dogfish head

Sam Calagione is an interesting man. A novice homebrewer-turned owner of one of the fastest growing, and most defintely influential breweries in the world, Dogfish Head, as well as a celebrity brewer and entreprenuer, (see: Eataly NY's brand-spanking new rooftop beergarden), Sam is all at once a persistent overachiever, an ambitious businessman, a visionary hop titan, and, as I learned this weekend, a really, really nice, humble beer lover.

PALO SANTO MARRON

Oh DANG!

This was a scary subject....

"2010 was without a doubt the year of the Black IPA" is the opening sentence of many the uninspired beer blog as of late. You won't find that crap in any of my blogs - I'm not here to regurgitate tired old news on the state of craft beer; I'd rather be known as one of the innovators pushing the envelope.

I look forward to Black Friday with about the same passion as a Native American looks forward to Columbus Day. Violent swaths of psychotic, deal-obsessed shoppers pounding on doors and trampling salespeople at ungodly hours to get a $15 combination toaster/salad spinner/DVD player just doesn't light the old fire for me anymore (or ever), although I will admit Youtube videos of 3am Walmart tramplings are a guilty pleasure of mine.

When I was first approached by Jonathan about becoming a beer blogger for Brewdies, I was psyched. "Man, what a great way to spread the joy of craft beer to the masses," I thought. I imagined masterfully written missives spewing from my fingertips detailing the intricacies that Cascade hops lend to American IPAS that would make a Jonathan Franzen novel look like a fucking Sesame Street pop-up book.