Wednesday, May 26 2010

High Speed Blogging

Faster than a speeding . . . say, anyone else notice it looks like the rifle just sneezed?

Lack of blogs lately, partly due to my aforementioned thumblessness, partly because I've been on the road, and partly because I'm so swamped getting ready for conferences and video shoots and other stuff. This whole job thing can really put a crimp on social networking.

The Winemaker Magazine Conference in Washington state was a success and a huge amount of fun. I got to meet a bunch of supercool winemakers, give lectures, listen to lectures, drink some great wine and generally hang out in the company of my peers. I'll post some pictures in the future, but rest assured, what happens at Winemaker may not stay at Winemaker!

I also spoke at the FITA (Fermetners International Trade Association) gathering in Portland on the weekend. It was nice to see a lot of folks I rarely get a chance to spend time with, and a real treat was getting to listen to the Grand Master, Mr. Fred Eckhardt, give a talk on beer making and craft brewing.

He's just as nice as he looks, like a slightly devilish Santa Claus

In addition to being the dean of beer educators in America (I still consult 'The Essentials of Beer Style' after 20 years) he has the distinction of having a beer Named (very affectionately) after him, Hair of the Dog's Fred.

Yum!

After the conferences, the lectures and the obligations I got a chance to hang around with some of our US retailers in town for the occasion, doing some careful research on Portland's beer scene and the local cuisine, including Voodoo Donut (indescribable, but very good donuts) and a stop at Le Pigeon--a shout out to my pal Jim Willis for the recommend. Anyone wanting extremely good cutting-edge bistro cuisine is advised to book early, as they're terribly busy, but it's worth it: order the puff pastry stuffed with foie gras ice cream drizzled with salted caramel sauce (and a glass of Sauternes) and it will change your life.

Must close: typing is still difficult and I've got way to much stuff to do right now--story of my life!

 

Posted by Busy Tim AT 3:28PM

1 Comment

Post A Comment

Email