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Adult Beverage: Double Dog Double Pale Ale

One of my biggest literary influences is Hunter S. Thompson. Progenitor of Gonzo journalism, unapologetic gun nut, and political raconteur, Doctor Thompson was a true American original. Flying Dog Brewery, originally of Aspen, CO, but now located in Frederick, MD, was started by Thompson's friend and neighbor George Stranahan, and has distinguished itself as a [...]

By | October 9th, 2011|Uncategorized|14 Comments

Adult Beverage: Hillbilly Blonde Ale

Everybody loves the Farmer's Daughter. She's one of those great stock characters of literature (and the subject of more than a few dirty jokes, usually involving a Traveling Salesman). Depending in the needs of the narrative, she can be plucky, optimistic, and naïve, or seductive, manipulative, and dangerous. One of my favorite versions of the [...]

By | October 7th, 2011|Uncategorized|5 Comments

Adult Beverage: Smashed Pumpkin Ale

I read a Stephen King story this afternoon, which put me in mind of Maine. Which is funny, since I've never been to Maine, and really only know it via fiction. Namely, Stephen King's fiction.But here's the thing: when Jenn and I stopped by Petaluma Market tonight on our way to pick up a pizza, [...]

By | September 30th, 2011|Uncategorized|6 Comments

Adult Beverage: Kick (Lips of Faith Series)

It's finally Fall, or so we discovered on our walk downtown this morning. Steelgray skies, the scent of rain in the air, leaves scattered on the ground. Halloween's around the corner. And, of course, Petaluma's autumnal bookends: the Antique Faire and the Petaluma Progressive Festival, were this weekend. We browsed the nicknacks, wandered through Copperfield's, [...]

By | September 26th, 2011|Uncategorized|8 Comments

Adult Beverage: Hopyard Dog IPA

I've said it before. Put a dog on the label, and you've got my attention. Pale Horse Brewing Co., from Salem OR, have done just that with their Hopyard Dog IPA, putting a handsome bulldog front and center. I picked this one up at Petaluma Market yesterday evening after a conversation with Jeffrey the Beer [...]

By | September 25th, 2011|Uncategorized|7 Comments

Adult Beverage: Clutch Dark Sour Ale

I spent the nineties running a record store. Some would say into the ground, but I insist it was those far above me who had chosen that trajectory with their hedonistic ways and questionable life/business choices. But that pretty much epitomizes the decade. You know what else epitomizes the decade? A record store that didn't [...]

By | September 24th, 2011|Uncategorized|3 Comments

Adult Beverage: Firehouse Brewery Hops On Rye India Pale Ale

I wandered out to see Apollo 18 this afternoon and talk about H. P. Lovecraft and horror-as-escapism with David Templeton for his column in the Pacific Sun. The movie was fun, a found-footage monster flick with creepy creatures, government conspiracies, and outstanding lunar landscapes. I got home in time to watch the Giants beat the [...]

By | September 11th, 2011|Uncategorized|6 Comments

Ten Years

Ten years ago, I woke up to a phone call from Jennifer’s mother. “Somebody flew a plane into the World Trade Center,” she said. My first thought was of the July 28, 1945 crash of a B-25 bomber into the Empire State Building. My second, of Richard Bachman’s 1982 novel, The Running Man, which ends [...]

By | September 11th, 2011|Uncategorized|2 Comments

Adult Beverage: Stone Japanese Green Tea IPA

A beautiful day. We wandered down to Walnut Park to check out Art in the Park (and may head back tomorrow), then came home, read awhile, and are now watching the Giants/Dodgers game, post-dinner. I'm having a Stone Japanese Green Tea IPA, a collaboration between Stone, Tashi Ishii, and Bryan Baird. I've had a green [...]

By | September 10th, 2011|Uncategorized|4 Comments

Adult Beverage: Lagunitas Bavarian-Styled Doppel Weizen

A lot of reading today, but still managed to fit in a couple of shorts. Today's theme: Yellow: Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper" and Robert W. Chambers's "The Yellow Sign." Decadent, Yellow, madness. I needed to choose an adult beverage that hit a high mark. Lagunitas Bavarian-Styled Doppel Weizen sets the tone with bananas [...]

By | September 9th, 2011|Uncategorized|4 Comments