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Brewing

GRANDMA’S FURNICE

One thing I’m learning about brewing is that it requires a certain foresight that I lack. Basically I get an idea for what might taste good right then and decide to brew it. Easy enough. But what happens in the interim (namely 1-3 months of fermenting, dry hopping and bottle conditioning) tends to put my awesomely ...

THAT’S COLDBEER, ONE WORD

Some places have seasons. Central Texas has a phenomenon: a relentless, stultifying six month slog that someone named “summer” in a cruel act of understatement. The heat’s oppressiveness is matched only by it’s trollish cousin humidity and the two combine to create something a clever friend once described as ...

YES… BUT DOES YOUR PINT COME WITH BACON?

There are few great absolutes in life. The undeniable worth of a quality bar snack is one of them. A good bar snack is what you might call an intangible—it makes the beer taste better, the time spent seem more fulfilling and the shelled peanut appear to be something worth the effort of an oyster. And yet, I see them less ...

JIMMY’S CASCADIAN DARK ALE

I’ve long been a proponent of eating seasonally. Tasty new green things like asparagus and favas are tastier in the spring. Roasty, braisey braised things are roastier and braisier and more satisfying when it’s cold out. Apples and pecans married with pungent cheeses and served beside this year’s gift of  Bambi or ...

THE TWO BEER LUNCH, AND A NEW BEER WORTHY OF ONE

I remember as a kid running down the stairs to the basement fridge to grab my dad a beer when he got home from work, while he told my mother about his day at the office. It was a regular routine and a very good one: he got home, we got to say hello and feel like a good Samaritan, delivering Dad a treat. In turn he got a few ...