Things were bleak in Portland over the weekend. I personally saw numerous combatants enjoying an autumn stroll or the city's many food cart pods. My own war rations included a brisket sandwich and fragrant fresh hop IPA.

"Like avant-garde jazz, [Upright Brewing] thrilled those who understood the form deeply, but may have been inaccessible to the hazy IPA fan." @beervana.bsky.social on the loss of one of Portland's great breweries. www.beervanablog.com/beervana/202...

September is a special month here in the PNW, as expressive beers made with freshly picked hops appear and then quickly vanish at bars and bottle shops. I really enjoy them, & so far Bale Breaker, Fort George, Single Hill & Lucky Envelope have made my favorite examples this season. What about you?

Big beer news from the East Coast. I find it simultaneously curious and clever.

Munich's Oktoberfest begins tomorrow and continues until October 5th. In this article, my friend Adam recommends 13 places to get into the spirit without leaving the US. And I'll add a favorite of my own for those in NYC: the historic Bohemian Hall & Beer Garden. www.foodandwine.com/americas-bes...

Hop harvest is a special time of year here in the #PNW. To experience a symphony of Simcoe, I recommend Bale Breaker's Fresh Hop Topcutter. balebreaker.com/beer/fresh-h...

Our human rights are not protected if our leaders fail to tackle and end the epidemic of gun violence and gun deaths.

Happy hop harvest season! Ranging from full-fledged farms to small-scale plots, a number of breweries around the country (and Canada, too) grow their own hops. In this piece for @vinepair.com, I recommend six places where you can toast under the trellises this month. vinepair.com/articles/bre...

My first fresh hop beer of 2025 was an IPA dry hopped with wet Chinook from Sapwood Cellars: Wet Hop Maryland Summer. What's everyone else drinking?

It's been years since my last beer from Maryland's Burley Oak Brewing, so I was glad to find cans of this pithy, peachy IPA near my parents' place last night.

Took the kid to Cloudburst for Szechuan-style dumplings (him) and hazy IPA hopped with Strata and Eclipse (me). It went well.

I'm a firm believer that date night dinners should end with a dessert.

Matchday Pub Crawl 🥳 Head down to Reuben's Brews before tomorrow's match for a pub crawl and the release of their new Seattle Sports Beer Premium Lager! MORE ➡️ sndrs.com/8ma0oh7i

Duvel is very much a world class beer, but does a badge from a publication that folded 8 years ago really motivate customers?

Noticing fewer draft beer lines at your local bar? Writing for @wineenthusiast.bsky.social, @evanrail.bsky.social looks into the reasons behind the shift, including changing demographics. “At this point, drinking craft beer is like what an old person would do." www.wineenthusiast.com/culture/beer...

It's June 26th. The wading pool in your neighborhood park just reopened and large parts of the US are experiencing a heat wave. Yet you work at a craft brewery, so it's time to forecast pumpkin beer volumes and order holiday merch!

Tequila drinks are hot right now, and Portland-based Straightaway Cocktails has the best widely available RTD cocktails in the PNW. By a mile.

WooHoo! Reuben's Brews opens its new Downtown Taproom tomorrow. I share details about the weekend's events and the new taproom in general on the blog. washingtonbeerblog.com/reubens-brew...

When @allaboutbeer.bsky.social editor John buys you a beer but it's a 9.5% Golden Monkey Tripel and then he runs off to catch a train.

This beer is made with fonio, an ancient African grain notable for its drought resistance, cultural significance, and wine-like character. At just 4.2% ABV, Lost Crop Grisette is semi-dry and supremely drinkable with a phenolic aroma, subtle fruity notes, and a touch of white pepper in the finish.

I only ended up working with @thezythophile.bsky.social once while I was editor of BeerAdvocate, but if you're intrigued by hop history, I hope you'll find his piece as fun and fascinating as I did when I accepted his story pitch. RIP Martyn Cornell (1952-2025). www.beeradvocate.com/articles/135...

When Dad takes you to the brewery and lets you sit in a big kid seat.

If you enjoy: dark roast coffee, nutty toffee, bittersweet chocolate, or molasses crinkles cookies, you might like this #beer from Reuben's Brews.

Not mad that the IPA pendulum is swinging back towards bright and bitter TBH.

"We suspect the entire drinks sector is in the early stages of being impacted negatively by weight loss drugs.” Very interesting read from Seven Fifty Daily. daily.sevenfifty.com/ozempic-curb...

I've been thinking about something @beervana.bsky.social wrote in a recent post on customer loyalty: "One of the problems breweries face is a disengaged public no longer 'excited' about beer. But excitement may be a blind alley." And the more I think about it, the more I'm convinced that he's right.

If your plans will bring you to Seattle this summer, there's a new place downtown that's going to be worth a visit. reubensbrews.com/were-opening...

Here in Seattle, Maritime Pacific Brewing has reached the 35 year milestone and is merging with Rooftop Brewing next month. This got me and @harveyshepard.bsky.social thinking: How many other U.S. breweries (large or small) are still operational & 35 years old or more? My best estimate is around 50.

Does anything scream "middle aged" more than a birthday email from your gastroenterologist's office? You know, besides the one I got from AARP last year?

I understand the impulse, but I must admit, the number of smaller and regional breweries that appear to be betting on "uncomplicated lagers" and "beer flavored beer" worries me a bit.

Get in loser, we're tanking the economy

To me this (very small) movement is one of the most interesting and exciting things going on in the beer world right now.

A sign of the times? The brewery restaurant I'm currently visiting has posted the following message behind the bar: "No religion or politics at the bar top."

For 20 years now, beer geeks have associated February with Pliny the Younger. But the bottle that got my attention earlier this month is this Russian River and Brooklyn Brewery collab. A Belgian Blonde, Fonio is made with the ancient West African grain of the same name. Have you tried a fonio beer?

As I told @evanrail.bsky.social for this @vinepair.com article, keep an eye on Self Care beer this year. vinepair.com/articles/bre...

Black IPA is dead. Long live Black IPA.

Forgot to pick up a bouquet for your sweetheart today? Remember: hops are flowers, too. Hit up your favorite brewery tonight for some beer to-go!

A snow day for Seattle!

What a singular expression of the PNW from Ferment Brewing. If you live in OR or WA, go find a bottle of this mixed fermentation farmhouse ale with Douglas fir tips. It's worth the hunt.

When it's January and there's a Doppelbock on the menu, you order the Doppelbock. #protip

I absolutely love it when friends send me pictures of breweries they have visited (or even just noticed) while traveling abroad. Here's 175-year-old Hook Norton in England.

Somehow I didn't realize until becoming a parent that the Chicken Little story is actually a folk tale warning us about social media's dangerous ability to spread misinformation.

I love a good rye IPA but encounter them rarely out in the market. Why didn't they catch on in a bigger way?

Have you been to the country's biggest beer festival? Things looked different in Denver this year, and @allaboutbeer.bsky.social editor John Holl has five sensible suggestions to make this annual event better. allaboutbeer.com/ways-to-put-...

For eight years now I've been fortunate to spend time in Yakima, WA during the hop harvest. And whether it was helping with selection, visiting farms to pick up fresh hops, or leading a public tour of the valley, it's a September visit I always look forward to. See you in 2025, Yakima!

Hey #Seattle: I'd love to geek out with you about fresh hops later this month. And here's the perfect opportunity to do just that. reubensbrews.com/event/2024-f...

Never mind the seasonal creep, I think single serve beer can sizes are getting out of control.

More than a decade ago I lived in Bangkok for the better part of a year, during which I drank many a Thai iced tea. And that's why I find Lucky Envelope Brewing's new teahouse release so exciting. It could use a bit more body, but the flavor, color & aroma are close. What a fun beer!

Haven't been to Snohomish's Haywire Brewing in years, but I can confirm that it's still a fun destination. We recommend Farmhand hoppy Pilsner and the juice box selection.

Some sad news for the Seattle beer scene today: Brouwers Cafe, a world class bar & restaurant that has enthusiastically served the best ales and lagers from Belgium, the Pacific Northwest, and beyond for the past 19 years, will close its doors for good at the end of June.