I can put my finger on my favorite cartoon from my childhood.
I’m sure the hip thing to say is something like Thundercats or My Little Pony, or even something slightly unknown like American Rabbit. I am, however, steadfast in my viewpoint that Donald Duck in Mathmagicland was the bomb.
Pogs. Seriously, pogs.
How can you not love bringing that particular piece of the 90’s back? If you have no clue what I’m talking about, you clearly missed out on one of the greatest flash in the pan collectibles in the 3 decades: Pogs.
For the uninitiated, pogs started off as the cardboard caps on bottles of juice made by dairies in Maui, Hawaii. The name of the drink was an acronym of the juices mixed to make the beverage, passionfruit, orange, and guava. Continue reading
I have been mentioning it, but it’s time to reveal the fully stocked and operational Selterbot 5000! In reality, it’s the New Air 160 Can freestanding beverage fridge in stainless steel (SKU: NBC160SS00). And because of things, i have now fully stocked it with hard seltzers. Fully stocked.
It’s always with a touch of irony that I pass by cases of Bud Light that prominently advertise rice as one of their ingredients. For most brewers, it is understood that the rice is a cheap adjunct added to water down the beer making it cheaper to produce.
And yet in craft beer circles the rice lager shows up time and again. It’s always with a bit of trepidation that I enjoy one, seeing as I hope more for the flavors and nuances of a well-crafted sake, a rice wine that actually has more in connection with beer than wine. It’s that or a watered-down sparkling water beverage that you get in huge packs. Continue reading
I will go ahead and state it now, I am firmly of the belief that if the State of Florida has an official dessert, it should be the Dole Whip.
Not that it can be found in a ton of places, but it’s sort of a mythical part of the cultural lexicon of the state. Sure, key lime pie is quite ubiquitous and actually made with ingredients from Florida, but it doesn’t hold quite the same fanatic status as the Dole Whip does. It’s a legendary beast unto itself.
Breweries collaborate with breweries all the time. It’s just part and parcel of the craft beer community. But what really excites me is when a brewery collaborates with somebody who is not a brewer, but obviously likes craft beer, and make something a little bit special and different.
I had no idea that was what I was getting into when I picked up a six pack from Playalinda Brewing in Titusville. To be sure, it was the bicycle on the artwork that immediately grabbed my attention. I used to cycle many years ago, and I’m sad to say my Specialized Tarmac continues to collect dust in my garage. Once I’m a little bit more comfortable I should jump back on and get some miles in.
​Quick piece of knowledge about Universal Orlando Resort: whenever something new gets designed and built, it gets a three-digit numerical project code. This way, when the publicly-accessible, legally-required building permits are filed with the city, all people see is details for ‘Project 722’ and not schematics that clearly state Wizarding World of Harry Potter: Diagon Alley.
In 2015, eagle-eyed permit hawks found one such filing, one for Project 862. That permit ended up becoming NBC Sports Grill & Brew, opened in the space left by the shuttered NASCAR Café.
In Orlando, something very different is going down. Castle Church Brewing Community is in the final stages of planning.
It’s a brewery, of course. But it will also be a fully-functional and ordained Lutheran Church, with regular church functions.
I recently spoke to Aaron Schmalzle, brewmaster and co-owner of Castle Church, about research, donations, and 95 other things.
