Back in the Barrel With Ya

BrettFavresColonoscopy - May 26, 2017May 26, 2017

Our esteemed alot of beer is out doing life things that may or may not be more important than reviewing beer for imaginary internet friends, so you're stuck with substitute teachers for the next few Beer Barrels. First sub up: ME! Last time I filled in for this column I wasn't

Commentist Beer Barrel: A Moment of Clarity

makeitsnowondem - May 2, 2017May 2, 2017

We haven't talked a lot about imported beers in the Beer Barrel. I know, off the top of my head, that I've written about Czechvar and Chimay Grande Reserve and Kulmbacher Eisbock and Fullers ESB, all of which are exceptionally delicious or have exceptionally interesting stories behind them or both. But for the most part,

Commentist Beer Barrel: From Russia With Care

makeitsnowondem - April 8, 2017

From the outside, looking in, this beer review might appear to be two weeks late. The reality is that this review is much, much later than that. That's because it's a review of a beer from Jester King Brewery, a farmhouse brewing outfit located in the countryside southwest of Austin, and

Commentist Beer Barrel: Drift Wood

Commentist Beer Barrel

makeitsnowondem - March 16, 2017March 16, 2017

Northwestern is in the tournament! This doesn't have anything to do with the beer I'm reviewing this week, but it's a real fact that I almost can't believe. For the last month and a half they seemed determined to piss away a great start and confirm again one of the funadamental laws of the

Commentist Beer Barrel: The Bell’s Tolls For Me

Commentist Beer Barrel

makeitsnowondem - March 4, 2017

Bell's Brewery, of Kalamazoo, Michigan (and lately also Comstock, Michigan) has long been one of the finest breweries in the country whose beer I couldn't get. Their expansion to Texas, which has been rumored to be just around the corner for years, was finally and officially slated for this month. I

Commentist Beer Barrel: Extra Special

Commentist Beer Barrel

makeitsnowondem - February 18, 2017

I can remember where and when I first had pretty much all of my favorite beers, but when it comes to one of my very earliest favorites, Fuller's ESB, I always draw a blank. I can't remember where, or when, or even whether I had it from a bottle or keg

Commentist Beer Barrel: Let’s Have A Lager!

Commentist Beer Barrel

makeitsnowondem - February 4, 2017February 4, 2017

Happy Super Bowl Saturday! My sympathies to the vast majority of you whose team won't be playing tomorrow, but the consolation match is, I think, a pretty exciting matchup with some real offensive firepower on both sides, and you don't get that every year. I, for one, tend to drink a

Commentist Beer Barrel: The Golden Goblets

makeitsnowondem - January 23, 2017January 23, 2017

I'll be honest about this: I love awards, and awards shows, and basically anything where various things are declared "the best." A big part of this is that I also love to declare things "the best," and to argue when other people declare the wrong things "the best." I'm excited

Commentist Beer Barrel: You Deserve a Cookie

makeitsnowondem - January 5, 2017January 5, 2017

That's right! You! Have a damn cookie. It's been five days since New Year's Day, which I think is long enough that I can now safely say it's 2017. It wasn't easy, but you made it. Beer helped, probably, but in the end, the credit belongs to you. Thanks to

Commentist Beer Barrel: Every Puppy Has Its Day

Commentist Beer Barrel

makeitsnowondem - December 18, 2016

Hello, Commentists! Sorry for my absence these past two weeks, but I was out wandering the woods with Hillary Clinton last week and couldn't find a signal. Did you know she wrestled a grizzly bear out there? Mainstream media won't talk about it. I don't know what they've got against her. Losing can

Commentist Beer Barrel: Welcome To Your Local Brewery

makeitsnowondem - November 27, 2016

Even in a pretty miserable year—and let's not kid ourselves: this has been, by any measure, a pretty miserable year on the global scale—I've got a lot to be thankful for. Most of all, of course, there's my beautiful fiancée lady snow, to whom I became formally engaged this past

Commentist Beer Barrel: Land of the Rising Suds

The Right Reverend Electric Mayhem - November 15, 2016November 15, 2016

Hi kids! It's your friendly neighborhood curate, Reverend Mayhem, subbing in for makeitsnow. He is currently...indisposed. So, let's get right down to it. Today, I am reviewing Hitachino Nest White Ale and Red Rice Ale from Japan. I've noticed this column trends a little heavily toward North American craft beers, with