The Craft of Stone Brewing (AAB, Vol. 33, Iss. 2, 2012) is the hoppy, tell-all from CEO Greg Koch and co. It benefits from reading more like you’re listening to all the players spinning yarns on a front porch (of an industrial business park in North County San Diego).
Beer West (nee Beer Northwest) had a short but sweet life as a regional beer magazine for which I contributed just a few stories. One of the first was this cover story on the LA beer scene, warts and all. Somewhere online there’s a fantastically long response it got from an area brewer who wasn’t a fan of the reporting. And somewhere else is my fantastically longer rebuttal.
The Beer Road Less Traveled (Vol. 32, Iss. 2, 2011) wanders down the less trodden paths toward towns that–who knew?–have their own nice beergardens growing, such as Highway 1 along California’s Redwood Coast and Hwy 264 running through North Carolina’s Outer Banks.
Nothing against a hot toddy nor mulled wine, or even hot cider for that matter, but it can’t be a coincidence that skier and beer rhyme. Check out these ski resorts amidst Beer Traveler-worthy destinations (Vol. 32, Iss. 1, 2011): Park City, Lake Tahoe, and Stowe (VT).
I just remember getting an email from the editor of SF Weekly’s food blog, SFoodie, asking for a quote about some upcoming beer something-or-other and I responded, “I can certainly give you one, or how about I just write it up as your new beer writer?”
It was a great gig for a few years, one I happily relinquished when we moved to Portland. As such, I have no intention of archiving every blog post or print story I did for them, but below is a complete list of links to the most fun series I started, Tasting Blind, wherein once a month I lined up a panel of at least 4 local beer experts, including a publican to host it, and brought in many iterations of a beer style including, when possible, locally brewed ones, craft beers from other states, imports, and macro brands if they existed.
1. Pilsners (Feb. 2010)
2. Stouts (Mar. 2010)
3. Hefeweizens (Apr. 2010)
4. Pales (May 2010)
5. IPAs (June 2010)
6. Summer (July 2010)
7. Summer fruits (Aug. 2010)
8. Oktoberfests (Sep. 2010)
9. Pumpkins (Oct. 2010)
10. Coffee beers (Nov. 2010)
11. Holiday beers (Dec. 2010)
Bonus: Blind holiday beers for Willy Week (Dec. 2012)
Bonus 2: Blind holiday beers from the series as continued by my hand-picked replacement at SF Weekly, Jason Henry (Dec. 2011)
A recurring feature in DRAFT is “BeerMe,” a first-person narrative about a brewer, but one that’s sometimes told to and written by a third party. In this case, the subject is a guy named Yuri Green who was about to launch a brewery initially called Cherry Voodoo (and later launched as Triple Voodoo. Without Yuri. This story (vol. 5.6, 2010) may or may not have something to do with that.) Did I write this as a dark comedy? You bet! But was what I wrote built around actual quotes and approved by the subject? Yeppers.
I only knew of Charbay Distillery since they make the best infused vodkas–flavors like green tea–so while I don’t recall how I first heard about their experimental whiskey made from distilled pilsner, I knew I had to try it and get the story (for DRAFT, vol 5.5, 2010). Days after reaching out to them, I found myself on their Napa Valley property, talking to the father-son duo of Miles and Marko Karakasevic, master distillers, and, yes, sampling an array of beers spun into golden whiskeys (and some white ones).
Brian Yaeger: Beer Writer 