The Spirit World

A few weeks ago I was out with my friends. We went to two different pubs. At both places someone came up to the bar and ordered an Irish Car Bomb. Alright, this was right after St Patrick’s Day and the bartenders seemed to be sick of people ordering Irish Car Bombs […]

Last week, I gave a list of the classic barleywine beer blends that Judy Ashworth served at her pub in Dublin, California. Looking over that list got me thinking about two things: the principles of beer blending art and the joy of making up names.
One of the beautiful things about being on the bleeding edge […]

I love being a beer writer (and beer podcaster). Not only do I have an excuse (who needs one?) to drink all kinds of different beer, but I find out the most interesting things while doing the research for these articles.
This week’s subject is mixing or blending lighter (alcohol, not necessarily colored) beers with barley […]

After making a Broadway (aka Diesel, or to coin a new term, Shandicola), I recalled just how much I like Shandies. I have peculiar way of mixing Shandies and I write a whole series of articles this coming summer on the subject, but when I’m in a hurry for a refreshing, low alcohol drink, I’ll […]

Last weekend Long Island had a serious ice storm. I didn’t know it was serious until Saturday morning when I went to step out into what I thought was about four inches of snow only to find myself slipping and skating around on top of a four inch thick layer of ice!
We live on […]

I took the Brewsday road show to Denver for a little recreational drinking last week. Since I’m working on this beer cocktail series I thought I would chat up the Denver bartenders about the sort of stuff they put in their beer, but instead of blends and mixes, I found a city where it’s fairly […]

Recently, I took my family into Manhattan for a long weekend and, of course, some beer research. The first night we decided to get some barbecue at Virgil’s (152 West 44th Street, just off Broadway in the Times Square vicinity). Of course, I had a couple of beers (Brooklyn Pilsner and a Mardi Gras Ale […]

My original plan was to have recovered from the flu soon enough to do some experimenting with one of Unibroue’s more interesting offerings, a cherry based brew called (what else?) Quelque Chose. But since the microorganisms have conspired against me, I’ll do some sociological reporting rather than rhapsodizing about gustatory concoctions.
Last month I attended […]

Previously, I wrote about mixing cassis with stout to produce what’s called a Liverpool Kiss. There are a couple of other beer cocktails that use stout as a base. The Bee Sting is a mix of stout with orange juice. A Broadway (also sometimes called a Diesel) is a mix of stout […]

A couple of weeks ago I realized that Valentine’s Day was quickly approaching and I needed a good topic for today’s article. Last year I found a beer called Kisz, so I thought I would stick with the theme. My search yielded a beer cocktail called a Liverpool Kiss.
Researching this particular beer cocktail was made […]