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Suggested websites to visit to further your beer education.
I have a very hard time keeping this here beer blog centered on beer so I cannot imagine keeping an Instagram page niched down to one beer but Laura Murphy has as That Guinness Girl.
And you can read more about the journey on the Irish Independent HERE.
OK – I want you to watch this short history of beer video first…
…now, I want you to look at the comments (if you haven’t already). Notice that no matter how well researched or the fact that it has summary in the title, commenters gotta comment. And though most are just little jabs, none seem to suggest future, detailed videos or even acknowledge that in a short synopsis not all little items will be covered.
This is a good grounding video for new beer fans and also helpfully orients old-timers like me to the place and time of the brewing events that shaped beer.
I was very excited to see that there was a new documentary detailing AbInBev and their marketing both good and bad. Then I got part way through the trailer and things took a turn. I had to pause and rewind to see if I had heard correctly. Then I read a synopsis and it too was weirdly MAGAish.
It seems this documentary is mostly about the Dylan Mulvaney ads and not how AbInBev chickened out like Target when they got right winged but rather how it was “a mistake” to do the ad at all. Appealing to a new possible customer base became ignoring the old base. Stop me if you heard that before from Fox TV “pundits”.
So gonna take a pass on that one but if you do watch it and want to tell me if I got the proverbial wrong end of the stick on this, let me know.
So, the last set of awards coming from Denver during GABF is the one dearest to me and one that I judge, the North American Guild of Beer Writers awards in beer writing for the previous year. And this year there was a twist as overarching winners were added, and they are…
Writer of the Year: Kate Bernot
Emerging Voice of the Year: Shana Solarte and Jenny Pfafflin
Winningest Winner of the Year: Kate Bernot
Publisher of the Year: VinePair
In years past, I was on the Travel Writing panel but this year I got to read Personal Beer Essays and though some seemed a big mis-categorized, there were some strong contenders. This is who struck me and fellow Judge Dave Infante the most…
1. Matthew Curtis – wrote about deafness and pubs and it was so interesting to hear how much hearing loss affected his experiences
2. Pete Brown – described an excruciating book signing event in quite comedic detail.
3. Grace Lee-Weitz – gave a report on top surgery and healthcare in the brewing industry in harrowing close up.
Honorable mention: Ren LaForme and Emerging voice: Bono Sigudu wrote about brewing traditions both new and old and inbetween.
Other winners that you should check out are Doug Veliky’s blog, Beer Crunchers. Then head to an independent bookstore and find Hidden Beers of Belgium, Tasting Notes and The Meaning of Beer by Breandan Kearney, Pete Brown and Jonny Garrett respectively. I have already posted about all three but now they have extra validation. Also look to podcasts such as Belgian Smaak and the Craft Beer Channel for some international beer news.
I am a sucker for label design, and I am also a very harsh judge if I deem it to AI looking or too IP thefty.
Now there is a new exhibit called Design on Draft “Co-curated and co-presented by the Beer Culture Center and the Design
Museum of Chicago, Design on Draft invites you to take a closer look at the artistry behind every pour—and the ways design has made beer part of the city’s cultural fabric.”
So if you happed to be in the Chicago area over the next few months, you might want to check it out.
This is your podcast alert, The Full Pint podcast recently had a sit down with Brian Grossman of Sierra Nevada Brewing and you should add it to your beer knowledge podcast list.
And while you are there, peer at the back catalog, you just might find a few more to listen to.
It is 2025 and I am just now learning that hops are grown at Skywalker Ranch up in Marin County! Now I have to check and see how many Star Wars puns are used in beers with Elani hops.
Did you see what I did in this paragraph from a recent Pellicle article about British malts? A definitive Sc-Fi bent for sure as both Stephen Hawking and Doctor Who get shout outs. Now I have to find out if I have had any beers with Tardis malts.
I am always on the lookout for good beer podcasts and I have found another one, this time from the folks CAMRA, called Pubs. Pints. People.
The schedule seems a bit haphazard so now is a good time to catch up on past episodes whilst also checking out the two new episodes from July and August.
If you have plans to see a City or United game this Premier League season, well you might find a Manchester pub with….
Boddington’s is back on cask after a multi-year absence. And many people, including myself, have probably never it had it in this format which is exciting.