For 2011, the highlight of my craft beer year was the Beer Bloggers Conference in Portland, OR. It was a chance to meet many other craft beer explorers, learn some tricks of the trade and sample a ridiculous amount of great beer. Conference friends 2 Beer Guys and Seacoast Beverage Labs teamed up this December…
For every one of my many birthdays, I’ve had some form of chocolate for desert. Most often, that’s been a chocolate cake with chocolate icing, though there was a stretch of chocolate pies in there, too. It’s a good streak to have. According to Mom, many of those early cakes had a train on top,…
Happy Thanksgiving! Growler Fills is thankful for great craft beer, friends, family, good fortune and a host of other things on this snowy Thanksgiving morning in Missoula, MT. I hope your Thanksgiving day is filled with good times and, of course, great beer. The holiday season is filled with opportunities to reach into the beer…
The 2010 Missoula Marathon and Half Marathon is in the books and I had an even better time than I expected. I’ll post a full race report soon, but I’m betting both my fans are anxiously waiting to hear which beer I picked for my celebration brew. As you will no doubt remember, the list…
I am not new to craft beer. I’ve spent the last 15 years or so trying far more styles, varieties, interpretations, classics, experiments and breweries than I can remember. Though I have my favorite styles, I’ve never let that confine my exploration. I’ve brewed homebrew following the advice of legend Charlie Papazian and his reassuring…
Next up in my Full Sail Brewmaster Reserve Round Up is Full Sail’s Imperial Stout. Right out of the 22 oz. bottle this an attractive beer. Jet black with a thick tan head. It has a strong, sweet aroma with a slight hint of alcohol. The mouthfeel is full with a bit of creaminess. Classic…
Sierra Nevada Brewing Company is celebrating its 30th Anniversary in style. And that is great news for the rest of us. They’ve brewed four unique beers as a collaboration between the founders of the American craft brewing industry. You can read about the project here. I encourage you to spend a little time checking it…
In three or so years, this very limited production brew from Deschutes Brewing Co. in Bend, OR has already reached mythical status. It is an imperial stout with licorice and molasses with approximately 30% aged in oak and oak bourbon barrels. I tried to get my hands on some the past three releases without success.…
Back in late October I had the good fortune to stop in at Tamarack Brewing Co. and sample some of their Vanilla Bourbon Stout. I predicted it wouldn’t last long enough for me to get back there to enjoy more than just a sample, but I got lucky. I was able to make a return…