So among other freelancing jobs on the side, I wrote about three pieces and one speech that summed up a bit of the experiences I saw during the pandemic. This tended to put a few things in perspective for me, and I thought I’d share some initial thoughts. I’m not going to lie here. I…
The 2020 Six Pack
Bear Runner Blonde, New Ontario Brewing Co., North Bay, Ontario 4.5% ABV The last event I went to before COVID hit was the first Beerhurst-at-Deerhurst Craft Beer Festival in Huntsville, Ontario. I was there covering an ‘Out and About’ segment for Muskoka Life/Metroland Media taking pictures and talking to people about their favourite beers at…
Too Kawaii to Live, Too Sugoi to Die: Anime & Beer Pairings Part 1
Right, so…this post is a loooooong time coming. Over on Twitter dot com, I was nearing 5,000 followers and I promised that if I reached that number I would celebrate by writing an anime and beer pairing post. This got a lot of my followers excited and I was having a lot of fun thinking…
Tampopo, Ramen, Beer, & the Amateur
This is just something I had to get down and takes a bit of jumping, so please bear with me. So I’ve been sick the past…christ, three weeks or so with a respiratory infection that just won’t go away. It felt like it was clearing up last week, but then it promptly came back. Anyways,…
…The Hell? The Sexist & Asinine Ramblings in Great Lakes Brewing News
[EDIT (2/12/19 10:21am): Since posting this piece, Bill Metzger has officially responded, giving the old “I’m sorry you were offended” non-apology and saying that the piece was a work of parody on toxic reactionaries, additionally saying that the anger towards it is “shooting the messenger”. Indeed, the article seems to be part of “Los Testigos…
Reefer Madness: Legal Weed & Beer
Reefer! Marijuana! Cannabis! Weed! Ganja! Wacky Tobacky! The Devil’s Lettuce! The weed that plants its roots in HELL! So it’s legal here in Canada now, after a very long time of being illegal but mostly unenforced save for the odd dispensary bust. The governments in each province handles things their own way, Ontario being particularly…
Not Like I’m Bitter or Anything – What “Hoppy” Really Means
“I don’t like hoppy beers” It’s something I get told by a lot of folks who are new to better beer and I get what they’re saying, but often have to point out that what they REALLY mean is “I don’t like bitter beers”. And you know what? That’s completely valid. I’ve often been pretty…
A Compass in the Sea of Choice
So the past month or so has actually been a pretty informative one for me, and, because I’m trying not to just let those thoughts out into bursts on my twitter account, I thought I’d put a few things out on here as well. And while I’ve been talking about this stuff casually for the…
Sound & Fury, Signifying Nothing – The Downward Spiral of Online Beer Discourse
I’m feeling so burned out. And I don’t really think I’m alone in feeling that way. It seems that in the past year or so there’s been a significant poisoning of the well in the days of productivity and advancement. And after a bit of introspection and discussions with fellow hollowed-eyed burnout friends, a good…
Pretty Good Year
I’m currently at my family’s cottage in beautiful Muskoka, sipping on some coffee, watching the beautiful day out there, and starting to come to terms with the fact that I’m no longer in that beautiful state between Christmas and New Year’s Eve where time doesn’t matter and all that exists is sleep, media, and chocolate….
The Thirsty Wench 