I’ve never tried two beers mixed together, but for some people, it’s a thing. Take the Black and Tan, for instance: one part pale ale, and one part stout, there are some who think it’s the greatest, but making one is an art. Here’s a foolproof method: use the Dual Beer Glass, and don’t sweat the mixing.
There was a time when the only Israeli beer you could get in Israel might best be described as a poor excuse for beer. (I’m looking at you Macabee and GoldStar!) Seven years ago all that began to change as Israelis developed a taste for quality microbrews. Among them is an IPA from the very first brewery in Jerusalem.
Summer is here, and that means sun, fun and beer. It also means that GearFest 2013 is coming soon. THAT means we’ll be enjoying lots and lots of IPAs. After all they are Kevin’s favorite, and he has made an IPA-lover out of me too. Last GearFest our bottle opener saw a good bit of use. This year it will be staying in the drawer, because instead of using a standard bottle opener, we will be using the BROpener. The BROpener was a successful Kickstarter project that quickly, and easily turns any surface into a bottle opener. And while I…
That question was, of course, rhetorical. Of COURSE your beer (or other bottled beverage) deserves a bottle opener as simple and useful as the Hermetus Bottle Opener and Resealer that Kaufman Mercantile sent me to check out. Made in Germany, the Hermetus Bottle Opener and Resealer is a metal bottle opener that easily opens any bottle, but then it is also able to glide over the top and make a tight seal that helps keep beers from going flat or spilling. Why would you need such a device? Simple… This IPA is not only strong but it is huge. And…
It’s time for slightly embarrassing admissions here at Gear Diary: I can personally vouch that when I was in college (hmmpty-hmmph) years ago, I learned that it is possible to smuggle an entire eight-pack of 8 oz. Little Kings Cream Ales into a movie theater stashed within the various pockets of a denim jacket. I mean, have you seen the price of concessions at the movies lately?! Unfortunately, I can also verify that when you drape said blue jean jacket around the back of a theater seat, there is a very high probability that at least one of those little…
Hello again! Kevin here with another Beer Diary taste. Last night I was drinking Balashi, Aruba’s national beer but before we left on vacation I picked out and drank a popular and widely available (including our regular grocery in San Angelo, TX) brew from Oskar Blues Brewery in Colorado to share. Did I mention The Great American Brew Festival that took place in Denver last October? We were there and it was awesome. Oskar’s was there too. Let’s have a look: The Brewery: Oskar Blues Brewery Lyons Colorado The Beer: Dale’s Pale Ale Color: Reddish orange Head: Excellent head retention with good…
125 members of the media along with a score of craft-brewers and homebrewing elite met at noon Friday, inside Denver’s Grand Hyatt Pinnacle Club Peak Ballroom on the 38th floor for a Great American Beer Festival working media luncheon consisting of a five-course pairing luncheon and briefing. The theme was “homebrewing and its connection to the craft brewing community”, and the idea was to “highlight a few commercial beers that were inspired by their homebrewing roots.” Are you a homebrewer who has ever considered going pro? This luncheon was all about people like you! all photos by Kevin Stanford It’s easy…
The other day I received a KeyShark from the folks at Cranky Monkee for a review here at Gear Diary. The timing was perfect, as it arrived just before for my annual U of I football tailgate. So, what is a KeyShark you ask? And what does it have to do with football tailgating? Well, I’m glad you asked. A KeyShark is a lightweight, but strong, bottle opener that is designed to fit on your keychain. I have to say, though, that when it first arrived I was a little skeptical. It’s pretty darn small and pretty darn lightweight. It was…
Hi. My name is Kevin, and I like beer…a lot! Other things I like: Judie (well, actually, I love her), my kids (I love them too), Otis (my dawg), fresh air, wide open spaces, rain and… did I mention? Beer! I developed a taste for the stuff (beer that is) during college. At the time, it probably wasn’t as much a taste thing as it was a social thing, if you catch my drift. I have plenty of vintage stories about Colorado’s 3:2 beer (swill), and escapades with cheap beer bought in bulk with my buddies. After some time my…
I love beer. Personally, my go-to choices are anything Sam Adams and Guinness. But really, if it’s not Budweiser or Coors, I will happily drink it. And while I have had many political conversations OVER beer, I have never politicized beer…but leave it to analysts to put together a graphic overlaying democrats/republicans/voting involvement and beer choice. Of course, this isn’t 100% accurate. After all, as I said above, I love Guinness and Sam Adams, which indicates I have a split political personality. The whole analysis is pretty neat, so be sure to check out the full article at National Journal….
If you have a love for hops and tasty craft-brewed adult beverages, then no doubt you’ve heard of The Great American Beer Festival, an event put on by the Brewer’s Association which has become the largest and best known of its kind. The Great American Beer Festival is the premier U.S. beer festival and competition. Each year, GABF represents the largest collection of U.S. beer ever served, in the format of a public tasting event plus a private competition. GABF brings together the brewers and beers that make the U.S. the world’s greatest brewing nation. This event showcases the diverse…
I am extremely excited for the upcoming Summer Olympics. Winter Olympics are ok, but summer is the best. Track and field, beach volleyball, swimming, beach volleyball, gymnastics, and did I mention beach volleyball? Now, I am not so excited as to celebrate with a themed party (full disclosure: we did that in college for the winter Olympics, and let’s just say it was sort of like “The Hangover” but with mystery IHOP receipts instead of casino ones). But if you do, you need to fully commit to it, and Gadgets and Gear has you covered with a medal-style bottle opener:…
This Marshall Fridge is pretty amazing. It looks like an Marshall amp, but it hides something tastier than great tunes. Yeah, it holds a few six packs or anything else that you might need to keep cold — although beer is much more fun than milk. As the description on Werd notes, You’re never going to play guitar like Stevie Ray Vaughn or Slash but if you shred 6-packs like they shred six strings, the Marshall Fridge will be the perfect addition to your pad. It looks like the iconic Marshall stack amp but it’s really a 4.4 cubic foot…
Right before we left for CES we received a review sample of the Happy Hour Bottoms Up Timepiece. The Bottoms Up is a nice-quality watch with a large, impressive face, a wide, comfortable band and… a bit of a surprise. Here’s a look with a video that will make clear what is special about this watch.
If you drink a lot of mass-produced cold beverages that come in bottles with twist caps, then you probably don’t often need a bottle opener. Similarly, if you drink a lot of beverages that come in aluminum cans, then you might have a bottle opener … located somewhere in your junk drawer. But if you like to drink bottled-beverages that don’t easily twist open, or if you regularly run into twist-caps that don’t seem to loosen easily, then you no doubt keep several bottle openers placed around your kitchen and back patio … and you have probably had moments when you have not been…
Imagine a fruit that could change the way food taste for the better but whose effects were only temporary. Imagine if Lemons and limes tasted sweet, pickles tasted like slightly salty cucumbers and more. That’s what Miracle Fruit (Synsepalum dulcificum) does. The plant is native to West Africa and available in a number of forms. It is: an evergreen plant that produces small red berries which are produced for many months in a year. The seeds are about the size of coffee beans. The berry is sweet, and contains an active glycoprotein molecule called miraculin along with some carbohydrate chains. Miracle…
How would you like to open your beer and soda bottles without having to worry about where those pointy bottle caps land? The ‘Click n Drink’ bottle opener allows you to do just that. Boasting the ability to hold up to 100 bottle caps with its strong magnets, the ‘Click n Drink’ magnetically mounts to metal surfaces or it can be drilled into others. I’m wondering if it would void our hot tub’s warranty to screw one to its side; if it means being able to pop a bottle of Spaten without worrying about stepping on a cap later, I…
screenshot from of the Eldorado Success 03/31/11 digital edition One of the joys of living in a small town is that the local paper publishes the police blotter every week; it’s always good for an unintentional chuckle, because some of the things people call 911 for are things you would never see in a larger city. Whether it be a black bull loose on the side of the road at the county line, hit and run doorbell ringing, or people who call for help but then refuse to say what they need — there’s always something sure to raise an…
Tracking Apple products in shows is somewhat of a hobby for many folks, and we even did a number of ‘Apple on TV’ posts here at Gear Diary. Of course, Apple is just one of many companies that spend heavily to get their products featured prominently in TV shows and movies, and keeping in the spirit of awards season the folks at BrandChannel have compiled their annual ‘Product Placement Awards’ … and not surprisingly Apple has come out on top again. Here are some details from the award: Apple products appeared in ten (or 30%) of the 33 films that…
I am not a wine connoisseur at all. However, back in the day I was into drinking good beers.  I remember one trip where I visited a Rock Bottom Brewery restaurant where I had some of the best beer I have ever tasted.  They had beer that I could have taken home in bottles, but because I flew into Denver and was flying out the next day, I could not take any home with me.  If I had the VinniBag it would have been a piece of cake! VinniBag is a wine bottle-shaped bag that has a few interesting features.  First, it…
A company called GrinOn Industries has created one of the coolest beverage accessories I’ve ever seen. They’ve designed and fabricated what they call the “Bottoms Up Draft Beer Dispensing System.” The proprietary Bottoms Up Dispensing System is the fastest dispensing system in the world and fills at a rate of up to nine times that of traditional beer taps. The system isn’t only a marvel to watch but it’s pretty cost-effective too. The company claims because of its super fast delivery speed (videos on their web site show them pouring off up to 56 beers in a minute) that it…