Tales of ales from the heart of Ohio to the ends of the Earth
Here is the first of five posts about the eleven days I spent in Oregon this past October. After arriving in Portland the plan was to drive down to Corvallis and meet up with my friends Michelle and Andy before heading over to Bend where we had rented a house for the weekend. As I... Continue Reading →
In early October I had the good fortune to spend eleven glorious days in the beautiful state of Oregon. There was a bit of work involved which I won't bore you with, but I did carve out two weekends and several weekday evenings for seeking out great beer. Think of it as a pilgrimage to... Continue Reading →
The beginning of football season is a clear sign that the colors and crisp days of autumn are soon to be upon us. I spent the last official days of summer in a place where both football and the change in seasons are an afterthought—Santa Barbara, California. I was there for a workshop on oxide materials, but... Continue Reading →
For hardcore hopheads it doesn’t get too much better than an imperial or double IPA (DIPA for short). Vinnie Cilurzo, head honcho at Russian River Brewing, is credited with developing this style while he was brewing at the now defunct Blind Pig Brewing. His initial motivation for gravitating toward über hoppy beers is interesting. Consider... Continue Reading →
I recently attended a conference at a small college in the middle of New Hampshire (Colby Sawyer College in New London). Looking to squeeze a little beer tourism into the trip I was faced with a difficult choice. On the one hand, I could head west into the wilds of Vermont and seek out the... Continue Reading →
Though I have lived in Columbus for the entire 21st century, I spent my late teens and early 20s in Pocatello, Idaho where I was a student at Idaho State University. There’s no denying that I drank more than my fair share of beer during that period, but in terms of both quality and variety... Continue Reading →
After finishing my second pint at the Wedge I started my walk back up the hill to downtown Asheville. It was after 7 pm now and the shadows were lengthening, but there was still an hour or two of sunlight left on this gorgeous June evening. Since I had visited all of the places... Continue Reading →
After leaving Highland I drove back to my hotel, parked the car, and proceeded to walk the mile or so down to Wicked Weed to grab some dinner and a glass of beer. After that I set out for Wedge Brewing, which is located down by the French Broad River in the River Arts district. ... Continue Reading →
Founded in 1994 Highland is the oldest and biggest brewery in Asheville, possibly the largest in all of North Carolina. So it seemed obligatory to pay them a visit. Highland Brewing was initially located in downtown Asheville in the basement of Barleys Taproom and Pizzeria. In 2006 they moved out to their new, much larger... Continue Reading →
Our next stop on the Asheville Ale Trail was Burial Beer Co., which is located less than 500 feet from our previous stop, Green Man (head east on Buxton and take the first left onto Collier). Burial is a nanobrewery that makes a rotating selection of small batch beers. They first opened in June of... Continue Reading →
After leaving Wicked Weed we took the short walk (0.3 mi) over to Green Man Brewing. Named after a figure from Celtic folklore, Green Man was recommended to me by my friend Mark Richards. They have been in business since 1997, which makes them one of the older breweries in Asheville. They distribute throughout North Carolina... Continue Reading →
Recently I attended a conference in Knoxville, Tennessee that was to be followed by a vacation on the North Carolina coast. Naturally my brain started thinking about enticing beer destinations that might be in the vicinity of either location. It didn’t take very long before a plan to visit Asheville, North Carolina was hatched. Many... Continue Reading →
Following visits to Toppling Goliath and New Glarus we were able to squeeze in one more stop on our cross country trip—Three Floyds Brewing in Munster, Indiana. If you are reading a beer blog like this one chances are you already know about Three Floyds (FFF for short), but for those who don’t live in... Continue Reading →
After visiting Topping Goliath the night before, we left Decorah on Wednesday morning and set out for our next destination—New Glarus Brewing in the small Wisconsin town of the same name. I’ve read a lot about New Glarus and their beers over the years, but since they only distribute within Wisconsin my exposure to their beer... Continue Reading →
Recently I had the “opportunity” to drive across a pretty wide swath of the country. I purchased a 2008 Pontiac Solstice from my father who lives in Pocatello, Idaho. To get it home I flew out to Idaho to pick up the car and drive it back to Columbus, Ohio. I was accompanied by my 19... Continue Reading →
Most of the last day of my trip was spent visiting USC and talking science, but at the end of the day there was an informal gathering with some graduate students. Two students, Sean and Matt, knew that I was a beer lover and had arranged for me to try some local beer, the best... Continue Reading →
We had to get up bright and early at 6:20 am on Monday morning to drive up to LAX so Tom could catch his plane back to Columbus. After I dropped him off at the airport I headed over to a hotel near the USC campus where I was staying for the next two nights. ... Continue Reading →
The sun rose over Southern California early on Sunday morning, accelerated by the shift to daylight savings time, but we were not awake to see it. Eventually we did rise from our slumber and got some breakfast at the hotel. My original plan for the second day was to go north to Lost Abbey, then... Continue Reading →
I recently had the chance to go to Southern California for business. My business was on a Tuesday which normally would mean that Monday would be the travel day. So I decided to come a couple of days early, arriving around noon on a Saturday in early March. My friend Tom works for an airline... Continue Reading →
In the previous post I described some of the breweries that call the Boston area home. That knowledge isn’t of much use if you don’t know where to find their beers. In this post I review the bars and bottle shops where I was able to get a taste of the Boston beer scene during... Continue Reading →
Pat's Pints 