Author: Sean Inman

Posted on

Needed or Not? – Stanley beer tumbler

Unless you have been under a large rock, you will have run across the Stanley Tumbler trend. A (somewhat) affordable must have item that people wanted to be seen with so coolness can be associated with and then some started obsessively collecting and fighting for.

But Stanley also has beer items as well. Like this….

A few problems, not clear so you can’t see your beer. Also not something you would use for Kolsch service or a barrel-aged beers and lastly, that is a price tag.

Needed? – No, a simple collection of a few specific beer glasses would be a much better choice.

Posted on

Review – Infinite Wishes 2024 from Smog City Brewing

Back to Smog City Brewing and their 2024 edition of Infinite Wishes, a barrel-aged stout, after a lager review detour.

The 2024 pours an inky black with a nice coffee foam head that dissipates in a bubbly fashion. For such a big ABV beer, this is not thick sludge but rather a sprightly beer. The predominant note is oak. Dark and roasty and far more dry than sweet. As it warms, a little chocolate pops through the wood but curiously not much bourbon coming through on this. Just perfect though for a spring day.

Posted on

Rousing Ovation

I do like when a beer label has a little fun fact or a hack on it.  Something with a little bit of clever.  Such is the case with Allagash White that makes you give a second look to a classic American beer.

Posted on

Don’t Be Scared…

…away by the last ingredient listed in the latest Stone Brewing One Batch Dispatch offering, Down the Rabbit Hole.

“Our Innovation Brewer Fritzi Lara Lino concocted this creation along with our Small Batch team using coffee, chocolate, strawberry… and mushrooms.”

Posted on

A Podcast & A Beer – A Crispr Bite

Cultural anthropologist Dr. Lauren Crossland-Marr hosts the five-episode spanning podcast A CRISPR Bite. It takes a look at gene editing with a critical eye but also with hope too.

I like me a limited podcast series where a topic can be presented and a deeper dive can be made and this cleverly titled food podcast does just that as it clears up the difference between GMOs and gene editing as well as discussing the long term implications of changing, say, tomatoes to have more of a certain vitamin. The episode about creating cows with no horns was particularly thought provoking.

Since this topic is in the agricultural weeds, I have three drinking suggestions for you. First is cider, second is mead and then third, a little harder to find, a single malt or hop (SMASH) beer. Anything that has an easy link to nature.

Posted on

Apple, Cherry and Time

I don’t usually go for flavored ciders, I tilt towards just the apple please. But I am intrigued by Benny Boy’s Madame Ruby’s a bourbon barrel-aged cherry cider.

Here is the short description from the brewery / cidery, “10 months in the making, she’s tart, she’s fruity, and slightly boozy.”

Posted on

Poker Face

I admit that I do not have a poker face. If I did have one, it has since evaporated. Others have mastered subtlety and can eve pretend that they like that candle you bought them for their birthday even though they have not lit a candle in decades.

That is all preamble to this post about instant reactions to beer. Read it HERE.

Posted on

Chalice

Not too many beers are named after the glass you pour them into, but Super Bolleke (the bowl-shaped chalice in which beer is served) a collaboration from Ommegang with Brewery De Koninck from Antwerp, Belgium is.

The beer will be a Belgian-style amber ale (an imperial version of the classic Bolleke) that hits 7.8%-ABV.

Posted on

Sip & Stroll

The Los Angeles Zoo is presenting their first Sip & Stroll at the Zoo. on April 13th. The brewery list isn’t large but it does have a good sampling of local favorites plus some distillery action too and as I have said previously, it is a great location to drink at.

Here is the basic info: “It’s a playful parade of specialty cocktails, craft brews, and mocktails and other nonalcoholic delights, all paired with live beats, pop-up animal keeper talks, food trucks, and more! This celebration of beverages, melodies, and wild encounters will be an event to remember.”