In the Tap Lines for February 2023

Technically the shortest month of the year, unless you know me, then it is sooo long because I really do like my birthday month and I like to find a really cool beer to have for that special day. So there’s that and…

~ e-visits to (3) breweries from the Sacramento area in preparation for the California Craft Beer Summit in March.

~ special featured reviews of my birthday beer!

~Heads-Up on Los Angeles Beer Events

~ Three suggested beers to buy this month. One light, one medium and one dark

~ A Book & A Beer reads The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas

~ A Podcast & A Beer listens to Let’s Make a Sci-Fi

~ Sports & A Beer returns for month two with All Star Games

~ New Beer Releases and Best Beers of the Month

~ I will tap the Firkin and give my no holds barred opinion on the craft beer world.

A Podcast & A Beer – Seen Through a Glass

Seen Through a Glass is hosted by bourbon and beer writer Lew Bryson who many already know and may have heard on other podcasts. Now he has his own show….

…and I think it is really good. It takes a small section of Pennsylvania and blows it up for everyone listening to hear. Plus you have to love Bryson’s big laugh that drops quite frequently during each show. It has a bit of that Rick Steves travel feel to it.

Los Angeles does not get much Penn beer especially not the small producers that Lew has talked about so far but a good substitute would be find your nearest food cart hub like Steelcraft here in Los Angeles so that you can have a food and beer experience since Bryson weaves food into each episode. Plus those trips will get you back into travel mode.

Paso Wine Podcast

Paso Wine Podcast – Where Wine Takes You had a recent episode with guests from Firestone Walker and Re:Find Distilling. One cool section of the discussion is when they talk about a collaboration white dog that the two companies made for a bunch of us beer bloggers way back in the day. I still have my empty bottle in my office.

Another reason to take a listen is to hear about beer from a wine show’s perspective.

In the Tap Lines for January 2023

Welcome to 2023! Are the years moving fast for you as well? I know time is a construct of humans but boy does it move fast at times. This blog now enters its 14th year!! Crazy. Let’s start strong with….

~ e-visits to (3) breweries from the Hop Culture Best New Breweries list of 2022 like Fox Tale Fermentation Project, Bizarre Brewing and Mahalo Ale Works

~ special featured reviews of ciders received for Christmas from Portland Cider Co.

~Heads-Up on Los Angeles Beer Events

~ Three suggested beers to buy this month. One light, one medium and one dark

~ A Book & A Beer reads Fairy Tale by Stephen King

~ A Podcast & A Beer listens to Seen Through a Glass

~ New Beer Releases and Best Beers of the Month

~ I will tap the Firkin and give my no holds barred opinion on the craft beer world.

A Podcast & A Beer – The Sunshine Place

What better podcast for the holidays than an uplifting podcast about the power of breaking addiction and turning your life around. Well, the Sunshine Place has that to start before it starts swirling into cult territory and becoming really, really bad.

The podcast is hosted by a child of one of the members of Synanon and it is executive produced by Susan and Robert Downey Jr. whom you may have heard about.

It is a really interesting look into someone who you start off sorta rooting for and then it quickly turns into all sorts of nonsense including shaving heads and rattlesnakes.

To drink, I would start where Synanon did in Santa Monica and pick a pint from Santa Monica Brew Works. Then as the commune moved north, I suggest finding a beer from Lagunitas, maybe their hop water to nod to abstinence.

In the Tap Lines for December 2022

Congratulations! You made it to month 12! Some people are into Easter eggs, some love a BBQ on the 4th while others love a costume and scares. Me, I like Christmas even in Southern California. There will be holiday beer fun all month so get ready…

~ e-visits to (3) breweries from Western New York where the snow is as deep as I am tall

~ special featured reviews of Winter Seasonals

~Heads-Up on Los Angeles Beer Events

~ Three suggested beers to buy this month. One light, one medium and one dark

~ A Book & A Beer reads Revolutionary Samuel Adams by Stacy Schiff

~ A Podcast & A Beer listens The Sunshine Place

~ New Beer Releases and Best Beers of the Month

~ I will tap the Firkin and give my no holds barred opinion on the craft beer world.

A Podcast & A Beer – The Brief Case

It is NBA season and time for this beer blogger to root for my Portland Trailblazers, and to do so effectively I will be turning to this new podcast, The Brief Case

These are bite sized, under twenty minute podcasts from long time Blazer writer Holdahl. It is a nice behind the scenes soundbite from players alongside some betting information which is a bit incongruous to me. The episodes that I have listened to thankfully do not veer in the rush to analyze each game as a momentous occasion that troubles some sports podcasts.

To pair with this podcast, I would recommend alighting upon a favorite brewery to match with your favorite team. Choose a starting line-up of core beers, then find a bench of five more beers and taste through them all to re-acquaint yourself with why that brewery is your favorite.

In the Tap Lines for November 2022

Halloween just passed, Turkey Day a’comin quick and before you can blink, Christmas. All of that means holiday beers and winter warmers and IPAs dressed up cold for the snow. Plus, this…

~ e-visits to (3) breweries from the Brewseum Breweries

~ special featured reviews of the Sierra Nevada Bourbon Barrel Bigfoot Barleywine

~Heads-Up on Los Angeles Beer Events

~ Three suggested beers to buy this month. One light, one medium and one dark

~ A Book & A Beer reads Endless Night by Agatha Christie

~ A Podcast & A Beer listens to The Briefcase featuring Casey Holdahl

~ New Beer Releases and Best Beers of the Month

~ I will tap the Firkin and give my no holds barred opinion on the craft beer world.

A Podcast & A Beer – Scam Likely

You will get a bit tired hearing that the investigative podcast Scam Likely is a production of Campsite Media and the fourth season of Chameleon but once you get past that, you hear a true tale of how one multi-national scam scared people out of life savings.

Hosted by Yudhijit Bhattacharjee who has a great podcast voice, Scam Likely traces the origins of a scam, how that scam morphed into a much bigger one, the stories of the cops chasing them and the employees doing the shady grunt work that involved so much driving.

To pair with this scary crime procedural, I propose finding a Halloween themed beer to amp up the fright factor.  Something like Evil Dead Red from AleSmith Brewing or whatever spooky season beer is local to your area.

In the Tap Lines for October 2022

Each year, I give my royal blessing for the beer loving masses to drink pumpkin beer now that we have reached October.  So run and buy a pumpkin, hollow it out, pour a pumpkin beer or three inside and put a tap on that gourd.

~ e-visits to (3) breweries from around California

~ special featured reviews of Autumnal beers

~Heads-Up on Los Angeles Beer Events

~ Three suggested beers to buy this month. One light, one medium and one dark

~ A Book & A Beer reads Less by Andrew Sean Greer

~ A Podcast & A Beer listens to Scam Likely

~ New Beer Releases and Best Beers of the Month

~ I will tap the Firkin and give my no holds barred opinion on the craft beer world.