2021 in Pictures
I have an annual tradition of posting some of my favorite photos from the preceding year. It’s my way of documenting the places I’ve been and the experiences I’ve had. With these little pocket cameras we carry around, it’s so easy to capture a life, one year at a time. This year I include a few photos taken of me with my phone. I hope you allow this small indiscretion. With the book tour, it couldn’t be helped.
Captions throughout, as always.
The year started with a couple snow storms, which of course meant drinking outside. This is February outside Gorges Brewing.
A week later, the snow had melted and Threshold was a nice place for a pint.
On a cold March afternoon, Sally and I stopped by the original Breakside on Dekum. I was enjoying Natalie Baldwin’s Rusalka, a Czech dark lager, when I noticed this atmospheric brick wall. Seemed like a good place for a picture, and this became the author pic for the new Beer Bible.
Breakside’s Daniel Hynes in his barrel room.
Ben Dobler at his new brewery, Hammer and Stitch.
In April, I got the jab! It seemed like the beginning of the end. (Narrator: “It wasn’t.”)
In the spring, I visited Fort George’s new, amazing warehouse complex.
On May 15, two weeks to the day after I got my second shot, Adam Milne, Van Havig, and I met for a pint at Old Town Brewing—the last venue I’d had a pint indoors before the pandemic started.
Beervana Podcast producer Will Romey. And speaking of the pod, we should be back in action soon!
Kevin Davey has become famous for his “cold IPA.” But locals know him as the pilsner guy.
Patrick and I pitted Washington versus Oregon in a regional IPA smackdown. The eventual winner was Von Ebert’s Volatile Substance, which also won gold at GABF and the Oregon Beer Awards.
Upright opened a new taproom above their brewery and feature two cask handles.
Over the summer, Alan Taylor shared his last bottle of Schultheiss—the last of the grand old Brett-aged Berliner Weisses. Alan makes an exceptional example at Zoiglhaus, and uses a culture taken from one of these bottles.
Steeplejack Brewing opened in an old church and instantly became one of the most inspiring places to enjoy a pint.
Over the summer, I visited Skagit Valley Malting.
The book tour started in the autumn, and the first landfall was Atlantic Highlands, NJ at Carton Brewing. Augie Carton pours me a pint.
Gina Masotto pours a Mooey bitter at Bonn Place. Mooey still sparkles in my memory.
John Holl arranged for the mayor of Metuchen, NJ to issue a proclamation welcoming me, perhaps the greatest honor I’ll ever receive.
It was hop selection at Torch and Crown in Manhattan.
Minnesotans know lager (and beer in general).
Jessica Jones joined me at her brewery Giant Jones in my old [studying] grounds of Madison, WI.
The open fermenters at Chicago’s Dovetail.
This is not the greatest photo, but I have to include it because it features Betsy Lay, one of my favorite people in beer. Her brewery, Lady Justice, represents so much that’s right about the beer industry.
One of my favorite stops was the Barrio Logan neighborhood of San Diego, where Border X makes delicious beer.
Firestone Walker’s Sam Tierney was a great host at my stop in LA.
Atlanta’s Bold Monk brewery features a room for whatever mood you happen to be in. Contemplative? Try this reading nook.
This is the expression you find on the face of most brewers as they consider a sip of beer. This face belongs to Joran Van Ginderachter of Atlanta’s Halfway Crooks.
In Asheville, I made a pilgrimage to Highland, where Leah Wong Ashburn and Bryan Roth joined me for a lovely evening.
Amid the tour activities, pFriem released our collaboration on a 19th century Wiener lager, poured here from a Czech-style tap.
Speaking of Czech-style side-pours, here’s Notch’s array in Salem, MA.
Notch, natch.
While in New England, Sally and I got to have lunch with the delightful Em Sauter.
This is an U Fleku-style tmavy, a beer that should just now be available at Zoiglhaus, and which I will begin promoting heavily. It’s a collab I did with the brewery last month.
Finally, I made a quick trip to New York, and made a point to stop into Threes for one of my favorite beers, their foeder-aged pilsner, Kicking and Screaming.
Happy New Year, folks. Let’s hope this one is a winner—