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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

If your friends jumped off a cliff would you follow them?  Who hasn't heard this phrase stated by a well meaning parent? There are all sorts of benefits to fitting in with the crowd.  I mean, you can all look, act, and think the same.  It's really like having a thousand yous around...I know I amuse myself.  Who'd a thunk it?  Our parents were right.  Don't we all have the typical crisis of trying to fit in when we are young and then spending the next 20 years analyzing who we are, our meaning and place in the world, our...?  You get the picture. I admit that this is probably a similar post on a beer that I wrote about craft beer zombies about a year ago, but it's also a bit different.  In that post, I mentioned that proclivity to keep drinking the same thing.  This post is more about those of us who simply follow the crowd.  A good word from a friend or someone you trust or respect is one thing. Sound advice is sound advice.  But it's blind to follow off the cliff of destruction.  Perhaps this is overstating the case a bit, but it is undeniable ...

As I glanced through my Google News Feed this morning, I came across this article reporting on a series of stings in Memphis, Tennessee in which various beer purveyors were set up in a sting by police, and cited for various infractions, namely selling beer without asking for ID.  In all, such stings as this has yielded 73 arrests in 2010 for the county of Shelby from these "raids." Reading the article made my blood boil a bit.  Why? I too, was set up by Christian County, MO police in a similar raid some years ago.  First allow me to tell  my story, and then set up the illogical nature of these raids. I was working as bar tender at a Ruby Tuesday on a VERY busy night.  I had no time to converse with my customers and was slinging drinks at a furious pace.  This is great for the patrons...in a rush I tend to over-pour.  In walked a young, attractive girl who orders something retarded like a Midouri Sour.  She ordered the drink in a flirtatious manner.  Even though I'm busy, I say, "No problem...let me see your ID." She rummages through her purse and then states, "I must have left ...

One aspect of the beer community that I love in particular is the nature of the people in it.  Upsetting other writers by disagreeing with them is a rariety (unless one behaves flat out insultingly).  So, when I saw a post from Peter at Simply Beer discussing the disclosure of ingredients in a beer, I asked him whether my writing a counterpoint post would be okay.  Of course, he agreed. I do care what's in my beer.  I care that it's a quality product made with malts, hops, water and good yeast.  In short, I care that the beer I'm drinking doesn't have fillers and cheap production.  But for breweries to have to list ingredients like ginger, the reviled addition for Peter, is a discomfiting proposition to me.  The example I used on Peter's post and the one I'm going to use here deals with Wit beer. The exotic spices used in Wit beer are notoriously hard to pinpoint.  Some of the world's best tasters may have a guess, albeit an uncertain one, as to which ingredients are actually used.  The mysterious appeal and subtle qualities of a Wit beer are essentially based on these "secret" ingredients.  Now suppose the ingredients of the ...

About a month ago, Andrea and I were visiting my family.  I'd been about a year since we made the trek west, and we hadn't seen them in a while.  I have a beer cellar—in this case a big fridge full of beer—at my parents' house in Indiana.  I have, perhaps, 200 bottles of beer in there.  It contains anything from new cellar beers to twelve year-old brews.  Anyway, I have some very enjoyable stuff in there, including a few lambics and brett heavy beers. One night we were playing cards at the Reinhardt household, and I decided to crack some cellar beers.  A few beers stick out, but one in particular is at the front of my mind as I write this: a Kiwi lambic from Upland.  This beer was terrific.  I personally noted one slight off-tone to the brew, but it didn't really detract from the beer as a whole.  But I'm not here to write a review or get you to buy that particular beer.  Actually, I want to share something that I found particularly surprising. My brother has been pretty into beer for a couple of years now, and he is particularly fond of lambics.  He loved the ...

One of the real tricks to having a website is getting real interaction.  Let me tell you guys and gals, we are extremely thankful for the beer community on our site.  We get a lot of interaction from several people.  That interaction is substantial and amazing.  However, we want to get to know you more.  You can learn a lot about people through various exercises. You can learn a lot about how people think and what their tendencies are just by asking them to complete a thought.  Plus, I really like the idea that our readers are actually shaping and defining our content. So, I had an idea (not sure if it's going to flop or fly) that involves making a simple statement and then asking our readers to finish the thought.  I think it will be fun and all of us will get to know each other better.  Without further ado, here is the first statement. "I love hops in a beer because they..."