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Author Archives: Mike Pennington

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Mike Pennington

Author: Mike Pennington

Mike Pennington, normal, 40-ish, father of three, living the suburban dream north of Atlanta.  

Categories Non Beer Stuff (but still fun)

How Many Calories in that Beer?

Many of you who know me are aware of the fact that I have been working on shedding a few pounds this year. I’ve had varying levels of success, mostly when I pay attention and focus. My theory has been that cutting back on total calories consumed for the day … staying under a certain number of calories … leads to weight loss. And it works.

Now, this is a beer blog, and you’re wondering what on Earth I’m talking about. I cannot tell you how many people have said, “I guess your new weight loss plan has made you give up the beer, right?” No. Never. If I budget my calories correctly, I can still enjoy beer at night. (And maybe have an occasional cheat day.) It’s all about planning. And that’s where this post comes into play.

There are several apps that I have used that will help you track your calories. Think MyFitnessPal, et al. Enter a food item (or even scan its barcode), and the app will list the calories associated with it. Easy peasy. But what about beer? New beers, special releases, and barrel-aged one-offs come up every few minutes; it’s essentially impossible for a database to track all of those. So how can you know how bad you’re being? If only there were a handy-dandy rule of thumb that could give you nice ballpark estimates …

There’s a great article from Beer of Tomorrow that really gets into detail laying out the science behind how to calculate the exact calories in a beer. The problem here is that most people don’t run around bars with slide rules or a TI Graphing Calculator. So we have taken the in-depth info (and subsequent table) to give you the following.

Without getting too math-y on you … for every 1% in ABV, a 12-ounce serving will have 30* calories. A 16-ounce serving will have 40* calories. Some examples:

  • 12 ounces of a 4.5% beer will have approximately 135 calories (4.5 x 30 = 135)
  • 16 ounces of a 9% beer will pack roughly 360 calories (9 x 40 = 360)
  • Another way to look at it … (ABV) x (# ounces) x 2.5 = calories
Some of you are more visual in your learning. Maybe this graphic will help …
* Please note that these numbers are approximate, but they do give a decent estimate when you’re out on the town.
Mike Pennington by Mike Pennington
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Categories Tuesday Brewsday

Tuesday Brewsday, Week 2

It’s time for our second weekly installment of Tuesday Brewsday, this time based on the USC-Stanford matchup from this past Saturday. Since USC decided that scoring was optional, Stanford cruised to what amounts to a snooze-fest 17-3 victory. So, let’s head to Palo Alto for this week’s featured beer scene.

There are several breweries in the greater area, including one of our favorites (21st Amendment.) But I’d like to stay a little closer to campus – so we’re going to focus on Devil’s Canyon Brewing Company. At first glance, they have a nice selection and really solid variety. I mean, their year-round beers include a Hefe, Scotch ale, amber, rye IPA, blonde, and a kölsch. (And seriously, the Full Boar Scotch Ale sounds stupid good.) This blogger personally loves seeing diversification like this, instead of a brewery going all in on IPAs, sours, or any one style. Show some creativity and diversity – offer something for a broader spectrum of tastes!

And that’s not even to mention the seasonals that are available right now. Barrel of Monkeys Barleywine … a Bourbon Cherry Stout … and a Coconut Porter. So, I’m ready to give the thumbs-up on this place until I saw …  this barrel-aged series. Yes, please. I am a sucker for some barrel-aged beers, but these descriptions? I’m just straight copying their language … and I want all of these. All of them:

This. I need this in my life.
  • VSAA (Very Special Amber Ale). Our amber ale aged in cognac barrels with Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla
  • Cherry Lambic. Belgian-style lambic with West Coast cherries aged over one year in cabernet barrels
  • Imperial Stout. Imperial stout aged for six months in bourbon barrels
  • Bière Brut. Sparkling Ale aged for sixteen months in cabernet barrels
  • S.O.S. (Scotch Ale.) A blend of our Full Boar Scotch Ale aged for nine months in Scotch Whisky barrels
  • Divine Provisions. Amber ale aged with cherries in bourbon barrels. Collaboration brew with John Fearless Craft Hops & Provisions.

And everything I read says that it’s all about the vibe. Friday nights feature happy hour specials, food trucks, and live music. Sounds like a triple threat winner to me! To top it off (top it off … more beer in the glass … see what I did there?) I keep reading comment after comment about the staff being friendly and open to talking about their beer. I LOVE that in a brewery! And no, before you say it, it’s NOT true everywhere you go. To wit, we were recently in Chicago visiting a well-known brewery with several friends. While agonizing over the menu, trying to choose 4 beers for the flight from an extensive menu, our ‘kind’ server said, “Why are you spending so much time? It’s just beer.” It’s just beer? No – it’s not. Shame on you! It’s much more than that. But that diatribe is for another post.

For now, I’ll say that your next trip to the greater Palo Alto area should include a stop at Devil’s Canyon … hopefully on a Friday night. And if they have any special barrel-aged releases, be sure to grab one for your favorite beer blogger. And one for me too.

Tune back in next week as we find beer near the winner as the #17 Boise State Broncos travel to Stillwater to take on the #24 Oklahoma State Cowboys. Cheers!

Mike Pennington by Mike Pennington
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Categories Brew Reviews

Best Tailgating Beers in Georgia

FOOTBALL season is finally back! The long, nasty annual drought of nothing but baseball is finally done, and we get to return to the world’s greatest sports season … football! And, as a Facebook friend of mine recently put it, we now get to start referring to each other as tailgaters instead of alcoholics.

And that brings us to today’s post. As we begin stocking up on beer for our favorite tailgate, the question becomes, “What should I get?” Instead of stocking up on cases of Costco Kirkland’s Signature Light Beer (because it’s cheap and super light), can’t we spend a little bit more and still get something with nice flavor, but that isn’t too heavy? I mean, I love a quad, stout, or amber before just about any other style. But the thought of an all-day Dragon’s Milk binge in 90+ degree Atlanta heat is NOT a pleasant one. Tailgating in the south, especially early in the season, requires a little more work. So, without further preamble, what are some beers we can find in Georgia that will both taste fantastic, but will allow us to enjoy them throughout the day?

This is NOT meant to be a comprehensive list. This list is supposed to include beers that are …
1. Lower in ABV
2. Findable (not picking something that’s only available in crowlers in Indiana)
3. Not ‘heavy’, so you can have more than 2 and not feel like you have to waddle into the game.

In no particular order (with ABV)…

  • Burnt Hickory (Kennesaw) The Revival Lager (5%)
  • Wild Leap (LaGrange) Local Gold Blonde Ale (5.4%)
  • Service (Savannah)
    • Rally Point Pilsner (4.6%)
    • Ground Pounder Pale Ale (4.6%)
  • Creature Comforts (Athens)
    • Bibo Pilsner (5.5%)
    • Automatic Pale Ale (5.2%)
  • Reformation (Woodstock) Haddy Witbier (4.8%)
  • Pontoon (Sandy Springs) Hazy River India Pale Lager (5.5%)
  • Red Hare (Marietta) Long Day Lager (4.98%)
  • Grumpy Old Men (Blue Ridge) Moon Over Blue Ridge Pale Wheat Ale (5.7%)
  • Gate City (Roswell) 20 Grand Cream Ale (4.7%)
  • Jailhouse (Hampton) Federale Mexican-style Lager (4.95%)
  • Jekyll (Alpharetta) American Lager (4.6%)
  • Cherry Street (Cumming) Hammered Monkey Hefeweizen (5.5%)
  • Macon  (Macon) Love Cherry Beer (5%)
  • Left Nut (Gainesville) Lappland Blonde Ale (4.5%)
  • Red Brick (Atlanta) Hibiscuwit Witbier (5%)
  • Orpheus (Atlanta) Serpent Bite Sour (6%)
  • Wild Heaven (Avondale Estates) White Blackbird Saison (6%)
  • Monday Night (Atlanta) I’m On a Boat (4.8%)

What am I missing? What’s your go-to tailgating beer? Oh, and did you notice? These breweries are from all over the state! It’s a great time to be alive!!

Happy tailgating everyone! And may the hops be ever in your favor.

Mike Pennington by Mike Pennington
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Categories Non Beer Stuff (but still fun)

An Ear and a Beer

Can Beer Really Save Lives? Spoiler alert … the answer is yes.

My wife has either subscribed to a service that sends her updates … or she’s scouring the interwebs every day for fun, light-hearted, sometimes comical and quirky articles about beer or the beer industry. Sometimes it’s a notice about a cool upcoming beer festival. Or maybe about Bud Light installing coolers of beer all over Cleveland to be unlocked and available should the Browns ever win a regular season game. Again, interesting, fun, and amusing. I post some of these on the various BGB channels from time to time, and I am always grateful that she is working to help me create content!

For the first time, one of those articles has inspired me to write a full post. Today she found an article in the AJC about some beer delivery drivers who saved a man’s life. The Cliff’s Notes version: they altered their normal route slightly and happened upon a man standing on a bridge about to take his own life. They stopped to see what they could do, engaging in conversation until additional assistance could arrive. One of the drivers, Kwame Anderson, was doing anything he could to connect with the distraught man … just to engage him and show him that he cared. Nothing could really get the guy to come back to the safe side of the fence and out of the reach of danger. He asked where he was from; did he have kids; was he hungry. Very little positive response. “Hey man, do you want a beer?” That did the trick. The offer of a beer opened the door to deeper conversation. Fast forward … the man climbed back over the fence and was taken to a hospital for evaluation. He is alive today … his kids still have a father … because of Coors Light.

“Some people just need an ear and a beer”

I’m the first one to poke some good-natured¬  fun at Coors Light et al. Is it beer or water … hahahaha. But this story isn’t really about beer. This is about community; about connections; about the relationships that can develop over beer. In an age where we all seem more willing to stare at a phone screen, slowly becoming zombies, there is an increasing need to connect with other people. For many of us, those connections happen over a glass of beer. I won’t judge your selection, and you won’t make fun of what I paid for my overpriced fancy craft beer. It’s the connection that matters here. Sharing beer is about creating community, a lesson I was able to experience in a massive and very real way at the Beer Bloggers Conference last week.

The man in the article above isn’t alive today because of Coors Light. His children don’t still have their father today because of some skilled psychologist/negotiator. He’s alive today because another human being took interest in him; spent time learning about him; found a common interest; and offered to share with him. This is about a person connecting with a person … nothing else. As written in the article, “Some people just need an ear and a beer.” Let’s get out there and try to be human with each other again. Have a friend who seems quiet and down or just not themselves? Offer to go grab a cup of coffee, or a glass of wine, a Coors Light, or an actual beer. (See?  Couldn’t go a whole post without a little fun.) Connect and show them you care.

Here’s to you, life-saving beer delivery guy.

Mike Pennington by Mike Pennington
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Categories Beer Travel (Beercations)

Reinheitsgebot – does it still make sense?

If that title makes you say “Gesundheit” – I wasn’t sneezing, I’m talking about the German Beer Purity Law. If you don’t already know what it is, it’s a 502-year old law that only allows for four ingredients in the production of a beer: water, barley (or malt), hops, and yeast. Beer brewed in Germany must have nothing else in it.

This law was first created to protect citizens from beer that may have included toxic ingredients that were causing sickness and even death. (Delicious stuff, like wood shavings, nightshade, poisonous tree roots, etc.) The law worked and continues to still today. Having attended a very authentic German Oktoberfest celebration, the quality of the ingredients led to no nasty side effects of excess indulgence the next morning. So, it definitely has its advantages.

On the other hand, US brewers are quick to throw just about anything into a beer in an effort to create recognition and break new flavor barriers. Chocolate, every fruit imaginable, pizza, bacon, smoke, wads of cash, habanero … basically anything. It would seem that German brewers and US brewers are on different sides of the aisle.

Side note: German brewers ARE starting to brew with crazy ingredients and bowing to the pressures of craft beer enthusiasts. But there’s a catch … they cannot refer to the final product as beer. They have to market it as “mixed beer drinks” (Biermischgetränke). And as it turns out, Germans are choosing to stay with the traditional beers, leaving the ‘mixed drinks’ for visitors and tourists.

I attended a Beer Bloggers Conference last week and was able to hear from the founder and CEO of Dogfish Head, Sam Calagione. He said that DFH’s stance was to almost fly in the face of the half-millennium old Reinheitsgebot … focusing on bringing in flavors that you wouldn’t expect in beer. They took a lot of arrows, especially when they were doing this in the years before craft’s big boom in the US. Once told, “Fruit belongs in a salad, not in your beer, a**hole,” Sam and the team ventured on, believing in what they were creating. They now stand as one of the preeminent craft brewers in the world … and have not changed that stance. (Read an article by Sam himself on what he calls ‘beer censorship.’)

Listening to the presentation, I found myself torn. Part of me was in love with the nostalgia and the quality borne of the Reinheitsgebot. And part of me was excited about the almost brash nature with which Dogfish Head eschewed it. Which was right? Who was right and who was wrong?

After a few days of reflection, something amazing occurred to me. What if they’re both right? We don’t have to live in a binary society where there has to be a yin and a yang; an up and a down; a hero and his foil. Isn’t the world a better place because of the variety that we have these days? I love that I can go to Germany and order a traditional lager with only those four magical ingredients. But why shouldn’t I be able to slide down the road and have a “mixed beer drink” that includes coriander and orange peel? And then I can fly home and have Terrapin’s Raspberry Truffle Wake-n-Bake Coffee Oatmeal Imperial Stout!

So, who’s right? The German purists or the Dogfish Heads of the world? If you ask me, the answer is yes.

Mike Pennington by Mike Pennington
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Categories Beer Travel (Beercations)

BBC, Day Three

If you’ve been following our adventures for the past few days, you may have noticed something interesting about this conference. On Day 1, we drove to Delaware and drank beer. On Day 2, we drank beer in Delaware and then drove home and drank beer in Virginia. There hasn’t been a “conference” yet … no sessions! That all changed on Day Three. It was time to get some learnin’. (If you want to don’t want to read about the day, skip below and see our pictures from Day Three.)

First speaker out of the blocks was Julia Herz, Craft Beer Program Director for the Brewers Association. This one is a fireball. Tons of energy, she shared a lot of facts and figures about the continued growth of craft beer versus mass-produced; and also the dominance ber has over wine and spirits in the American marketplace. Next up was a panel discussion on diversity in the brewery world. .Julie Verratti (Founder, Denizens Brewing), Bev Armstrong (Founder, Brazo Fuerte Artisinal Beer), and Dr. J. Nikol Jackson-Beckham (Diversity Ambassador for the Brewers Association) discussed the evolution of increased diversity in the brewing industry. The quick takeaway … don’t ask a person of color or a female brewer what it’s like to be a minority in the beer world. Ask them the same questions you’d ask any brewer.

For lunch, we had two food truck choices. Pro tip … Dave’s Dogs was the way to go, especially if your order the Old Bay tater tots. Yes!!

The afternoon was off with THE keynote of the event: Sam Calagione from Dogfish Head. He speaks with great passion about his company, why they’ve always been a little different and have stuck to their ways in the face of criticism. He’s an incredible evangelist for his brand (something I would like to do better as well.) We finished his session with a Facebook live Q&A – really interesting media.

The learnin’ portion of the day was capped off with an expo … there were about 10 exhibitors placed around the room, and many of them brought beer for us to enjoy. Let the revelry commence! (Side note – if you see a trivia contest poop up during the sessions, run over and answer as quickly as possible. I did and scored two bombers of Rogue Dead n Dead.) Thank you to Rogue, Terrapin, Devil’s Backbone, Dogfish Head, and others for a great afternoon!

And finally … the evening reception. Yet another bus ride took us to Vanish Brewery, or more like a farm with a brewery hidden in it. You can see in the pictures below, it was a beautiful setting, and they had representatives from 19 local breweries serving one of their beers. (One group brought two, so 20 total beers.) Stickers, hats, glasses, bottle openers … the SWAG is seemingly endless here. Below the slideshow, I’ll list the 19 breweries and the beers they were pouring. And that’s a wrap on Day Three!

CLICK the picture below to see more photos from the day …BBC Day Three

The beer from the evening (along with the score I gave it on Untappd):

  • Adroit Theory Antithesis D.R.A.N.K. Hawaiian Punch Gose (3 out of 5). This stuff was so odd. Smelled, looked and tasted like straight Hawaiian Punch. There was legitimate debate between on us whether it was beer or just Hawaiian Punch. It’s the pink beer in the pictures.
  • Barnhouse Quarter Horse Porter (3.5)
  • Bear Chase Mr. Pink Tart Cherry Ale (4.25). It wasn’t tart … really nicely balanced.
  • Belly Love 50 Shades of Gold Belgian Strong Pale. (3.75)
  • Beltway 1776 Rye-aged Stout. (4.5). Powerful and tremendous.
  • Bike TrAle Yellow Jersey Pilz (3)
  • Black Hoof Island Pond Hefeweizen (2.5)
  • Crooked Run Katana Double-IPA with cherries and vanilla (4.25)
  • Dirt Farm Som’ Peach seasonal. (3). I was very hesitant, as I don’t like peach beers. But this was surprisingly pleasant.
  • House 6 El Bombero Kolsch. (4)
  • Lost Rhino Dawn Patrol session IPA. (3.75)
  • Old 690 Gnarly Boar Pale. (2.25)
  • Old Ox Funky Face Hibiscus Gose. (1.75)
  • Phase 2 Thank You, Babe Cream Ale (4.25). Add a smashed basil leaf to it. Seriously.
  • Quattro Goomba’s Resistance is Fruitile – Mango Passionfruit Wheat Ale. (4)
  • Rocket Frog Angry Angry Alice Double IPA (2.75)
  • Solace Partly Cloudy NE-style IPA (3.5)
  • Twinpanzee Brewing:
    • Galaxy of the Apes IPA (3)
    • Galaxy of the Chimps IPA (2.75)
  • Vanish Andre Brut IPA. (3.75). Very interesting and quite refreshing. As the name implies, it had a champagne quality to it.
Mike Pennington by Mike Pennington
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Categories Beer Travel (Beercations)

Beer Bloggers Conference, Day One

And so this trip started with a bang.

My flight to DC left at 7am. But with a bump into first class, I had to start off with a Sweetwater 420, right? (No judgment!)

Russ landed a little after I did and we made our way to the hotel. With a few hours to kill and a LOT of breweries in the area, we picked one that also served lunch and made our way there. Lost Rhino Brewing was a great choice. The ‘Spicy Mike’ sandwich is a really nice option, if you happen to be in the area. I mean, I had to get that, right? We both ordered flights, and I’d say that the beers were mostly good, one not as much, and we had one clear winner. The vibe in there is very cool (beautiful chalkboard menu). Russ and I would both tell you that the Pumpernickel Honker was the best one of the bunch.

Back to the hotel to get ready for the bus ride to Delaware. We met Lars, who would be our best bud for the rest of the day. Lars is with Dogfish Head and was our bus entertainment/trivia guy for the ride. We loaded up with about 15 other bloggers and headed down the road. We stopped at the brand new Guinness location in Maryland (massive, beautiful facility) to pick up the rest of the bloggers. We got a few minutes in the gift shop and then started down the road to Delaware.

It’s kida hard to put it into words. I’ve been a big fan of DFH for a long time, so it was going to hard for them to live up to my expectations. Hint: they exceeded them. From climbing to the top of the Steampunk Treehouse, starting with a cheese and Flesh & Blood pairing, grabbing a flight of some stuff you can’t find elsewhere, the exhaustive tour of the facility, dinner in the tasting room. It was a-mazing! But wait, there’s more! We finished the evening sipping 120 Minute IPA brewed in 2008 while having a fireside chat with Sam Calagione, DFH founder, and his wife. Just an unbelievable end to a pretty tremendous day. If you like beer, and specifically DFH beer, this is a must visit.

Going to try something a little different today. We have so many pictures from the day, I’m throwing them into a Flickr album to make it easier for you to live vicariously through the bloggers!

BBC18 Day one

Mike Pennington by Mike Pennington
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Categories Non Beer Stuff (but still fun)

Try Before You Buy

I’ve been there before. Actually, I was there as recently as last night.

It’s getting later in the evening and I can only have one more beer. There are two on the menu that I’d like to have, and I’m torn as to which one I’d rather have. I can look them up on Untappd … I can research on BeerAdvocate, but my tastes don’t always line up with other folks’. I don’t want to order one and then wind up regretting the decision later. Yes … this is basically a matter of life & death.

Two recent experiences color this point. I was at my local watering hole and had heard the buzz (see what I did there?) about a new beer. Said watering hole had said beer on tap, and so I ordered a pint. The beer was New Belgium’s Hemperor. It’s an IPA that’s been infused with hemp. I wasn’t sure that I would like it or not, but I was so intrigued by the concept that I had to try it.

To say it was awful is unfair to beers that are merely awful. This was new levels of awful. Imagine rolling into Animal House the night after Bluto, Otter, Flounder, and the boys went on an all-night bender. You stumble across a still-smoldering bong and decide to take a sip of the bong water. What you find is that someone spilled some of their cousin’s overly-hopped homebrew into the bong water resulting in a vile concoction that isn’t fit for human consumption. Maybe I’m being unfair, but you get the point. Curiosity, in this case, almost killed the cat.

Fast-forward to last night. I’m at the Fred (I refuse to call it the Georgia Chapter Room. Hardcore, old-school Taco Mac fans will side with me on this one) with a friend and am torn between two beers. On the one hand, I have a Kasteel Chocolate Quad, and on the other is Boulevard Barrel-Aged Quad. What to do, what to do. Words that should have left my mouth before the hemp-IPA bomb returned to me … five words that can save you at times like these.

“May I try a sample?”

So simple, and yet so often forgotten. Unless it’s bottle or can, any decent beer-venue should allow a taste test to ensure that you like what you’re getting. Five words that could have saved me many times in the past. Mind you, I won’t order a sample before every beer – just those that are way out there or when I’m torn between a few choices. But wow, do I wish I had used this more often in my past! Oh, in case you’re on the edge of your seat about the choice from last night … I decided on the Boulevard. A lot smoother to me, and more to my likes. And my knee-jerk would have been to order the Kasteel.

The five words saved me!!

Mike Pennington by Mike Pennington
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Categories Non Beer Stuff (but still fun)

Have we gone too far?

I’ll admit it, I have some of these traits myself. It’s hard for me to sit here and poke holes in what others are doing, when some may see it as hypocritical. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

I am someone who is always seeking out something new to enjoy. When I go out to eat, it doesn’t matter if I find a beer I love, I’ll always be interested in having something different for my second (and sometimes third) beer. At a brewery, I always opt for a flight or two, rather than a pint. It’s not that I don’t like that first beer anymore, but I want to try something new as often as possible. Maybe I’ll find something I like even better? So I repeat, I at least partially resemble what I’m about to discuss.

There is a disturbing new trend in some craft beer circles that I cannot ignore anymore. I am a member of several craft beer groups on some social media outlets. For the most part, these groups provide opportunities for people to
• Discuss the industry,
• Share pictures of whales they’ve found,
• Ask for recommendations on places or brews to try, and
• Arrange for bottle shares and swaps.

These are why these groups were formed and represent the positive side of craft-beer-meets-Facebook. But then there is a darker side. I’ve seen it happen too often now and from far too many people to remain quiet. There are many people out there who consistently feel the need to belittle other people’s pictures, posts, etc. A whale on Monday becomes an embarrassingly outdated find by Thursday. “How can you drink that garbage? The date on the bottom is from two weeks ago!! I won’t touch it unless it was brewed this afternoon.” Why do we as humans feel that the only way to make ourselves better is to belittle others? I am currently on the cusp of leaving some of these groups because I just can’t watch a beer-bully openly mock someone because they’re excited about finding their favorite beer on tap. Or trolling them on the interwebs because their glass isn’t clean enough.

Let’s all agree that craft beer is a great and wondrous thing. Remember when you first tasted that beer … the one that you’d been trying to find for years. You proudly shared your riches and excitement on Facebook only to have some moron chime in with, “It was better last year. I won’t even touch this year’s version.” Why? Just because I don’t like something doesn’t mean you shouldn’t either. Can’t we all just get along?! The brewers themselves have a collegial relationship with each other – I think we should aim to mirror that with each other.

Cheers, everyone!

Mike Pennington by Mike Pennington
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Categories Beer Travel (Beercations)

#BBC18 … and yes, we’re going

And I get to stay here …
I first saw it a few years back. But I failed and didn’t pull the trigger. I saw a reminder that it was set to happen again this year, and I made a point to register. I just had to go. And Russ is going to join me!
It’s the 2018 Beer Bloggers & Writers Conference, or BBC18 for the millennials. Yes, there’s an association and/ or conference for everything. I mean, everything.
Included on the agenda, pre-conference excursions to nearby breweries (I’ll come back to that); kick-off celebration at this phenomenally-cool and unique place; lots of sessions (including from the head dude at Dogfish Head); a 2-hour beer expo with tastes from several breweries … all before we get to the Friday reception and dinner. There will be 24 breweries pouring beer for us that night. Yes … twenty-four. And now we’re at the end of the first full day. 
Day two has a series of further sessions about how to grow your online presence (BabyGotBeer is about to blow up!); an Ignite-style series of rapid-fire presentations (Russ and I are applying to be on the docket); and the mother of all sessions … Live Beer Blogging. I’m just going to steal the text from the #BBC18 website:

You will have the opportunity to try 10 beers in 50 minutes. In each round, a brewery representative will have five minutes to pour his or her beer, describe the beer, and answer questions before moving on to the next table. It is a fast, fun, and crazy beer tasting experience that helps writers practice their tasting and reviewing skills and helps breweries distill their message.

Yes, please. HINT: Look for lots of rapid-fire posts coming from us in mid-August!
But wait, there’s more. We finish the evening with another reception and dinner, this one featuring 13 additional breweries. Why have I not gone to this thing before? Someone, please remind me that I should never not go again!

Pre-game excursion. I told you I’d come back to this. On Wednesday, August 8th, we get to go to a pre-conference excursion to … Dogfish Head in Delaware. Not only is it one of absolute faves, it’s also in a state I’ve yet to visit. Double bonus. The agenda includes a tour of the facility, tastings and dinner under a tent at the brewery, and then a fireside chat with the founder, Sam Calagione. I cannot tell you how pumped Russ & I are for this trip. Oh, by the way, we’ll be spending the night at the Dogfish Inn. 6 weeks from today … we’re so close I can taste it!
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