BeerAdvocate is schooling me; I live in the same town as Deschutes Brewery yet I’m getting news about them from a site based in Boston! The news I’m talking about is a new look the brewery is rolling out for Mirror Pond Pale Ale: Bend’s Deschutes Brewery unveiled a new … Continue reading

So an update on my hop harvesting efforts over the Labor Day weekend. I picked hops on Saturday and on Monday, for a couple of hours or so each day, and ended up with hops split amongst 10 paper grocery bags—each of which would probably yield, I don’t know, about … Continue reading

My mom has a bumper crop of hops this year—she has hops growing off the end of her deck—so I picked a bunch of them today, and intend to go back for the rest (or as many as I can get) on Monday. I also took a bunch of pictures … Continue reading

Just a quick note to observe the passing of Michael Jackson, the Beer Hunter; many of the other blogs are also writing about this, and they’re doing a much better job than I. Jackson was the King of Beer Writers and his contributions will be missed.

According to the press release posted on BeerAdvocate, Pyramid has released an Imperial Hefeweizen… the first of its kind. Well, I’m assuming they mean it’s the first “official” Imp Hefe… the headline says, “a Craft Beer Category First.” What else would they mean? Pyramid’s new Imperial Hefeweizen, like our flagship … Continue reading

I keep mentioning John’s Marketplace in all my recent reviews, so I figured it was finally time to write a bit about the store itself here. Located in Portland, Oregon, in the Multnomah Village neighborhood, the store from the outside looks like a completely unassuming neighborhood market and grocery. There’s … Continue reading

According to this post on Luxist, the world’s most expensive beer (officially) is Vielle Bon Secours, which costs approximately $78 per pint at the Bierdrome in London. (Luxist incorrectly says $39 per pint; they got their conversion wrong—it’s about 39 pounds, not dollars.) This beats out Sam Adams Utopias, which … Continue reading

This is a cross between a press release and commentary. First, the PR part: Recently, Redhook has launched an opportunity for its fans to immortalize themselves—in a soggy, cardboardy way. By visiting defyordinary.com, fans can show how they defy ordinary by entering a simple picture. It will be displayed on … Continue reading

Came across some quick notes I wrote down a few weeks ago for Kona Brewing‘s Wailua Wheat. I had it on tap here in Bend at Kona Mix Plate, a Hawaiian grill restaurant, and since I hadn’t heard of it before I tried it. What caught my eye about it … Continue reading

As promised, here are a couple of photos of the Long Hammer IPA promo samples I received. I like the packaging; it’s clear and uncluttered. The color scheme works, too. Cool bottle, too; the label is split into two halves—allowing the raised-glass impression of barley to be prominent. That’s a … Continue reading