True story: I love to Google random word combinations that involve beer. And by doing so, I stumble across some pretty awesome (and some not-so-awesome) things. So I have decided that, from now on, I am going to start posting my awesome discoveries on Drink With The Wench in the category I am calling FTW — aka For The Win.

Photo: Julie Pinkston

Who doesn’t love getting beer as a gift, especially when served up in a fun and rustic fashion. Etsy shop owner Julie Pinkston has come up with a line of custom handmade wooden beer carriers — The perfect vessel for gifting beer, whether it be homebrews or special craft beers.

Pictures on the website show carriers for 4 and 8 bottles, but each is custom made, so you can request the perfect size for your occasion. And on top of that, you get to choose the wood.

Photo: Julie Pinkston

At $60 a pop, these bad boys aren’t cheap. But, when you think about the time and effort going into building them, as well as how cool and classy they look — it’s not that bad of an investment. Plus, they are completely reusable — the gift that keeps giving FTW!

Check out the Etsy shop here.

If I had a dollar for every person that asked me to re-post an infographic or post a link to an article on my site, let’s just say I’d have a lot of dollars. But, from time to time, I find that some of the infographics are worth sharing. When done right, info graphics can be educational, colorful and rather entertaining — especially for those who might be unfamiliar with or new to a subject, such as craft beer.

Stumbled across this one from FrugalDad.com, and found it playful and interesting. Cheers!

Source: FrugalDad.com

True story: I love discovering awesome things that involve beer. Some things are more awesome than others. And some things, are so awesome that they deserve a wench-approved FTW. Case and point: Goose Island’s latest viral video promoting the launch of 312 in cans.

Now, before we get to the video, I must give credit where credit is due! I found out about the video from Ken Hunnemeder (@HopCastKen), Communications Coordinator at Goose Island and the charming  co-founder of Hop Cast, one of the Wench’s favorite video beer podcasts on the Interwebs. The tweet read as follows:

Beer, dance sequence and Hall & Oats all mentioned in the same 140 character sentence? Color me intrigued!

And, if the video itself was awesome enough, Ken’s adorable face makes several appearances. FTW, for certain my friends, FTW.

True story: I love to Google random word combinations that involve beer. And by doing so, I stumble across some pretty awesome (and some not-so-awesome) things. So I have decided that, from now on, I am going to start posting my awesome discoveries on Drink With The Wench in the category I am calling FTW — aka For The Win.

Truth be told, I love accessories. And I especially love functional accessories — you know, the kind that look good and serve an invaluable purpose. And by invaluable purpose I mean that they can successfully open bottles of alcoholic beverages. And I’m not referring to the wedding ring bottle opener trick — no, no ladies. I am referring to necklaces that are not only super awesome in design, but also serve a purpose to society ouside of our own vanity.

Blend Creations, known for its beauty warmth and harmony in modern jewelry and design, has developed The  American brews disc bottle-opener stainless steel pendant with cord… aka beer bottle opener necklaces. But these are just any bottle openers on a string….”To most people, this stainless steel disc will simply be an abstract-patterned pendant. But, the opening of the disc is actually a functioning bottle-opener, and the pattern is actually a map in homage to the birthplace of one of eleven well-loved American micro-brewed beers. Open your beer, and look good doing it.” (source: http://blendcreations.com)

At this time, the following maps are available:

• Brooklyn, NY birthplace of Brooklyn Brewery
• Hood River, OR birthplace of Full Sail Brewing Co.
• Rehoboth Beach, DE birthplace of Dogfish Head Craft Brewery
• Fort Collins, CO birthplace of New Belgium Brewing
• Cleveland, OH birthplace of Great Lakes Brewery Co.
• Aspen, CO birthplace of Flying Dog Brewery
• Paso Robles, CA birthplace of Firestone Walker Brewing Co.
• Kailua-Kona, HI birthplace of Kona Brewing Co.
• San Marcos, CA birthplace of Stone Brewing Co.
• Burlington, VT birthplace of Magic Hat Brewing Co.

Price: $64 a pop… not too shabby, though, all things considered. Go get one. Cause they are awesome.

PS: Blend Creations is giving one of their coveted pendants away to a lucky facebook fan this month, details here: https://www.facebook.com/blendcreations?sk=app_197602066931325

Today’s exciting FTW — aka For The Win — comes to us from Oskar Blues in Longmont, CO.

This Friday (Nov 18th), they are unveiling the Bonewagon, a food truck of epic proportions. According to Oskar Blues, the Bonewagon is “a barnstormin’ smokateria on wheels features a menu of “Rubs” (meats seasoned with Oskar Blues own rub recipes), “Tugs” (a side dish.  Not a whole plate, just a tug) and “Morning Chubs” (a chubby breakfast burrito inspired by the Oskar Blues Old Chubway location style fixins’).” Um can we say ahhh-maze-ing? And with a burrito named Morning Chubs, can you really go wrong?

Although it’s main docking point will be outside the Tasty Weasel Taproom at the brewery in Longmont, the Bonewagon will also travel to music venues, festivals, and northern Colorado parking lots upon request.

And if that wasn’t cool enough, fans of the truck can get a daily fix by following its adventures via @OBBonewagon on Twitter.

The only downfall is that legally (who makes up these silly rules, anyways?) Oskar Blues cannot sell it’s awesome beer aboard the Bonewagon. However, if you head to the tap room, you can get your fix for both.

Well played Oskar Blues, this is a FTW for sure.

Friend Oskar Blues on Facebook

Follow @OskarBlues on Twitter

Watch Oskar Blues on YouTube

True story: I love to Google random word combinations that involve beer. And by doing so, I stumble across some pretty awesome (and some not-so-awesome) things. So I have decided that, from now on, I am going to start posting my awesome discoveries on Drink With The Wench in the category I am calling FTW — aka For The Win.

Etsy is by far the best website for finding epic craft beer FTWs. Today’s FTW comes from Loren Scruggs, a self-proclaimed “metal girl” with large stash of bottle caps and tins cans collected from local restaurants, friends, neighbors, and second hand stores. A few years ago, Loren was inspired by Bobby Hansson’s book “The Fine Art of the Tin Can“. In the book, she discovered the techniques for making a whistles from pieces of tin.

Loren’s Bottle Cap Whistles are made from a combination of recycled tin cans and bottle caps, which includes many recognizable craft beer brands. Each whistle is individually handcrafted, so no two whistles are exactly alike. All of her creations are working whistles, which is quite possibly the most impressive feature. Price runs $14-$18 dollars, depending on the whistle, with a very modest shipping fee.

I particularly like the “Tin Whistle from New York to California” –one side has a bottle cap from Coney Island, NY and the other San Francisco, CA. For those of you who are unaware (and mistakenly think I’m from Ohio), I grew up in NY and now live in CA. Needless to say, this whistle theme hits a bit close to my heart (and the holidays are coming up… hint hint).

Check out Loren’s whistles, and her other bottle cap creations on Etsy.

True story: I love to Google random word combinations that involve beer. And by doing so, I stumble across some pretty awesome (and some not-so-awesome) things. So I have decided that, from now on, I am going to start posting my awesome discoveries on Drink With The Wench in the category I am calling FTW — aka For The Win.

Today’s beer-mazing FTW comes from Etsy (and I have a feeling that this is going to be a trend). The designer is Bethany Shorb, the company The Cyberoptix® TieLab, and the product is beer, specifically hops, barley and wheat, neckties.

The neckties are impressively intricately designed, intertwining hops, barley and wheat in what I can only describe as a stunning pattern. According to the Etsy site, the ties are made of a soft microfiber, having almost the same hand as real silk and is printed with high-quality, non-toxic, waterbased ink. They run about $30 a pop, which in today’s fashion world isn’t really that high of a price — especially if you consider the artistry and time behind designing and making the ties.

As someone who likes taking a more androgynous approach to fashion, spotting me waering a tie is definitely not unheard of. I’m partial to the black one for, well, obvious reasons. So if anyone was considering getting me a Christmas present… hint hint!

Personally, I think this would make an awesome gift for any beer loving friend, boyfriend, husband, or brother. Because, let’s face it, there will always be those occasions in life where dressing like a grown-up is required, and adding a little spice to the penguin uniform can make the whole formal dress experience seem a little less dreadful.

About

The Cyberoptix® TieLab was started in 2005 after noticing a void in creative yet sophisticated neckwear. We specialize in making men (and women!) of all ages undeniably presentable. We dutifully outfit gangs of groomsmen, bridesmen and ring-bearers with our very customizable color schemes.

“Made to order” doesn’t mean “made to wait around!” We understand sometimes the “last minute is the best minute” – birthdays, anniversaries and even weddings can sneak up on you! This is my full-time gig and we both print and ship Monday-Friday. This is how we are able to offer literally thousands of color, print and size options for you, yet still keep our prices very affordable.

True story: I love to Google random word combinations that involve beer. And by doing so, I stumble across some pretty awesome (and some not-so-awesome) things. So I have decided that, from now on, I am going to start posting my awesome discoveries on Drink With The Wench in the category I am calling FTW — aka For The Win.

My latest awesome discovery is custom made recycled beer carton wallets. I found the product on Etsy, the Internet mecca of all sorts of fun and creative craft projects. My sister sent me on a mission to find her a cute new wallet. So naturally, I found myself googling beer wallet, and then stumbled across these gems. Too bad my poor little sister does not drink beer, or alcohol in general. #sadface

I love this product because not only is it beer related, but it is also sustainable — two things very near and dear to my heart. In the U.S., the wallets cost about $8 a pop– which is pretty cheap when you consider 1. the creativity behind the product 2. the time going into making the wallet and 3. the fact that it is custom-made (aka one-of-a-kind).

I’m actually thinking about contacting them to see if they would be willing to team up with Bison Brewing, an organic craft brewery in Berkeley, CA, to build some custom wallets for our team, our partners, and even our friends and fans. What do you think?

About Bombyx Beer Carton Wallets

Each wallet is a one-of-a-kind item, you can choose your favorite beer carton or I can choose a special one for you. I already have some made with cartons of Guinness, Coors Light, Birra Moretti, Victoria, Cucapá, Spaten and much more. These wallets are made with recycled beer cartons and cardboard. Handy, lightweight and spacey enough to keep in place your bills, coins, ids, tickets, coupons and whatever it fits!

The wallets ship from San Ysidro, CA through USPS. Bombyx Beer Carton Wallets are also available in San Diego, CA at the Make Good Store.

(Disclaimer: all photos belong to Bombyx)