If you read blogs and don’t write a blog then your answer to the question Alan McLeod asks, “What If I Posted A Series Of Posts For A Fee?” will likely be read with great interest by Alan and others who write blogs. Go. Comment. Otherwise, a few links I’ve collected in recent weeks and [...]

Bring on the vestal virgins. The White IPAs are upon us. This is not a bad idea, marrying Belgian White beers with New World hops, at least until somebody starts writing new style guidelines. Last year’s collaboration beers from Deschutes Brewery and Boulevard Brewing proved that. Boulevard’s version even won a medal at the Great [...]

Having once accidentally driven a car into a large pedestrian-only square in Brugge I can assure you this is a city best enjoyed on foot. You can just stop and stare at the architecture. That the streets are narrow and winding becomes charming instead of exasperating. And there are the chocolate shops. We are partial [...]

It was nearly one hundred years between the time philosopher Henry Finck proposed humans literally have a “second way of smelling” and University of Pennsylvania Paul Rozin established the role of retronasal smell in perception of flavor. In 1886, Finck suggested that smell was responsible for at least two-thirds of gastronomic enjoyment. In an essay [...]

Maps, tents, mountains, beer. Taking a piss by the side of the road. Set to music. I’m a sucker for these sorts of things. Don’t know how I missed this video — about a) Deschutes beer, b) central Oregon, c) young people with tattoos, d) freedom, e) fill in the blank — for more than [...]

Oops, it appears I failed to report Mario Rubio posted the roundup for The Session #59: “I Almost Always Drink Beer, But When I Don’t.” I did and I apologize. Kendall Jones at Washington Beer Blog has chosen the topic for #60: Growlers Galore. Tell us about your growler collection. Tell us why you love [...]

At the risk of repeating myself . . . A) If you want to start a heated online conversation then making beer rating the theme seems to be the way to go. Witness the dust up at Beer Advocate that was followed by commentary in 718 722 beer blogs. Or the 57 comments (so far) [...]

Mark Dredge at Pencil and Spoon raises the question of using hop extracts and oils in the brewing process. Part of me think it’s a bit strange to use extract but the other part doesn’t mind if it’s done to be able to give the best flavour or bitterness possible – extract seems to give [...]

‘Tis the season for predictions. The Future of Beer, or at least for 2012. The rise of gluten free beer, discovering gruit, more hoppy beers, fewer hoppy beers, old school beers, new fangled beers. There are more where those came from. They can’t all be right in 2012, but they could be in the long [...]

Think you know where in the beer world this photo was taken? Please leave your answer as a comment. This one should not be too tough, despite my slightly blurry effort using the camera in my phone. But if you can’t read the last item under Red Wine that really is Opus One.     [...]