The Keymaster, not the Gatekeeper
Setting aside the cultural, epicurean and economic benefits the craft beer revolution might just herald a larger social good: the extinction of the dead-eyed bartender. Bartending always took an amount of skill, but it increasingly takes engagement. This is pretty true behind any normal bar, but behind the bar at a craft brewery, it is […]
Burley Oak builds a house
That taverns were the heart of the American Revolution, hell, of most revolutions, feels like it’s common knowledge, but why taverns as opposed to private homes or churches is something that escapes people. The fact is, it had very little to do with alcohol. In early America, especially in rural areas, there was a tavern […]
Quick Hit: A festival in pictures
Beer is a draw Just because it doesn’t have a brewery or and real strong desire to have a massive beer festival that competes with the other massive beer festivals doesn’t mean that Laurel has to watch the economic boost attached to the craft beer culture pass it by. Four years ago the chamber of […]
There’s no place like home
That taverns were the heart of the American Revolution, hell, of most revolutions, feels like it’s common knowledge, but why taverns as opposed to private homes or churches is something that escapes people. The fact is, it had very little to do with alcohol. In early America, especially in rural areas, there was a tavern […]
Being undeniable on 45th Street
The restaurant that is Assawoman Bay Brewing Company was under construction when I visited this spring. It was disorienting and made me grateful for the weird beer reporter position I’ve been in for the last few years. I’m privileged to see a lot of breweries mid-construction or conversion, to taste beers that might eventually get […]
Assawoman Bay Brewing ups its game
The restaurant that is Assawoman Bay Brewing Company was under construction when I visited this spring. It was disorienting and made me grateful for the weird beer reporter position I’ve been in for the last few years. I’m privileged to see a lot of breweries mid-construction or conversion, to taste beers that might eventually get […]
Who are the (craft beer) people in your neighborhood?
Part three of a three parter on the cambridge beer festival Listen, I like old people more than most people my age. It’s not merely a “respect for my elders” attitude, although that’s part of it, but there’s something beyond reproach about older folks. There’s a kind of attitude that projects the confidence of experience […]
