Category Archives: Feature

#Nips!

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Variety pack of 18 cl bottles. Photo: Brian Yaeger

Variety pack of 18 cl bottles. Photo: Brian Yaeger

I don’t recall the catalyst, but starting in 2011 I rapidly took up the mantle in support of small (AAB, Vol. 32, Iss. 2) forming something of a Nip Bottle Preservation Society (an army of one). Nips, typically those diminutive packages that offer a scant 250ml (about 7 fl. oz.) aren’t just cute, they’re great for myriad reasons. And I got to explore them even more beyond the feature story for a triptych of 3 posts in All About Beer’s then-blog, Beer Soup, for which I’d started blogging in early 2011.

Everybody Wants Some. Smaller portions of limited volume means more consumers get to try the beer (even if they get less liquid than they may like,)

Does this beer make me look fat? Sorry fellas, but beer’s not exactly dietetic. If we’re all about quality not quantity, maybe smaller portions aren’t such a bad thing.

It’s the economy, genius. Nips and splits are the answer to the “problem” of the rising cost of rare beer. I’d rather spend $16 for a 375ml than $30 for a 750.

But I didn’t stop there. I went on to launch www.WeLoveNips.com and you can follow our exploits on #Twitter at @welovenips.

Remember, less is more.

Birth of a beer

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To kick off 2011 in All About Beer (Vol. 32, Iss. 1) I looked at how beers today are conceived quite differently than when beer itself was still being created. Many generations and scientific breakthroughs later, some brewers strive to recreate traditional styles while others run shrieking from them. Authenticity versus innovation (or authenticity plus innovation) are factors allowing so deep a field of brewers to give birth to new beers.

Turning Beer into Booze

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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).

Beer in Good Spirits

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Photo: Kyle Bursaw

Thinking back, I honestly don’t remember how Tom Griffin, aka the Barrel Guy, even landed on my radar. He flies under almost every radar. This one guy–he doesn’t like the term barrel broker because spent barrels are more like a canvas to him than a commodity–helped shift the direction of the craft beer business in the 21st century but no one outside the brewers really knew about it. Certainly no one had written about him. Nor was he trying to be written about. I think it was an off-handed comment by Matt Brynildson, Firestone-Walker’s brewmaster, where I casually heard his name and some time later that set me off looking for him, but he doesn’t have a website or anything. That’s why how we first met face to face is part of this story, my first for DRAFT Magazine (vol. 5.4, July, 2010). Of course, it’s just the tip of the iceberg, but this remains one of my favorite stories.

Cheers to Tom, wherever he may presently be driving.

Gray Market/White Whale

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Gray Market/White Whale wasn’t just a fun story to write for All About Beer (Vol. 31, Iss. 2, 2010), I got to expense three beers at the top of my own personal Wants list! Livin’ and drinkin’ the dream. The story about the pursuit of so-called “white whales” also opens with the line I’m happy to say amused editor Julie Johnson to pieces: Call me BeerMail.

The Ticker story

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Dedicated Drinkers and Their Drive to Document (a.k.a. “The Ticker story,” Vol. 30, Iss. 4, 2009) is about the most prolific RateBeerians and BeerAdvocates and begins with this suitable quote from Simon Pegg (who, the best of my knowledge, is not a beer ticker). “Geek is just another word for enthusiastic… We keep loving stuff and remain unembarrassed by our enthusiasm.”