Welcome to Thoughts on Beer. It has been some time, and although we are still thinking about beer, writing about it is not as easy. We will continue to drink beer (note the Untappd feed to the right), but will write about it eventually. Cheers!
5 Year Anniversary of SF 2088
Five short years ago, the landscape of Iowa beer changed. Since the passing of SF 2088, countless breweries have been introduced to Iowa, with many more on the way. Most recently, both Surly (Minnesota) and Oskar Blues (Colorado, North Carolina) entered the state. So on this anniversary, raise your glass…
It’s Been a Long, Long Summer
Sometimes life just wears you down. Beer helps, but it doesn’t help you get any of that time back. Here’s a quick summary of my beer-related life over the summer: June 15-23 – Vacation to California, where we traveled to San Francisco and Los Angeles. It was the first time…
Brew-b-q 2013
This past Memorial Day weekend, our group of friends got together for our third annual brew-b-q celebration. At the event, we had three groups of people, those of us brewing a “big” beer, those cooking and smoking various meats, and those enjoying the entire event. There were four of us…
Brrrfest 2013
Last Saturday, a few friends and I went to Brrrfest 2013. Once again, like many of the recent beer events, this one featured a “Brewmaster” session, with advanced entry. If you read my post about what to look for at beer events, here’s what I saw at Brrrfest: It was…
Coralville Brrrfest 2013 Tomorrow
If you haven’t heard yet, Coralville’s Brrrfest 2013 happens tomorrow. I’ll be there at noon for the Brewmaster session, so I hope the planners took my suggestions into consideration. Hope to see you there!
A Visit to Two Rivers Brewing in Easton, PA
Over the holidays, I was excited to go East to visit the family. Even more so, after pledging on Kickstarter, I was anxious to visit the new brewery in Easton, Pennsylvania: Two Rivers Brewing. The brewpub serves a New Orleans-inspired menu, with staples like Gumbo and Poutine. At the time…
A Beer Lover’s Plea to Beer Event Coordinators
I have a few suggestions to beer event coordinators. Just note that I’ve never been on the planning side, so all of my ideas are from the point of view of the patron. I’m a beer lover. I try all sorts of beer, and spend quite a bit of time…
Samuel Adams Utopias 10th Anniversary
This past weekend, I had a unique opportunity. A friend of mine had the chance to buy a bottle of the 10th Anniversary Samuel Adams Utopias. Before the beer is complete, it undergoes quite a bit of a process; in addition to the standard beer ingredients there are also several…
Iowa City Brewfest 2012
It’s been a couple of weeks since Iowa City Brewfest, 2012, and I’ve had some time to reflect on the event. With the “Brewmaster” ticket, we were able to enter an hour early, and many brewers had special or limited release beers. Some of the more memorable ones included: Bell‘s…
Iowa City Brewfest 2012 is Saturday
Just a reminder that the 2012 Iowa City Northside Octoberfest / Brewfest is this weekend, with the Brewfest on Saturday. It looks to be an exciting year, since the number of Iowa breweries has grown in the last year, as well as a few new out-of-state breweries (Schlafly, Founders, Tallgrass…