I inherited a vast array of coasters from my dad last year and I thought I should share some of the old and new and artistic ones. So here goes…
More coaster posts to come later.
Coaster collection
In the Tap Lines for January 2011
A New Year to celebrate all the craft beer goodness that is available! And since the holidays mean curling up at home (be it adopted or hometown), I decided to start off 2011 where I currently call home, Southern California.
Here is what is planned this month for all of you readers/drinkers.
~ e-visits to four breweries of California
~ video reviews of three beers from my local, Eagle Rock Brewing
~ suggested beers of the Golden State to buy this month (maybe all brown ales in honor of our new governor)
~ I will tap the Firkin and give my opinion on the craft beer world
~ my 2011 Beer challenge will be unveiled
~ plus many more posts about new beers, beer products and breweries
And if you haven’t noticed, some minor site changes have taken place…..
~ The 50 Beers / 50 States Challenge has it’s own dedicated page
~ There is a page dedicated to the great Eagle Rock Brewery
~ My best of lists and monthly suggestions have been combined into one page
~ The beer links listing has been both added to and subtracted from so as not to overload (even though there are some really great sites missing)
In the Tap Lines for December 2010
We have reached the last month of the year. I hope all of you readers/drinkers had a great craft beer year!
Here is what I have planned for you this month:
~the final installment of the 50 Beers – 50 States challenge
~3 beers to try this month
~a crap ton of Holiday Seasonal ales to sample
~quick tours of 4 breweries from around the country
~the firkin will be opened and my opinions will flow
~video reviews of the Holiday seasonals
and MUCH MORE!
Beer Blogger Conference – Day 3
Here is the final quick impression posts from the 1st Beer Bloggers conference.
I had to pace myself on Saturday night but I still tasted a few new beers from places here-to-fore never sampled. Upslope, Odell’s and Boulder Beer. Then I had to get up and listen to Eric from BeerTap TV. The very cool Kerry Finsand from Taplister and eminence gris, Jay Brooks. “Had to” seems harsh, like an assignment. I don’t mean it that way. I had to so I could learn from the folks that have a knowledge set that I do not possess yet. They were great. I picked up new bits from all three.
That’s all for now. Complete wrap up to land in the next few days along with photos and beers drunk list (that will blow you away, that is a promise)!
Beer Blogger Conference – Day 2
Here is the Day 2 report. Starting with two great presentations on blogs and tech and two that did not have info for me. But that may be due to me being un-tech-geek and obstinate. I will talk in more detail later about what I learned and what may appear on this very blog in the coming months later since this is more of an itinerary post
Then on to Avery where me and my band of cohorts from Olympia, Santa Barbara and Portland were really treated well because of that Beer Blogger badge. Avery is housed in a little industrial park. Great little tap room. Got Ruminator, Rumpkin and Moloch among other gratis samples! Highly recommended.
Speed beers were next. In two words: exhausting but great. 12 beers. 5 minutes each. I dare you to fully enjoy Great Lakes Edmund Fitzgerald porter (which is awesome, as were the people from the brewery) then turn around and have World Wide Stout from Dogfish Head. I ended up stockpiling tasters and slowly catching up.
The massive bottle share and Oskar Blues dinner will be covered in later posts along with the Boulder Beer dinner and Pearl Street Pub crawl.
Beer Blogger Conference – Day 1
In the Tap Lines for November 2010
It is Beer Bloggers Conference Month. OK, it is only an extended weekend. But this is the 1st ever Beer Bloggers conference, so it’s a big deal. And Boulder is a great beer town. Aside from that? Here is what I will be yawping about throughout the Turkey month.
– Wheat beers for the Session blog posting
– three video reviews of a craft beer from Utah, Arizona & Kansas
– I will transport you to some new and little known Colorado breweries
– posts about upcoming and new beers on the shelves
– An update on the 50 Beers from 50 States quest
– three suggested beers to pair with your turkey
…and I will tap the firkin, my opinionated rant on the beer world.
In the Tap Lines for October 2010
Oktober for the Beer Search Party means…..
LA BEER WEEK!!!
A slightly enlarged weeks worth of beery events topped off by a festival at historic Union Station in downtown Los Angeles. You will get your fill (and then some of events on the blog this month along with…..
– unbiased, snark free reviews of canned industrial water lager. Gameday Ice here I come.
– A tour of Alaskan breweries
– Session # 44
– three beers that I strongly suggest you sample
– 50 Beers from 50 states status post
– The monthly tapping of the Firkin, my opinion on the beer world.
The Firkin for September 2010
Here is a rant that you may have seen on my other writing outlet, the wonderful FoodGPS. I brought it over here because it got the most comments of all of my posts.
I am growlin’ mad about growlers.
Let me backtrack a little and set the scene. I live in Southern California. I have ONE brewery near me and two or three that are drives to get too under the best freeway conditions. Secondly, I am what economists term as “underemployed”. Not complaining but not swimming in steady cash. Lastly, I do not have unlimited shelf space. I have a small and growing “beer cellar” but I am reaching overload in pint glasses and bottles.
Now I can return to my rant. I would like to have one growler. A growler that I can fill at my local (Eagle Rock Brewing) but that I can also fill at Ladyface in Agoura Hills or Hangar 24 in Redlands or at Nibble Bit Tabby downtown. I don’t A) have the space for separate growlers and B) can’t afford them anyway.
I know that current law is against this. They want growlers labeled in a similar fashion as to labels on beer sold conventionally in stores. It is a pure CYA choice. But why do we want something similar to the sometimes comical and irritating label laws in place? Can the state cover it’s … with a different approach?
Here is my idea to solve the problem and boost the economy:
Step 1 – a “Made in California” growler. It could be sold by Chambers of Commerce or by the California Brewers Association or other outlets. I would refrain from having the breweries themselves sell them so as not to impinge on their own growler sales.
Step 2 – Create a label / sticker that can be filled out on the premises at the time the growler is filled with a link to the beers information on the brewers website. (Maybe via a barcode?)
A California growler would be accepted by whichever brewery wanted to make a $10 sale vs. a sale of $0.00. At least from my standpoint. I couldn’t buy (though I was tempted) a growler from Hangar 24 to bring home some of their Polycot beer (which was great) but if I had a California growler at home, I could have and Hangar 24 would have received $15.00 from me. The same at Stone in Escondido or 50-50 in Truckee. And for those establishments that cannot afford to get approved growlers, this would be entree to a new customer set.
It would also be a great way to promote the great beer you can find in this state. You could do a a great promotion about a growler tour of California breweries. The beer community makes pilgrimages to Russian River and The Bruery. Why not incentivize them to stay a little. You can even promote a design contest for the growler (see my design below). So many possibilities.
That’s my two cents. Poke holes in it. Add to it. Let’s get a discussion going.
Send the Search Party to Reno!
Here are your marching orders…
1. Click HERE
2. Vote for ME! Sean of the Beer Search Party
Your push could shove me into the best canned craft beer festival in the country, Canfest 2010 in Reno, Nevada.
