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.

A Podcast & A Beer – Bourbon Pursuit

This month’s podcast focuses on Bourbon and the business of Bourbon, Bourbon Pursuit hosted by Kenny Coleman, Ryan Cecil, and Fred Minnick. Plus a host of others from bourbon industry and bourbon media.

You get “news, reviews and interviews with people making the bourbon whiskey industry happen.” Three times a week with in depth bourbon talk.

Beer wise, I would suggest that on your next beer shopping trip, that you buy either a style or various styles that you think just might work being aged in bourbon barrels that hasn’t been yet. Maybe it is a dunkel or a red ale or a California Common. Taste each and see if the dominant flavor notes would mesh with oak and vanilla.

In the Tap Lines for September 2022

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This month I will be making my first ever trip to Kentucky, specifically, the Bourbon Trail from Louisville to Bardstown.  So get a snifter out, there is going to be some bourbon talk this month.

~ e-visits to (3) breweries from cities that also distill spirits
~ special featured review of Kentucky
~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 Bourbon Empire by Reid Mitenbuler
~ A Podcast & A Beer listens to Bourbon Pursuit
~ 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 – A History of Coffee

Might be more iced coffee time than hot but either way I suggest you check out A History of Coffee podcast.

Hosted by documentary maker James Harper and professional historian Jonathan Morris cover the history of coffee, sustainability, the rise of craft coffee and the future of coffee.

It is a six episode series with nearly as many bonus episodes and the hosts strike a good balance of positive and negative, light and dark.

This is a bit of a no brainer. Look to the stout section of your beer shop cooler and search out their coffee beers. But to throw a twist, look for a golden coffee stout. Or to get even twistier, look for one of the Oregon coffee IPA’s like Java the Hop from Fort George or Cold Brew IPA from Rogue Ales.

In the Tap Lines for August 2022

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August is a non travel outside California month so I will take the weekends to play catch-up with L.A. breweries that I haven’t been to in a bit. But if you do travel, maybe layover in NewJersey and show support to their breweries who have been burdened with some truly galling laws.

~ e-visits to (3) breweries from New Jersey who have been handcuffed by anti-beer laws
~ special featured review of pilsners and lagers
~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 Blacktop Wasteland by S.A. Cosby
~ A Podcast & A Beer listens to A History of Coffee
~ 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 – Betwixt the Sheets

Wanna get a bit kinky with history, well Betwixt the Sheets has the juicy (in more ways than one) news.

And there was a beer specific episode that would be a great entry to the podcast…

Your host Kate Lister is funny, asks good questions and finds good topics and corners of history such as a British cardinal who owned brothels or a history of vasectomies.

Since some of the topics are considered dirty or subversive when they should be normalized and not kept secret, I suggest drinking something so plain and unadorned that each episode becomes less scandalous. How about an amber lager, or a simple porter.

Or if you want to embrace the color of love and wear that scarlet letter, find yourself an aggressive red ale.