A surprise from my wonderful girlfriend, the Stone Smoked Porter is like a prize boxer made of naught but smoke – each sip is a smoky punch to the face, but the source of the punch is almost immediately out of reach. Your mouth briefly stings from the assault, but upon collecting yourself, you have to [...]
After a day of hard bouldering, nothing soothes quite like a frosted pint on the worn hands. I refuse to do anything until I’ve had a beer. Given that today was absolutely stunning in Blacksburg, and I try my best to climb when it’s stunning, it was no surprise to see me this evening in [...]
Blacksburg, VA, my current home for the past three and a half years, is frequently the dullest place on Earth. Paradoxically, I also feel sometimes as though my friends and I don’t share any hobbies or interest, and that, frankly, their hobbies are all boring. At times like this, I like to grab onto my [...]
Highland Brewing Co., out of Asheville, NC and thus fairly local, makes a number of beers that I would describe as “awesome”. One of my favorites is the Black Mocha Stout, according to their website “Highland’s most robust beer.” Year-round, but particularly in the winter when it’s chilly, I love drinking stouts. Rich, robust flavors [...]
Shortly after moving to Blacksburg, VA in 2007 for grad school, I began wrangling some close friends into going drinking with me every week. I called it Drinking Club, and used it as a vehicle for meeting new people; any person I met that I thought I might like was invited to Drinking Club. It [...]
After a long, boring day at the office, I frequently like to stop at one of the few bars in Blacksburg that I still enjoy, The Cellar. Besides being quite hip for the area AND having breathable air since the smoking ban, The Cellar also sports a fully decent beer list, particularly of bottles. And [...]
Dining with my girlfriend at iconic eatery Kuma’s Corner today on the north side of Chicago (home, incidentally, to one of the top 2 best burgers I’ve ever had, with Ray’s Hellburgers in Arlington, VA), I had occasion to try a Gumball Head by 3 floyds, a brewery in Indiana. The beer was very light [...]