Serious Decisions
A Tough Choice
Someone thought long and hard about their priorities over the next couple of days!
There Are Almost No Black People Brewing Craft Beer. Here’s Why.
Source: There Are Almost No Black People Brewing Craft Beer. Here’s Why.
An interesting read on an aspect of craft beer that I hadn’t thought much about previously. I hadn’t read about the racial undertones of Prohibition before either.
h/t Derek Springer for sending over the link.
Thanksgiving Dinner
The “Picture of the Week” for this week is the Thanksgiving spread at my in-laws house.
Gobble Gobble. 🍗🦃
Asheville!
I had heard whispers and mutterings here and there about this mythical city. Rumors said that wort rains down from the sky, collected in gilded basins, brewed in copper kettles, then bottle-conditioned at 60°F, day and night without the need for climate control. In this city, the tap lines are always clean, a brew is never musty, and there’s never a last call.
Well, I still haven’t come across that city during my travels, but I found one that isn’t terribly far off.
I hadn’t paid much attention to Asheville, NC, before a few weeks ago, but after a weekend there for the Beer Bloggers & Writers Conference, color me impressed. Small compared to any town I’ve traveled to for a conference with 83,000 residents, the beer scene is top-notch and the downtown action compared with any of the big dogs—even coming from Austin’s fabled Sixth Street.
It is easy to see why Asheville has been named Beer City USA. With 21 breweries (per Asheville’s tourism site, it very well might be more, frankly) putting it as the most breweries per capita, there seems to be a brewery every other block of every strip—from the small microbreweries to big dogs New Belgium building a new facility, Oskar Blues opening a second in nearby Brevard, and Sierra Nevada opening the Basilica of Beer in the last year.
In all honesty, my uninformed opinion on North Carolina wasn’t too great. What’s there? Duke, UNC for colleges. Some research stuff happening in the Triangle, but not actually sure what. Seeing a bit more of the personality in Raleigh for a day, then Asheville for the weekend, I appreciate North Carolina quite a bit more. Read More
Sierra Nevada Mills River
Sierra Nevada’s new operations in Mill River, NC is a basilica of brewing. A must-visit if you’re anywhere near the area.
Last weekend, I was in Asheville, NC for the Beer Bloggers and Writers Conference. The weekend was a great time of talking shop, networking, developing skills, and tasting beer. A particular highlight of the weekend was visiting the Sierra Nevada brewery. It was incredible. Visit the 365 Brew post for details.
Sierra Nevada Mills River | 365 Brew
Live from the Beer Bloggers & Writers Conference
I’m at the Beer Bloggers & Writers Conference this weekend, and one of the fun times of the weekend is a live beerblogging session. Various breweries bring their wares, tell us about them, and we blog about them. Each beer has about five minutes, so it is a fast-paced fun event.
Joining me in the live blog is Brandon Fischer of 365 Brew and Derek Springer of Five Blades Brewing.