Last week I traveled to Chicago to sit for the Master Cicerone exam – a grueling two day assessment of beer knowledge and sensory acumen that has only been successfully passed by 11 people in the world. I will not be the 12th person to achieve the rank of Master Cicerone. Read the rest of this entry »
I should probably mention the tumblr blog that I started a couple of months ago to collect all the snippets from my beer reporting that don’t find their way into a story or blog post.
It’s mostly a collection of tweets, images, and the occasional link or thought too-long for Twitter but too-inconsequential to actually blog about. If you’re into the whole tumblr thing come on over and follow the blog!
CoLAboration, a brainchild of some of the luminaries of the Los Angeles craft beer scene, is a “pop-up beer garden” that aims to provide a space for Angelenos to gather and enjoy taps of some of the best beers available. After the WinterFest event was canceled due to the heavy winds back in December, the event was rescheduled at an indoor venue, downtown LA’s Belasco Theater, for this past weekend. Itching to get out of Hollywood to avoid the Oscar madness for the afternoon we hit the Metro station for the quick ride downtown and met up with Hamish (read his recap here) to sample some brews. Read the rest of this entry »
After too many years of telling myself that I can’t pull-off home brewed beer in the tiny apartment kitchens that I’ve had foisted on me in Hollywood I was finally convinced by Beau to take the plunge and get back into brewing.
Making things has always been important to me, and sharing my creations even more so. Brewing beer brings the same joy that I get from cooking a meal for friends and family but with the added air of mystery. Brewing often seems like alchemy; grain and flowers are transformed into a golden elixir that makes the world a more beautiful place. But behind the magic of fermentation is simple science and math and a process that I really enjoy.
My brew-partner and I have done a lot of brainstorming about what we want to get out of this endeavor, and we have the pilot-batch of a Belgian Pale Ale ready to be dry-hopped and an English Mild getting boiled-up today. I’m excited.
Astropus 