A couple nights ago a friend invited me and some others over for a “vertical” tasting of Sierra Nevada’s Bigfoot. He had been saving vintages and now had 1999-2008. This kind of tasting is fairly common in the wine world, but more rare with beer. The tasting produced two general observations from the group: 1. The Bigfoot [...]
Archive for the 'Hoppy Beers' Category
Bigfoot Goes Vertical
March 21, 2008Flat Earth’s Organic?!
August 13, 2007Last week, I jumped a technological hurdle on got “What Ale’s Thee” onto my iPod. This allowed me to use my commute to think about beer. In the latest edition, Phil and Alvey talk with the owners of Flat Earth Brewing. So, by the time I got to work, I was all excited to go [...]
Maine Attractions: English-style
July 24, 2007I was kept away from posting last week by a business trip to Maine. While there, I had occasion to try some of the local brews. I was surprised and impressed by the number of local breweries in the area.
The first and most available beer I had was Shipyard’s (pronounced ship-yaaaad) Export Ale. I was [...]
Wine and Cheese - no way!
June 26, 2007Most folks think of wine and cheese as a natural pair - no way! Beer and cheese on the other hand are made for each other.
I’d always believed this to be fact myself, but then, I’m biased. I’ve also heard wine lovers say about the only thing cheese does for wine is mute the tannins [...]
Throwin’ back a Curveball
June 19, 2007Readers in the Twin Cities will remember Sunday as the tail-end of a string of 90+ degree days. That’s not something we see often or particularly care for in the state that’s home to the “nation’s ice box.” It’s particularly unappealing in June! This Sunday, I found myself on a front lawn in the northern [...]
Fuller’s London Pride on a Patio (almost)
June 4, 2007Memorial Day weekend found Ms. BeerGeek and I working with friends and relatives (thankfully) to install a patio in our backyard. Saturday, at the conclusion of 10 hours of work, we met for my mother-in-law’s birthday. Since our own patio was as yet unfinished, we searched the city of St. Paul for patio [...]
CAP a Summer Session
May 14, 2007So, it’s been a while since my last post. It seems the burgeoning spring…or wait is it summer already…in Minnesota has me distracted: motorcycles to ride and, in particular, a deck that’s quickly (or not so quickly) becoming a patio.
Despite all that, I’ve got a couple ideas percolating.
One revolves around Full Sail’s very enjoyable [...]
Getting Surly at the Green Mill
April 20, 2007One of the occasional guilty pleasures Ms. BeerGeek and I enjoy is a trip to the St. Paul Green Mill’s happy hour (from 3-6 p.m. and 9-midnight daily), which includes our favorite $4.99 Dixie wings (their above average version of Buffalo wings). During this time, they also offer tall (22 oz) beers for the [...]
Green Bottles = Skunky Beers
March 6, 2007A blogger friend once told me, “Be careful: once you start blogging, everything becomes a possible post.” So, having ventured tentatively into the blogosphere two days ago, I’ve found the wisdom in this advice:
I was skiing at Wild Mountain on Sunday with some friends. The subject of beer and beer judging came up [...]
