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A lot of manufacturers at this November’s Pack Expo had revealed their new craft beer equipment back at CBC. While they were happy to talk about their craft machines, many of which were there on the show floor, they didn’t
When I walked onto the show floor amid the hum of a thousand spinning and shaking and shuffling machines, I was sure I was in over my head. Over the next four days of Pack Expo 2016, though, I saw
The Midwest did itself proud at this year’s Great American Beer Festival. Midwest beers netted 47 medals against some 3,126 total entries across 46 categories. For someone who drinks his fair share of Midwestern beer, it’s no great surprise that
Chicago’s beloved Revolution Brewing recently recalled several brands of their beer. The stated problem was that the beers “exhibit ester or phenolic flavors” more typical of Belgian beers than these styles. They believe a previously undetected wild yeast is to blame
In her “closing argument” for last night’s debate, Hillary Clinton may finally have gotten her story pitch right. By “story pitch” I mean the focused marketing narrative Donald Miller describes in his StoryBrand seminars. (Or at least what he’s described in
A Networking Parable There I was, a humble beer writer, at the 79th annual convention of the National Beer Wholesalers Association, trying to figure out how to connect to the middle tier of the alcoholic beverage industry. I had come
One of my favorite breweries right now is just down the road from me: Sketchbook Brewing Co. in Evanston, IL. For me, there are two main reasons they have been growing like they have. The first is brewing tasty beers
By the time I saw the announcement about tickets for Brew Talks Chicago, I had less than a week to plan childcare with my wife, but I knew I didn’t want to miss an opportunity to rub shoulders with local
When You Give a Writer Time to Think Where I live just north of Chicago, we literally have more restaurant choices than we know what to do with, and most of those are independently owned small business ventures. That means
You might think it fun to derive beer writing advice from Hamlet, but two myths might be holding you back from taking it seriously. Let’s say you agree with me that Hamlet’s advice to actors can apply also to beer