Category Archives: Uncategorized

Globalization and the Homebrewer

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Like many craft beer aficionados, my love of craft beer is part of a broader attitude toward food.  Many of the adjectives I use to describe the creation of beers that I drink- craft, unique, small batch, fresh ingredients, real ingredients, minimal processing- can more broadly be applied to my attitude about eating and cooking.  I’m hardly alone: “Foodie” and “Beer Nerd” subcultures have populations that overlap quite a lot.

One feature of my Foodie-ness (and the Foodie-ness of many other Foodies that I know) is a concern with Local-ism (along with hyper-hyphen-ization).  Localism (the act of being a localvoire) shows up on my plate in two distinct ways.

First, I prefer, when possible, to eat food that was grown locally, made recently by someone who lives nearby, and sold by a company that is based in my part of the world.  Localism Rule #1 is to shop / eat / drink local.

Secondly, many Foodies’ Localism includes an interest in terroir, the idea that products, Continue reading →

Key West Beer Spots

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Key WestLike Miami, Key West has a bad reputation when it comes to beer.  However, we found it to be quite good in variety, selection, pricing, and overall enthusiasm.

It must first be said that there is no shortage of interesting, fun bars in Key West, but they do vary widely in terms of their beer esteem.  Traditaional on-Duval spots like Fat Tuesday and Cheeseburger in Paradise don’t offer much at all in the way of beer, but are  nonetheless worth checking out (it is Key West, after all).  Continue reading →

It’s not beer. It’s lager.

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Highland CowI have been a bad, bad blogger of late.  This is my first post in almost two months.  Forgiveness!  I have lots to talk about, especially our trip to England and Scotland earlier this month.  It will, I promise, be discussed at length over the next few posts.  To start with, here’s the story of one of the best beer quotes I’ve ever heard.

After checking into our sleeper berth on the overnight train from London to Aviemore, Scotland, we walked to the dining car.  I noticed several people around me drinking Stella, so I asked the waiter, “What beers do you have other than Stella?”  He replied firmly, “Stella’s not beer.  It’s lager.”

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