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: SCOTT TRIANA

AUTHOR OF: SCOTTIE KNOWS BEER

Beer Blogger Interview

Full name: Scott Triana
Twitter handle: @scott_triana
Name of blog: Scottie Knows Beer
Current location: Washington D.C.

Background “Snapshot”

1. Where did you grow up?

I was born and raised in Erie, Pennsylvania and lived there until college. After college, I moved to Washington, DC; I’ve been here for about 2.5 years now.

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

Growing up I played soccer, golf, and basketball. Over the last couple of years I have started playing more paddle sports – i.e. tennis, racquet ball, squash.

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

I think I was 15 or so.

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

The first beer that I had was a Labatt Blue. A friend and I “borrowed” a case from his uncle’s bar. For some reason, we thought it would be a great idea to toss a 24 pack of bottles out a second story window. Luckily, my face broke the fall, but it nearly knocked me unconscious. I’m proud to say that not a single bottle was lost to the ground that day.

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 Penn State University and graduated with a degree in Business Management and a minor in Marketing. I was an avid beer pong player if that counts.

Craft Beer Epiphany

Every craft beer enthusiast has at least one pinnacle craft beer experience that completely changes one’s 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:

My craft beer epiphany occurred during my freshmen year of college when I discovered Samuel Smith’s Oatmeal Stout. Until that point, I drank whatever cheap swill was available. I remember being completely blown away by the flavor and complexity. I was so accustomed to drinking watered down beer that had no character, no imagination, and no taste. It was as if the heavens parted and the angels began to sing.

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

Backpacking through Europe solidified my love for craft beer and I have never looked back since.

Beer Blog Background

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

Since October of 2009.

2. What inspired you to start writing your blog?

Last year, I found myself trying a wide range of beers – whether I was frequenting specialty beer stores or the different brewpubs in DC. I started to become frustrated when I couldn’t remember the name of a certain brewery or a specific flavoring of a beer.

I started documenting my beer selections with my iPhone’s camera. After amassing hundreds of blurry cell phone photos I decided that there had to be a better way of documenting my craft beer adventures. Finally someone was like “dude, just blog it man”……so I did.

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

There was a movie (cheesy comedy) several years back called Euro Trip. Matt Damon had a brief cameo appearance and sang a song titled “Scottie Doesn’t Know.” For some reason the movie was a big hit with a group of friends from college. After several intoxicating beverages, my friends would sing “Scottie doesn’t know.” I would of course argue back that Scottie DOES know. Hence the title of my blog.

However, don’t let the name fool you. I by no means consider myself a craft beer expert or beer snob. I am constantly learning and growing as a craft beer drinker.

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

To have fun, to learn, and to meet interesting people along the way. If I convert even one Bud Light drinker from the “dark side” to the craft beer side, then my blog has been a success.

What is one of the coolest things that happened to you as a result of being beer blogger?
Private brewery tours and meeting interesting people who share a passion for craft beer.

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

Beer Advocate, Brookston Beer Bulletin, and of course…Drink with the Wench!

Beer Talk

1. What are your top 3 favorite beer styles?

Tough question. Lately I’ve been really enjoying Belgian Tripels, super hoppy IPA’s, and Imperial Stouts.

2. What are your top 3 favorite breweries?

That’s like asking you to choose your favorite child. Right now, I would have to go with Dogfish Head, De Dolle Brouwers, and Russian River.

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

Sam Calagione and Dogfish Head. The dudes a rock star.

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

I lost my home brew “v-card” a couple of weeks ago by brewing up a batch of Marzen Festbier. So… I would have to say that Marzen Festbier is the most unique and interesting beer I have brewed to this point.

5. What is your favorite beer and food pairing?

Fresh oysters and a delicious Saison.

The Personal Side

1. What is your current day job?

Head of social media and marketing for an association in DC.

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 would continue to do what I do now, but would switch to the craft beer industry.

3. Are you married? Children?

No and no.

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

I am an avid traveler and backpacker.

Off The Beaten Path

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

A chocolate stout because I’m a sweet guy

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?

The Tactical Nuclear Penguin from BrewDog. If I’m going to go, I want to be rocking a healthy buzz.

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?

A Belgian Quad that comes in at a bold 12%ABV. A beer that can really get the party started!

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

I would want the ability to turn water into the alcoholic beverage of my choice (that was a superhero, right?). The party would never end.

5. What are your thoughts on bacon?

It’s delicious in chocolate.

SPECIAL THANKS TO SCOTT FOR AN AWESOME INTERVIEW!

CHEERS!

DRINK WITH THE WENCH PRESENTS:

The Beer Tweeter Interview Series

Beer bloggers are not the only people using social media to share their passion for and knowledge of craft beer. Twitter is one of the most important tools in today’s craft beer industry. Beer tweeters all over the world are influencing and impacting the way people interact with and experience craft beer. The Beer Wench has embarked upon a mission to interview as many beer tweeters that she can — from all over the world.

Are you a beer tweeter? Do you want to share your story? Send me an email!

INTRODUCING BEER TWEETER: Sarah Kristine (Bradner) Huska

Twitter handle: @sarahhuska

Current location: St. Charles, IL (Chicago suburb)

Background “Snapshot”

1. Where did you grow up?

Fostoria, OH

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

I played volleyball in junior high but once I got into high school I ditched it. Going to a private school makes certain things rather click-ish, sports being one of them….since I didn’t have the right name I didn’t get to play. So, I chose to participate in the flag corps in marching band. I LOVED IT. A couple of my friends and I joined and it actually became one of the “cool” activities at my high school.

Our football team was so awful that people stopped coming to games, but the year we started in flag corps the band and the corps were outstanding. People would come out to the football games, act interested in the first half, watch the band at halftime (cheer wildly) and then clear out when we were done. Bittersweet I suppose. I also coached flag corps for 3 years after I graduated. Almost every school in our league gave us props on being the best marching band and flag corps. Kinda neat-o.

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

18

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

Bud Light out of a warm keg at a graduation party. There is a reason you have keggerators people….

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

Well, I’ve been to several…I’m what you call a professional student. When I was in high school I took college classes at the University of Findlay in Ohio (Calculus, Psychology, Sociology)….smart kid stuff, you know. Then I attended Bowling Green State University in Ohio as a Nursing student, decided I hated the people I would have to work with for the rest of my life and changed my major to business and transfered to Owens Community College in Ohio (better known as Slowens).

My husband and I then moved to Chicago and I said to myself “screw nursing, or business or whatever else my family wants me to do; I’m going to do what I want to do!” So now I am attending Elgin Community College’s Culinary Arts Institute for my Associates in the Culinary Arts. I am blessed to have found my calling. I’ll be taking some Entrepreneurship classes as well so I can write a better business plan for the beer bar and/or brew pub I will open.

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:

I had been experimenting with beer here and there for a while, drinking things like Leinenkugel’s Honeyweiss or Samuel Smith’s Nut Brown; but, the day I had my first real American craft beer is something I am pretty sure I will never forget. I was sitting on the step outside my garage door at my house in Bowling Green, OH watching my husband homebrew, he was drinking a Brooklyn Brown Ale and told me I should try it.

So, I did…. I honestly don’t have words to describe what happened at that moment, I suppose all I can say is that was the day I realized what beer can be and what it shouldn’t be. To this day, Brooklyn Brown remains my favorite brown ale. Ever. Mostly because it’s delicious but also the nostalgic quality is unbeatable.

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

I suppose I have, I feel like I have one every time I try something that is unexpected. For instance, I had a Reaper Ale Mortality Stout a couple weeks ago. Wow. I almost feel like I shouldn’t talk about it because it’s like a spoiler on a movie ending…. [SPOILER ALERT] A stout with Brett?!??! (It is Brettanomyces right? It sure tasted like it.) I mean….wow. It was amazing. No where on the bottle does it say it has Brett in it, but you drink it and BAM! there it is. (Or is it whoop! there it is….I’m not sure.) Fantastic beer. Fantastic experience.

Beer Talk

1. What are your top 3 favorite beer styles?

What’s that Charlie Papazian quote? My favorite beer is the one I’m drinking right now….or something like that. But if I had to choose, I would say IPA, Imperial Stout and almost any sour beer.

2. What are your top 3 favorite breweries?

This is tough. Three is a small number. Port Brewing. The Bruery. And, of course, the 21st Amendment Brewing Co.

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

Probably The Bruery. I think Patrick is a mad scientist and a brilliant business man; I feel I could learn a lot from him and to be involved in something so unique and driven would be an honor.

4. Are you a homebrewer?

I have assisted in many homebrews but never have I actually made my own. It’s intimidating. I’m a cook. When I cook, I make a mess, sure I follow sanitation guidelines and I’m not making dirty food, but the sanitation required for brewing is scary. I’m almost positive I would never have the patience to brew a beer that wouldn’t get infected at some point in the process.

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

I recently passed my Certified Beer Server exam from the Cicerone Program and am studying to take the Cicerone exam hopefully in 2010. Also, if I have extra money lying around someday, I will attend Siebel.

6. What is your favorite beer and food pairing?

A sour beer (probably Rodenbach’s Grand Cru) with a plate of various cheeses, charcuterie, honeys, fruits, and a nice warm french baguette. Mmmmm, yummy.

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

BeerAdvocate. Beer Mapping Project. And Twitter, as a whole…..it’s the best, because there you can link to other blogs/sites but all the information is in one spot.

The Personal Side

1. What is your current day job?

I own a pet sitting and dog walking business in the Chicago suburbs call Shake A Leg Pet Exercise & Care, Inc.

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 would open a brew pub with a friend of mine who makes the BEST homebrew I’ve ever had. I’d open it in Chicago and it would be on the same level as The Publican.

3. Are you married? Children?

Yes and no. Well, unless you count four-legged children. In that case, I have two: a dog, Samson, and a cat, Weizen.

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

I run barefoot. I haven’t in a few weeks as I have a stress fracture in my foot, but once it heals I will begin training for a half marathon that I’ll hopefully run in May and then a full marathon in the Fall of 2010. Also, I cook amazing food…it’s not bragging if you can back it up.

Off The Beaten Path

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

I would be a sour beer. Bubbly, bold, a little sweet, not too bitter, pretty and loaded with enough alcohol to make life awesome.

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?

Burnter Santa Imperial Stout from Bridges Brewing

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’d design an IIPA. Bold, refreshing, fun, sociable, a little fruity and (again) loaded up with enough alcohol to make life awesome!

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

Flying or teleporting.

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

I survived GABF 2009…even with Shaun and Nico of the 21st Amendment “hooking me up”….not many could survive that, I assure you.

6. What are your thoughts on bacon?

Everything’s better with bacon.

SPECIAL THANKS TO SARAH FOR BEING AN AWESOME BEER TWEETER AND #LADYGENTS!

CHEERS!

DRINK WITH THE WENCH PRESENTS:

The Beer Tweeter Interview Series

Beer bloggers are not the only people using social media to share their passion for and knowledge of craft beer. Twitter is one of the most important tools in today’s craft beer industry. Beer tweeters all over the world are influencing and impacting the way people interact with and experience craft beer. The Beer Wench has embarked upon a mission to interview as many beer tweeters that she can — from all over the world.

Are you a beer tweeter? Do you want to share your story? Send me an email!

INTRODUCING BEER TWEETER: PHIL LOWRY

Twitter handle: @beermerchants

Current location: Near Kingsdown in Kent, UK.

Background “Snapshot”

1. Where did you grow up?

Between a small village in very rural Kent, called Appledore in the family run Pub, and northern Italy, in a hamlet just outside a town called Bardi, in the province of Parma.

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

Football, um, Soccer, bit of Rugby, Hockey, mainly Cricket, but I was more a Hunting, Shooting and Fishing type, ever the country boy!

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

Growing up in a pub, I am sure it wasn’t, um, the regulation age. But, I do know, I went to my first beer fest in Germany at 16.

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

Now you’re asking, I assume my first beer was at the pub, it would have been a crafty bottle, or two. But, my dad tells me I always went for bigger flavours, I was always known to drink the cask beers, from 18.

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 Uni career is a varied one, so much to say that I minored in a diversity of subjects, majoring in Beer. I studied beer, in its wild and natural surroundings!

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:

In something of a reverse epiphany, when I was 18, away at Uni, going to the Student union – a student only bar with subsidized beer, and realising the shit that people were drinking, crap beer just didn’t figure on my horizons.

2. Have you have additional craft beer epiphanies since the first? Detail as many of them as you wish:
Brewing beer. Way back, I picked up a job in a long gone brewpub, the first time you brew, “will this be actually ferment to beer?” thoughts went through my head. To the, this is really good fun, if damn hard work…. I started getting to grips with brewing, realising that way too many people take beer for granted. Please, never ask for just a “beer”.

How many great and very cool people there are in the beer world! Love to all!

Good beer and advice about new beers can come from anywhere now; I get really excited when I stumble into new breweries, that aren’t even on the Radar, bringing them to beer loving friends and hearing them faun over the beer. To tell the truth, my mum/mom, stumbled on my latest “find” whilst out shopping in Italy, a newish brewery called Toccalmatto. She says it’s just hearing the vocabulary that I use, and seeing it on these beers that she dragged me there when I went to see her. I am grateful she did. It’s a brewery that’s going to be on everyone’s lips soon.

The art of celebrating Innovation and Tradition – it’s all to easy to dismiss traditional ideals, being washed over by innovative brewers; or innovative as glory hunters and the traditional as the pillars of the scene? Can we not celebrate each and everyone with the vigour that they deserve for doing what they do?

Beer Talk

1. What are your top 3 favorite beer styles?

Ok, so this is gonna be like picking your favourite child? Not fair!
Lambic & Gueuze
IPA
Imperial Red Ales

2. What are your top 3 favorite breweries?

TOOOOO MANY TO LIST!
Drie Fonteinen,
Thornbridge,
Triple Rock,
More so for the team/people involved, not just for the beers.

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

Anywhere Rodger Davis, Kelly Ryan or Steve Altamari are working – their beer, they are good people, good fun and good times roll when they are around.

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

I brew at home, just for fun now, the most “Unique” well.. a fruit sour that was nigh undrinkable, not doing that again. “Interesting” – Rye Kolsch dry hopped with Amarillo – one I want to brew again. I have been messing with different yeasts recently, a dry yeast company that I am a fan of has really bad descriptors so I went to work brewing up 5 gal batches and splitting them into 1 gal carboys, pitching with the different strains to see what happens. It’s been fun, I have now got to write up the notes.

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

I dunno, what are they? (joke) I might do one day, Siebel or ABG.

6. What is your favorite beer and food pairing?

Good people, sociable eating and lots of good beers.

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

Again, toooo many.

• @allbeernews on Twitter – “more beer news than your brain can handle” as someone put it recently.
• Ratebeer/Beeradvocate
• Shaun O’Sullivan’s Tweets.

The Personal Side

1. What is your current day job?

My last job before Beermerchants, I was a Special Ed teacher, before that in Business Consultancy, but I still worked in beer centric pubs. I still teach the odd session at a local day centre, plus maintain their computers etc, should they have issues.

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?

Tough one, having been in the beer industry pretty much all my life, I figure it would be a hard transition to do anything else but a beer related enterprise. I have always had a passion for photography, but more as a hobby.

3. Are you married? Children?

No and no.

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

Fly Fishing and Carp Fishing, Photography and Travel.

Off The Beaten Path

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

Old style Flemish red ale. Easy going, not in your face, complexity, goes well with Asian food, understated and one of a kind.

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?

That 40% German Eisbock, just for the medicinal purposes, if I am gonna die, I don’t want to hear the precursors. And, I think it would take the jailers a while to find a bottle. That, or Butcombe Stout.

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 would do a double wit, with Dry “hopped” with Amarillo, Hibiscus flowers and Lemon Grass. About 7%.

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

Just flight. So I could leave my office on a Friday, go flyfishing in the Terra Del Fuego, Patagonia on Saturday, and back to work on the Monday, with no fuel burned in the process. Selfish I know, but have you seen the Seatrout down there!?

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

Said, “no, mum, I don’t want to utilise my very expensive private school and university education, I want to be in the underpaid, oft ignored, but very special world of beer”… she’s never gotten over that one…

6. What are your thoughts on bacon?

Thoughts? Nay, you mean dreams?

SPECIAL THANKS TO PHIL FOR HIS AWESOME TWEETS AND A GREAT INTERVIEW!

CHEERS!

DISCLAIMER: ALL THE PHOTOS ON THIS SITE ARE PROPERTY OF PHIL LOWRY.

DRINK WITH THE WENCH PRESENTS:

The Beer Tweeter Interview Series

Beer bloggers are not the only people using social media to share their passion for and knowledge of craft beer. Twitter is one of the most important tools in today’s craft beer industry. Beer tweeters all over the world are influencing and impacting the way people interact with and experience craft beer. The Beer Wench has embarked upon a mission to interview as many beer tweeters that she can — from all over the world.

Are you a beer tweeter? Do you want to share your story? Send me an email!

INTRODUCING BEER TWEETER: RANDY CLEMENS

Background “Snapshot”

1. Where did you grow up?

In and around the San Fernando Valley in SoCal

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

Does marching band count? Being both nonathletic and nerdy as a child, I took up marching band, and loved every minute of it. (I marched in the Rose Parade twice!)

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

19. I made it all through high school without any booze or drugs. (Told you I was nerdy…)

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

Well, to be perfectly fair, I’d had a Coors Light when I was around 12, but it was because there was NOTHING to drink in the house and the water had been shut off for some strange reason. My mom said I could have one of my dad’s beers with dinner — I thought I was cool at the time, even though I couldn’t stand the taste. It would be 7 years before I tried another beer. (After all these years, I still find Coors Light disgusting. Honestly, I don’t know how anyone drinks it.)

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 the California School of Culinary Arts, completing the Le Cordon Bleu program. On the side, I became a member of the Culinary Historians of Southern California and the Bread Bakers Guild of America (See? Total nerd).

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:

After culinary school, I took an internship at Bobolink Dairy, an artisan creamery in New Jersey. I’d gone to learn more about bread and cheesemaking, but unexpectedly developed a taste for beer. One of their cheeses was washed with Forêt, the organic saison from Brasserie Dupont, and at the insistence of the owner, I poured myself a taste. What a far cry from the Coors Light I’d detested so many years before! This was fruity, yeasty, slightly spiced, a little sweet even. Hell, it had flavor — a vast improvement over my previous beer experience!

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

Oh, god. So so many. To spare everyone, I’ll take the easy road and lump most of them into when I took a BJCP class through the Maltose Falcons homebrew club. It was an excellent learning experience, and I was exposed to so many different beer styles — it was truly invaluable. Besides having my first IPA, Gueuze, Kölsch, etc., someone was kind enough to bring in a small stock of 1987 Bigfoot for us to try alongside the 2007. It was mindblowing.

Other huge eye-openers: My first Black Butte Porter, Duchesse de Bourgogne, Old Viscosity, and Pliny the Elder…

Beer Talk

1. What are your top 3 favorite beer styles?

Saison, Flanders Red, Russian Imperial Stout

2. What are your top 3 favorite breweries?

I’ve gotta stick with my local boys — The Bruery, Port/The Lost Abbey, and AleSmith

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

Probably Stone Brewing Co. It just seems like they have a lot of fun with what they do, and aren’t afraid to try different brewing and marketing approaches. Their support of fellow brewers, innovative seasonals/special releases, collaborations, dedication to good causes, etc. are all quite admiral. Rogue would be a close second though, for much of the same reasons.

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

Yes, but not an exceptionally good one. It’s always a fun experience though, and I’ve yet to brew anything I’ve had to throw out, so I suppose that’s an alright sign. The pumpkin stout I brewed last year turned out pretty great, and I found a few loose bottles laying around this year and discovered they’d gotten even better with age. I’m so impatient with aging, so anytime I do cellar a beer, it’s usually by accident.

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

I am a BJCP Recognized Beer Judge, which came as a bit of a shock. When I took the test a little over two years ago, it was such a crash course for me as I knew so little about beer at the time. The class really did prepare me well, but it was probably the hardest test I’ve ever taken. I really didn’t think I was going to pass. Continuing to taste and evaluate beers, both at home and at the judging level, has really expanded my knowledge over the years, and I can’t recommend the BJCP strongly enough to anyone who really wants to learn more about beer.

6. What is your favorite beer and food pairing?

I tend to like beer and dessert pairings, just because I like to see people’s faces when I tell them the pairing, and then their face once they try it. Being there for someone else’s “craft beer epiphany” is priceless. That said, I suppose the Beeramisu I make with (and pair with) AleSmith Speedway Stout might take top honors. I also paired Spicy Mayan Chocolate Ganache Truffles with Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier Märzen, and it was pretty ridiculous.

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

Beside Drink With The Wench?!

The Full Pint, Beer Advocate, and BeerNews.Org

The Personal Side

1. What is your current day job?

I peddle beer, wine, and cheese at an enormous Whole Foods in Pasadena, CA.

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’ve been enjoying writing quite a bit, and I’m trying to get that to take off more seriously. I’ve been published in several magazines, and am hoping to have a cookbook out next year (not delving into a beer book quite yet though). Other than that, I have a calling somewhere in the food & drink world — I’m looking into it

3. Are you married? Children?

Single as a pringle, ladies.

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

Cooking, definitely, and reading. I also love to travel, even though I don’t get to often. I still play music from time to time, although I’ve fallen out of it a bit. I’ll join another concert band after the holidays, I promise. (Anyone need a baritone horn or trombone player?)

Off The Beaten Path

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

Hmmm, maybe a gueuze? While I may not be particularly bubbly, I have plenty of complex character. A blend of old and young that will continue to improve with age, the bold, assertive flavor may seem a bit tart at first, but you can’t help to go back for another sip to appreciate its nuances. (However, I don’t smell like barnyard, although I’m sure it could be arranged.)

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 dear. I suppose I’d have to hark back to the Forêt — having my first beer also be my last beer — kinda nifty and deep.

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?

It would definitely be a collaboration brew, in honor of what you’re doing to build the beer blogger/twitter community. I’d have bloggers and tweeters vote on the style and adjuncts, and then let some of your favorite brewers go wild, each adding their own sense of flair and style. In the end, I’d work with a few of them to come up with a final blend, and release it unto the world!

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

Being able to make myself and others see sides to an argument other than our own. Flight, invisiblity, and/or teleporting would be cool too.

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

Skydiving. Frightening, but so amazing.

6. What are your thoughts on bacon?

“Bacon is Sent From Heaven”

Call it shameless self-promotion if you must, but I think it’s the best damn answer I can give

SPECIAL THANKS TO RANDY FOR AN AWESOME INTERVIEW AND ENTERTAINING TWEETS!

CHEERS!

DRINK WITH THE WENCH PRESENTS:

The Beer Tweeter Interview Series

Beer bloggers are not the only people using social media to share their passion for and knowledge of craft beer. Twitter is one of the most important tools in today’s craft beer industry. Beer tweeters all over the world are influencing and impacting the way people interact with and experience craft beer. The Beer Wench has embarked upon a mission to interview as many beer tweeters that she can — from all over the world.

Are you a beer tweeter? Do you want to share your story? Send me an email!

INTRODUCING BEER TWEETER: MARK SKARZYNSKI

Twitter handle: @markskar

Current location: Portsmouth, New Hampshire

Background “Snapshot”

1. Where did you grow up?

Wethersfield, CT (near the South End of Hartford)

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

I was pretty active growing up, always involved in whatever sports were going on during whatever season (baseball, soccer, etc.), but year-round I was a swimmer, on various teams in town and all over the state from ages 6 to 16.

Eventually I got burned out by the three-hour drowning sessions called “practice”, and left the team halfway through high school to do pole vaulting for the track team, which was a lot of fun. I really miss having the physical strength and sense of immortality one needs to be a good pole vaulter—doubt I’ll ever be able to do it again, but I had a lot of fun and got pretty good at it back then.

I also started skiing pretty young, and did a lot of mountain biking over the college years. Still love to ski when I can find the time, but don’t get to go nearly enough. Planning on learning to surf next summer—moving to a house a block away from the beach!

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

I’m sure somewhere in here there’s a story of my dad giving me a sip of beer on a fishing trip when I was 8 or 9, but I can’t clearly remember. I do, however, remember getting caught drinking at a VERY young age. My poor mother was mortified. I’ll leave it at that, so as to not risk any future employers seeing what a rotten kid I was.

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’m sure what my dad gave me was a sip of Buttweiper (sp?!) or something similar. I thought it tasted awful as a kid, and as my palate grew it still tasted awful. How a rice beer came to be known as the Great American Lager is still a mystery to me.

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

University of Connecticut, double major in English and Journalism, with a focus in future under-employment.

I spent a lot of time occupying various administration buildings…smoking Thai-stick, breaking into the ROTC…(kidding—that’s a Big Lebowski quote, in case anyone reading this isn’t familiar with the movie—and if you’re not, I HIGHLY recommend it).

No sports, lots of parties and other related shenanigans. Good times.

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

It was at one of the first Grateful Dead shows I went to–Boston 1993, if I remember correctly. Some hippie kid was walking around yelling, “Anchor, Sierra, Anchor, Sierra, two for five…”, and of course those guys didn’t care how old their customers were.

So, I grabbed a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale and instantly loved it—I was absolutely floored by the flavor. I’ve been a full-fledged hop head ever since. I learned then that beer could be savored and enjoyed—that I didn’t need to drink a ton of beer just for the purpose of getting drunk (as underage, dumb kids are wont to do).

This isn’t to say I didn’t keep getting drunk with my friends—but I did realize that good beer was worth seeking out and enjoying—not just pounding to get fall-down drunk like most of the kids my age were doing.

There were countless epiphanies between then and now, and as the years went on I was constantly in search of new styles—many of which I came to love just as much as the hop bombs that stoked my early interest in craft beer. Styles like German doppelbocks, English- & American-style barleywines, and Russian Imperial Stouts come to mind.

But the biggest change came just a few years ago when I first started homebrewing. Having an appreciation for the science of brewing changed my outlook on beer completely. Understanding how different styles of yeast can be used to create distinctive flavors, and how different combinations of malts and hops could be used in nearly infinitely different combinations, opened up a world of unlimited potential, and I keep searching for the “next greatest beer ever”.

After I started brewing I began to notice that a few beers I loved for a long time didn’t even measure up to what I could brew myself, and some styles I didn’t previously like (the myriad of Belgian styles, for example) were suddenly things I was seeking out, to taste and experience. I found a great craft beer community on BeerAdvocate.com which fed into this newfound desire to try everything (haven’t been on the forums much lately, but I learned so much there).

There are so many great breweries and beers out there right now in the US, and it seems like things keep getting better every day. It is a great time to be a beer enthusiast in America—perhaps the best time ever. With over 1,500 craft breweries in the US today, my hunt for that “next greatest beer ever” shall no doubt continue for a long time.

Beer Talk

1. What are your top 3 favorite beer styles?

American Barleywine, Double IPA, Russian Imperial Stout

2. What are your top 3 favorite breweries?

Smuttynose/The Portsmouth Brewery (same owner), Stone Brewing Co., and Dogfish Head.

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

The Portsmouth Brewery. Three words: KATE THE GREAT! I would so steal that recipe (just kidding Tod, if you happen to read this, and I happen to someday work there…)

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

Yes, homebrewer for about four years. I’ve made some great IPA’s, DIPA’s, Barleywines, and RIS’s. I’ve brewed a few other styles, but the aforementioned styles are what I mostly stick to since I know I can have good to great results fairly consistently—and they’re my favorite styles to drink.

The most unique brew I ever tried to make was an Elderberry Stout—but I think I overdid the elderberries. The flavor was rough—a bit acrid. But I think it had some medicinal effects (elderberries are used holistically to prevent and cure the common cold and the flu—and I think the brew actually helped me get better more quickly when I got sick one time). But like I said, the flavor was ROUGH—elderberries not recommended in large doses.

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?

Smuttynose Imperial Stout with Filet Mignon. *drool* But I’d pair just about anything with a good RIS. Just seems like an all-around meal/desert brew to me.

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

BeerAdvocate, HomeBrewTalk and, of course, Drink With The Wench (blatant kissing up here or what?!)

The Personal Side

1. What is your current day job?

Management-level position in the hotel development business (vague, I know, but I’d prefer to leave it there…)

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?

Start my own brewery, complete with pub and lodging accommodations. No doubt about it.

3. Are you married? Children?

Happily married for just over two years. Adoptive father of an adorable Short Dog (that’s his name—Chihuahua/Min-Pin mix), and two ridiculously weird cats named Smokey and Zooey. No human children at this time.

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

Does being a work-a-holic qualify as a hobby? Outside of work and homebrewing I find I don’t have much time—at least not time that needn’t be spent with my wonderful wife. We love good tv and movies, long walks in the park, pretty sunsets—you know, that usual romantic junk.

Off The Beaten Path

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

I would be an insanely hopped Double IPA. Pale, light, unassuming at first glance. Then, upon further inspection, fierce, bitter, and IN YOUR FACE!

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?

I would choose a warm, skunky, spoiled, light-struck, 20-year old Rolling Rock (or similar awful adjunct lager in a green bottle). After something that awful, I imagine I would welcome death with open arms.

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?

Hmmm…this sounds like a question begging for a flirtatious answer—but alas, I’m happily married, and, moreover, I prefer to keep my balls firmly attached to my body should my wife read this…

At any rate, I don’t know enough about you to give as good an answer as Alex P. Davis did on this one, but given what I do know, it would have to be something spicy and wild—some kind of brett tripel perhaps?

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

I think I’d rather be a super villain, like Lex Luthor or something (hey, he was just as bald as I am!). Nothing beer-related here, I just want to rule the world. Is that so wrong?

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

Good lord, there are so many things I couldn’t possibly say without getting into trouble on this. Soooo tempted to say something like “marrying a sassy redhead”, but I’m not gonna say that. Oh crap, I just did!

(Just kidding, my love, if you should happen to be reading this—I love you with all my heart and I couldn’t live without you! )

6. What are your thoughts on bacon?

Blech. I don’t eat pork, and especially not bacon. The smell alone is enough to make me want to vomit. Everyone I know loves to harass me about it. The conversations usually go like that scene in Pulp Fiction:

Jules: Pigs are filthy animals. I don’t eat filthy animals.
Vincent: Bacon tastes gooood. Pork chops taste gooood.
Jules: Hey, sewer rat may taste like pumpkin pie, but I’d never know ’cause I wouldn’t eat the filthy motherfucker. Pigs sleep and root in shit. That’s a filthy animal. I ain’t eat nothin’ that ain’t got sense enough to disregard its own feces.
Vincent: How about a dog? Dogs eats its own feces.
Jules: I don’t eat dog either.

It’s not a religious thing, or even a vegetarian thing. I worked at a Nathan’s Hot Dog fast food joint when I was 15 and was allowed to eat all I wanted while I worked. I ate so many hot dogs and bacon-covered items over a one-year period that I got so sick of the greasy, salty meat that I felt I had to swear off pig-related food items for good, and I haven’t intentionally eaten pork or bacon in over 18 years (though over the years it did manage to sneak its way into a few meals unbeknownst to me until after I ate it).

SPECIAL THANKS TO MARK FOR AN AWESOME INTERVIEW!

CHEERS!

INTRODUCING BEER TWEETER: J.T. SMITH

Twitter handle: @FlyingDogJT

Current location: Somewhere between Frederick, MD, Washington, DC and Richmond, VA

Photo courtesy of Stephen Schaller

Background “Snapshot”

1. Where did you grow up?

Frederick County, MD

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

As a kid, baseball, soccer and basketball. Still through today I play the beautiful game when I have the opportunity.

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

10ish

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 was with my parents at my neighbor’s house, I drank the 2nd half of a Killian’s Red, and enjoyed it more on a “cool” level than a taste level, certainly.

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

The University of Texas @ Austin. Filmmaking to start, Government and History to finish.

Activities: the usual political stuff… ya know trying to spread the consciousness and power of a quality, grassroots paradigm-shift and whatnot while also planting myself within the system to achieve such means. I also played and watched A LOT of soccer.

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:

2 separate early periods of progression toward the craft/artisanal segment. First- high school- basically I wanted to find and taste beers that I had never seen before. It was the mid-90’s, so this was limited in mid-Atlantic regionals, the occasional old world import and more regularly that lager from Jamaica, Red Stripe was an early favorite, although I rarely drink it these days.

Second- Univ of Texas- my housemates and I were either working or hanging out at Juniors Beer (www.juniorsbeer.com), the craft spot just off of campus. Because of creative book-keeping that was being practiced we received supplemental compensation through craft and artisanal beer at Major Domestic pricing. Those were great days.

Our house boasted 1 incredible bottle collection and a six-pack wallpapered 35’ hallway that became known for hosting parties with kegs of Anchor Steam, Lagunitas Hairy Eyeball, North Coast Scrimshaw, Real Ale Fireman’s #4… we had the palette covered. Nothing like having the keys to a keg cooler 2 blocks from your house filled with super low-priced kegs of great beer @ 3AM when all the other kegs had floated.

We became professionals at pulling kegs under the nose of the omnipresent TABC agents well after closing time, which normally included a manual transmission Bronco II rolling in neutral, lights off down the alleyway up to the cooler with just the right momentum to not need the brake lights AND probably all too often broke out barley wines, frisbees and bongs to enjoy our informal education in the world of beer. While we received a world-class formal education @ UT, we drank great beer and learned life’s lessons in the informal classroom of 406 W 30th St. Here’s video from a memorable night at 406 with Saul Williams reciting in our backyard back in 2003 to a seated and excited audience –

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

During my years in Austin I learned the power of supporting your local and independently-owned economy to preserve identities and empower communities in the face of homogenized, “anywhere-USA” growth and cultural consolidation or simply through the power achieved to “Keep Austin Weird,” I developed the desire to raise that same awareness in my hometown.
My entire life Frederick has been increasingly encroached upon by the suburban sprawl of metropolitan Washington, DC. The need for raising the local/independent awareness to support your local economy while embracing smart-growth was desperately needed so that Frederick would not turn into just another strip-mall.

Fast forward a little, I’m backpacking through the mainland of Mexico figuring out what the hell I want to do in this life and a world-class, independently-owned craft brewery moves operations to my hometown and begins to brew 100% of its beer there. Quickly the coupling of my interest and passion for craft beer and the desire to empower the hometown was right in front of me, found in a reflection of the paintings that Orozco, Rivera, and Siqueiros created in rejecting the old world order and lending imagery and therefore voice to their newly independent nation, Mexico. I flew directly home, joined up with Flying Dog and drove my belongings back from Austin to Frederick to start this new chapter.

We’ve seen tremendous growth and brand awareness in the Mid-Atlantic as we plant the People’s Republic of Flying Dog flag in Frederick, MD; where we launch beer to 48 states, DC and 34 countries of the world, all the while remaining independently owned. Frederick is home to the reigning Great American Beer Festival’s Mid-Size Brewing Company of the Year, Flying Dog. Where we work to maintain a high level of community support and visibility to help Frederick and its continued growth into a city where identity is defined through the active choice of the local townspeople.

My craft beer epiphany is at an all-time high for those reasons and as well the continuation of a progressively, vibrant culture of brewing beer, here in the United States and around the world.

Photo courtesy of BrightestYoungThings.com and Chris Svetlik

Beer Talk

1. What are your top 3 favorite beer styles?

Funky Farmhouses, WeizenBocks, and the newly found Belgian-Style American IPAs

2. What are your top 3 favorite breweries?

(Due to my interest, I’ll abstain from voting FD, even though it is 1 of my favorites) Unibroue, Mikkeller, and Devil’s Backbone (VA) are tearing it up.

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

I already am working for that brewery. Altho, Brew Dog looks like they’re having fun and brewing some great beer these days.

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

Sadly, I do not have the time anymore to enjoy brewing at home. Altho, on the plus side… on the occasional (especially these days) day-off I can go in, strap on some steel-toes and help brew the next batch @ the Flying Dog brewery, which makes very happy and presents a great classroom to learn more and more.

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

Nope. Supposed to take the Cicerone test sometime soon though.

6. What is your favorite beer and food pairing?

Sea Scallops w/a spicy rojo sauce paired with Flying Dog’s Kerberos Tripel yielded notes that I have never forgotten, and now will always enjoy Kerberos to fuller-depths thanks to a beer dinner at Can-Can Brasserie in Richmond, VA back in May 2009.

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

Actually, I don’t really read much on particular sites. I keep an eye on my local bloggers to see what they’re talking about (DCBeer, Lagerheads, YoursForGoodFermentables, BeerSpotter, Beer Activist, Musings Over a Pint, Kasper on Tap, Beer In Baltimore) but I prefer to taste and talk in person, rather than the ‘net more often than not. That said there are so many great resources out there, both on the ‘net and in print. I keep a finger on the pulse through a variety of means, I guess.

The Personal Side

1. What is your current day job?

Local Beer Guy, Flying Dog Brewery (Sales/Mkting)

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 wouldn’t. But, if pressed to change… International Trade Law representation for the voiceless in this Global Economy of ours.

3. Are you married? Children?

Nope. Nope. Not opposed, just nope for now.

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

Outside of beer-life has been put on hold, when I had the time: playing/watching soccer, fly-fishing, snowboarding, keeping up on International politics, reading. Actually having the time to take advantage of my Economist subscription.

Off The Beaten Path

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

The next great combination of borrowing from old world ingredients and techniques and melding exactly those with this wonderful new world of brewing culture we currently find ourselves in.

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?

Obviously, the one I got caught smuggling, for 2 reasons: 1- to taste and make sure it was worth it 2- it would be apropos to take my final tasting notes on the beer that had me killed.

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?

DoppleWeizenBock with an American hop kick at the end. It has to be BIG with the name Wench in there, Dopple. The WeizenBock to give the wonderful aromatics that a lady deserves and to render the palatable sweetness which both intrigues the taster to come back for more and will also be their ruin if ingested to0 excess, much like a Beer Wench. An hop kick on the backside to express your American rock and roll ethos.

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

To continually speak in a rhyming soothsayer progression.

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

Plead the 5th.

6. What are your thoughts on bacon?

A thick and fresh-cut, preferably country butchered with a small fruit-wood smoke on the curing and you’ve got my attention and vote. In desserts and life, I fear bacon may be becoming trite, however. But I’ll always love you, bacon.

SPECIAL THANKS TO JT FOR HIS ENTERTAINING BEER TWEETS AND GREAT INTERVIEW!

CHEERS!

DRINK WITH THE WENCH PRESENTS:

The Beer Tweeter Interview Series

Beer bloggers are not the only people using social media to share their passion for and knowledge of craft beer. Twitter is one of the most important tools in today’s craft beer industry. Beer tweeters all over the world are influencing and impacting the way people interact with and experience craft beer. The Beer Wench has embarked upon a mission to interview as many beer tweeters that she can — from all over the world.

Are you a beer tweeter? Do you want to share your story? Send me an email!

INTRODUCING BEER TWEETER: BRYAN PRYOR

TWITTER HANDLE: @suedefog

CURRENT LOCATION: Papillion, NE

Background “Snapshot”

1. Where did you grow up?

Waterloo, IA, and moved to Sigourney, IA, when I was 14.

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

I played JV basketball for ONE YEAR. I was the last fella on the team. But, when I scored the only two points of my career, the whole team cheered. That’s what being Dennis Miller on a basketball team is like.

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

I remember my dad gave me a sip when I was around 4, and like most kids, I didn’t know what I had! But, my first beer was when I was 14.

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

Imagine! I move to a town of 2000, and mere months later I hit the sauce. I was 14, and we were road tripping on our way to Shakey’s pizza for dinner before we drove back for the pomp and circumstance of the Sigourney High School Winter Formal. My green silk shirt left no doubt who was the cock of the walk. I had the beer(s) in the car, and it was a can of Budweiser, FULL STRENGTH.

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

Never did the normal college thing. I joined the Air Force after High School. I’ve been a medic and linguist. Now I’m in the Reserves as a Bioenvironmental technician (OSHA, EPA, Industrial Hygiene, etc)

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:

The epiphany happened in a roundabout way: I was 20, and in Saudi Arabia. As I was leaving the shower tent (stay with me here) I noticed one of our pilots had left his ID there. This was a BIG DEAL; this could manifest asspain by the boatloads. So, when I gave it back to him, he was REALLY happy, and told me, “When we leave and get to Shannon (Ireland), you’re getting a Guinness.

Well, I hadn’t ever had a Guinness. When we got there, I hung back like a puppy at the store not wanting to get noticed, but desperately wanting to be picked. When he saw me, he yelled, “Pryor! Get over here!” So, he bought me the beer. After they poured the Guinness, I went right for it.

Frenchy (that was his callsign) said, “No wait! You have to let it settle, then, they’ll top it off. THEN you drink it.”

I said, “Wow. Thanks, Yoda.”

He replied, “One day, you too will become Jedi.”

So I told you that to tell you this. I was stationed in Utah at the time. When I got back, I turned 21. I don’t think I EVER had a Bud, Coors, etc, in my fridge because of that experience. It was about that time the Wasatch Brewery opened, and I had their Hefe-Weizen. That’s when I KNEW there were great beers out there. Long story, but worth it.

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

I spent most of the past decade in England, so that was just a reinforcement of good beer. I came back to Omaha, and two places: Upstream Brewing (the Scotch Ale will curl your toes, as well as the traditional cask-conditioned ale), and Nebraska Brewing Company (NEBREWCO) are what finally solidified it. I live one mile from NEBREWCO, and that whole place is built on making great beer, and trying new things with it.

Paul Kavulak, the owner, has done a LOT for craft brewing in Nebraska. I wish I’d been there for the Great Nebraska Brew Fest that was put on just outside NEBREWCO’s door. I’m partial, because he’s also a great guy. That place has made me want to brew my own beer, and gotten me interested in everything about beer besides my original interest: drinking it.

Another was last year. Bourbon County Stout. On tap. To paraphrase Raymond Chandler, it could, “make a bishop kick in a stained glass window.”

Beer Talk

1. What are your top 3 favorite beer styles?

Wow…Bryan’s Choice? I love them all, but the Stouts, Porters, and IPAs usually are favorite. That’s like asking me my favorite thing about women.

2. What are your top 3 favorite breweries?

Well I have to go with Nebraska Brewing Company because it’s so close and what it’s done regarding my interest in beer. Then Goose Island, because I’ve never had a bad beer from them, ever. I was set up with a brewery tour New Year’s Eve 2008, and exponentially fell more in love with them afterward. I think Greg Hall’s brother gave us the tour, and his excitement about brewing was no joke. If I had to pick just ONE more? Right now, I’d say Dogfish Head. I can’t get enough of them of late.

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

Goose Island. I absolutely loved that place, and everyone there was HAPPY to be working on New Year’s Eve.

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

Not yet. When I get home in January, I’m on it like Professor Frink.

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

CBBS. Just a certified beer BSer. My interest is high, so there’s nowhere to go but up. I’ve seen so many people in my life who try to get titles and memorize phrases that they’ve forgotten the passion behind what made them want to go far in that endeavor to begin with. If I ever do get any of those, I want to be able to remember that being an, “expert,” is fleeting.

6. What is your favorite beer and food pairing?

Either that rare/medium rare steak I marinated in La Terrible I forgot was left open in the fridge, paired with Dogfish Black and Blue (I fell ass-backwards into this. The BEST THINGS EVER IN LIFE are NOT planned!), Encased meats and large quantities of Warsteiner, or just straight up Pizza and Beer.

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

Well, there’s yours simply because you not only have a taste for the stuff, you have fun doing it, and you really, really know how to put a sentence together. Second is tie between Ratebeer and Hopcast, and finally I’d go with Beer Runner. This is a toughie, because I have the attention span of a beagle, and click on links to other great blogs like that monkey in the old Mercury space program films would flip switches, so I’ve been to myriad great sites, but don’t save them.

The Personal Side

1. What is your current day job?

I’m a defense contractor in Omaha, NE, and a Reservist in the AF.

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’d take my training in Industrial Hygiene/workplace safety and use it to get a job at a brewery. I’d absolutely love to assure everyone they were all safe while brewing great beer. But man, I’d LOVE to open a brewery in Monterey, CA! I spent two years there, and I could spend my life there if the right woman had enough money.

3. Are you married? Children?

Neither/Nor

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

I’ve been kettlebelling for two years, and am avidly looking forward to getting my instructor certification in April. I also run, and do Krav Maga. My friends and I regularly have Scotch tastings at our houses. I read mostly non-fiction except Ray Chandler and Cormac McCarthy.

I quit cigarettes, but still love a good cigar. Love movies that make you think that are heavy in dialogue; the kind you watch over and over and find something new. A good example is isn’t a movie per se; the BBC miniseries, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.

I’m also into retro, old cars, pinups, and tattoos. Music runs the entire spectrum. On top of it all I try to study the languages I’ve learned, and I love to travel. Beer has played a great part in that as well; having a beer at a neighborhood local is a great way to see how people really are. I go around hitting people for misuse of, “their, they’re, and there.”

Off The Beaten Path

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

Anything aged in casks, because I am as well. I’d have to say though, something that’s traditional but taken out a new door.

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?

Goose Island Bourbon County Stout. It’s like drinking VELVET. As many as I could have.

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?

It would be a Chocolate Porter, simply because of the sweetness and the IN YOUR FACE I suspect you may have. I wouldn’t add much extra except chiles, because something that good already doesn’t need a lot of BS mucking up the works.

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

Hmm…can I be a Greek god instead? Good. I’d be Testicles.

5. What is one of the craziest things you have ever done and lived to tell the story?
I’ve managed to compact a lot in 32 years, but one stands out right now simply because I was on about it yesterday:

Skidded down a runway in Crete after a mission, able to see down the runway through the window on the side of the plane. You couldn’t have pulled a needle out of my ass with a tractor that day.

6. What are your thoughts on bacon?

There is no reason you CAN NOT have it every meal. Forget the toast, the potatoes; ALL FILLERS that’ll be turned into fat anyway. Eat that bacon! Ohhhh man! I had the Elvis Burger at the Vortex in Atlanta two weeks ago with a Sweetwater Festive. 1/2lb burger, peanut butter, bacon, and fried bananas. Kramer said it: “It’s like a circus in your mouth.”

One of my best friends makes bacon, so I get it fresh. You can’t live without bacon. There’s a skit from, “That Mitchell and Webb Look,” in the UK that has a great quote(and you posted it last week)”Pigs are expensive, pink and annoying, but they are also delicious, which is why we breed so many of them.”

SPECIAL THANKS TO BRYAN FOR HIS AWESOME INTERVIEW AND GREAT BEER TWEETS!

CHEERS!

DRINK WITH THE WENCH PRESENTS:

The Beer Tweeter Interview Series

Beer bloggers are not the only people using social media to share their passion for and knowledge of craft beer. Twitter is one of the most important tools in today’s craft beer industry. Beer tweeters all over the world are influencing and impacting the way people interact with and experience craft beer. The Beer Wench has embarked upon a mission to interview as many beer tweeters that she can — from all over the world.

Are you a beer tweeter? Do you want to share your story? Send me an email!

INTRODUCING BEER TWEETER: DERRICK MORSE

Twitter handle: @socialremorse

Current location: Denver, CO

Background “Snapshot”

1. Where did you grow up?

Boulder, CO, but my stomping grounds wind up and down the front-range.

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

Oy! Do we have 3 posts to cover this?

Growing up: Skiing, Sailing, Canoeing, and Backpacking.

High school: Mountain Biking, Snowboarding, Football, and Wrestling.

College: Cycling, Running, and chasing tail (considered a sport in Boulder).

Currently: Triathlete, Cyclist, Skiing Snowboarder, Sailor, Outdoor enthusiast.

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

8

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 grew up spending my summers in Germany (Mother is German), and requisitely had my first beer quite early in my developmental years. I still remember the day clearly; it was my father’s favorite pilsner. Jever Pilsner. It was, up to that point in my life, the most fowl thing I had ever tasted.

Currently, it’s one of my favorite beers.

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 Colorado University. The best school in the world! It’s where I learned about craft beer, and how much I could drink before I puked. My college life was a cross between the movies “Animal House” “Van Wilder” and “Go”. I spent most of my time trying to get out of trouble, and in the meantime earned a BS with an emphasis in nutrition and kinesiology.

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:

I was sitting in a buddy’s basement, lamenting how ugly his 1970’s couch was. We were debating if we should get a black light and see how much DNA was deposited within the cushions.

Right at that moment, a friend of a friend came in carrying a bunch of Left hand Sawtooth. He exclaimed that a friend of his worked there and these were the ones that they couldn’t sell. From that moment on, I loved Amber ales.

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

After college, I made the blunder in following my (now) x-wife out to Phoenix. Colorado has more breweries per capita than any other place in the US. Phoenix sucked for craft beer. After what felt like an eternity in hell, I moved back to my beloved Colorado.

Within my first month back, my best friend of 15 years took me to volunteer at the great American beer fest.

If epiphanies feel like hoppy orgasims, this was it. Since then I’ve spent way, way to much money hunting down those rare, limited released, hide in your closet for a year beers.

Beer Talk

1. What are your top 3 favorite beer styles?

American Amber
American IPA
Dopplebock

2. What are your top 3 favorite breweries?

Left hand brewing
Twisted Pine
Guinness (I named my dog Guinness)

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

Boulder Beer Company. It was originally started by two hippie smoking CU professors that loved beer. My father used to drink their beer, and one of my favorite beers of all time “Hazed and Infused” lives there. It’s Colorado’s oldest craft beer brewery, and since I grew up on the mean streets of boulder…. This would be my brewery of choice.

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

I tried my hand at it in college, but not since. Maybe soon after I move into my new house.

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

Nobody in their right mind is going to give me a certificate for beer.

6. What is your favorite beer and food pairing?

Beer Geek answer: Dogfish Head 120 minute IPA with cracked pepper steak, and roasted garlic butter over grilled portabella. My mouth is watering right now

Joe six-pack answer: I love a Coors light with a pepperoni and bacon Pizza Hut pizza.

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

I’m not sure I can truly answer this. I’ve only discovered this “beer underground” network of bloggers recently. I’ll have to get back to this question in a year.

The Personal Side

1. What is your current day job? Marketing for Advantage Group.

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’d like to be the glitter applicator for Victoria’s secret models

2. Are you married? Children?

I used to be married, currently trying to avoid dating. I have no children (that I know of). Though, I’d like to have children sometime.

3. Outside of beer and Twitter, what are some of your other hobbies?

I’ve got a finger in about everything. I’m an armature photographer, outdoor enthusiast, and a lover of Labradors. I’m also retarded for the Denver Broncos.

Off The Beaten Path

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

An oak whiskey red. Strong and Complex

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?

Anything with suds around cellar temperature. I just love beer, and having one right before I died would be heaven.

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?

Bud Light clone. (The Wench just threw up a little in her mouth. Thanks, Derrick. JERK.)

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

Clairvoyance

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

This would get me fired, and/or arrested. Let’s just say that I live a full life.

6. What are your thoughts on bacon?

Good stuff, I especially like the bacon from whole foods. If I had to pick, it would be a bacon on a pizza from Beau Jo’s pizza. Delicious.

SPECIAL THANKS TO DERRICK FOR HIS AWESOME INTERVIEW AND BEET TWEETS!

CHEERS!

DRINK WITH THE WENCH PRESENTS:

The Beer Tweeter Interview Series

Beer bloggers are not the only people using social media to share their passion for and knowledge of craft beer. Twitter is one of the most important tools in today’s craft beer industry. Beer tweeters all over the world are influencing and impacting the way people interact with and experience craft beer. The Beer Wench has embarked upon a mission to interview as many beer tweeters that she can — from all over the world.

Are you a beer tweeter? Do you want to share your story? Send me an email!

INTRODUCING BEER TWEETER: JULIA BURKE

AKA @NYWineWench

FROM: Buffalo, NY

Background “Snapshot”

1. Where did you grow up?

I was a military brat so I’ve lived in southern California, Cape Cod, Worcester, and Washington, D.C, but I’ve been in Buffalo for over ten years.

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

I was always into individual sports; I did martial arts for six years, played tennis since childhood, and have been a runner since I was a high school freshman.

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

My dad was always letting me try his beer at dinner when I was a kid. I remember being six and him encouraging me, “Just keep trying it. It’s an acquired taste.” Knowing my dad I’d bet it was a Heineken.

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 first craft beer was Bridgeport Stout, when I was a high school senior visiting colleges in Portland, Oregon. My mom bought us a flight of beers at the Bridgeport Ale House after we looked at Reed College, and that might have been why I fell in love with the city.

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 started college in Portland, Oregon, which began my beer obsession, and then transferred to the University at Buffalo to be closer to home. I actually majored in Asian Studies – I was a fiend for Chinese culture and politics, and I spent a semester in China searching for flavorful alternatives to QingDao. I remember finding a Chinese stout, Yanjing, and buying cases because the beer was literally cheaper than water.

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:

The aforementioned Bridgeport Stout was definitely my first moment of craft beer awareness; I realized that the reason I wasn’t a big beer drinker at the time was that mainstream beer simply didn’t taste very good. I’d been drinking PBR like all the other underage kids, and the contrast between that stuff and this chewy, roasty stout bowled me over.

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

I had another epiphany a couple of years later, in China. My friend Stephanie, another Chinese language student, was one of the early beer gals in my life and a huge influence on me, and we spent a lot of time looking for decent beer in the Beijing bars. I remember being out one night and she spotted an IPA on a beer list, and asked me excitedly, “Do you like IPAs?” I had no idea, but I tried it and was instantly in love with the hoppy, fruity, amazing flavor. I don’t even remember the name of the beer – it was made at the pub – but it stoked a fire inside me and I was never the same. I realized that I simply had to learn more about the beer world, and I’ve been drinking insatiably ever since!

Beer Talk

1. What are your top 3 favorite beer styles?

Oatmeal Stout, Barleywine, Belgian Strong Dark Ale.

2. What are your top 3 favorite breweries?

Impossible to narrow it down, so we’ll shoot for geographic diversity. Dogfish Head, Founders, and Hopworks.

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

Great Lakes. They make consistently phenomenal beer, their commitment to sustainability and responsible business is unparalleled, they’re located in a terrific beer city – and I come from a family of Buckeyes, so my Ohio roots go deep!

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

I have dabbled in homebrewing but have never had the space to really get into it. My first homebrew was a honey brown, but it got some sort of contamination so I thought I’d leave it in the basement for a few years and it would develop a respectable Belgian funk. That didn’t happen.

5. Do you have any beer certifications (BJCP, Cicerone, Siebel, American Brewers Guild)?? If so, what are they?
If a few years of bartending at a beer geek mecca doesn’t qualify you to pour a pint, I don’t know what does.

6. What is your favorite beer and food pairing?

I adore figs wrapped with bacon and a Trappist ale. And I’m a fiend for an IPA with a sharp cheese.

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

I dig broads who blog. Three faves are brew.cook.pair.joy, The Beer Babe, and Sudsy Maggie – all are great in their own way and offer different perspectives. Obviously, Beer Advocate is my ultimate go-to resource for information and conversation. And I have to give mad props to Drink With the Wench, of course!

The Personal Side

1. What is your current day job?

I work at a winery on the Niagara Escarpment AVA, selling, pouring, making, talking about, and drinking wine. I also bartend at Pizza Plant, one of the best craft beer pubs in western New York!

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?

Though I love what I do right now, I’d be thrilled to be an importer of fine wines and beers from overseas. I love to travel and would like to incorporate that into my beer interests. I love the idea of exposing more people to better beer from all over the world.

3. Are you married? Children?

No, since I’m a bit of a vagabond, being unattached is a necessity. I can’t even keep houseplants. For example, I’m about to take off for three months to be a harvest intern at a winery in South Africa – that’s something you kind of need to be single for.

4. Outside of beer & Twitter, what are some of your other hobbies?

I love music – live shows, playing guitar, and listening to records – as well as hiking, cooking, languages, and traveling.

Off The Beaten Path

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

It’s a beer, not a style, but Dogfish Head Chateau Jiahu. I love travel and Chinese culture and am a total geek, so I feel like it’s appropriate. Plus it’s a beer made with Muscat grapes, reflecting my tendency to swing both ways when it comes to beer and wine.

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?

Founders Breakfast Stout. It’s the ultimate comfort food beer – if I had one in my hand, I’d be so content I wouldn’t even be tempted to argue about capital punishment.

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?

It would need to be sassy with hops but voluptuous in malt character, so I’d make it a barleywine with a particularly sexy caramel/toffee mouthfeel but a bitch-slap of Chinook hops in the finish.

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

The power to FINALLY convince women that if they’re going to drink five Mich Ultras, they might as well drink one or two real beers and enjoy themselves.

5. What is one of the craziest things you have ever done and lived to tell the story?
I ate dog intestine once in a Korean restaurant. Also, I plan on going crocodile cage diving in South Africa, but whether I’ll live to tell the story remains to be seen. Stay tuned.

6. What are your thoughts on bacon?

Having spent five years as a vegetarian and one year as a vegan at a less beer-y point in my life, I believe that I’ve earned the right to eat a disproportionate amount of bacon. Memorable bacon moments this year: caramelized candied bacon on Labor Day, dates wrapped in bacon at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, and a bacon basket bar appetizer at Century Grill in downtown Buffalo.

SPECIAL THANKS TO JULIA FOR AN AWESOME INTERVIEW!

CHEERS!

DRINK WITH THE WENCH PRESENTS:

The Beer Tweeter Interview Series

Beer bloggers are not the only people using social media to share their passion for and knowledge of craft beer. Twitter is one of the most important tools in today’s craft beer industry. Beer tweeters all over the world are influencing and impacting the way people interact with and experience craft beer. The Beer Wench has embarked upon a mission to interview as many beer tweeters that she can — from all over the world.

Are you a beer tweeter? Do you want to share your story? Send me an email!

INTRODUCING BEER TWEETER: ALEXANDER P. DAVIS

Full name: Alexander Peter Davis

Twitter handle: @AlexPDavis

Current location: Los Angeles, CA

Background “Snapshot”

1. Where did you grow up?

I grew up in Santa Monica, about a 30-minute bike ride from where I currently live. I loved living in SoCal so much I’ve stayed for college and now law school. I can see myself perhaps going elsewhere for a couple year spurt or two, but I see myself ending up back here long term.

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

I played everything growing up. Football, baseball, basketball, soccer (only for a year, sports which prevent the use of one’s hands are not my bag) and even some roller hockey. I picked up weightlifting and golf in high school and still enjoy both on a consistent basis.

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

Excellent question, I have absolutely no idea. If I could remember, it’d probably be earlier than I care to admit, and the beer would likely have been awful, and drunk in great haste in order to achieve a buzz.

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

See above

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 studied History and English at UCLA and I am back there for law school, finishing up my last year, typing this while I should be studying for my impending Business Bankruptcy final. I didn’t play any collegiate sports, but I was active in Pi Kappa Phi fraternity and its attached charity organization, Push America. The only sports I played were of the intramural variety and I dabbled in student government.

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:

Now this I can remember ;^) In my last two years of college, I noticed myself striving to become a better beer drinker. I’d pick up a sixer of Sam Adams Winter Lager when the season was right and I’d grab the Holiday Classics 12-pack as well. However, these beers rarely found their way into glassware (eek!). I eschewed macro lagers and starting ordering whatever Hefeweizen was on tap at Maloney’s (the local college bar, now called O’Hara’s). However, that Hefe was ice cold and served with citrus (no doubt to cover up its less-than-awesome taste). In other words, I wanted to drink good beer, I just didn’t know how yet.

It wasn’t until I graduated that I had my true craft beer epiphany. A little ways into my two-year foray into the non-academic, a good friend of mine, Joe Moore (@jminsc76) invited me to go with a work friend of his to a bar in Pasadena called Lucky Baldwin’s. I’d never heard of it. I checked it out online, looked at the menu and my head started spinning. I was intrigued. I decided to go.

When we arrived at the bar I was dazzled and awed by the taplist. There was so much I’d never seen or heard of. I ordered something familiar whose name currently escapes me. As it turned out, that keg had just blown. So the bartender suggested a Rogue Dead Guy. I’d heard of Rogue and thought I’d give it a whirl. I enjoyed it, but it didn’t knock my socks off. I suppose I can now say this of most of Rogue’s beers (with Shakespeare Stout and a couple others being notable exceptions). I sipped and we waited for Joe’s friend. He arrived and we grabbed a table upstairs where we each ordered one of Lucky Baldwin’s signature pot pies (which are really good by the way, it’s worth a visit just for those).

As I reached the bottom of my glass I was wondering what to order next and Joe’s friend volunteered to order something for the table. I was game. About five minutes later the waitress (or bar maiden if you prefer) came back with a large bottle with a tan label bearing the name “Westmalle.” For those Belgian enthusiasts out there, you know this was the Tripel. We even got the proper glassware (a goblet, I thought this incredibly neat at the time). We distributed the golden liquid and I took my first sip…HOLY CRAP! went my craft beer neophyte brain. BEER CAN TASTE LIKE THIS!?

As I sipped and enjoyed (and got buzzed, not knowing or being conditioned to the higher ABV of the Belgian brew), we struck up a conversation with the couple next to us. Seeing that I was reaching the bottom of my glass (yet again) the gentleman in the couple suggested I try Kasteel Donker. I looked at the menu and found that the beer had a titanic ABV of 12%. I had to have it. I hastily grabbed the bar maiden’s attention again and ordered up the ale.

Dark brown and foreboding, it came out of the stubby 11.2oz bottle and into my newly fetched goblet. I took my first sip…HOLY CRAP AGAIN! If the Westmalle hadn’t thrown me hard enough down the proverbial rabbit hole, the Kasteel had me talking to the doorknob and chasing a white rabbit! I was in (slightly drunk) heaven. That night was my epiphany and I’ve been chasing the craft beer white rabbit ever since.

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

I had the hophead epiphany like most. I can’t recall a specific time or place, but I know that my taste in IPAs and DIPAs has certainly evolved and I now prefer a more nuanced, fruity, IPA with dry, earthy undertones than one that’s more herbal or grassy with a more pronounced bitterness.
My major, more recent epiphany has been with sours. My first were Duchesse du Bourgogne and Rodenbach, but they didn’t really start me down the path to a love of microbacteria and brettanomyces.

Rather, I have Mr. Vinnie Cilurzo and his fine beverage known as Consecration to thank for that. The first time I had it was on tap at Father’s Office 2.0 in Los Angeles and I paired it (rather adeptly, if I say so myself) with duck confit salad. I was in heaven. Then I bought a bottle of Rose de Gambrinus from Cantillon. Holy crap was that sour…and incredibly tasty. Then I had La Folie on tap, and OMFG! I had to try everything I could get my hands on.

Ever since, it’s been about tracking down the most amazing and rare sours I can find. There are too many to list, but like Wenchie, I enjoy the Gueuze. However, I think I’m more partial to American interpretations of sour beers. Duck Duck Gooze, Cuvee de Tomme, Veritas 004, Consecration, Temptation, La Folie (gotta love a beer that comes from giant oak vats!), etc, etc. However, I still return constantly to Cantillon, Drie Fonteinen, Boon, Rodenbach (usually Grand Cru) and others. Yay sour beer!

Beer Talk

1. What are your top 3 favorite beer styles?

Sours (see above), Barrel-Aged Strong Ales (Imperial Stout, Barleywine, Old Ale), IPA/DIPA

2. What are your top 3 favorite breweries?

Wow, talk about a tough one. In no particular order: 1) The Bruery (innovative and amazing) 2) AleSmith (do they make a less than great beer?) 3) Russian River (both Plinys and Consecration, end of conversation)

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

I’d probably work at The Bruery. I’ve met a lot of people who work for them and they’ve all been awesome. Also, they turn out well-crafted, innovative and unique beers. I think I’d enjoy myself a lot, plus I’d get to stay close to home.

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

Not yet (note the “yet”).

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

Not yet (again, note the “yet”).

6. What is your favorite beer and food pairing?
Something dark, sour and fruity with something fatty, savory and thick (think Rodenbach Grand Cru with Beef Stew or Consecration with Mt. Tam cheese).

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

In no particular order: 1) Beer Advocate (I’ve learned so much there and it’s really the reason my beer horizons and knowledge are as broad as they are) 2) The Bruery’s Blog (going back to the first post when Patrick hadn’t even found a location yet is both incredibly interesting and inspirational and now they post news about The Bruery’s goings on there) 3) beernews.org (I go there daily for the latest information, and I wanted to get a rise out of Wenchie by leaving her off )

The Personal Side

1. What is your current day job?

I am a law student at UCLA.

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’d probably own a somewhat upscale (think Stone Bistro or Father’s Office), craft beer slinging brewpub with really good food, an even better tap and vintage bottle list and I’d invite talented brewers to come brew beers on my system. Half of each batch going to the brewer and the other half going on tap at the pub.

3. Are you married? Children?

Girlfriend. No kids (thank God).

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

I love food too, and scour my surrounding area for new and unique eats. I play golf as often as I can (which isn’t as often as I’d like). I love riding my bike around town, I feel like I get much more of a feel for where I am and getting around on my own power is very satisfying. I have both deep and shallow philosophical discussions with friends and am an avid and amateur student of human dynamics. I love figuring out how and why people do things (I think my middle school addiction to Loveline has a lot to do with this). I’m also something of a cinefile.

Off The Beaten Path

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

I’d be a dark, high ABV, American Sour, like Consecration. Unique and bold, yet nuanced, I take time and contemplation to fully understand. However, once you’ve taken the time necessary to wrap your head around me, you’ll be well-rewarded…and drunk.

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?

Melange #3 from The Bruery. It’s a blend of White Oak Sap (a 100% Barrel-Aged Wheatwine), 100% Barrel-Aged Papier and Black Tuesday. It’s so complex, unique and huge in flavor. I could drink it all the time and keep finding new flavors. Plus it’s really high in alcohol, and if I’m going to die, I want to be reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeally drunk.

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?

It’d be an American take on a Gueuze, probably brewed at a higher ABV than usual for the style (something like 8-9% like Mariage Parfait). Given your origins, in year one, I’d brew the base beer and let it spontaneously ferment in a field somewhere in upstate New York. Then, I’d transfer that beer to oak barrels once the wild yeast started fermenting away.

In year two, I’d brew the base beer in the Midwest and let it spontaneously ferment in a field somewhere in Ohio. Again, that beer would be transferred to oak barrels.

Towards the end of year three, I’d brew the base beer again, this time in Northern California, allowing it ferment outdoors in Santa Rosa. This would be the new lambic traditionally used to carbonate a Gueuze. Once all the beers are blended at the end of year three, the beer would have the unique character of each place it was made, but would really not be from any one place, just like our Wenchie ;^)

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

I really liked PJ’s answer, and it’d probably be mine if I were more creative, but I’m not gonna steal. I’d like to have the power that Hayden Christensen had in Jumper. I’d never have to make travel arrangements ever again and I’d be able to get an authentic expression of whatever food or drink I wanted at any given time. Of course, this is assuming there is no organization headed up by Samuel L. Jackson that’s trying to kill me.

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

I once spent ~24 hours with The Beer Wench.

6. What are your thoughts on bacon?

See Anthony Bourdain.