If there’s one thing I love about the holiday season, it’s the anticipation of opening up those bottles of high gravity and other specialty beers you’ve been saving for a special occasion. Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s provide plenty of opportunities to kick back with friends and geek out over some beer. With those ideas…
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…
Western Montana breweries have been busy lately creating a variety of new beers for the fall and winter season. From big IPAs and porters to pumpkin ales and even a wintermarzen, there’s a lot to try and something for everyone. With Thanksgiving week upon us, now is a great time to take a break, head…
Ahh, Las Vegas. For all it’s sins, vices and pleasures, craft beer hasn’t been one of them. That’s changing and if you like treasure hunts, Vegas provides a mixture of frustration and payoffs. I spent a few days in Las Vegas for the first time recently and hit up google for a little research before…
Okay, so “dangerous” really isn’t the right word, but now that I have your attention hear me out. If I ask you to name that one beer that has, shall we say, an unusually pronounced effect on you does one immediately come to mind? For me, that beer is Cold Smoke Scotch Ale from Kettlehouse…
Like all creative endeavors, craft beer tends to pick up certain trends as brewers experiment with various techniques, ingredients and processes. Craft beer provides a wide ranging canvas upon which to try out an idea. Some work, some don’t. An occasional one might even be the next best thing. Many aren’t even all that new,…
One of the great things about visiting Blackfoot River Brewing Co.’s taproom in Helena, MT, is you’ll usually find a new and interesting beer to try. In fact, it may be the only time you’ll ever find it. Frequently rotating, small batch beers are the norm at Blackfoot. Even better, they don’t just taste great,…
The 3rd Annual Montana Brewers Festival takes place this Friday, September 9 at the Haynes Pavilion in Bozman with more than 70+ Montana beers from 20+ Montana breweries. We reached out to some of the brewers to find out more about the beer they plan to present. (We’re still waiting to hear back from some…
Day 2 of the 2011 Beer Bloggers Conference in Portland, OR, had a lot of highlights. The panels from industry bloggers and brewers on how bloggers can better interact with breweries gave plenty of useful ideas. Craig Hendry of Mississippi’s Raise Your Pints discussed Mississippi’s beer laws and their efforts to change them, making us…
What do a freelance writer, an attorney, a medical practice manager, a youth director and two grad students have in common? No, that’s not the introduction to a bad lawyer joke. It’s the makeup of our first Pop That Cap night and the common thread was a love of craft beer, a desire to experience…