Apparently Oktoberfest is the new Halloween, so it’s time for some creativity

We've long grasped that two separate herds of Americans, some of whom periodically think for themselves, are fascinated by "pumpkin spice." One group has reverted...

Reminding myself about how these (almost) 40 years in beer came to be

Facebook's "on this day in history" memory reminders can be smile-inducing or cringeworthy, depending on one's mile markers. On August 24, 2021 came this...

Foundational beer texts, perhaps dated, but gloriously so

We all have our foundational texts, and these are three of mine (although not the only ones), as plucked from the shelf a few...

ON THE AVENUES: Daze of future passed (1998 – 2021)

Pints&union began operations three years ago yesterday (and today, and this week). The following column first appeared at the NA Confidential blog in 2018,...

Moody Tongue Beer Dinner at The Exchange in New Albany, 28 July 2021

At Moody Tongue, our goal is to create thoughtful, exciting beers that blend familiar flavors with quality ingredients through our philosophy of culinary brewing:...

Diary for 28 July 2021: “Craft” is especially nonsensical when tacked to “hard” seltzer

The point of these “diary” entries is to write as the mood strikes me, in the moment. I'd suggest we piss on hard seltzer, but...

Classist versus classicist, beer or elsewhere

A "Shane's Excellent New Words" column from December, 2019, revised and updated. What about classism versus classicism? The words have very different meanings. classism noun ...

Sunday Summary for 11 July 2021, or the links to what I’ve been writing...

Henceforth it is my aim to post a Sunday compendium of links here at the web site, these directing you to recent writings of...

Commonism in Kentucky? Why not, seeing as it’s a true American brew

Kentucky Common needs to become more customary, and today my friend Michael, one of three visionaries behind Louisville Ale Trail, revealed that he'd started...

Louisville beer, now and then (or, my 2014 review of Kevin Gibson’s “Louisville Beer”...

Because, I really nailed this one. --- Louisville Beer, Now and Then “Anyone who has groped among the dark beer dungeons which lie for a number...

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40 Years in Beer (Book III), Part 92: Pentecostal pews, beer judging exams and...

Previously: 40 Years in Beer (Book III), Part 91: New Albany’s brewing history, prior to NABC resuming it. It would be perfectly reasonable of the...

40 Years of Sidebars: Hugo Claus, Frans Masereel & NABC’s one-off Silent Oath Oud...

This Belgian cultural excursion didn’t slot handily into the “40 Years in Beer” narrative, and so I've declared it suitable as a “sidebar.” The...

40 Years in Beer (Book III), Part 91: New Albany’s brewing history, prior to...

Previously: 40 Years in Beer (Book III), Part 90: A brewery for the New Albanian in all of us, Lite-free NABC debuts in 2002. In...