The Beer Thrillers Expanding - The Beer Thrillers https://thebeerthrillers.com Central PA beer enthusiasts and beer bloggers. Homebrewers, brewery workers, and all around beer lovers. Thu, 04 Nov 2021 01:28:55 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.8.1 https://i0.wp.com/thebeerthrillers.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/cropped-The-Beer-Thrillers-December-2022-Logo.jpg?fit=32%2C32&ssl=1 The Beer Thrillers Expanding - The Beer Thrillers https://thebeerthrillers.com 32 32 187558884 The Beer Thrillers Are on Patreon https://thebeerthrillers.com/2021/11/03/the-beer-thrillers-are-on-patreon/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-beer-thrillers-are-on-patreon Wed, 03 Nov 2021 10:08:00 +0000 https://thebeerthrillers.com/?p=8170
The Patreon logo

The Beer Thrillers On Patreon

We (The beer Thrillers) have just added a Patreon page. You can find the link here: https://www.patreon.com/thebeerthrillers

Patreon is another site and platform attached to our (ever growing it seems) list of social media platforms. Patreon isn’t a true social media platform (or not in the way I think of them), in the same vein as that of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, WhatsApp, Reddit, Discord, etc, etc, etc. (Geez, is there really that many now?) Patreon lets us – as creators – connect directly with you – consumers / readers / watchers / viewers / fans.

In due time, we will be uploading exclusive content to just our Patreon page for those who pay to see it. Its also a source for fans of the blog here to donate to us, to help keep the blog up and running (and will eventually let us provide more and unique content).

Our Social Media Pages

As always, thanks for reading everyone, and we look forward to providing you with much more content over a wide spectrum of things. So be sure to be checking back often!

Cheers!

-B. Kline

Thank you for visiting our blog. Please make sure to follow, bookmark, subscribe, and make sure to comment and leave feedback and like the blog posts you read. It will help us to better tailor the blog to you, the readers, likes and make this a better blog for everyone.

Please be sure to follow us on our social media accounts – FacebookFacebook GroupTwitterInstagramYouTube, and Influence. Please be sure to also follow, like, subscribe to the blog here itself to keep updated. We love to hear from you guys, so be sure to leave a comment and let us know what you think!

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We’ve Joined the NAGBW https://thebeerthrillers.com/2021/09/23/weve-joined-the-nagbw/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=weve-joined-the-nagbw Thu, 23 Sep 2021 13:24:13 +0000 https://thebeerthrillers.com/?p=8006
North American Guild of Beer Writers logo.

The North American Guild of Beer Writers

What is the North American Guild of Beer Writers you might ask? Quite possibly you’ve never heard of them, even if you do read several beer blogs on the internet. So what exactly are they? Are they a shadowy underworld movement similar to the Illuminati? Are they like the Free Masons of beer? Or are they similar to the Stonecutters?

Well, I’ll let them explain in their own words (from their website):

The North American Guild of Beer Writers (NAGBW) is the leading member organization of beer writers, authors, reporters, and podcasters who cover the beer industry. 

Some of us do it for fun, others make a living, or at least a portion of it, covering beer and brewing. We tirelessly cover the brewing industry and those who appreciate beer.

We are a group dedicated to elevating the level of our craft as we cover the art of brewing. We are serious in our purpose, but strive to enjoy ourselves in doing our jobs.

….

We host annual awards that highlight the accomplishments of our members. We also support the annual Diversity in Beer Writing Grant, with a goal to highlight the value of stories that can showcase diversity and inclusion – in all its forms and challenges – within beer.

North American Guild of Beer Writers – Home – North American Guild of Beer Writers Homepage

So thats the basis in a nutshell.

Every year they have an awards event a little bit after the Great American Beer Festival where they announce that year’s awards and winners for various writing and articles of the year. The selection timeframe is July through August and they announce the winners late September.

You can read the 2020 winners here: 2020 NAGBW Winners. I am not entered in anything for 2021, but will hopefully have some stuff to enter for the 2020 year.

So What Does This Mean

So what all does this mean for The Beer Thrillers? Shrugging… honestly not a whole lot that you all might see. A bit more behind the scenes happens for us here at The Beer Thrillers. Hopefully more notice, coverage, and attention.

We are looking to soon start doing podcasts and videos and much more travels and coverage here on The Beer Thrillers. We are also looking to pick up another writer (or two) and hopefully someone with more digital graphics skills and such, and get the site improved graphically, and with a lot more writing.

So please, if you like what you see, make sure to hit the like button, subscribe and follow our page, and be sure to share with all your friends. We appreciate it!

-B. Kline

Thank you for visiting our blog. Please make sure to follow, bookmark, subscribe, and make sure to comment and leave feedback and like the blog posts you read. It will help us to better tailor the blog to you, the readers, likes and make this a better blog for everyone.

Please be sure to follow us on our social media accounts – FacebookFacebook GroupTwitterInstagramYouTube, and Influence. Please be sure to also follow, like, subscribe to the blog here itself to keep updated. We love to hear from you guys, so be sure to leave a comment and let us know what you think!

Additional Links

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Welcome to the new – The Beer Thrillers Site https://thebeerthrillers.com/2021/01/07/welcome-to-the-new-the-beer-thrillers-site/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=welcome-to-the-new-the-beer-thrillers-site Fri, 08 Jan 2021 03:51:00 +0000 https://thebeerthrillers.com/?p=6879 So we’ve finally made the move and migrated over. Tried to get this started and done on New Years Eve (December 31st 2020) but sadly it just didn’t happen (typical 2020). BUT…. did get the new domain and everything started on the 1st and 2nd of January and the new year – 2021. BUT…. again… it took me forever to migrate and move things over.

It still looks a little bit hectic around here (especially behind the scenes) and cosmetically we need a few new paints and plug-ins and other dealies to really get the new site jumping. But, we are officially moved over. And this also marks the first *NEW* post of 2021. We have several posts that will publish and be back-dated since they were written and started back in December and early January while we were capped on our bandwidth, I will make sure they are visible and easy to find. But this marks the first new post for 2021 and the first new post for the new site.

So be sure to update all of your bookmarks and everything, we are no longer at thebeerthrillers.home.blog but are now instead at: https://thebeerthrillers.com/

The move now means we have our own full domain hosting, our own full site, and no longer operating on just the old little WordPress blogging that we started with. I started the blog in May 2019, and we hit our bandwidth cap just shy of the end of December 2020. Over those two years, we had nearly 300 blog posts (due to editing and changes and back-dating, it will appear as over 300; and its been more than 300 written, but things get changed, moved, edited, and the process sometimes makes things get moved around). Our first year (2019) (May – December) we hit 27K views. In 2020 (January – December) we hit 58K (nearly 59K). Already in just January 2021, before the full migration – the old site (without posting to it or editing the blog) has already gotten near to 400 posts. We have worked our way up on FeedSpot’s Top 100 Beer Blogs to #9, and Pennsylvania’s Top 40 Blogs at #11.

This move will allow a lot more visitors to have access to the site, it will improve our search engine results with Google, Bing, Yandex, DuckDuckGo, etc. It will also give us a lot more features to play around with. We can do polls, quizzes, surveys, and a whole host of other things. And we will likely take full advantage of a lot of these features going forward. I know I’d love to set up a March Madness type bracket thing come March this year, and see how that goes.

Like I said above, we have quite a few articles to move over yet from the drafting phase that will get published and backlogged, as well as many new articles freshly written to be posting in the near future. With the move, you can expect to see a lot more articles coming from us.

I would like to say a big thank you to everyone who has visited, followed, liked, and subscribed, I would also like to say I am eagerly awaiting to getting to play around with the new site. And I know Josh is also eager to get to try it out and post some new articles. So you can expect to see a lot more from us here at The Beer Thrillers; thats for sure. You’ll see plenty more from myself (B. Kline), as well as Josh (J. Doncevic) and its looking like AJ Brechbiel (Default Brewing / Rough Edges Brewing), Andy Parys (A.Parys, The Sugar Foot), and hopefully Karl Larsen (ihackbeers) will be joining us as well for more articles from all of them. Also, the extended Beer Thrillers family – Knights of Nostalgia (Drew – along with his crew of streamers; myself, Rome, Kelsey, Rory, and the several others he’s had on his stream) and So a Mexican and a Scot Walk Into a Bar… (the podcast ran by Esteban and Drew, that features myself, Dan, and several others from time to time) are all looking forward to providing more content in the future. So please be sure to check out the site here, as well as their sites, and be sure to also check out our friends from the south (Georgia area) – Let Us Drink Beer blog, as we are looking forward to working with Dave (blog runner for Let Us Drink Beer) and sharing articles back and forth. (Let Us Drink Beer Blog, has written a few articles for us, and we have written a few for them, in an effort to reach a wider audience and collaborate together. You can find some of my articles on their site as The Beer Thrillers or B. Kline, and you can find some of their articles here on our site under Let Us Drink Beer).

As always, we provide a wide range of topics and discussions here on The Beer Thrillers blog. We have beer reviews, brewery reviews, travelogues, beer education, home brewing articles, book reviews, beer and brewery events, brewery and craft beer news, as well as articles on growing hops, lantern flies, and other topics related to the beer industry, and much much more. You can also always contact us by using our CONTACT PAGE – THE BEER THRILLERS.

Thank you everyone for visiting, following, reading, sharing, and liking us, and staying with us through this move. It is so greatly appreciated. All of you readers out there are why we write and maintain this site. Thank you so much!

Happy New Years everyone, and welcome back to indoor dining in Pennsylvania. So be sure to go out and support your local breweries, they certainly need all the help they can get right now! (If you still feel unsafe dining indoors, you can always do to-go and take out and order beer to-go, most breweries are offering some form of to-go, either growler or crowler fills or four or six packs to go.)

Cheers!

-B. Kline

Thank you for visiting our blog. Please make sure to follow, bookmark, subscribe, and make sure to comment and leave feedback and like the blog posts you read. It will help us to better tailor the blog to you, the readers, likes and make this a better blog for everyone.

Please be sure to follow us on our social media accounts – FacebookFacebook GroupTwitterInstagramYouTube, and Influence. Please be sure to also follow, like, subscribe to the blog here itself to keep updated. We love to hear from you guys, so be sure to leave a comment and let us know what you think!

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One-Year Anniversary https://thebeerthrillers.com/2020/05/17/one-year-anniversary/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=one-year-anniversary Sun, 17 May 2020 23:19:50 +0000 https://thebeerthrillers.com/?p=3189
The hop arbor in front of Beer Thrillers headquarters.

It was one year ago, while sitting on my porch, looking over at this arbor, that I started up the blog. Not when I decided to start it – but when I actually did it. When I picked the blog name, when I setup the WordPress site, and when I did all the site work, creating it, building it, etc. I didn’t start it preloaded with articles like some (like some smarter writers / bloggers), and it was a long time probably overdue, but I started it, and made a main page. Started a Archive page, and with it sunny, and with a can of a brand new beer I hadn’t had before (from my shift manager at work – J. M. ) I wrote my first beer review for the site / blog.

The picture above was taken a month or two later during a rainstorm while sitting on the same side-porch swing overlooking the same arbor; which is growing Centennial, Cascade, and Chinook hops by the way; but those hops, not exactly those hops, but hops in general, is part of what led to this all. Its a much longer story than just one year, and probably a lot more convoluted than necessary. Meandering one might even say (just like my writing style tends to be, from what I’ve been told). But basically what I’m getting to (or alluding to), is that hops, and craft beer in particular, is what has led to this blog.

I’ve always been a writer, as far back as I can remember; always a reader and always a writer. (You pretty much can’t be the one without the other to some degree.) In fifth grade I wrote a short story that won a few prizes and was recognized by our governor at the time (Tom Ridge). I won’t say when I started drinking, but I will say my first ‘craft beer’ was Sam Adams. Original Boston Lager Sam Adams. When my friends were getting Budweiser or Bud Lite or Miller Lite or Coors Lite, I was ‘that guy’ who was drinking Sams.

This segued into me finding Troegs and getting into them, especially due to them being so local (first on Paxton Street in Harrisburg and then on Hersheypark Drive in Hershey; basically them starting just to the West of me and then moving just to the East of me). Fast forward a few years and me getting very heavily into craft beer, finding new breweries, trying new styles, and types, and discovering all that there is to know about beer. Fast forward to me helping out at breweries, learning to home brew, going to brewfests, taking some BJCP classes, reading blogs and watching YouTube videos, webinars, and in person seminars. Needless to say – its been a long time in coming in me writing and starting this blog.

As is typical with me, I start a bit behind the curve, where many others had been doing blogs, podcasts, and YouTube videos for years, I get in after the wave pretty much crests. So, something I should have done a few years ago (say 2012 or 2013) here I am, in 2020, having started in 2019. Not a bad thing, and not a problem.

The Beer Thriller logo (since day one)

But enough about me, lets talk about the blog itself. Its the blog’s One-Year Anniversary today; not mine. (If you are reading this, you care much more about the blog than myself anyway.) So, one year ago today, the blog itself started. Started with the main page, and a four-pack of beers my co-worker gave me that I decided to use to start beer reviewing. Just like doing an Untappd review, but upped in scale and scope and size. My first few reviews were crude, rather short, and probably not as entertaining as they are now (if they are considered entertaining now). I started off with: Scratch 375 – CocoNator by Troegs Independent Craft Brewing. After that was Painting with Light by South County Brewing; followed by the first beer I did a review of that I had worked on (canning) – a collaboration with Tattered Flag and the soon to be opened Wolf Brewing: Boulangerie Stout. (You also get to see my faithful companion for at home drinking; and occasional breweries – Leela, my border collie who will turn 11 this December.)

Over the year there’s been a lot of ups and downs, in life, as well as on the blog. Stressful at times writing, and finding an audience, and getting people to see or read, I wouldn’t change it, and honestly can say its been 99.999999% fun. Very few times has there been ‘issues’ or problems, and its more on my end of frustrations with writing and basically struggling to write at times. Even something so simple as this blog can be daunting to write at times, getting the energy to do it after work (or before work), and with kids, etc. Over the past year has seen me branch out from just doing beer reviews to also doing brewery reviews, to discussing my trips to the Kinzua Bridge area and to Pittsburgh with my daughters, as well as all manner of things like brewfests, canning for Tattered Flag, growing my hops, etc.

Canning day at Tattered Flag

Volunteering for Tattered Flag and helping them can has been great fun, and very informative, and has helped me learn a lot about the brewery industry and beer, and brewing. Seeing brewers come and go through Tattered Flag and learning bits and pieces from all of them.

As well as visiting and traveling to many different breweries, not just in Pennsylvania, but also in Maryland, Delaware, and New Jersey. Reminds me of my sister’s wedding where the reception went to four different breweries and a cidery as a ‘brew-tour’ in the Rochester area. Getting to do the brewery tour and listen to the head brewers at Three Heads Brewing was great fun and informative as well.

Getting to see a great brewery pop up basically right in my backyard (Boneshire Brew Works) and watching them grow as also been great. Getting to meet Alan, Carson, and Alex, and talk to them a lot, and then meet a ton of great people at the brewery; like Karl Larson, Josh Doncevic, Owen, Jason Millar, Kirby, and so many more people I can’t even begin to list or this blog post will just look like a list of names.

Becoming a regular (well, technically I was long before the blog, but just saying) at Boneshire Brew Works, Troegs Brewery, and Tattered Flag, I’ve gotten to meet so many great people, and get to pick the brains of so many top brewers in the area. All of which has definitely helped the blog here (hopefully, something you can tell, and hopefully something that does help and add to the blog).

I always envisioned this blog as being a big giant web of things; but all beer and brewery related. Articles on beer reviews, brewery reviews, articles on home brewing, on hop growing, on BJCP judging, articles about various brewfests or beer events, book reviews of beer or brewing books and textbooks, articles from ‘insiders’ working in the beer industry, those brewing, or serving you the beer, those from home brewers who know how to brew some amazing beers on small 1 to 5 gallon systems. From hop growers (like myself) who can tell you what you need to do to grow hops. Just a whole slew of things. And I think I have succeeded in that to some degree. Not quite the massive diversification and a ton of articles about the various aspects as I had planned; but some.

Interestingly enough, this is (ironically perhaps?) the 200th blog post of the blog, as well as the Anniversary blog posting. I have done a few other recap blog posts for people over the year, like my November Recap, or my End of 2019 Recap, or the Best of 2019 Article. I have to say, I can’t believe how this has grown, how big this blog has gotten, how well it has done, and how many talented people have graced the digital web of this humble blog.

Over the year, I have had several people writing for me. Josh Doncevic (J. Doncevic) has written several beer reviews and articles for us, and he is an amazing guy with a wealth of insight on beer reviews, breweries, and he regularly helps out at Rotunda Brewing as well as Boneshire Brew Works, and is just a fantastic guy to hang out with. AJ Brechbiel has also written a few articles about home brewing and stuff and his brew-club Default Brewing. With everything going on, and getting to work for Rough Edges Brewing, his time has sadly become limited, but hopefully (fingers, toes, nostrils crossed) we will get to see some more writings from him. Recently, I have also been graced with two friends who have also taken up writing for the blog – Andy Parys (A. Parys) and Karl Larson (ihackbeer). Both great guys who can write well, know their stuff. Karl Larson brings a massive wealth of knowledge to the blog, having won more awards for home brewing than I can count, as well as brewing commercially for Boneshire Brew Works and now for Newfangled Brew Works. The man is a walking encyclopedia; just try him sometime.

At the bottom of all of the posts and pages here on The Beer Thrillers you can see a list of the most recent articles from each writer under their name. From AJ to Josh, to Karl, to myself, to Andy, you can see all of our most recent articles, as well as the recent tweets from our Twitter page.

Which brings me to another thing about the blog – all the side stuff. Over the year, to help with the blog, I’ve begun to learn ‘social media’. Which is nowhere near as easy as you would think or sounds. The Beer Thrillers now has a Facebook, a Twitter, and an Instagram page that I regularly keep up with. (In descending order of how often I post to them.) As of 5.17.20, we currently have 562 likes and 593 followers on Facebook, 162 followers on Twitter, and 113 followers on Instagram.

Likewise with the side stuff, I have begun podcasting with my good friends that I’ve known since 5th grade – D. Scott, Dan Arndt, Esteban, and a host of other random people who pass through the garage and basement we broadcast from (including A. Parys). I am featured on several podcasts as well as commentary tracks. You can check out the Podcast at: So A Mexican and a Scott Walk Into a Bar….. I have also been featured on a call-in podcast all about beer: Beer with Strangers. My particular podcast episode is – A Beer Thriller in Hershey.

Back in February and March of this year (before the ‘dark times’, before the Empire, before COVID-19), things really were looking up for the blog here. I was featured on the above mentioned podcast. I was invited out to Extol to do an in-person beer podcast. Me and Josh visited Mellow Mink for a behind the scenes tour of the brewery. I was invited to visit the new (future home) Rubber Soul Brewery which will be opening in Hummelstown. There, I toured the facility with Jaime (head of marketing for the new Rubber Soul) and got to take visits and get A Sneak Peak of Rubber Soul. I met a representative from Visit Hershey & Harrisburg PA at the Hershey Tattered Flag location, where we discussed numerous upcoming projects and got press credentials for myself and my ‘team’ of writers. Also, in recent months, Let Us Drink Beer blog has been guest writing an article as well for us, about once a month about the Georgia beer scene, and I’ve been writing a blog entry for them about the Hershey-Harrisburg beer scene.

I have also written a rather lengthy piece back in September for Breweries in PA – which you can find both on their blog site and my blog as well. Breweries in PA – Touring the Harrisburg Area Breweries. My entry: Touring the Breweries that Surround the Harrisburg Area.

Unfortunately then, middle of March saw the coronavirus / COVID-19 really enter the American landscape, and by end of March, I’m on furlough from my job, and the brewery industry upended. Not just the brewery industry, but the restaurant industry, as well as the entertainment industry (that I work in) – which includes event planning, event type things like fests, casinos, resorts, tourist attractions, etc; all got hit hard by the disease and the restrictions placed to help maintain and safeguard the disease. The last few months have certainly been a very tough time for all; not just in the industry. With the pandemic affecting so many, and costing many lives, as well as affecting so many people’s jobs, incomes, and families in various ways, this has certainly been a troubling and trying time. No different for my blog. I like to think I have been lucky; my blog isn’t the biggest deal, its not even my job or sole source of income; this is more for fun than anything else. I still have my health, my home, and my family’s health. Times could be a lot harder for myself. So I am truly fortunate there. But, the blog has been hindered by this world-wide pandemic all the same. Things I would have been doing by now (AC Brewfest, Harrisburg Beer Week, Little Big Beerfest, RenFaire Brewfest at Mount Hope, amongst numerous other events, and happenings) have all been sidelined or postponed. Some outright cancelled. Some breweries have closed and expansions cancelled (Stoudt’s, Full Pint, Crystal Ball, Night Shift), while there has also been some good news – like Hemauer’s Opening. This has certainly been troubling times indeed. But we will get through, I know of that. Humans are resilient, we’re tough to kill, we’re hardy, we’re tenacious, and we love our beer. We will survive, prosper, and come back. This I am sure of.

On the more – amusing side of things, my friend D. Scott has started a gaming live-stream page on Facebook that I have guest-starred on a few occasions. You can check it out at Knights of Nostalgia. We play mostly old school NES, SNES, and similar video games. Please check it out, give a like, follow, and check out some of our live-streams.

I am hoping that everyone has been enjoying the blog. That you’ve all have found something of interest, read something you have liked, or have enjoyed your time reading and viewing the blog. Perhaps you have found a beer review interesting, or a brewery review interesting. Or found one of my other entries entertaining, possibly even chuckling at something. I hope I have brightened at least every reader’s day a bit, or informed, or educated, or made your day better in some way by checking out this blog.

I am looking forward to a wonderful second year. With the blog expanding even moreso. With new series and features, new types of articles, more podcasts, perhaps even solo beer related podcasts, or even just beer only related podcasts. Possibly YouTube videos. I will soon be wrapping up the Beer Education Series, which I’ve hoped everyone who has been following along with me has found informative as well as entertaining (and perhaps even educational?). I am looking forward to doing more things like this. More book reviews. More beerfest events (once the current climate changes).

Please, as always, if you have enjoyed the blog, give me a like, click the follow, sign up for the emails, and even more importantly, talk to me, let me know in the comments section, or if you rather stay private – contact me through the CONTACT US page. I love hearing from you, all of you, all of our readers. Tell me what I screwed up. Let me know where I was wrong. Tell me how I’m an idiot. That the beer I liked was actually bad, etc. Or, hey, maybe even a bit of praise? Sure, why not, never hurt the ego to hear something good right? Just leave a comment. Love hearing from all of you. It is really, honestly, so great to hear from everyone. I really truly do enjoy it, and it helps at least brighten my day even a smidge, to see a new like, or comment or a new subscriber, so don’t be shy.

I just want to close this article by saying how thankful I am for everyone. For every person that has clicked on any of my articles, who has read even a single word of any of my pages, who have clicked the like, followed us, commented on one of the articles, or in any small way supported this page and blog by forwarding or sharing posts or entries or articles or whatever you have done. I cannot say this enough, I cannot express it enough, THANK YOU. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you x1000000000 infinitum. Thank you. It really means the world to me and my fellow writers, for everything that you have all done. I appreciate it more than I can describe. Thank you so much once again.

Thank you for visiting, I just want to give you our homepage link one last time for you to click and bookmark: The Beer Thrillers Homepage.

Cheers everyone. Thanks for making this a fun, fantastic, great year writing for all of you. Please, click the like, follow us, subscribe to us, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. And most importantly, cheers, enjoy a good craft beer or home brew for us. Support your local small breweries struggling during these unprecedented and difficult times. Stay healthy, stay happy, and please come back again. Cheers everyone!

-B. Kline

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Some Changes to The Beer Thrillers https://thebeerthrillers.com/2020/05/03/some-changes-to-the-beer-thrillers/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=some-changes-to-the-beer-thrillers Mon, 04 May 2020 02:35:00 +0000 https://thebeerthrillers.com/?p=3012 This is going up kind of late, mainly because I only got home from Gettysburg after 9PM with my daughters, this was meant to go out earlier in the day, but so it goes. This is just a quick ‘informative’ blog posting, about the blog moreso than anything else.

As you might have noticed, there’s been a few changes and some new faces here at The Beer Thrillers. Don’t worry, I’m still here (B. Kline), and somewhere out there J. Doncevic is still lurking around. But as you saw yesterday, we have two other new writers.

Firstly, Karl Larson (ihackbeer) is going to be writing for us periodically, mostly about brewing, home brewing, commercial brewing, and various informative pieces about beer, history, brewing, etc. He comes with an extreme wealth of knowledge, and it is such a privilege to have him writing for us. He is an award winning home brewer (gold medal winner), he is also a BJCP judge, as well as having brewed commercially for both Boneshire Brew Works and (currently) for Newfangled Brew Works. You can follow him on Twitter at: @ihackbeer. You can view Karl’s first post here: Brewing a Traditional Lithuanian Farmhouse Beer – Keptinis.

Our other new writer is Andrew Parys (A. Parys) (aka thesugarfoot). A local to Central Pennsylvania like myself and Josh (J. Doncevic) and Karl, he is an avid craft beer enthusiast and brewery traveler as well. He has been part of the extended Beer Thrillers family doing a podcast here or there with D. Scott and Esteban and myself over at “So a Mexican and a Scott Walk Into a Bar…” Saturday featured his first article for us, a thought-piece about what makes a good “quarantine” brewery during these ‘crazy’ times: What Makes a Great Quarantine Brewery? I suggest you head over there, read it and leave a comment!

Also, speaking of podcasts (and the ilk), I’m looking at possibly trying to do beer specific podcasts in the near future for The Beer Thrillers, as well as possible YouTube videos and reviews done that way as well. So stay tuned for that. As always, I am still doing sporadic podcasts with D. Scott, Dan, A. Parys, Esteban, and a host of others through their pop-culture series – So a Mexican and a Scott Walk Into a Bar…

As for the blog itself, we are celebrating one year this month. And we are most likely going to be moving to a full page and new host and having things look a lot more formal, professional, and nicer by the end of the month (fingers crossed). With that, there might be a few moving parts and some construction, but it should be quick and minimal (hopefully). The site’s links might change too, but if they do, I will set-up redirects so it should be no trouble to find us.

I also have had two other people from our Facebook group – the Central PA Whalerz (that me and Josh are members of) express interest writing for us, so you might be getting some more new faces as well. Hopefully we can poke and prod and get Mr. J. Doncevic to write us something new as well. Also, Let Us Drink Beer Blog is still guest writing with us (as well as we are for them) giving us about a monthly article about the beer scene down in the Atlanta Georgia area.

As far as the coming days go, this month, since I am still furloughed, for the foreseeable future (who knows how slow / fast things will begin to open up), and since its our One-Year anniversary, I am looking to make sure we get a blog post (or two!) every day. Tomorrow, being May 4th, I’d like to do a Star Wars themed one. Went down to Gettysburg today with my girls, but unfortunately struck out at Fourscore Beer Co (their Star Wars themed beer – Wookie Monster; sold out Saturday night). (Hint hint if anyone has one their willing to part with, to message / comment / PM me / DM me / etc.)

Then following that up we have Cinco De Mayo or Revenge of the Fifth, which I will take a look at some Mexican Lagers or Cervezas . So stay tuned for those articles.

If you are new to the blog, you can follow us on the various social media outlets. And I will take this opportunity to toot our own horn, and plug our statistics. I am amazed at how well, how fast, and how great the community has been in supporting us, in less than a full year. Thank you all so very much for your support! I will list our social media accounts next, as well as with the followers for each, just for people to get a scope of how far we’ve come and grown over this year!

As of May 3rd (10PM):

We are currently #9 on FeedSpot’s Top 100 Beer Blogs. (Where it lists our Domain Authority as 76 and our Alexa Rank as 4.3K.)

So again, I would just like to say thank you so much for supporting us, especially amidst these crazy and troubling and unprecedented times. We have a lot more in store for the future so be sure to stick around and check us out!

Thank you everyone! Cheers!

-B. Kline
The Beer Thrillers Staff: Ben, Josh, Karl, Andrew
The Extended Beer Thrillers Staff: Let Us Drink Beer, Drew, Dan, Esteban

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Beer Education: Module Five: Yeast https://thebeerthrillers.com/2020/04/22/beer-education-module-five-yeast/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=beer-education-module-five-yeast Wed, 22 Apr 2020 17:13:36 +0000 https://thebeerthrillers.com/?p=2870 Our next module is all about the fun guy (get it?) organisms that poop out alcohol and make our beer – beer. And yes, I know I said no more dad jokes the last time… but I just couldn’t help myself (plus, when I used this joke on my ten year old daughter: “Why does yeast keep getting invited to parties?” “Why?” “Because their such fun guys!” she kept chortling… so, at least its a good joke according to her). ….Anyway, moving on…. This module is all about yeast. Not about bad dad jokes, so lets get to it!

As per typical, our first page of the module is an intro video. Please be aware, above the video is a note saying that this module will take longer than the last two modules, so to provide yourself with enough time for it (and here I thought the hops and spices module was pretty long!). This looks to be a very informative module as they will cover yeast very in-depth (just like they did with the malts, grains, hops, and spices). The intro video discusses the various parts of the upcoming modules, what you will learn, and the two expert clips (one about brewing yeast strains and one about open fermentation). So lets click next and dive into this.

Clicking next we come to the page “what is yeast?” which has another video. But first, they give you a definition and description of yeast:

Yeast is the workhorse in the beer making process. Different yeast species are used to make beer. All yeast species are microbes:  they are microscopically small – although not as small as bacteria, and also very different !

EdX:The Science of Beer Brewing (Module Five)

The video is 5 minutes. Their first topic is about the two main types of yeast strains used for beer brewing: Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Saccharomyces pastorianus. Saccharomyces cerevisiae is used for making ale beers and Saccharomyces pastorianus are used for making lager beers. She moves on to discuss open fermentation and how many yeast strains might become used for that, and showcases one particular Belgian strain – Brettanomyces bruxellensis. After this she moves back to Saccharomyces cerevisiae and focuses on this particular strain. She breaks down the science of WHAT is the Saccharomyces cerevisiae, how its a micro-organism, single cell, and eukaryotic. She then goes on to describe the various parts of it, how it buds and reproduces asexually and expands and grows. This is all very important for the beer brewing process. She ends the video discusses briefly flocculation, but don’t worry we will discuss that in much further detail.

For example, on the very next page. Once you click next after that video you are brought to the next page, which is another video, this time fully about flocculation. Flocculation is the aggregation or the sticking together of yeast cells into a clump of cells which is also called a floc. This is an in-depth look at flocculation and is a 6:30 long video. Typically and historically yeast strains have been divided into two categories based on flocculation: top fermenting and bottom fermenting. The importance of flocculation in brewing: collect yeast cells (top fermenting: skim off; bottom fermenting: cropping) and the timing of the flocculation. Other important topics in the video are FLO Genes and Sugars.

Bonus points: If you make it through the video without even breaking a smile every time she says flocculation.

Our next page is about ale and lager yeast strains. First we revisit the Bavarian Beer Purity Law of 1516. It was primarily instituted to prevent bacterial contamination. There is a chart that offers information on both Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Saccharomyces pastorianus.

Clicking next we come to an expert clip by Professor Kevin Verstrepen. He is the author of ‘250 Belgian Beers: Tested and Tasted’. The clip is 8:51. He discusses the various ways they breed and make hybrid yeast strains for particular purposes. About the last two minutes of the video is very interesting, where he discusses AI and how the artificial intelligence works with yeast. And how the AI can use sites like BeerAdvocate and others to rate stuff and figure out how people will rate a beer based on the yeast strain used.

Moving on we come to a text page about yeasts in spontaneous fermentation. “Beers such as Lambic and Gueuze (sometimes also spelled Geuze) are NOT made by brewers inoculating the wort with specific yeast strains – instead, these beers are typically made through a process of spontaneous fermentation.” (EdX: The Science of Beer Brewing – Module 5.)

Spontaneous fermentations usually involve a mix of different yeast (and bacterial) species that appear sequentially over time. The exact composition of the microbial population in spontaneous fermentations depends mostly on the beer type and fermentation conditions. Brettanomyces yeast species are for example commonly present during the (later stages of) Lambic fermentation. Lambic beer is a typical spontaneously fermented Belgian beer. Brettanomycescan also be found in fermentations of American coolship ales.

Two of the best known Brettanomyces species in beer brewing are Brettanomyces bruxellensis and Brettanomyces lambicus.

EdX: The Science of Beer Brewing – Module Five – Yeast

If you’ve been following our blog here, you’ll remember back in January J. Doncevic and myself visited Mellow Mink and got to meet – Dr. Sour – brewer Matt Miller himself, and he showed us around the brewery. We discussed lambics, geuzes, sours, and all things relevant therein, particularly the yeasts. For more information on that, check out the two articles: Mellow Mink Brewery Visit and Scarlet Sunrise (Mellow Mink).

Trivia: Did you know – Brettanomyces was originally isolated and described at the Carlsberg Laboratories in 1904; where it was isolated from English beer. Hence the name of the yeast species: Brett – British; Myces – fungus. Interestingly, this isolation resulted in the first patented microorganism in history (UK patent GB190328184). (Part of) the patent reads as follows: “the employment in the manufacture of English beers such as ale, stout and porter, of cultures of the new species of micro-organisms called Brettanomyces in order to produce the flavour and condition peculiar to such beers”.

Scrolling down this text page you’ll find pull tabs to learn more about topics: Hydrolysis of longer chain carbohydrates, Release of volatile aroma compounds by beta-glucosidases, and Typical Brett aromas. This is then followed up by a paragraph on scientists and how they work on hybrid yeast strains, particularly for lambics and Trappist beers.

The next page is an expert clip by Professor Bart Lievens on spontaneous fermentations, primarily dealing with the brewing process of lambics. It is a 5:50 minute clip. He discusses traditional Trappist brewing procedure for lambics, and the process and various yeasts that do the fermenting through the various months while in the casks.

We come to a quick knowledge check (quiz) next. It is five questions (two multiple choice, and three check-box questions).

The next page is a discussion page for homebrewers and craft brewers: “what yeast strains do you use?” My post: “I typically buy my yeast from my LHBS (local homebrew shop) – Scotzin Brothers. I usually get WhiteLab, and depending, but it is typically W34. For a five gallon homebrew batch, I’ve found this typically works best, especially for most styles.” (Succinct and to the point.)

The next page is the yeast experimentation page. This “do it yourself” experiment is all about yeast fermentation. It is a relatively simple and pretty straight forward experiment. The next page going along with it is a discussion page about the experiment.

We are now moving on to yeast handling in a brewery. This is a verified track learner content page. The next page after that is a text page: ‘essential nutrients’. This page begins the discussion of what exactly the yeast are doing.

Next we have a video on the growth on different carbon sources. This is a 10 minute video, and unfortunately the audio seems to be really low on this one, so its a bit hard to hear at times. This is a very informative video with lots of charts and graphs.

After this we have a page on fermentation vs. respiration. This is a heavy science text page with chemical structures and diagrams.

The next page says its “optional reading” about yeast lag phase. I highly recommend doing the reading, there’s also an interview and expert clip from Professor Verstrepen as well.

After this is another quiz, its four questions, multiple choice, check-box, and drop and drag. After the quiz we move onto “intro to yeast” which starts with yeast flavors. Then it moves on to aromas from the yeast as well.

Clicking next, we come to organic acids and (off) flavors produced by yeast. This text page is another chart and science page. (This module is probably the most science based module yet; so far; in this course.)

Next is aldehydes. They can be formed either by Ehrlich pathway or Carbohydrate metabolism. Aldehydes can also be formed by reaction – lipid oxidation or Strecker degradation of amino acids. Aldehydes are generally considered to have a grassy flavor (that most would consider unpleasant).

Higher alcohols, also termed fusel alcohols, are typically formed by the yeast cells from amino acids through the Ehrlich pathway (catabolic route). The figure below gives a schematic overview of the different steps from amino acid to higher alcohol in the Ehrlich pathway. The second figure gives a more detailed overview for specific amino acids and their respective higher alcohols. This page has a very big chemical structure chart.

Moving on, we come to esters. A term most craft beer drinkers know (and all brewers should definitely know). Esters are the biggest group of aroma-active compounds in beer. Esters are formed inside yeast cells via a reaction between acetyl- or acyl-CoA and an alcohol. The first class of esters, formed through condensation of acetyl-CoA and an alcohol, are called acetate esters. The second class of esters, formed through condensation of acyl-CoA and ethanol, are termed fatty acid ethyl esters. Acetate esters diffuse more readily across the plasma membrane and in this way have a bigger impact on the final beer aroma. Following the information is more chemical structure charts and diagrams.

Another term most people know is diacetyl. There is various types of diacetyl. Vicinal diketones is the most common and is most often what people refer to when they speak of diacetyl in general. These are the cause for the unpleasant flavors.

The following page covers sulfur compounds. As the name suggests, this is sulfuric and gives off bad sulfur aroma and flavors… obviously not good for beer (or really anything for that matter). Sulfur compounds are important flavor determinants in beer. Most sulfur compounds derive directly from malt, yeast-produced sulfur compounds arise during the catabolism or anabolism of the sulfur-containing amino acids methionine and cysteine.

Up next is phenolic compounds.

The majority of the precursors for the production of phenolic compounds is derived from cereals and malt. Plant cell walls contain lignin, a complex polymer containing aromatic components. Lignin hydrolysis liberates these aromatic compounds, including phenolic acids.

These phenolic acids can be enzymatically converted by yeast to aroma compounds such as 4-vinylguaiacol (4-VG) and other compounds with a clove-like, medicinal aroma. Further enzymatic reduction results in molecules with a typical spicy, band-aid aroma. Since most Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains lack the enzyme for this final reduction step, the presence of such spicy, band-aid flavors often indicates that Brettanomycesspecies are present in the fermentation. In certain beer styles, such as Lambic, Hefeweizen and wheat beers, these phenolic compounds are desired and help define the beer style. In most other beers, these phenolic compounds are considered a fault and they are hence often called phenolic off-flavors (POF).

EdX: The Science of Beer Brewing Module 5

Two things that affect the phenolic compounds in beer are the factors – yeast strains used / present during fermentation and the level of phenolic acids in the malt.

The next two pages are a quick quiz (a single drop and drag) and a verified track learner page. Following this is a page telling you what materials to gather for the experiment in Module Six. As per usual at the end of the module, the next page is an overview page. Up next is an assessment for verified track learners. On the next page is the feedback page that ends each module. Clicking next brings you to the congratulations page.

Whew! That was a LONG module. But its not over yet if your a verified learner. If you are a verified learner, now is your mid-term that makes up 20% of the grade. If you are going that route – good luck! I’m moving on to Module Six!

Sorry this one took so long. It took me a while with the course, and I’m also fighting the ennui of this whole ordeal. I “should” be writing a blog post a day, but I find myself less and less motivated. And I’m not even working right now. I think some of it is a case of “the busy man gets more done” and some of it is the stress of the unknown of the situation.

I have been working behind the scenes on the blog, so look for some new writers, new styles, new beer reviews, new themes, and new content and channels. Lots of stuff coming in the near future, like a brewery look up for Hemaur Brewing’s Grand Opening On May 1st. So please follow us on here by subscribing, and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Cheers everyone! Stay safe, stay home, stay drunk!

-B. Kline

The Beer Education Series:
** EdX: The Science of Beer Brewing
* Beer Education: Series
* Beer Education: Syllabus
* Beer Education: Introduction
* Beer Education: Module One: The History of Beer Brewing
* Beer Education: Module Two: Barley and Malting
* Beer Education: Module Three: Water
* Beer Education: Module Four: Hops and Spices
* Beer Education: Module Five: Yeast
* Beer Education: Module Six: The Steps of the Brewing Process
* Beer Education: Module Seven: Fermentation and Maturation
* Beer Education: Module Eight: Filtration and Packaging
* Beer Education: Module Nine: Beer Quality and Stability
* Beer Education: Module Ten: Beer Assessment and Tasting
* Beer Education: Series Overview

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Beer Review: Intemperance (Tree House Brewing Company) https://thebeerthrillers.com/2020/02/19/beer-review-intemperance-tree-house-brewing-company/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=beer-review-intemperance-tree-house-brewing-company Wed, 19 Feb 2020 16:31:37 +0000 https://thebeerthrillers.com/?p=2279
Intemperance by Tree House Brewing Co.

This was supposed to be a five part series. Consisting of Sap, Haze, Doppelganger, Autumn, and Julius. But then like Disney buying Star Wars…. along came another, like a new movie to add to the series, I present you number six – the final, epic, saga ending beer review – of Intemperance.

Thats probably a bit hyperbolic, but you get the idea. This wasn’t intended, but we’re going to go with it. I don’t mind doing Tree House beer reviews, thats for sure. I could do them all the time, I’ll gladly accept any Tree House beer donations in lieu of reviews. No problem, no questions asked. (Who can turn down delicious wonderful near perfect beers anyway right?)

This is going to be different than the previous installments though. Whereas the others were IPAs (Double / regular) or a pale ale; this is the first dark brew I’ll be reviewing from Tree House. Intemperance is a Double Milk Stout. A fitting conclusion to the series. Epic? Maybe not. Ending to a massive saga on the scale of Episode IX? Probably not. A fantastic beer? Definitely! A good beer review? Hopefully so!

Just want to give a final shout out to D. Arndt for these fantastic beers. Tree House certainly never disappoints. Thanks Dan!

Intemperance by Tree House Brewing Co.

Beer: Intemperance
Brewery: Tree House Brewing Co.
Style – Stout – Imperial / Double Milk
ABV: 9.9%
IBU: None Listed
Untappd Write-Up: Intemperance is an imperial milk stout brewed with cinnamon, vanilla cream, Christmas cookies, and a hint of chestnut. Throwing the kitchen sink of authentic holiday-themed ingredients at this beer results in a truly unique, exciting, nostalgic-tasting beverage that doesn’t take itself too seriously. As it warms you can truly pick out the flavor notes of its individual constituents. Put on some pajamas, start a fire, and let this beer take you into the night.

This is a perfect fireplace beer. Christmas Eve, all the kids presents wrapped and under the tree and finally getting to fall asleep to A Christmas Story playing on loop in the background.

Appearance is the darkest of dark black. Like the souls and hearts of….. ahh, gee, thats too dark for something so tasty, frivolous, and fun. I’ll fall back on my motor oil comparisons and Razor Ramone hair comparisons and jet fuel and other similar ones. This is too much fun drinking to go too too dark on the descriptors. There is a lovely light brown creamy head to this that just floats on the dark waters. Lacing runs down the glass as you drain this gorgeous beer.

Aroma is so much, such complexity, just so much to take in through the nose. Aroma for this is pure Christmas. Baking cookies, yule log, milk, eggnog, dark bready notes, ginger, hazelnut. Like someone made a Bath and Bodyworks candle out of Santa Clause’s cabin. Notes of cinnamon, vanilla, hazelnut, ginger, molasses, chestnut, all swirl around with a roasted malt and grain bill with some nice earthy bread notes.

This is an amazingly smooth beer for a 9.9% stout. Its not annoyingly sweet or cloying. But it is dangerously smooth. The vanilla just gives it that added boost. You immediately taste like a child waking up Christmas morning after only getting one hour of sleep because you spent all night at your bedroom door waiting for Santa. This is dark and heavy, with a wonderful, full body and mouthfeel. But surprisingly you can sort of taste the high ABV but not fully feel the high ABV, and even then, its all levels of subtlety that get hidden amongst the complexities of the flavors. You get all of the flavors of Christmas cookie baking; vanilla, molasses, cinnamon, ginger, chestnut, hazelnut, and they all blend together with nothing overpowering anything else. Like a fine choreographed dance, everyone working together – every flavor working together – to build to a far bigger whole and better beer as a whole for it. There is no off putting flavors or aromas, no bad lingering aftertaste, just a great, well rounded, well created, well crafted, beautifully made and delicious beer. This could easily be a ‘final beer’ (before I go) type beer, and all would be content.

My Untappd Rating: ****.50
Global Untappd Rating: 4.24 (as of 2.19.20)

Blog news:

This was meant to go up last night after work as a double-blog day, but that didn’t really come about. Yesterday was pretty busy, and after stopping at the library, and dinner with the kids, and everything after work, the night kind of slipped away. (The Flyers did crush last night, so there was that too.)

But yesterday was a big networking day for the blog. With breweries reaching out for us to do scheduled tours and interviews. Podcasts reaching out to us for interviews and discussions. All around a very busy day.

We also hit number 400 on Facebook. Our four hundredth like on Facebook was Rory Dibeler. We are now up to 410 and looking forward to number 500. We are also up to 128 followers on Twitter. So if you aren’t a follower on either platform, please do so. You can also follow us on Instagram, where we are looking to further our presence in the upcoming months.

As always, be sure to like and follow us. Check out some of our older articles and beer reviews and news stories. You can read up about openings and closings, brewery reviews, beer reviews, brewery events, and even some book reviews. We appreciate all the views, likes, comments, suggestions, and feedback.

Cheers all!

-B. Kline

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Guest Blogging https://thebeerthrillers.com/2019/12/18/guest-blogging/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=guest-blogging Wed, 18 Dec 2019 13:20:39 +0000 https://thebeerthrillers.com/?p=1758 As I’m sure you’ve taken notice, there has been a bit of ‘guest blogging’ going on both here at The Beer Thrillers and over at Let Us Drink Beer. We are going to (basically) be doing a couple of blog posts for each other per month. Two to three, nothing outrageous or crazy. But a nice flow of blog posts. With them being a Georgia based blog, and with us primarily being a Central Pennsylvania (PA) based blog, it makes for a nice dynamic, and a nice interchange of ideas and beers and styles and breweries that people familiar with one blog might not see. Variety is the spice of life, and that is no more evident than in the craft brewing industry.

Some blogs will be beer reviews, some will be brewery reviews, some will just be about interesting news in our areas. Either way, when you visit either blog, it will be easy to find our respective posts. Here on The Beer Thrillers look for “Let Us Drink Beer” and you’ll see their posts. On Let Us Drink Beer you can look for B. Kline or The Beer Thrillers and find my posts.

We, here at The Beer Thrillers, will make sure to keep you updated on both their posts here at our blog, as well as our posts on their blog, on our various social media platforms (primarily FaceBook and Twitter, but elsewhere as well) as well as here on the blog itself.

You can read about their take on our guest blogging and their write-up about it here: Guest Blogger – Let Us Drink Beer at their blog.

So far they have written two blog posts on The Beer Thrillers for us; you can read Let Us Drink Beer’s blog posts here:

You can view my two blog posts at Let Us Drink Beer here:

So please check out their blog and show them some love (and vice versa too of course). And be on the lookout for more fun, exciting, and amazing stuff coming to The Beer Thrillers in 2020! Can’t wait for the new year, the new decade, and plenty of new beer!

Cheers!

-B. Kline

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November Recap https://thebeerthrillers.com/2019/12/07/november-recap/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=november-recap Sun, 08 Dec 2019 00:04:57 +0000 https://thebeerthrillers.com/?p=1630 November was certainly one interesting month! The Beer Thrillers pumped out an incredible volume of blog posts – 34 in total. From four different people. Two being brand new writers for us. Myself – B. Kline – I pumped out 30 blog posts, one per day. It was quite the adventure, quite the journey. My blog posts averaged 1016 words per post, and there was 30 from myself alone, from beer reviews, brewery reviews, news, tidbits, events, and all kinds of things in between. From a large host of locations, from beers in bottle, draft, and can, from several new breweries, and many old standby’s of the blog. And just like I challenged myself to do a new blog post each day, I had also challenged myself to drink a new beer each day (new as in new to me, and a unique beer to myself), so this was certainly a very interesting, challenging, and fun month.

Some days the blog posts were easy. Other days not so much. Some days I had the blog post done at 7:30 or 8AM… other days I’m struggling to get the blog post done, and wrapping it up at 11:58PM.

I never truly felt like I had burnt myself out…. until I came to doing this recap blog post. Thats why its now December 7th and its getting posted; when this was meant to be posted on December 1st. And I still don’t think I’m ‘burnt out’. I think its a case of ‘start-up issues’. The hardest part about any blog post is starting the blog post. Like writing anything, the hardest part is the beginning, is putting ink to paper, or to type those first few words. So, as the time stretched from December 1st… to December 2nd…. to December 3rd…. I hesitated and procrastinated more and more, and this post went further and further by the wayside. So for that, and for the fact that the blog as a whole hasn’t had a single post in December, and no new blog post in a week, I apologize. For those of you who were looking forward to this recap posting of my “November NaNoWriMo Challenge”, I apologize. And yes, I know I’m not REALLY doing a NaNoWriMo, and I know I’m not using the term correctly.

But this is the recap post, and it is finally going live. I apologize for its tardiness, but hopefully you will enjoy it all the same.

I met all three of my self-set hard challenges for November, and fell short of a soft-challenge for myself. My hard challenges were: 1) One new blog post per day, 2) One new unique beer per day, and 3) One 1-mile or more walk per day. These challenges I completed. (Figured the 1-mile or more walk would counter-balance the fact I was drinking every day.) The soft challenge I failed was hitting my 10K steps per day. And I only failed that one day…. ironically the second day of the month. I only got 8.8K steps that day, mainly due to a friend gathering and party and having gone to it right after work.

But you all don’t really care about the challenges, and just want to see the recap right?! So here’s whats going with that. I’m going to make a list here of the dates (November 1st, November 2nd, November 3rd, etc.) as headings, and then underneath it, list the different blog posts we posted that day (mine, J. Doncevic’s reviews, AJ’s Default Brewing post, and the guest writing blog post by Let Us Drink Beer). I will also list what new unique beer I had each of those days (or in the cases of some days, ‘unique beers’). So lets to it!

NOVEMBER 1st:

Blog Posts:

Unique Beers:

  • Pumpkin Spice Stout (Newfangled Brew Works)
  • Catchin’ Feels (Tattered Flag)
Pumpkin Stout by Newfangled Brew Works

NOVEMBER 2nd:

Blog Posts:

Unique Beers:

  • Rose Cider (Wyndridge Farm)
  • Blood Orange Cranberry Tart Ale (Troegs Independent Brewing)
  • Strawberry (Delp Brother’s Home Brewing) (Friend’s Homebrew at the party)
St. Thomas by Pizza Boy Brewing Co.

NOVEMBER 3rd:

Blog posts:

Unique Beers:

  • Wicked Watermelon (Redd’s Brewing Company)
Walker Station Stout by Pretoria Fields Collective

NOVEMBER 4th:

Blog Posts:

Unique Beers:

  • Secret Machine – Key Lime & Tangerine (Dewey Beer Company)
  • Intergalactic Warrior (Toppling Goliath Brewing Co.)
  • King Sue (Toppling Goliath Brewing Co.)
Flight of beers from ZeroDay Brewing

NOVEMBER 5th:

Blog Posts:

Unique Beers:

  • Wicked Black Cherry (Redd’s Brewing Company)
King Sue by Toppling Goliath Brewing Co.

NOVEMBER 6th:

Blog posts:

Unique Beers:

  • Wicked Apple (Redd’s Brewing Company)
Intergalactic Warrior by Toppling Goliath Brewing Co.

NOVEMBER 7th:

Blog Posts:

Unique Beers:

  • There’s Nuttin’ Butter Than a Nice Pair of Cam Pants (Westbrook Brewing Co.)
S’Mores LazaRIS by Boneshire Bew Works

NOVEMBER 8th:

Blog posts:

Unique Beers:

  • Broken Heels (New Trail Brewing Co.)
Ghost 782 by Adroit Theory
There’s Nuttin’ Butter Than a Nice Pair of Cam Pants by Westbrook Brewing Co. and Edmund’s Oast Brewing

NOVEMBER 9th:

Blog Posts:

Unique Beers:

  • Schwarzbier (The Duck-Rabbit Craft Brewery)
Secret Machine – Key Lime and Tangerine by Dewey Beer Co

NOVEMBER 10th:

Blog Posts:

Unique Beers:

  • Adjective Animal (WISEACRE Brewing Company)
Broken Heels by New Trail Brewing Co.

NOVEMBER 11th:

Blog Posts:

Unique Beers:

  • Tattered Dreamz (Tattered Flag)
  • Twin Mount .50 (Newfangled Brew Works)
  • Government Overspending (2019) (Tattered Flag)
  • Seven. Point. Six. Two. (Tattered Flag)
  • 556 Stout (Cox Brewing Company – CBC)
Adjective Animal by WISEACRE Brewing Company
Colonization by Adroit Theory

NOVEMBER 12th:

Blog Posts:

Unique Beers:

  • Boat Drinks: Pina Colada Berliner (Crosstown Brewing Company)
556 Stout by Cox Brewing Company (CBC)

NOVEMBER 13th:

Blog Posts:

Unique Beers:

  • Alcatraz Sour Apple (Johny Bootlegger Beverage Company)
Boat Drinks: Pina Colada Berliner by Crosstown Brewing Company

NOVEMBER 14th:

Blog Posts:

Unique Beers:

  • Alpha Abstraction Vol. 8 (Wild Leap Brew Co.)
Veteran’s Day flight at Tattered Flag

NOVEMBER 15th:

Blog Posts:

Unique Beers:

  • Double IPA (Newfangled Brew Works)
  • Lager (Newfangled Brew Works)
Alpha Abstraction Volume 8 by Wild Leap Brew Co.

NOVEMBER 16th:

Blog Posts:

Unique Beers:

  • Birra di Levante (Levante Brewing Company)
Double IPA by Newfangled Brew Works

NOVEMBER 17th:

Blog Posts:

Unique Beers:

  • Syndicate City Sour Peach (Johny Bootlegger Beverage Company)
Lager by Newfangled Brew Works

NOVEMBER 18th:

Blog Posts:

Unique Beers:

  • Tickle Parts – Passionfruit (Levante Brewing Company)
Birra di Levante by Levante Brewing Company

NOVEMBER 19th:

Blog Posts:

Unique Beer:

  • Great American Apple Pie (Stout Brewing Co.)
Tickle Parts – Passionfruit by Levante Brewing Company

NOVEMBER 20th:

Blog Posts:

Unique Beers:

  • Mechanicsberry (Appalachian Brewing Company)
  • Bargain Black IPA (Appalachian Brewing Company)
  • Embers Remain (Appalachian Brewing Company)
  • Ragged Edge Espresso Stout (Appalachian Brewing Company)
Beer flight from Appalachian Brewing Company

NOVEMBER 21st:

Blog Posts:

Unique Beers:

  • Newfangled Pils (Newfangled Brew Works)
  • Nitro Stout (Newfangled Brew Works)

NOVEMBER 22nd:

Blog posts:

Unique Beers:

  • Darwin’s Forehead Salted Brown Porter (Fonta Flora Brewery)
  • NVP (Nitro Series) (Breckenridge Brewery)
Darwin’s Forehead Salted Brown Porter by Fonta Flora Brewery

NOVEMBER 23rd:

Blog Posts:

Unique Beers:

  • Gotta Get Up to Get Down (WISEACRE Brewing Company)
Newfangled Pils by Newfangled Brew Works

NOVEMBER 24th:

Blog Posts:

Unique Beers:

  • Paradise Lost (Southern Prohibition Brewing)
Gotta Get Up to Get Down by WISEACRE Brewing Company

NOVEMBER 25th:

Blog Posts:

Unique Beers:

  • Crowd Control (Southern Prohibition Brewing)
Paradise Lost by Southern Prohibition Brewing

NOVEMBER 26th:

Blog Posts:

Unique Beers:

  • Citraquench’l (Heist Brewery(
Moon of Vega by Equilibrium Brewery

NOVEMBER 27th:

Blog Posts:

Unique Beers:

  • Scratch 394 – Mango Tangerine Lime Tart Ale (Troegs Independent Brewing)
  • Scratch 395 – Pineapple Passionfruit Guava Cherry Tart Ale (Troegs Independent Brewing)
  • Scratch 396 – Dry-Hopped Pale Ale (Troegs Independent Brewing)
  • Mad Elf 2019 Vintage (technically not a ‘new’ beer, but my first of this year’s vintage) (Troegs Independent Brewing)
  • Coco-Nator (non-scratch version) (Troegs Independent Brewing)
Citraquench’l by Heist Brewery

NOVEMBER 28th: (Thanksgiving)

Blog Posts:

Unique Beers:

  • Azathoth (Edmund’s Oast Brewing Company)
Azathoth by Edmund’s Oast Brewing Company

NOVEMBER 29th:

Blog Posts:

Unique Beers:

  • Not My Style, Might Rate Anyway (Pizza Boy Brewing Co.)
  • Visions of Yesterday (Pizza Boy Brewing Co.)
My sampler flight from Troegs Independent Brewing

NOVEMBER 30th:

Blog Posts:

Unique Beers:

  • Strawberry Rhubarb Pie Gose (Westbrook Brewing Co.)
The food spread at Official BBQ and Burgers, with a beer from Pizza Boy Brewing Co. (Visions of Yesterday)
Reformation Brewing (photo courtesy of Let Us Drink Beer)

Whew, what an exhausting month November was. I think part of the reason it took me so long to get the energy to do this recap post, was knowing the amount of formatting involved and the photos…. and now that the challenge is over, a malaise kind of settled over me. Like my job was completed. I started this post this morning before work, and had to finish it now after an extra hour or so of work on it this evening. I still want to put in some statistics of the month, for the blog, and for myself, and will most likely come in and do the edit for that later tonight or tomorrow. I will also add the tags and categories. But for now, I just want to get this live and up on the internet. Its 7PM and this is long overdo.

I would like to thank my contributors and co-authors on this blog for making this month (and all the time in general) go so well, and for providing so much help, fun and entertaining blog posts to read, and for helping so much with the blog! Thank you J. Doncevic, AJ Brechbiel (Default Brewing), and Let us Drink Beer Blog. My blog post for Let us Drink Beer’s blog will go live tomorrow and I will provide a link here for that in the statistics edit I will do. In the meantime you can read their post about their upcoming additions to their blog here: Let us Drink Beer: Exciting Additions Coming Soon!

Cheers and I hope you all enjoyed all of our blog posts in November. Heres to the rest of 2019, and then on to the future, 2020, and the next decade!

-B. Kline

EDIT:

Some statistics from the month here at The Beer Thrillers:

Blog posts:

  • 34

Unique authors:

  • 4
  • B. Kline, J. Doncevic, AJ – Default Brewing, and Let Us Drink Beer

Visitors and Views:

  • 2,767 Unique Visitors
  • 6,293 Total Views

Twitter Followers:

  • 95
  • (Goal was 100, just missed it)

FaceBook Followers:

  • 130

Most Vewied Posts:

Breweries reviewed/beers of their’s reviewed:

  • Boneshire Brew Works
  • Tattered Flag
  • Newfangled Brew Works
  • Cox Brewing Company
  • Adroit Theory
  • Troegs Independent Brewing
  • Pizza Boy Brewing Co.
  • Levante Brewing
  • WISEACRE Brewing
  • Edmund’s Oast Brewing Company
  • Southern Prohibition Brewing
  • Heist Brewery
  • Toppling Goliath Brewing
  • Dewey Beer Co.
  • ZeroDay Brewing
  • The Millworks
  • Appalachian Brewing Company
  • Crosstown Brewing
  • Fonta Flora Brewing
  • Westbrook Brewng Co.
  • Equilibrium Brewery
  • Pretoria Fields Collective
  • Wild Leap Brew Co.
  • New Trail Brewing

Styles:

  • IPA
  • Double IPA
  • Black IPA
  • Brown Porter
  • Stout
  • Pilsner
  • Lager
  • New England IPA
  • Belgian Dubbel
  • Sour – Fruited
  • Sour – Other
  • Fruited Beer
  • Gose
  • Sour
  • Belgian Strong Dark Ale
  • Pale Ale

Some personal stats for me:

Unique Beers:

  • 50

Total Beers:

  • 68

Breweries Visited:

  • Boneshire Brew Works
  • Tattered Flag
  • Troegs Independent Craft Brewery
  • ZeroDay Brewing
  • The Millworks
  • Official BBQ and Burgers – Pizza Boy’s Secondary Location
  • Newfangled Brew Works
  • Appalachian Brewing Company

New Restaurants/Bars:

  • The Gin Mill
  • Official BBQ and Burgers

Again, thank you all for reading. This post has now been updated with tags and categories. Please leave a like, a comment, and please follow us!

Thank you everyone!

Cheers!!

-B. Kline

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