copper-orange.  I'd also like to note that ...

Many of you know that I normally don't go after an IPA.  I find rye beers interesting, though, so I struck a compromise.  Hop Rod is a Rye P.A. of sorts, and it's not something I would normally pick up.  However, since it was "Gamble with us Saturday," I decided that this might be just the beer for the occasion—and who knows, I might be able to find out whether or not it was actually a good beer.  I've reviewed one or two other things by Bear Republic, and they've been okay but not great, so I was hoping that my gamble wouldn't turn up to be snake eyes. The Pour:  I'm assuming it's due to darker rye malts that this beer was a slightly darker version of an IPA.  Not black or brown, just deeper.  A touch of haziness was part of the overall appearance of Hop Rod, while the body was active and propped up a stable head, which incidentally, left very nice lacing as I drank it. The Nose: Ever ubiquitous and perhaps starting to grow on me (to an infinitely tiny degree), grapefruity hops were a part of the nose. The citrusy nose was under-girded by a touch ...

I know that some among us can't get Jolly Pumpkin's stuff.  I live in Cali, and Jolly Pumpkin is in Michigan, so I've never really seen anything from them...except recently.  I'm curious to try their products and find out about the brewery, which means I thought this would be a good format.  Any of you who can find a Jolly Pumpkin beer could pick one up, drink it, and tell us about it.  I figure that you'll have a better chance finding some Jolly Pumpkin beer rather than a specific one.  I've got two options, so I'm going to pick one and review it. Sip with us Saturday and tell us all about how jolly this beer made you.

By now, I'm sure many of us have seen that there has been a sort of call to arms to purchase, rent, or peddle the Beer Wars movie.  So, what are we waiting for?  Look, there are aspects of the movie that we could all site as being selective, whatever other criticisms we might have.  But I think the thing that we can all agree on is that monopolies are bad unless you are playing the Parker Brothers version and land on a fully loaded Free Parking spot. Here's the thing: the basic message deals with the fact the all aspects of the market place are dominated by the big boys. Distribution independence is a rare commodity, and everyone is in bed with the big players.  I wish that I was simply being hyperbolic like I love to be, but the issue is real.  I remember a while back that a certain other website was grousing about not being able to get Stone while they were planning a new facility in Europe.  But maybe the fingers could have been better spent pointing right down the street at Budweiser.  Either way, fair distribution and a level playing field are veritable impossibility. Have you ...