Beer Flights, Craft Beer Travel, Travel, United States

Beer Flights – A Helton Brewing Beer Review

Brian Helton opened Helton Brewing a year ago in the midst of Phoenix’s rapid growing beer scene. While many breweries need several months to work out the kinks with their recipes and equipment, Helton Brewing opened their doors with taps pouring well thought out and brewed beers – thanks to Helton’s decades long career as a store brewer and then regional brewer with Rock Bottom Brewery (he even racked up a few…

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Craft Beer Travel, Taproom Talk, Travel, United States

A Look at Phoenix’s Food and Craft Beer Scene with Wren House Brewing Brewer Preston Thoeny

Wren House Brewing is located in a 1920’s era bungalow in Central Phoenix’s Green Gables neighborhood. The brewery opened two years ago and epitomizes everything a neighborhood brewery should be. I stopped by to interview Preston Thoeny, Master Brewer, on a Tuesday afternoon, and the quaint, white tile splashed taproom was packed with business folk catching an after-work beer, tourists exploring the greater Phoenix beer trail, and neighborhood locals stopping in for a…

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Craft Beer Reviews, Craft Beer Travel

May Craft Beer Report – Granite Falls Brewing, Salty Nut Brewery, Straight to Ale, Wooden Robot Brewery, Birdsong Brewing

Whether a brewery sends me a courtesy sample, I visit a brewery on a press trip, or I just stop in a brewery because beer, I sample a lot of beer. Each month, I summarize my favorites in a craft beer report. The beginning of May marked a stop at Granite Falls Brewing for a CraftBeer.com freelance assignment. Granite Falls Brewing is a brewery I’d seen around North Carolina in the grocery…

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Craft Beer Travel

Fathers Day Gift Ideas for Beer Lovers

I’m about to say what most dads are afraid to admit but want to. Father’s Day gifts are lame. Sure, it’s cute when our daughter sees us wearing the tie they picked out with little pink duckies on it, but we stuff it in our briefcase as soon as we get in the car to avoid embarrassment at work. And no, we don’t need another box of golf balls. We buy these…

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Europe, Food, Travel

Where to Eat Breakfast in Belfast – From Belfast Baps to an Authentic Ulster Fry

“Northern Ireland has had so little to be proud of that we cling to our food,” our tour guide describes Belfast’s food scene. Dotted throughout Belfast are reminders of the nation’s violent past – peace murals that are anything but peaceful, schools still divided by religious and political beliefs, and neighborhoods decorated with either Union Jack or Irish flags. As the dust settles on the Good Friday Peace Agreement, the world is…

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Brewery Reviews, Craft Beer Travel

April Craft Beer Report – NoDa Brewing, Triple C Brewing, Wilmington Brewing Company, Front Street Brewery, Flytrap Brewing

Whether a brewery sends me a courtesy sample, I visit a brewery on a press trip, or I just stop in a brewery because beer, I drink a lot of beer. Each month, I summarize my favorites in a craft beer report. April marks the end of my wife’s favorite beer season of chewy stouts, rich porters, and hearty winter warmers and the beginning of my favorite beer season of bright hops,…

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Brewery Reviews, Craft Beer Travel, Travel, United States

Good City Brewing – Bringing West Coast Hops to Milwaukee

As I wrap up coverage of the Twin Cities, this edition of Brewery Spotlight provides a glimpse at where The Wandering Gourmand is going next – Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I chose to highlight Good City Brewing first because the brewery epitomizes everything about Milwaukee’s rebirth in craft beer. While Milwaukee is the original Beer City, USA (the birthplace of Pabst, Miller, Schlitz, and Blatz), the city was slow to participate in the beer…

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Brewery Day Drives, Craft Beer Travel, Travel, United States

New Ulm, Minnesota Day Trip – August Schell Brewery, Buffalo, and a Glockenspiel

As we ventured off the interstate from Minneapolis towards New Ulm, Minnesota, I was reminded about how vast and beautiful the United States of America truly is. The farmlands and prairies we passed on the hour-and-a-half drive were alive with greens of a thousand different hues. Our final destination for the day was August Schell Brewery in New Ulm, Minnesota. But first, we had a few other fun stops planned to learn…

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Brewery Day Drives, Craft Beer Travel, Travel, United States

Stillwater Day Tripping – Where to Find Craft Beer in Stillwater

One of the things that amazed me the most about Minneapolis, and Minnesota in general, is the amount of things to do there. Who knew you could easily spend a week’s vacation in a state that’s frozen a good portion of the year? When that snow melts though, the scenery is lush and the temperatures are pleasantly mild.     While I spent most of my time in Minneapolis at a travel…

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