Last Thursday was Thanksgiving (yes – some people who read this might not know that. I responded to an email from a guy in England on Thanksgiving … he was wondering why no one in the office picked up the phone or answered emails.) We usually take off Wednesday and – of course – Thursday […]

Preserved at 50 Meters depth on a ship wreck in the Northern Baltic Sea, divers discovered a cache of roughly 200-year-old beer and champagne. Experts seem to think the drinks are still good, because they were “stored” at a constant temperature of about 5° Celsius in total darkness. CNN – Sept. 3, 2010: “At the […]

At Dain’s place, one of the most popular items can only be ordered if you know the secret password: the chilly-cheese-burger-dog. It’s a hamburger with your choice of cheese (or cheese-whizz) topped by a beef hot dog that’s smothered in chilly.  And if you slip Gloria an extra tip, she’ll even top this off with […]

Once a year, the good people at Foothills Brewery brew their Sexual Chocolate Stout, and this weekend they began making the ’09 edition available at the brew pub in Winston Salem. To their loyal customers, known as “Footheads”, this is special day, indeed. Foothills brewery does not usually bottle any beer – so its beers […]

… and the Maibock is in the house! Satisfaction got a keg of Foothills brewery’s newest masterpiece – the Gruffmeister Maibock. It’s a heady eight-percenter with a solid nose and a nice punchline. It won’t keep a head, but who cares?! This is a very drinkable beer – a lot less hoppy than the IPAs […]

Lots of stuff is brewing. I started a Mr Brew keg – 2 gallons of Märzen – I am very curious how that’s going to turn out. I also have 50 gallons of biodiesel settling in the basement. I am running low on methanol – need to make a run to the Roxboro Dragway for […]

This weekend, I finally tried out my Mr Beer homebrew. I patiently waited 4 weeks for this stuff, and I was rewarded with a rather tasty brew. I let it sit in the barrel a week longer than prescribed, because it had not yet begun to clear up a the end of the first week. […]

Last week I undertook a trip to Charlotte, NC, which turned out to be completely for naught. Yet, on my way back to Durham, I took a detour via Winston Salem to have lunch at the Foothills brewery. This little brewery puts out some remarkable brews, and I was quite curious to visit the brewpub […]

… but doesn’t want to. A tale from the Black Forest in Germany. Once upon a time, in 1791, to be exact, some Benedictine monks in the Black Forest decided to wean the folks in the nearby village off their beloved Schnapps (brandy). Folks were just drinking too much, and often things got out of […]

Right after Christmas, Laura saw a Mr Beer homebrewing kit on super-duper sale and bought it. So this afternoon, we brewed up a batch of “California Pale Ale” in the Mr Beer. It’s really easy, and I am very curious how this stuff is going to turn out. It’ll have to sit in the barrel […]

In December, right before Christmas, I went to Sam’s Quick Mart in Durham to pick up some of my favorite beers for the holidays. I came across the Olde School Barleywine from Dogfish Head in Vermont. I have had some barleywine from other breweries in the past, and did not get too excited about what […]

Can microbrewing save the world? In a recent article on Alternet, Chris O’Brien looks at the global and historical perspective of microbrewing: revolutionary America and the colonies’ dependence on porter from England; the rich variety of local brews of Africa and South America being replaced by imported mass-produced beer, and the rich brewing tradition in […]

This spring I developed the habit of Saturday Lowes trips – mostly to see what’s on the closeout sale table (which they set up only on Saturdays). The other day I scored a nice $80 Kitchen Aid ice cream maker for only $30. Now, every weekend Laura makes a half-gallon (2 Liter) batch of ice […]

I have always liked Guinness, especially on tap. A nice, cool pint of Guinness slows things down a bit, as you watch it slowly settle to its characteristic dark stillness, with this creamy, meditative – but confident – head. Recently, Beer Advocate published an interview with Fergal Murray, one of the company’s head brewmasters, and […]

A toast to the efforts of Sean Wilson and Julie Bradford and all supporters of the Pop the Cap effort here in North Carolina. This weekend the NC Governor Mike Easley signed House Bill 392 into law. It is now on the books as S.L. 2005-277 and it raises the cap on alcohol content for […]