I Christmas Alone....the winter mix

Aimed at the first snow of the winter I am just about on time with the delivery of my winter mix, a depressing collection of songs to keep those cold days more bitter than sweet. A note: The idea for this mix was born during the making of Creature Comforts as I would come across songs I liked, but kept saying, "Too sad" as I tossed them back on the heap.

So for no reason other than my own amusement I offer you, "I Christmas Alone...Just Quietly Awesome" my attempt at one of the most depressing Christmas CDs of all time. I should also note the contributions of Bob Marley & The Wailers of all people, who curated this mix with me as I found several old songs of theirs that were just as sad as anything else you'd want to hear at 3 AM on a snowy night while you stare at the windows with a drink in hand, just waiting for the sharp scrape of a plow to come along and cut everyone's dreams of a snow day down to bare asphalt. Enjoy!







Tracks below....








Tracklist:

1. Intro - Throw A Blanket Over Me
2. There She Goes - Bob Marley & The Wailers
3. Long, Long Winter - Curtis Mayfield
4. The Rains Came - Big Sambo & The Housewreckers
5. If At Last - ???
6. Can't Believe That You're Gone - Denny Beline & The Blues Busters
7. Here Today - The Beach Boys
8. I'm Not Bitter - The Minus 5
9. Eyepennies - PJ Harvey (w/ Sparklehorse)
10. It Hurts To Be Alone - The Wailers
11. In The Station - Armando Piazza
12. Bodies & Minds - Great Lake Swimmers
13. Secrets - Edison Woods
14. View From Below - The Minus 5
15. Winter's Going - Bonnie Dobson
16. Thunder In My Heart - Timmy Shaw
17. My Cup - Bob Marley & The Wailers
18. How Can You Be So Cold - Lee Mitchell
19. Nobody Cares For Me - Lloyd Henriques
20. Send Me That Love - Bob Marley & The Wailers
21. Sing It Again - Beck
22. Outro - We Need The Eggs......






(...I'm sorry to you for my body...and my mind.) Read more!

1/1/11......it begins.

I've got news. The Grainbill is going B I G in 2011. As Adam Mundy would say, 'Stay Tuned'.......................... Read more!

A Full Explanation of Subtlety, Balance, and Moderate ABV Levels is in order so that people that talk loudly and proudly start to get it...

Maybe I'll get on here and do that one day.

Hey Grainbill, I still love ya kid.

I'm tired of people mistaking balance for boredom. One day they'll get big boy tastebuds and understand. Read more!

Creature Comforts - Fall of 2010

The planned fall mix and what actually ended up becoming the fall mix are two entirely different things, although the theme has more or less remained intact. What started as a collection of thoughts and ideas from my friends followed often by songs that those same friends have shared with me turned, originally out of neccessity, into a look at what my own creature comforts seem to be. Fall is a time of year for me that I find hard to put fully into words. The way that this season changes is more satisfying or awakening or inspiring to me than the others and it always marks the coming of my ideal climate and favorite holidays. ("And hoodies, everybody loves hoodies" - Harvey Globetrotter, B-Reel) One day I'll move to where it's fall all the time.

To all those friends I called, recorded, or threatened to call and record: Maybe next time, my technology game is not yet at the level to pull it all off properly. Some of the songs are just too good for me to not lead in with a few words from the friends that showed them to me...so they'll have to wait. Others are here though, along with songs and artists that I really love listening to. Hope you enjoy. Tracklist will be down below. As always, I suggest some headphones and going in without the tracklist the first time around.


Creature Comforts - Dr. Joel (Fall 2010)















Intro - Comforts
Market Fresh - Broken Social Scene
Michigan Girls - Califone
Dynamite Walls - Hayden
Street People - Bobby Charles
Jesus Was A Capricorn - Kris Kristofferson
I Still Miss Someone - Gram Parsons' International Submarine Band
He Don't Love You (And He'll Break Your Heart) - Levon & The Hawks
Better Day - Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee
Mykonos - Fleet Foxes
Eugene - Andrew Bird
Cosmos & Demos - Devendra Banhart
Island Cottage - Sea Oleena
Early Morning - Troyka
The Wild Kindness - Silver Jews
Gotta Cheer Up - Cotton Jones Basket Ride
Ferdinand The Imposter - The Band
Christ For President - Billy Bragg & Wilco
Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window - Bob Dylan
Outro - Learn Cheap...and Spin on the Wheel Read more!

PITTSBURGH!

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Events, Events, Events

Welcome To American Craft Beer Week! For many of us every week is American Craft Beer Week: We're going to our local brewpub, drinking some of our favorite beers at home or out with friends, brewing our own beer, reading through brewery websites and books and blogs. This week is about expanding those ideas and extending the reach of the overall message of all things American Craft Beer. I can hear my buddy Hoge from Highland Brewing Co right now, perched atop a bar in the Outer Banks, "Thanks for coming out here tonight to drink American...Craft...Beer!" This week breweries across the country are celebrating with special events, special beers on at their pubs, and a host of other great ways to toast this beer we all love so dearly.

Just as we approach Philly Beer Week very soon there's still time to get out this week and drink some great beer before a little rest for the insane amount of events for PBW 2010. Here's what I'm up to....

Weds, May 19 - 6pm to ? - Beer & Cheese Night @ Craft Ale House w/ New Holland Brewery & Calkins Creamery

Jay from Calkins and myself will be on hand tasting beer & cheese with a nice list of pairings for the night. Calkins will be showcasing some of the delicious products from their farm in Honesdale, PA and I will be featuring some great beers including one which will be tapped for the first time in the Philly area.

Fri May 21 - Beer Academy @ Bella Vista Distributors - $5 (includes class and samples)

A discussion and presentation on all things New Holland. I'll dive into the history of our brewery and brewing philosophy, present our portfolio and speak on our ideas, plans, and motivations in a rousing fashion. Call Bella Vista for any other details.
*I'll also be grabbing a piping hot bowl of pho beforehand if anyone cares to join me...email me

NEXT UPDATE: Philly Beer Week 2010, my plans, my events, and my deep thoughts..... Read more!

Aristan Spirits

Read more!

Envious and You

These are the places in the Philly area/burbs that I know have Envious right now. I will announce more as it gets there. Very, very limited so this is the only place I'll put the info out there.

Right now:

Union Jack's Manatawny
Capone's

Soon:

A place that I eat and drink at quite frequently (other than my kitchen)

&

A place that I'll pair beer & cheese soon on the date the beer and cheese will be paired

&

A place I have DJ'd at Read more!

News'd Up and Updating

- Recent Interview with Amy Strauss (yes, THE Amy Strauss!) on my other blog as well as my duties with New Holland Brewing Company. Read it HERE.

- Looking to do a snappy little review of Louisville, KY when I get some time. New places opening, existing places that I finally got a chance to check out, maybe even some etc's.

- Big trip to North Carolina starting tomorrow that will include a Michigan Beer Dinner at one of my favorite places anywhere, The Raleigh Times Bar, World Beer Fest Raleigh, and several events that will include a moped rally, a hidden beer tasting, and a pig pickin' with great beer called Swine Spectator. Recaps will abound.

- Did my part to close out Sly Fox's original Phoenixville location yesterday. After about 15 years in one spot the guys and gal's will trot across the street and be ready for the masses when the goats run on May 2.

The car's about to be packed up with beer gear and lots of new tunes. So in celebration I leave you with this song that's been stuck in my head for days:

Read more!

This Is About Cows

So you know the part in, “I am a Craft Brewer” when the line, “I don’t put corn in my beer” is delivered? Well that means a lot. Yes because of tradition, yes because it’s a representative ingredient in a product that We all agree is inferior yet sold as gold, but also because it represents a downward spiral in agriculture, consumerism, moral responsibility and the reshaping of modern man the likes of which I can only really hope to comment on in this blog post.

Admittedly, I’m just a student of what I am about to go on a tour de force rant about. I know details beyond the surface level, but every fact, number, reason, and explanation aren’t something I can give you. If you are truly interested, curious, or looking for a deeper study of this I would recommend the book Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan and the films Food, Inc and The Future of Food to gain a clearer understanding. From there a lot more information is available, but these are great places to start.

My introduction to this corn thing really started as I began to think more and more about the Craft Beer Drinker. What do I think the Craft Beer Drinker is, what do I think the Craft Beer Drinker does when they’re not drinking craft beer? Where do they eat? What else is in their fridge? These are just a couple of the questions that came to be, but they’re important ones. At some point somewhere in my travels something caught my eye or my ear. For all the people I’ve shared a conversation or a beer with over the past few years I’d noticed that this thing called Craft Beer was either a springboard or landing pad for a lot of other great things associated with quality in people’s lives. Some people, like me, arrived at an appreciation for great cheese through beer pairings, the work of great chefs and their approaches to cuisine through beer dinners or exciting alignments of craft brewers and great restaurants, and an alternative to the white bread, corn-fed, genetically modified groceries all around me. Other people had this great understanding of great food and in many cases wine or spirits and when craft beer came of age it only made sense for them to include it in their pursuits of quality.

This led me to the farmer’s market. That led me to talking to people who rely on their community to keep themselves and their land alive. This led me (eventually, after a couple more stops) to a golf course on the western side of Michigan and the 2009 Hatter Days Golf Outing for New Holland Brewery’s 12th Anniversary. We had a gentleman get up and speak to our impressive assortment of brewery staff, wholesale partners, retail account guests, and friends of all those mentioned afore. I’ll find out the man’s name and post it here, but he spoke to us all about the importance of supporting our communities by supporting the local folks who live and work in our communities. Michigan was hit hard by the recent economic downturn and this rally cry was heartfelt and important, but most vital for me was the following fact:

"$.68 of every dollar spent stays in your community when you buy from a local business, only $.43 stays when you spend the same dollar in a chain store*."

This was aided later when I was doing a beer tasting at Bocktown Beer & Grille in Pittsburgh when I noticed a sign on the wall with the same statistic, but issuing the following challenge, “If you spend $50 per month at a local business rather than a chain then X amount of dollars would remain in the community…now if every employed citizen in Pittsburgh did the same thing then X amount of dollars would remain in the city”. I can tell you, the number was really impressive. (UPDATE: Some coverage of the 3/50 Project with my homie Dilla HERE.)

I’ve seen the same set of facts reported a few different ways and depending on the particulars of each study the results do change slightly, but the main point is a that you’ll always be keeping more money in the community, amongst your neighbors, amongst people who have taken a chance on turning a passion into a profession, amongst people who have the same concerns as you about what goes on in the town and city that surrounds you by supporting locals. Starting to sound a bit like the explanation of why you support craft beer that you’ve undoubtedly told to a family member at dinner or an acquaintance at a party or in the office or maybe even the guy sitting next to you at the bar? I’ve done it, I’ve watched other people do it; it happens all the time. We support craft brewers because they are taking the time (and courage) to craft something that is not the zombified commercial shell of what this product used to or should be. We support them because they’re the little guy and we believe in them… and we know they can’t do it without us. We operate craft breweries for the same reasons, we are passionate about giving people a great product, keeping traditions alive while making new ones and making a statement that there is more to beer than what you see on TV and are bombarded with as marketing dollars and teams build towering displays deploying sales gimmick after sales gimmick.

So what on Earth does this have to do with corn? Well let’s take a trip to the farm right quick…As of the end of 2000 corn was being grown on 72.7 million acres of American land and was sold for about $15 billion in that calendar year (Source: EPA http://www.epa.gov/oecaagct/ag101/cropmajor.html ). Pretty awesome for farmers right? Well there’s one small problem with that: It’s way, way, way more corn than we actually need. So much so that it drops corn prices to the point where corn is bought for less than it costs to produce it. So a lot of these farmers operate at a loss and receive government subsidies to ‘even things out’ if you will. So if we’ve got way more corn than we need how will we possibly eat it all? Well, we can turn some into ethanol and require fuel companies to use it in the gas for our cars, we can use it to make tires, toothpaste, body lotion, batteries, glue, & shoe polish, we can have scientists turn it into high fructose corn syrup and then have research teams figure out how to tap into America’s ‘elastic appetite’ and feed us way more calories than our bodies actually need (making us the fattest and unhealthiest version of humans in all of history)**.

There is another solution for all that corn, but first, more bad news: Growing that much corn is pretty bad for the land too. Traditionally crops were rotated to give the soil a chance to regain its nutrients from the sun properly, for more humus to build up in the soil to keep the land strong. No worries though, a seed company just went ahead and genetically modified seeds so that corn can be grown over and over again as long as they’ve got a steady supply of fertilizers and are kept safe by pesticides. Damn all those fossil fuels it takes to keep this part of the supply chain chugging along, damn the drinking water, damn those farmers who wanted to save their own seeds and farm traditionally (they faced lawsuits even if the genetically modified seed pollen blew onto their crops thus germinating them and making them property of the Monsanto Corporation). Granted the latter half of the damning was over soybeans, but they’re produced in just as much over abundance as corn, they just don’t bring in as much money.

So what else could we do with all that extra corn. I mean it’s not like we could take an animal whose body was never meant to eat and digest corn, whose role in the food chain involved digesting the grass that humans can’t (not until we all grow a rumen anyway) so that when we eat them we finally get those nutrients from the grass, who had a great part in naturally fertilizing land and restoring nutrients…I mean we couldn’t just feed it to that animal, right? Could we?

Of course we could. The appeal of corn-fed beef kind of seems less appealing when you realize that cows were never supposed to eat corn in the first place. It makes them sick. Here’s the upside though, it fattens them up quicker and makes for pretty marbling once they’ve been butchered so they only have to eat it for the better part of a year because they’re taken to slaughter at the age of 14 to 15 months rather than 3 or 4 or 5 years like they were when they grazed and ate grass. Oh plus, they don’t have it so bad, I mean they’re pumped full of antibiotics so they can survive the changes happening due to the completely unnatural change of diet. Them’s good eats. And people have the nerve to talk square about foie gras.

So then, before the cows there’s big piles of corn and all the fuel it takes to move them. Then there’s the cows it’s fed to who’re then made into hamburger meat and steaks for the supermarket and for the Applebee’s down in the shopping center and all the fuel it takes to move that around across the country. But hey, you can get a cheeseburger for $1 at the drive thru. As a result of this system of growing corn with fossil fuel, transporting it with fossil fuel, feeding it to cows who need antibiotics (some made with corn) just to eat it, transporting their meat with fossil fuel, etc, etc, that dollar burger actually comes at a pretty great expense, no?

Alright then, let’s wrangle this thing back in here so I can be on my way. What else can we do with the corn? Let’s use it in the beer. I mean corn liquor harkens back to great old-timey traditions, no? So why not put it in a manly beer, a beer that says “I am American” a beer with a taste as cold as a mountain (does that even makes sense? “Mmm my beer tastes as cold as a mountain range,”) a beer that can be made and sold cheaply and advertised to oblivion since people buy what they are told to buy. Corn in beer is more than just a junk ingredient going into a junk product. It’s a statement that the people who control huge sums of money (I won’t even try to tackle the political side of this corn thing) can alter the way the ground beneath us is used, alter the natural environment, diet, and quality of life of the better part of an entire species (wow, am I talking about the cows or the humans now?) and in some very distinct cases poison people (did I not mention E Coli is a major situation with these cows?) all in the name of Bigger, Faster, Cheaper.

I’m not up for that. I’m not too interested in it. Am I completely immune to it? No way. It’s bordering on impossible to cut industrial corn out of your life, however, I can make a lot of conscious decisions about who I look to when it’s time to fill my fridge. Forks Farm, Mountain View Poultry, Country Time Farm, and Backyard Bison all have amazing meats raised humanely and sell at my local farmer’s market. Birchrun Hills & Shellbark make great cheeses and Jack’s Farm, North Star Orchard, and Charlestown Farm also all sell at the market and some of these folks (many of them, and more) sell to my local natural foods grocer Kimberton Whole Foods. Some of them supply local restaurants like Alba. Other local farms will supply some up and coming bar/restaurants (more on that later) and the list of restaurants in the burbs and in the city utilizing the efforts of PASA and Buy Fresh, Buy Local are growing and growing.

The point of the story is that in some ways junk beer and junk groceries and junk habits of consuming low quality substitutes for great, fresh, local food products go hand in hand. It’s time to take ownership of this standard of quality that people hold dearly and will wax verbose about after a few tulips of big beer. Talk the talk, but finish the sentence. Walk the walk, but leave the trail in better shape than you found it. Drink good, eat good, buy good.

* http://www.bigboxtoolkit.com/images/pdf/Premium.pdf from http://www.newrules.org/retail/rules/economic-impact-review

** http://www.michaelpollan.com/article.php?id=10 Read more!

Have a few jars...

After a (okay I'm gonna keep in line with the title here) brilliant beer brunch at Teresa's Next Door yesterday - which saw friends, family, and a long standing Pennsylvania Restuarant Dude licking his plate clean - there's some serious beer to be had a TND right now. From New Holland the following are currently on tap:

2008 Black Tulip Tripel
2008 Night Tripper Imperial Stout
Poet Oatmeal Stout (On Cask)
Mad Hatter IPA
Charkoota Rye Smoked Doppelbock

Go in for a few jars mate. I've got to run to the Iron City for a couple days here so I'll have to see what's standing upon my return.

Also, gear up for more beer and chocolate action - come to Friendfest! Read more!

Of Ganache & Grain

Beer & Chocolate have been a major theme for me in February: a point of press, pairing, study, & enjoyment I've borrowed my Dad's sweet tooth for this whitewashed second month of ours. I've tasted through a grand amount of really great truffles, chocolates, caramels, & fruit pastes and had great beer to sip along with them every step of the way. At this point halfway through the month the result of some of these tastings have come to light, others have been training grounds or practice runs for the beer & chocolate that await later in the month. Here's the rundown:

Tasting Beer & Chocolate at Aux Petits Delices:
A morning of pairing hosted by Chef Patrick Gauthron and led by Matt Guyer for the always up for beer time local website AroundMainLine.com - check out the story HERE.

Friendfest's Elite Pairing Study:
Preparation (i.e. tasting, making notes, tasting again, making more notes) with the chocolates of Gail Ambrosius which will be paired with beer from New Holland Brewery at a special presentation during Friendfest at the Kutztown Fairgrounds in Kutztown, PA on 2/27. I'll be guiding the tasting session and speaking on both the chocolate and the beer. (Tickets available but moving quickly. Tickets for the Festival as well as tickets for the pairing available HERE.) To learn more about Friend Inc's community service efforts check out their website.

Savor 2009 Beer & Chocolate Salon:
So finally in preperation for Friendfest I've been listening to the Ambrosius Chocolate & New Holland Brewery beer and chocolate Salon from Savor 2009 courtesy of our friend Jeff Bearer at Craft Beer Radio. You can listen to the Salon HERE, and while you're on the site check out a few episodes of Craft Beer Radio. The Savor Salon was hosted by Gail Ambrosius & The Beervangelist, Fred Beultmann. Read more!

In betweener

A Valentine's related post is on it's way (well, as close as we get to Valentine's Day around here anyway), but til then read up on some winter beers since we are most certainly still in winter mode. Read more!

Linksalot

I am spending these snowy days trying to decide whether or not to unleash my always-curious-now-confirmed-nourished-and-ready-to-blow-in-a-fireball-of-hippie-protester-do gooder-i'm mad as hell and just can't take it anymore-look-craft-beer-drinker, "Your discerning palate can't stop at the beer fridge if you're going to talk trash on trash beer, because trash bread and trash beef and trash produce is the same trash" explosion-of-what-i've-been-planning-to-post kinda way. So for now I'm just gonna put up a whole bunch of links for you folks sitting at work or at home or on a bus and want to be entertained by the kinds of things I like or find entertaining or humorous. So enjoy.

Your pal,

Dr. Joel Linksalot

Food:
Scrapple was born where I live. And Phoodie is one of my all time favorite websites.

I'm knee deep (well considering it's February I guess I'm only ankle deep) into a project for the year. So I'm plugging my other blog. It's HERE.

Crif Dogs NYC - Haven't been, but fills a recurring theme in my life.

The Institute - They've got a new menu, ya know. Heather & Charlie are the Karl Malone / John Stockton of the Philly bar game.

Two Guys That I Absolutely Love .
Seriously, if you're squemish about seeing animals in that in between stage of alive and on your plate don't click the link in the period.

Entertainment:

One Man Dancing

My man Michael Pollan on Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me

Some of my favorite episodes of This American Life

The sketch that started it all.

Mr. Show

Ok, Let's Get Serious for a Few:

Talyor Mali

Saul Williams

"Hot As A Pistol"

Music (The MPC Edition):

Jel

Exile

Rootdown

Araab

The Thriller Routine

And Then Because . Read more!

Beer Dining At Tuskies

So the first full day on the road put me in the gentle hands of one of my favorite people to work with, Jon from Hop & Wine Beverage in Virginia. Hop & Wine distributes our beer to all of Virginia as well as DC and they do a mighty job of it. Working with Jon is always about more than just selling beer though, it's about the food. It's fitting that our final destination for the night was the Tuscarora Mill since we'd fattened ourselves with lunch there last summer (Read about it), but we had many things to see, do, and eat before we'd get there. A tasting at Red, White, & Bleu was in order for purposes of spreading my professional gospel. Last time I was in Falls Church the Stachowski meats were just starting to get out and about and this was where I'd learned about them (and tasted an amazing Duck Proscuitto). The charcuterie case was looking strong and Stachowski accounted for the vast majority. I need to ship some of this stuff back to PA soon or just end one of my trips in VA for a change so I can bring some of his amazing offerings home with me.

So after a bit of wheeling, dealing, peddling, tasting, and instigating we needed to eat some food. Now Jon has made sure I've been well fed in the past but on this day he, literally, looked me in the eye, thought for a second and said, "You're ready for Super Chicken."

Now I'm fired up. I'm going into the intersanctum of Local Gem Dining. The Northern VA/DC area has quite a bit of Peruvian Chicken stops: Crisp & Juicy, El Pollo Rico, Super Chicken, the list actually goes on and on. Jon assured me that Super Chicken was the one and only place I needed to be concerned about.

Peruvian Chicken is a preparation that employs a spice rub (cumin, paprika, and others) and rotisserie style cooking to produce a succulent and delicious chicken flanked by two sauces: Aji & Huancaina. To read up on read ups...click it.

As you stand in line and look at the clever quartering out delicious looking birds you stare right into the mouth of the spit....


As you move down and choose sides (Yucca, Plantains, salads, Peruvian style fried rice) you also choose your cut, pay up, and hope for a seat. I couldn't have been more excited to eat Super Chicken. I was starving, it had been built up so perfectly by Jon, and the whole joint smelled delicious.



Hot damn, was that good. I actually peeked back at my phone several times through the day at that picture wondering when I'd eat food as good again, not remembering it would be only a few hours until Jon & I were deep in the plates of fine food. Eventually we rounded out the sales day and fancied up for dinner. Tuscarora Mill, (as you've read from my link above) was a highlight meal of 2009 for me. From the day we were sitting at Tuskies for lunch I made it a point to get lined up with a beer dinner and just 6 months later the preparations had been made, the tickets sold, the tasting meeting held (that's a meeting I wish I was in town for), and the night had come. We had about 27 people for dinner, which isn't too shabby for a January night in my estimation. Chef Patrick Dinh took a multi-ethnic approach to the dinner menu and really knocked everyone's socks off. By the time he and his sous-chef came out to speak everyone was ready with a hearty round of applause.

So without further ado, a walk through Tuscarora Mill & New Holland Brewery's most recent beer dinner:


Thai Spiced Beef Jerky & Daikon Pickles with Full Circle Kolsch Style Ale


Moroccan Chicken On Cous Cous with Preserved Lemon & Olives with Golden Cap Saison


Spicy Caramel Pork On Sticky Rice with Cashews & Tangy Onions with Cabin Fever Brown Ale


Sesame Seared Lamb Loin On Crispy Noodle Cake with Napa Cabbage with Imperial Mad Hatter


Bourbon & Cola Braised Short Ribs with Smoked Coleslaw & German Potato Salad with Dragon's Milk


Banana Creme Pie with Macadamia Crust with 2006 & 2008 Vintages of Pilgrim's Dole Barrel Aged Wheat Wine

The food was incredible, the pairings were spot on, the beer was tasting wonderful. For night one of a two and a half week journey things were certainly getting off on the right food I'd say. More to follow, but enough for now. Read more!

Homeward Bound

This is what I did....


View Larger Map

And now I'm coming home to cool my heels before the next big run. I've got updates coming: A beer dinner recap, an easter egg to my new blog, some pictures of food in the form of a January highlight reel. Possible rambling about Giant Eagle Market District's complete owning of Wegman's in the chain grocer with everything (but competitive beer margins) to offer category, who even knows what else. Until then...tunes that got my through the miles:









Read more!

Beer Brunching with Teresa's Next Door

Just announced, just figured out, just causing my stomach to grumble in anticipation.

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 21st @ Teresa's Next Door in Wayne, PA

New Holland Beer Brunch

COURSE 1
Fruit Terrine & Black Tulip Sabayon served with Black Tulip Belgian Tripel

COURSE 2
Biscuits & Charkoota Rye Sausage Gravy served with Charkoota Rye Smoked Dopplebock

COURSE 3
Dragon's Milk Pastry served with Dragon's Milk

$25 / seat (price covers food & beer - reserve in advance)

All beers will be on tap in addition to Mad Hatter IPA and a cask conditioned version of the Poet Oatmeal Stout on the handpump. Get in touch with Teresa's to reserve your seat. Read more!

2009: The Year in Pictures

I did take a healthy amount of pictures in 2009, so here's what the year looked like for me. I didn't take nearly as many pictures as I should have, but this is a pretty good idea of what the year was like for me. First time on the West Coast, a day on the farm canning tomatoes, food, beer, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, DC, North Carolina, South Carolina, Kentucky, hiking, records, abandoned amusement park, hotels..........

to look at any picture a little bigger just click on it.























































































Read more!