DRINK WITH THE WENCH PRESENTS:

The Beer Blogger Interview Series

Curious what goes on in the minds of your favorite beer bloggers? Well, The Beer Wench is and she has embarked upon a mission to interview as many beer bloggers that she can — from all over the world. Are you a beer blogger? Do you want to share your story? Send me an email!

INTRODUCING: STEVIE CALDAROLA

AUTHOR OF: BASICALLY RED

FOUNDER OF: LADIES OF CRAFT BEER

Beer Blogger Interview

Full name: Stevie Caldarola
Twitter handle: @BasicallyRed & @LadiesOCB
Name of blog: Now that the Ladies of Craft Beer site is up, BasicallyRed: To Be Read, Basically, my old blog, will be folding into the BasicallyRed tab there as a “From the Editor” column of sorts.  I also write for Mutineer Magazine’s blog.
Current location: New York, NY

Background “Snapshot”

1. Where did you grow up?
   St. James, Long Island, NY
2. What sports if any did you play growing up, through college and beyond?
   I’ve always been a pretty active girl- growing up I went to a dance school where I took tap, jazz, ballet, hip hop, lyrical, etc.  In middle school and high school I played volleyball.  At college, I became a member of the hip hop squad and the step team.  After college I went back to volleyball, playing on recreational indoor and outdoor leagues.  Recently, I have both played and refereed flag football for the New York City Social Sports, a great and fun organization where you play sports and then the teams go to the bar afterwards to socialize and meet each other.  NYCSSC just started volleyball as well so that could be trouble!
3. How old were you when you had your first beer?
   That depends on what qualifies as my first “beer”… I had my first ever Budweiser at 20.  My first ever craft beer experience was at age 24.
4. If you can recall, what is the story of your first beer? Where did you have it? What style and brand was it?
   I’ll go with my first craft beer, since that’s what I really remember.  The guy I was dating at the time brought me to his local bar and convinced me to give beer a second chance (I was refusing to drink beer at the time since I hated the “taste” of Budweiser and thought all beer tasted that way.)  He bought me a pint of Magic Hat Number 9.
5. Where, if applicable, did you go to college? What did you study? What additional activities, organizations, sports did you partake in during college?
   My undergrad college was Adelphi University, where I received a BFA in Theater Design/ Technology with a focus in Lighting Design.  I also minored in Photography and was a part of the Honor’s College.  While Theater and work took up most of my time, I was a part of the hip hop squad and step team.

Craft Beer Epiphany

Every craft beer enthusiast has at least one pinnacle craft beer experience that completely changes ones perspective on beer. I refer to this mind-blowing moment as a “craft beer epiphany.”

What was your first craft beer epiphany? Recall as many details about it as you can:

My first real craft beer epiphany was at a beer tasting at a place in New York City called the Village Pourhouse.  The class was focused around Sierra Nevada Brewing Company and included a sampling of six brews by them.  The last brew that we tasted was the newly released Torpedo Extra IPA- I had never had such a hoppy beer before, and it was love at first sip.

I have had so many craft beer epiphanies in the past year that I would spend an entire year describing them all to you.  I almost feel that every time I take a sip of a new beer, I have an epiphany, whether good or bad, big or small.  That’s what I love about craft beer- I’m always learning- always trying new things.

Beer Blog Background

1. How long have you been writing your beer blog?
   Since late February of this year
2. What inspired you to start writing your blog?
   I’ve had a blog for about a year now, but could never really figure out a niche that I was passionate about and could write about.  I tried many different topics but nothing seemed to fit right.  After my “craft beer epiphany” I started to chat about beer more on Twitter and somehow found this beer voice on there called “Hoptopia”.  Upon asking Lee some questions and having random chats about beer, as well as checking out his site and some other beer blogs, I decided to give beer blogging a try.  The rest, as they say, is history…
3. Why did you chose the name of your blog?
   It was actually a pre-existing name.  I used to say “basically” a lot and I have red hair.  My dad has always called me “Red”.  It just seemed to fit and show my personality as well as be a cute little play on words.  People probably don’t know this, but the by-line of my blog used to read, “I’m just a girl spouting my truths”, but I changed it to the current line “I’m just a girl tapping my truths” to make it more beer appropriate- you be the judge!
4. What are you personal goals for your blog? What do you hope to achieve with it?
   My personal goal for the blog is to write what I feel and love what I write. I want to be able to inspire people to talk about craft beer the way I was inspired. The point of what I am doing is to write about beer in a style that is easy for readers to understand and relate to- it is why I often compare beers to easily accessible and popular foods. One reader sees that 21st Amendment’s Monk’s Blood tastes like Black and White Cookies and absolutely has to try it, even though he has previously sworn off beer because he hates the way that fizzy, yellow beer tastes. Said reader tries the craft beer, loves it, and then moves on to another craft brew. He is hooked, and tells all of his friends. The result is spreading the word about this amazing and delicious liquid. I’m of the mindset that beer is a social advocate for us, seeing as how it is often a helpful medium for loosening up and enjoying social situations. Why shouldn’t we be social advocates for it?The Ladies of Craft Beer site is another example of a forum to advocate craft beer. The site is dedicated to women teaching other women about the wonders of craft beer, however, men who support our cause are more than able to come along for the ride. The site is just about to launch with 11 contributors not including myself. These women are shining examples of craft beer advocates and stellar women in general. I cannot wait to see what we can achieve!
5. What is one of the coolest things that happened to you as a result of being a beer blogger?

Writing for Mutineer Magazine has been pretty rocking- it’s a great group of people with a lot of really informative and interesting things to say.  I’m a fan of wine and coffee too, so I love to read all of the articles.  I feel like I’m becoming a wealth of knowledge on all things liquid!

The coolest thing that has happened to me as an offshoot of being a beer blogger was the opportunity for me to start a beer advocate group called the Ladies of Craft Beer, which is a national group of women who are dedicated to educating other women on the world of craft beer (and the group that inspired the above website I was speaking about). The really exciting thing about this group is the amount of support we have received- since April alone we have gathered about 1,425 followers on Twitter and 1,135 people have liked us on Facebook. Women are definitely under-represented in craft beer, mostly due to the misconceptions that are out there about beer. What women don’t understand are the many various tastes and styles out there in craft beer land, and at least one is bound to fit your liking. On our sites, we encourage women to talk about beer and ask each other questions while also putting together beer meetups and events for tastings and social fun. It really is a great tool and I’m hoping it will expand even further with our new magazine-style website.

We also have set up our launch event during the Great American Beer Festival. It is called the Beer for Boobs Brunch and it will be held at the newly opened Freshcraft Restaurant and craft beer bar four blocks from the convention on Friday morning from 10:30 AM – 12:30 PM. Tickets are $20 (they include a full buffet style brunch) and half of the ticket price will go to breast cancer awareness. There will also be discounted pints (proceeds of which will go to breast cancer charities as well) and raffles for brewery swag. We’re 82% sold currently and the group of attendees consists of many great faces in the craft beer industry- this mix and mingle event is not something to miss! It’s so amazing to see how much the craft beer world is not only willing to, but WANTS to give back to the community and support causes. Beer people definitely are good people.

6. What are you top 3 favorite beer blogs/beer websites?
   Beernews.org is a great resource for the newest craft beer happenings. Hoptopia.com started it all for me and is a growing quick reference review site that is user friendly and super informative (plus he’s got great IPhone and Droid apps which are handy when you’re trying to pick a brew at the bar!)  New Brew Thursday and HopCast’s sites are tied for third- both of their webcasts are fun to watch and chock full of information.

Beer Talk

1. What are your top 3 favorite beer styles?
   Rauchbiers have recently become my number one- there’s something about that super smoky, burnt flavor that I love.  Thick Russian Imperial Stouts are a close second, as I’m a huge fan of the sweeter, heavier beer.  The newly emerging American-style India Black Ales are also a favorite- I’m loving the mixture of extreme hops and darker malts.
2. What are your top 3 favorite breweries?
   Dogfish Head for their flavor experimentation; Cigar City for their crazy cedar-aged series, which I have yet to try but think may be the coolest thing on the face of the planet (I love cigars, in case you couldn’t tell); and BrewDog for their fun approach to beer and super silly beer videos (plus, James is wicked cute!).
3. If you could work with or for any one brewery, which one would it be and why?
   This is a hard question because I think I’d work for and with ANY craft brewery if I had the chance (and someday I want to start my own!)  If I had to pick one, however, I’d say Dogfish Head, because I’d love to pick Sam Calagione’s brain.
4. Are you a homebrewer? If yes, what is the most unique and interesting beer recipes you’ve brewed as a homebrewer?
   I am now a homebrewer as of two weekends ago!  It was such an exciting and frustrating day, my first brew day, where I brewed a Belgian-style Black IPA.  (“Why not?” I said.  “Go big or go home”.)  I’m calling it “Pain in the BIPA” and so far, it smells delicious.  How it tastes, on the other hand, is yet to be determined…
5. Do you have any beer certifications (BJCP, Cicerone, Siebel, American Brewers Guild)?? If so, what are they?
   I do not have any certifications yet, but have been slowly learning about BJCP and Cicerone.  I have a feeling that those certifications may be sought after in my very near future.
6. What is your favorite beer and food pairing?
   I’m not stellar at pairing food and beer, but I’d probably say that my favorite so far is a really good homemade veggie burger (usually spicy and peppery) with an IPA with a little bit of malty sweetness, such as Union Jack by Firestone Walker.  I’m getting more into cheese lately, though, and nothing beats a good crystallized cheese (i.e. aged Parmesean) with a robust rauchbier or imperial stout.

The Personal Side

1. What is your current day job?
   Sales
2. If you could change your career at this very moment, without any restrictions on what you could do, what would you want to do and why?
   I want to work for a brewery and learn to brew on a commercial scale so that I could eventually open my own brewery/brewpub.
3. Are you married? Children?
   Not yet, but I am a very lucky lady with a great man in my life.
4. Outside of beer and writing, what are some of your other hobbies?
   Craft beer has, luckily, taken over all of my spare time.  I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Off The Beaten Path

1. If you were a style of beer, what style would be an why?
   I would be a Black IPA (sorry, American-style India Black Ale), because I like to incorporate a little bit of everything but still have my own flavor and style.
2. You were caught smuggling beer illegally, which has now been made punishable by death. Right before you are sent to the executioner, you are offered one last beer. What beer would you chose and why?
   Oh man- that’s a toughy.  Probably Goose Island’s Bourbon County Coffee Stout because it is decadent and delicious and at 13% ABV, one 22oz bottle makes you feel better, no matter what…
3. If I contracted you to brew a beer (or design a beer recipe) called “The Beer Wench” — what style would you chose and what, if any, extra ingredients would you add?
   Bacon, bacon and bacon!  You and I are bacon-loving sisters, and I love that, so I would pay tribute to you with a bacon beer- I wonder how bacon would go with hops…
4. If you could be a superhero, what would you want your superpowers to be?
   I would want to be a comic book character like Scott Pilgrim.  If you haven’t seen that movie yet- go see it now.  However, I’m pretty happy with how my life is right now without super powers, but there certainly are some days where I wish I was a comic book character who could just punch someone out and have one of those fun looking sound word bubbles come out… “BAM!”  “BIFF!”  That would make me feel better two-fold!
5. What is one of the craziest things you have ever done and lived to tell the story?
   If I told you, then I’d have to kill you…
6. What are your thoughts on bacon?
   Yes, please!

SPECIAL THANKS TO STEVIE FOR AN AWESOME INTERVIEW!

CHEERS!

DRINK WITH THE WENCH PRESENTS:

The Beer Blogger Interview Series

Curious what goes on in the minds of your favorite beer bloggers? Well, The Beer Wench is and she has embarked upon a mission to interview as many beer bloggers that she can — from all over the world. Are you a beer blogger? Do you want to share your story? Send me an email!

INTRODUCING: KEVIN SMITH

AUTHOR OF: THE AMBER AGE

Beer Blogger Interview

Full name: Kevin Smith
Twitter handle: @kmjsmith
Name of blog: The Amber Age
Current location: Brunswick, MD – a small town on the western border of the state, approximately an hour from Baltimore and DC.

Background “Snapshot”

1. Where did you grow up?

Pretty much just outside of Boston and NYC.

2. What sports if any did you play growing up, through college and beyond? Wow…How much space do you have?

I played little league baseball and soccer as a kid and again in college, ran track, played football (HS, flag, semi-pro), street hockey, martial arts (Kung-Fu and Karate), and more recently – Australian football.

3. How old were you when you had your first beer?

14, maybe 15.

4. If you can recall, what is the story of your first beer? Where did you have it? What style and brand was it?

My dad came from an Irish household (my grandmother was off the boat) and sat me down around then (14ish), told me he was fine with me drinking at the table at that age as he did it, just not to do abuse the privilege. I don’t remember particulars beyond that it was at the dinner table and it was whatever my dad had on hand at the time. It might actually have been Bass.

5. Where, if applicable, did you go to college? What did you study? What additional activities, organizations, sports did you partake in during college?

I attended Emerson College in Boston where I graduated with a degree in writing with a film minor. I was a sportscaster for the AM radio station, president of the Oral Interpretation Society, a member of Hands-On (sign language society), was a contestant in the Baked Bean Pot at Nick’s Comedy Stop (stand-up comedy competition pitting students from the local colleges against each other), was a teacher at the Boston Kung-Fu Tai-Chi Club, and played for the school’s baseball and soccer teams.

Craft Beer Epiphany

Every craft beer enthusiast has at least one pinnacle craft beer experience that completely changes ones perspective on beer. I refer to this mind-blowing moment as a “craft beer epiphany.”

1. What was your first craft beer epiphany? Recall as many details about it as you can:

So…I think my craft beer epiphany worked in reverse. As I mentioned, when I was in HS, I was drinking Bass, and very likely Sam Adams and Catamount beers at the dinner table. I would go to parties and I ended up drinking a lot of hard alcohol because I felt that the beer I was getting at the parties was undrinkable. I realized at a very early age that the Macros were not for me.

2. Have you have additional craft beer epiphanies since the first? Detail as many of them as you wish:

Well, when I went away to college, I became a bigger beer drinker – primarily Guinness and Newcastle Brown, but quickly found Harpoon’s IPA. It was a thing of beauty. I would buy a six pack and a pack of Double-stuffs, sit down at the typewriter, and crank out my school assignments. The bitterness of the hops balanced nicely with the sweetness of the Oreos. I might not think that if I did it now, but it was something I liked to do then.

I think it was also around then that I first discovered both beer bars (the sorts that would have over 100 selections from around the world), and brew pubs. I used to go to the Sunset Grille in the Allston neighborhood of Boston. A ton of taps, almost all crafts or imports, or I would hit The Boston Beer Works – one of the city’s brew pubs.

One of my goals now is to try a craft beer from every state. I haven’t yet put together the definitive list, but I know that I have had beers from HI, CA, OR, WA, ME, NH, VT, MA, RI, CT, MA, NY, PA, NJ, DE, MD, VA, WV, NC, LA, TX, CO, OH, IL, GA, UT, NV. I have to go back through notes and make sure, but those are the ones I’m pretty certain are already on the list.

Beer Blog Background

1. How long have you been writing your beer blog?

I had an aborted attempt at group blog a little while ago. The Amber Age was launched a little less than a month ago.

What inspired you to start writing your blog? For the last three years I have covered the Maryland brewing industry for the Mid-Atlantic Brewing News – you might be familiar with the Southwest Brewing News. We’re under the same publisher. Anyway, the paper comes out once every two months. As such, there are things that just don’t fit the editorial calendar and get nixed. Sometimes those things can be pretty important. I wanted to make sure that those things got covered.

At the same time, I wanted to address other areas of the country, and really reach out to the beer lover everywhere. In spite of being a two-and-a-half person operation (my wife is the Web master and primary photographer, and my sister-in-law will be an occasional contributor), I am working very hard to present what I have as more of an on-line magazine than blog, but I recognize that it’s still a blog. The site is not yet complete, but it is getting there.

2. Why did you chose the name of your blog?

It’s a play on The Golden Age. As a matter of fact, my current article there discusses this very question. Boiled down, I feel as though we are in a Golden (or Amber) Age of brewing. When I first started drinking beer, it was less than a decade after Albion brewed their first batch of craft beer in Sonoma.

Selection was still pretty limited. Now I can walk into my local liquor store and have a selection of quality beers from just about any state, and I wanted a name that reflected that.

3. What are you personal goals for your blog? What do you hope to achieve with it?

Honestly? I’d like it to be a destination for people looking for intelligent commentary on the brewing industry, and at the same time, I do hope it turns into a money maker.

4. What is one of the coolest things that happened to you as a result of being a beer blogger?

Well – just being a beer writer, there have been several things that have been happy benefits – I haven’t paid to attend a beer festival in over three years, I get to be the “celebrity” judge at homebrew competitions, I have developed some remarkable relationships with the Maryland brewing community – some really great people, but I really love the free beer.

One day earlier this year a package showed up for me from Oregon. Couldn’t figure out what it could possibly be. Opened it up and it was four bottles of Long Board Lager. Now, admittedly, it’s not a beer I am thrilled by, but it was nice, as a member of the brewing press, that Kona Brewing’s new marketing company would send that out ahead of their East Coast roll out.

More recently, I was at Flying Dog’s facility to discuss with their queen of marketing an article I’m working on for Maryland Life Magazine regarding the brewery. We discussed the article over some Raging Bitch – the as yet unreleased 20th Anniversary Ale – a Belgian IPA. It’s always cool to be out ahead of some of these things. I’m in talks right now with a brewer who’s projecting an early 2011 opening.

5. What are you top 3 favorite beer blogs/beer websites?

Not including yours – I like Flying Dog’s whole family of Web sites. They’re fun, informative, and as the single biggest brewery in my Brewing News territory, a must read for me. I try to keep up with the news at AHA’s site (for the neophytes reading your site – NOT the 1980′s pop artists), and I often visit the Brewers Association of Maryland’s site – although I feel like they need to do a better job of keeping that last one updated.

Beer Talk

1. What are your top 3 favorite beer styles?

Love me a good IPA. A proper Irish Stout. I’m talking like Guinness, or Murphy’s or Beamish. Few Americans get stout right. A really good Marzen can be genius, but few approach that level with that style.

2. What are your top 3 favorite breweries?

Without thinking about it too much, and in no particular order – Flying Dog, Stone, Harpoon. If I thought about it, I would be banging my head on the keyboard as one brewery knocked the next out of my list, and so on and so forth.

3. If you could work with or for any one brewery, which one would it be and why?

There are two that come to mind immediately – Harpoon and Flying Dog. Harpoon mostly because for close to half my life I called Boston home, would love to move back, and it would be a product with which I know I would be proud to have my name associated. As for Flying Dog, I’ve actually been trying to get my foot in the door there for a little over two years. I know many of the people, the brewery is nearby, and not only do they make a damn fine product, but they throw one hell of a bash every September – GonzoFest. How can you not like that.

4. Are you a homebrewer? If yes, what is the most unique and interesting beer recipes you’ve brewed as a homebrewer?

I do homebrew, but I am not what one would call prolific with it. I brew approximately once per year. The last beer that I did was an Australian sparkling ale. I was unable to land about a third of the ingredients so I had to substitute a lot and hope the beer came out. It was okay after the initial bottle aging, but the one bottle that I aged for eight months was really nice. That’s probably the most unusual one that I have done.

5. Do you have any beer certifications (BJCP, Cicerone, Siebel, American Brewers Guild)?? If so, what are they?

Nope.

6. What is your favorite beer and food pairing?

I’m not sure that I have a specific one, but these are some of the better ones that I have found-Raging Bitch with turkey chili. The flavors of the beer balanced nicely with the heat from the jalapenos. Sam Adams Holiday Porter with espresso fudge. Not even a fan of the beer, but the pairing was absolutely genius. Ellicott Mills (a brew pub just outside of Baltimore) does a Dunkel that’s wonderful with their alligator etouffee.

The Personal Side

1. What is your current day job?

Freelance writer/Maryland beer guy for the Mid-Atlantic Brewing News.

2. If you could change your career at this very moment, without any restrictions on what you could do, what would you want to do and why?

Cartoonist. Would utilize one of my other talents – which will be on display soon in the Brew-ha-ha section of The Amber Age. I love drawing. Very influenced by people like Gary Larson and Charles Addams.

3. Are you married? Children?

Yes, and only when hungry. Sorry. Two daughters – 2 and 7 years old.

4. Outside of beer and writing, what are some of your other hobbies?

The above noted art (I’m currently illustrating a children’s book largely written by my seven year old). I just completed my eleventh season of playing Australian football, have been involved in martial arts for almost 30 years, and am an avid reader.

Off The Beaten Path

1. If you were a style of beer, what style would be an why?

Stout. I’m 5’6″ and 185 pounds – and I can still run a mile in about 6:30. Do the math – it’s as much a physical description of me as anything else. And please, no jokes about my creamy head.

2. You were caught smuggling beer illegally, which has now been made punishable by death. Right before you are sent to the executioner, you are offered one last beer. What beer would you chose and why?

Flying Dog’s Gonzo Imperial Porter from a nitrous tap. There have been roughly four, maybe five porters that I have truly loved – for the most part it’s a style I feel breeds a lot of mediocrity. But I think there’s a beautiful balance between the malt and the hops in that beer. It’s one of the handful of beers that I would refer to as a perfect beer. And I would die happily with that as the last taste in my mouth.

3. If I contracted you to brew a beer (or design a beer recipe) called “The Beer Wench” — what style would you chose and what, if any, extra ingredients would you add?

Hmm…maybe a Belgian..something smooth, maybe a little fruity…a dry lambic? No…I think I would go with a nice barley wine. Nothing fancy, nothing extra – just something smooth, and tasty, that just keeps getting better as it ages. The Beer Wench Barley Wine…it even as some nice alliteration to it.

4. If you could be a superhero, what would you want your superpowers to be?

Definitely not one of the lame ones. Maybe something cool, like being able to find quality craft brew nearby no matter what the odds. Instead of spider senses, I’ll have craft brew senses…I sense a Longtrail Ale in that fridge, or we are a quarter of a mile from where we can pick up some Stone IPA.

5. What is one of the craziest things you have ever done and lived to tell the story?

I don’t remember how I got there, but I woke up naked at the base of the statue of Horace Greeley in Chappaqua NY back in college. Had to walk five miles home like that.

6. What are your thoughts on bacon?

Ah bacon-the perfect food. Ambrosia of the Gods. How is it pig has bestowed upon us such a gift? What other food is just as good on a sandwich as it is a salad, and can be served at any meal of the day? Wonderful for breakfast, but maybe even better, nay, sublime, wrapped around a sea scallop with a maple glaze. ‘Tis a most marvelous thing.

SPECIAL THANKS TO KEVIN FOR HIS AWESOME INTERVIEW!

CHEERS!

DRINK WITH THE WENCH PRESENTS:

The Beer Blogger Interview Series

Curious what goes on in the minds of your favorite beer bloggers? Well, The Beer Wench is and she has embarked upon a mission to interview as many beer bloggers that she can — from all over the world. Are you a beer blogger? Do you want to share your story? Send me an email!

INTRODUCING: MICHAEL AGNEW

AUTHOR OF: A PERECT PINT

Full Name: Michael D Agnew
Twitter Handle: @aperfectpint
Name of Blog: A Perfect Pint
Current Location: Minneapolis, MN

Background Snapshot

1. Where did you grow up?

I grew up in St. Louis, Missouri, home of Anheuser-Busch. I learned to love the smell of a brewery from a very young age.

2. What sports if any did you play growing up, through college and beyond?

I played little league soccer for two years in elementary school. That was a mistake. I was not an athletic child. More of a geek.

3. How old were you when you had your first beer?

Do you mean my first whole beer or my first tastes of beer? The first tastes are more important to me than the first beer. In fact, I don’t even really remember when I had my first full beer. For the first tastes though, I was but a tiny lad – maybe four or five.

4. If you can recall, what is the story of your first beer? Where did you have it? What style and brand was it?

My dad would give me sips from his can of Hanley Lager as he worked in the yard or sat in his chair after work. I loved it. I do remember my first full beer with family. It was thanksgiving. I was in high school. I looked around at a certain point and realized that I was the only sober person in the room. My grandmother offered me a beer. I accepted.

5. Where, if applicable, did you go to college? What did you study? What additional activities, organizations, sports did you partake in during college?

I went to Webster University in St. Louis. I studied Acting and Directing for theatre. The theatre program I was in was an undergraduate conservatory program. It was very intensive. There was no time for other activities. Webster had no Greek organizations. Webster had no sports program until I think my junior year. But it didn’t matter. I still was not an athletic person. I was on the Bored Board for a few weeks. We planned parties.

Craft Beer Epiphany

Every craft beer enthusiast has at least one pinnacle craft beer experience that completely changes ones perspective on beer. I refer to this mind-blowing moment as a “craft beer epiphany.”

1. What was your first craft beer epiphany? Recall as many details about it as you can:

You know, I have always liked good beer. In high school we would try to get the “good stuff” which meant St. Pauli Girl or Lowenbrau. But growing up in St. Louis, a lot of Bud was consumed. I spent a year in Germany right after high school and drank a lot of great beer, but I can’t say there was really an epiphany moment for me there. It just all seemed really strong. And I thought that Hefeweizen tasted like battery acid.

The first real epiphany was probably in college. This was the early 80s. The craft beer revolution had not yet happened, especially in St. Louis. For a brief time the liquor store down the street from the dorm had McEwan’s Edinburgh Ale.  I believe this was a strong scotch ale. Dark, sweet, rich, full of flavor.

It was our go-to beer if we were feeling a bit wealthy. We adored it. We drank it whenever we could afford it. It gave me a taste for what beer could be. Then after a couple months it was gone, replaced by McEwan’s Scotch Ale. We tried this and it wasn’t at all the same beer. I have never seen the Edinburgh Ale again. Internet searches for it turn up nothing. It’s a mystery. I would love to try it again. Anybody out there know anything about it?

2. Have you have additional craft beer epiphanies since the first? Detail as many of them as you wish:

The next craft beer epiphany has to be when Sierra Nevada Pale Ale and Anchor Steam first hit the bars in St. Louis. I believe I was already out of college. This would have been the mid to late 80s. To an, at the time, satisfied Bud drinker, these were some big and flavorful beer. They became the thing I would drink if I wanted something special or wanted to impress someone. My interest grew from there.

The third epiphany was my introduction to sour beers. The first one was New Belgium LaFolie that I had on a brewery tour. I had never had anything like it. It was odd and stinky and sour…and I knew I wanted more. The next was Duchesse du Bourgogne at a BJCP class. This was one of the first beers of sour beer night. My response to the first sip was, “Oh…this is delightful.”

The last epiphany happened two years ago at a friend’s house. We were brewing and he had invited some friends over. We purchased a few beers to sample as the night progressed and I found myself teaching the others about all the beers we were drinking. The next morning my friend’s wife said to me, “You know a lot. You should do something with that.” I went home, wrote a business plan, started A Perfect Pint to do beer tasting events, became a Certified Cicerone (trademark), and the rest is history.

Beer Blog History

1. How long have you been writing your beer blog?

I published my first post on December 19, 2008. Just about a year.

2. What inspired you to start writing your blog?

I had started A Perfect Pint, my beer tasting and beer consulting business, about a year earlier. It was starting to get going and I saw blogging as an extension of the beer education mission as well as a way to promote the business.

3. Why did you chose the name of your blog?

I called the blog A Perfect Pint because that was the name of my company.

4. What are you personal goals for your blog? What do you hope to achieve with it?

I guess my goals for the blog are pretty much the same as when I started it; educate people about beer and promote my business.

5. What is one of the coolest things that happened to you as a result of being a beer blogger?

I get free beer on occasion.

6. What are you top 3 favorite beer blogs/beer websites?

I don’t really read that many beer blogs. I like The Zythophile. The person who writes it gets pretty geeky sometimes and has this kind of nerdy “I know more than you, you blithering idiot” attitude when other bloggers get their facts wrong. I kind of find that amusing. I look at MNbeer.com pretty much every day. It’s a local site that lists all the beer goings on in the Twin Cities. I have been enjoying reading the posts at the Hop Press. Otherwise I sometimes look at Andy Crouch, Pete Brown, or Stephen Beaumont.

Beer Talk

1. Top Three Favorite Beer Styles are:

#1 – Best Bitter, #2 – Flanders Red Ale, #3 – Saison. Of course this answer will likely change if I answer it again tomorrow.

2. Top Three Favorite Breweries are:

#1 – Jolly Pumpkin, #2 – New Glarus, #3 – Founders Brewing Co. Of course this answer will likely change if I answer it again tomorrow.

3. If you could work with or for any one brewery, which one would it be and why?

I would probably want to work for New Glarus. They do everything and they do everything very well. I like that they want to remain a small regional brewery. I have heard Daniel Carey talk and think that he sounds smart. He would be interesting to work for/with.

4. Are you a homebrewer? If yes, what is the most unique and interesting beer recipes you’ve brewed as a homebrewer?

I am a homebrewer. I have been brewing since 2003. I think the most unique brew I have made remains one of my best, a gigantic Cherry Imperial Stout with Brettanomyces. The starting gravity was 1.093 and it ended at 1.008 when I bottled it. I made it three years ago. I still have a few bottles in the basement. It just keeps getting better. This summer I made an all brett beer that is fantastic. Rhubarb wheat was also good. Had one of those for dinner tonight.

5. Do you have any beer certifications (BJCP, Cicerone, Siebel, American Brewers Guild)??

I am a Certified Cicerone™ with the Cicerone Certification Program and a National level BJCP judge. Going for Master in both. May take a bit of time to get there.

6. What is your favorite beer and food pairing?

I don’t think I have a “favorite” beer/food pairing. I recently taught a holiday beers class at a cooking school in Minneapolis with a chef. He made beer braised short ribs with a charred tomato BBQ sauce. I paired it with (and he cooked it with) St. Bernardus Christmas Ale. It was fantastic. I once paired Ommegang Biere de Mars with Cereta Alt Urgell washed-rind soft cured cheese. Really stinky stuff. That was also nice.

The Personal Side

1. What is your current day job?

I am self employed and basically do three things:

A) For my main gig I own a theatre company called GTC Dramatic Dialogues. We do interactive, issue-based performances on college campuses across the country. We do three different shows on diversity issues, sexual assault, and substance abuse. (Yes, I am a beer evangelist and a substance abuse educator. The irony of that is not lost on me.) For these shows I am the host/moderator. I lead discussions between the audience and the actors who stay in character. You can see video of the shows here.

B) I do theatre in corrections projects where I work with prison inmates and ex-offenders to create original theatre performances based on their own stories. Read about one of those projects here.

C) Finally, I own A Perfect Pint (it had to get back to beer sometime). With this company I do beer tasting experiences for private parties and corporate events. Most of my clientele are not beer geeks. I am evangelizing to the un-anointed about good beer.

2. If you could change your career at this very moment, without any restrictions on what you could do, what would you want to do and why?

I don’t think I would want to change my career. I love what I do. All of it.

3. Are you married? Children?

I am not married in the legal sense. I have been living with the same woman for going on twenty years. We have no children nor do we intend to have any children. I’ll enjoy my nieces and nephews.

4. Outside of beer and writing, what are some of your other hobbies?

I love to go hiking, camping, and backpacking. Southern Utah is the most beautiful place on earth.

Off the Beaten Path

1. If you were a style of beer, what style would be and why?

Right now I think I’m an American Brown Ale. Understated but not lacking in flavor. Sweet, but with an underlying bitterness. Darkly opaque unless you hold it up to a light. A bit toasty.

2. You were caught smuggling beer illegally, which has now been made punishable by death. Right before you are sent to the executioner, you are offered one last beer. What beer would you chose and why?

Right now I would choose Ommegang Rouge. Why? Because DAMN! It’s so good. I drank a ton of it while it was available here in the Twin Cities. Now it’s gone. I would drink a ton more of it if I could.

3. If I contracted you to brew a beer (or design a beer recipe) called “The Beer Wench” — what style would you chose and what, if any, extra ingredients would you add?

I don’t really know you, but my impression is that it would need to be something big, brash, and bold. Maybe a DIPA with loads of grapefruity Centennial hop and a bit of acetobacter and brett for a sour tang.

4. If you could be a superhero, what would you want your superpowers to be?

Fly. I have always wanted to fly. As a kid I was deathly afraid of heights. Not because I was afraid I would fall, but because I was afraid I would jump.

5. What is one of the craziest things you have ever done and lived to tell the story?

I became impromptu security at a punk rock show in Germany. I got to toss the skinheads from the stage. As an American in Germany, the skinheads didn’t like me, and I didn’t especially care for them either. It was a lot of fun. I’ve done some other stuff too, but I wouldn’t put it in print on the internet.

6. What are your thoughts on bacon?

A slice of bacon explosion makes a great burger topper.

SPECIAL THANKS TO MICHAEL FOR AN AWESOME INTERVIEW!

CHEERS!!

Truth be told, I have some sweet skills in the kitchen. Typically, I prefer cooking over baking. But every now and then, I do get the urge to throw something in the oven. Which can be very dangerous for all arteries involved.

Today is Christmas. And although I do not “really” celebrate the holiday, Christmas is a day of the year when I crave lots of fattening foods, candy and decadent desserts.

This afternoon, I got the urge to bake brownies. But not any old brownies. I got the craving for bacon brownies.

Naturally, I had to find some sort of way to incorporate beer into the recipe. So I started doing some research on the Internet.

Two of my greatest beer writing mentors, Lucy Saunders and Stephen Beaumont, have written amazing cookbooks with recipes that use beer as an ingredient.

For her book, The Best of American Beer & Food, Lucy Saunders created a fantastic recipe for Fudge Stout Brownies. Lucy’s recipe calls for coffee stout, bourbon, lots of chocolate and chopped nuts. Although I’m sure the recipe is easy to replicate, I did not have the required ingredients on hand. And being Christmas, all the grocery stores were closed.

I will put Lucy’s recipe on the back burner for now.

In his book, The beerbistro Cookbook, Stephen Beaumont highlights his own Stout Brownies recipe. As with Lucy’s recipe, I did not have access to all of the ingredients required for Stephen’s brownies.

I will put Stephen’s recipe on the back burner for now as well.

Lack of an “uncomplicated” recipe drove me to develop my own version of beer brownies using an over-the-counter box mix. Although I do not understand much about the “science” behind baking, I’ve been pretty successful at making substitutions for things without completely screwing up the end result.

I’m proud to say that today’s recipe was a success. I’m very excited to share “I’m very excited to share my artery clogging, heart attack inducing, catastrophic health insurance needing, easy-to-make beer brownie recipe with the world!

BEER WENCH BACON PEANUT BUTTER CUP BEER BROWNIES

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 box of brownie mix
• 3 eggs
• 1/3 cup chocolate, oatmeal or regular stout
• 1 package of bacon
• 6 whole peanut butter cups — chilled
• 2 tbsp butter

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease pan with butter. Yes, butter. Because butter makes everything better.
2. Cook entire package of bacon to desired consistency. I like a combination of crispy bacon and chewy bacon. The both add an interesting texture to the end product. Allow the bacon to cool and then dice it.
3. Chop the Peanut Butter Cups into small pieces.
4. Melt the butter and mix with the bacon. The recipe on the box technically calls for oil. Unfortunately, the only oil I had on hand was Olive Oil. So I decided that the oils from the bacon combined with melted butter would suffice for the recipe.
5. Combine the eggs, stout and bacon butter with the box brownie mix in a large bowl. Do not over mix. After all ingredients are combined, fold in the peanut butter cups.
6. Pour the mix into the greased pan and spread it evenly. Bake. For 13X9″ pan, bake 24-26 minutes. For 9×9″ pan, bake for 38-40 minutes. For 8×8″ pan, bake 52-54 minutes.
7. Serve with an Imperial Stout.

CHEERS!