Written by Franz Hofer for A Tempest in a Tankard A TECTONIC SHIFT At first blush, the Munich Baker-Brewer Dispute might look like a curious footnote in the annals of medieval history.[1] But it’s much more than that. Flaring up sporadically between 1481 and 1517, this inter-guild dispute is not only a colorful story, it …
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Written by Franz Hofer for A Tempest in a Tankard In between evenings of losing myself in my annual “big book” (Don Quixote this year), I’ve been reading Terry Theise’s What Makes Wine Worth Drinking: In Praise of the Sublime. Theise makes a compelling case that people who write about wine or who sell wine …
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(Thanks to Deb Evans for the link.) New York is home to many great breweries, but there might be none that are more revered than Brewery Ommegang near Cooperstown. Brewery Ommegang was established in 1997, which also makes it one of the state’s oldest breweries. Located on a 140-acre hop farm, they claim to have …
Continue reading “Brewery Ommegang: Cooperstown’s Destination for Beer Lovers”
Before I retired I used to tour through Rhode Island in the 90’s and 2000’s as an entertainer and educational service provider. Of all the things I miss, I miss spinach pies the most. I was determined to find one if I ever came back. Millie was skeptical regarding how good they were, and how …
Continue reading “A Beer Judge’s Diary: Pawtucket!”
Bend, Oregon…no matter what anyone says, my vote for the mythical (and mostly bogus) title of “Beer City USA†– besides the presumptive winner, San Diego – would have to go to this explosive brewing mecca, out there in the arid middle of Oregon’s High Desert. It is certainly, even including SD, the most per capita great brewery nexus in the country and the only real challenger is the far more tiny Hood River, Oregon, about 150 miles up Oregon Route 97. One quick scan of the breweries located in Bend makes the case eloquently…