Catching up with a few of my recommended reads (aka a little click-love for The Brew Lounge)

I've heard you guys tell me that you'd check out more often the stuff I put up over at The Washington Times if I'd only just help point you in that direction.

Let's see if this works. Here are links to the last three things I've done over there and, as always, your "click-throughs" are much appreciated, particular since the bean-counters like to count that sort of thing to determine how "valuable" a writer's contributions are.

York County beer-trippin' (not sure if you all know some of the good stuff that is somewhat quietly popping up around the State's bible belt)

Conclusion of Philly Beer Week (because no one gets tired of reading about Philly Beer Week, right?!)

Father's Day recommendations (sure, it's a bit dated now a month later, but check it out anyway as I pander for your clicks ;-)

Simi Wine Dinner at Viviano in King of Prussia (because I know a whole bunch of you, including some that won't admit it, like the grape-y stuff as much as the barley beverage. Plus, there's good food happening there too and I know you all like that.)

Recipes from Simi Winery (because I know many of you like to cook as well as brew. Here are a couple of challenges as well as a relatively easier one. Mushrooms, pizza, risotto, and peaches. Check it out.)

Thanks for your continued support!

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Craft Beer themes in 2011. It's a wrap.

As part of my way of tying a bow on the year 2011 in craft beer, I've got the first of three parts up over at The Washington Times in the Communities section.

Who doesn't love a Top 10 list that can be discussed and debated...and dissed?

So go and check it out and weigh in with your own thoughts of what were some of the biggest buzz topics in 2011. After this one, I'll have a Top 10 brewers list followed finally by, gulp, a Top 10 beer list.

Reinheitsgebot? Ach wo!

Patty and I stopped in as guests at McKenzie Brew House's Anti-Reinheitsgebot dinner on September 30th. I filed a full "report" over at After Hours. As has been reported here and elsewhere, Ryan Michaels and Gerard Olson are doing special things in the McKenzie Brew House, and these "things" were certainly showcased at the dinner. The dinner also proved, once again, that Ryan and Gerard might just be the two most relaxed brewers in the business. (Ryan Michaels, head brewer, and Gerard Olson, assistant brewer, cleaned up and with collared shirts)

Where I've been and What's Happening, sort of

My recent duties around The Brew Lounge have been shirked a bit, without much good excuse except that of how "hectic" life has been. The addition of writing a column over at The Washington Times has added some load as well, but basically all facets of life have lately been full for me. This has led even--gulp--to the near non-existence of any physical activity, including my beloved running program. As such, here addeth the 15-20 pounds since this past springg. Things must change...and soon, they will. But, until then... If you haven't stopped by After Hours over at The Washington Times in its Communities section, it may be something you'd like to do. You may not have noticed that there are now 9 articles over there with the promise of a handful more in October. It's still a schedule, and content for that matter, that I'm working on routinizing to the point that it doesn't create undue or debilitating stress and work. Plus, there's the Exton Beverage Center's newsletter, or shall I say Brewsletter. You can catch up on some of the archived material over there via this link. Greg Ramirez and the crew just celebrated their 36th anniversary last weekend with a Customer Appreciation Day. While I certainly have not been on the breaking edge of news lately, there are two events that caught my eye that I haven't shared with you. They both involve closures. First, for anyone living in or visiting Texas, Fort Worth's award-winning brewpub, The Covey, closed this month. It has been seven years since I've been to Fort Worth and, with all of my trips to the Dallas area, had been looking forward to finally carving out some time to make the short trip over to Fort Worth to visit these guys. The Covey strung together an almost five year history of creating award-winning beers, both at GABF and WBC (an '08 WBC gold, two '09 GABF silvers, a '10 WBC silver, and a '10 GABF bronze). They haven't cited any specific cause for closure other than to note that brewer/Owner Jamie Fulton is taking his talents to Washington, DC to help get a new project, currently called Farmers and Brewers, off the ground. Closer to home, the long-churning rumor mill finally came to a stop when Chris Leonard announced on his blog that they were finally closing shop on the General Lafayette Inn & Brewery as we've come to know and love it over the past 14 years. Well, many of 'we' at least, but not enough to keep the lights on. My interactions with Chris Leonard, his restaurant, and his beer have always been at least above average...particularly with regard to my fondness for hunkering down in the cozy pub and drinking of the Chocolate Thunder porter. But, a poor economy, in addition to some persistent market dissatisfaction in recent years with inconsistent food and service, has forced Chris to re-examine the future. The good news is that Chris will continue brewing and former assistant brewer Russ Czajka will be involved as well--as owner--in the new venture, which will be called Copper Crow Beer Company. Here, they will concentrate solely on brewing, which includes plans for significant growth in the local market. That should make fans of Leonard's and Czajka's beers happy for the foreseeable future. For all of the details, check out Chris' blog and/or Jack Curtin's additional thoughts.

The Brew Lounge extends its hours

If I had my act more together, you would have heard yesterday from me that my inaugural column submission was included on the homepage of The Washington Times yesterday. In fact, it may still be there today when/if you hop over there. It's in the Communities section and that's where my new column, After Hours at The Brew Lounge, will regularly be housed. In the first few weeks, my goal will be to have a new column written roughly twice a week. Unfortunately, I don't have the time to go into a lot more detail about it right now (see, this is one posting that I really did not--and probably should have--pre-stage), so I will leave you with a couple of snippets that you can find over at After Hours. You can trust there will be more on this topic in the days and weeks to come.

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After Hours at The Brew Lounge: Exploring the people, places, sights, sounds, and stories behind the passionate pursuit of great beer. "...The Brew Lounge will carry some exclusive stories, as will After Hours at The Brew Lounge here at The Communities. There will be some cross-posting where the same story will show up in both places, and yet in other cases I will likely use the opportunity to begin a story in one spot and pick it up in the other..." Read more over at The Washington Times...