Umami Mart

Bottling is the most painful and tedious task in the brewing process. The main benefit of kegging is that it is far less work than bottling. Several years ago, I got so sick of peeling labels off the bottles, sanitizing and cleaning them, filling them, and capping each one. It was at that point when […]

Can we just be lazy this month and have a low-key Umamiventure? YES! Let’s meet at The Trappist Belgian beer bar in downtown Oakland for their Taco Tuesday, next 7/13 at 7pm. Yes, SFers, I’m asking you to trek over the bridge. Deal with it. The Trappist is awesome. They have nearly 30 different beers […]

Summer is here! Not much goes better with the warm weather then a cold crisp refreshing beer. Each time this season comes around I get excited to brew some of the styles that help cut the heat. Lighter pale ales, Belgian whites, and blondes. To me, there has always been one style missing from this […]

Pliny the Elder (Gaius Plinius Secundus) was a Roman author and naturalist. He and his contemporaries are also known to have created the botanical name for hops. Because of this, Russian River Brewing Company of Santa Rosa, California made a beer in his honor and it is DELICIOUS. Pliny the Elder (the beer) is a […]

First of all, I have no issues with Idaho. Matter of fact, I have never even been to the state. However, if it were not for the hatred my friend Stanton developed for the state as he was stuck there for almost 2 years on a project, my first strong beer may not have been […]

Chicago loves Miller beer. Maybe it’s a Midwest thing (provenance Wisconsin), but seriously, it was everywhere. I saw people walking down the street with 12-packs, they were stocked in our hotel fridge, signs for them were plastered along the windows of every 7-Eleven, and people at bars simply yelled out to the bartender, “Gimme a […]

I love chicken livers, but battered in panko and fried???? HOLY HOTCAKES! I could not stop– I think I ate this entire plate all by my lonesome. No sharing, sorry! The nuttiness of the livers were totally enhanced by the hot crunch of the outer layer– that unmistakable flavor of fried food. Look at how […]

For me, days on the mountain become frequent this time of year, and aside from the snow, there is only one other thing that I expect to be present…  Lagunitas Brown Shugga’!!! Lagunitas brewery is located in Peteluma, CA and has a good variety of micro-brews to choose from.  If you live on the west […]

While he ate his sandwich and sipped his beer, a bit of conversation came back to him. Blaisedell, the poet, had said to him, “You love beer so much, I’ll bet someday you’ll go in and order a beer milk shake.” It was a simple piece of foolery but it had bothered Doc ever since. […]

Carefully observe this above photo. If you walked past this on your way home from work, how could you NOT go in? There is clearly a party explosion going on inside here, duh. Since I’m a sucker for a good party, a bunch of us gathered here at Schroeder’s in SF for their annual Oktoberfest […]