Kona Brewers Festival 2015

It’s 6am, Saturday, March 14th. Getting out of bed was easy. We had 2 fantastic events to look forward to. First up, the 8th annual Run for Hops event fundraiser for P.A.T.H. (Peoples Advocacy for Trails Hawaii). This year, 500 runners and walkers showed up to support a program which teaches Hawaii Island 4th graders important bike safety skills. We ran the event and had a great time. The weather was perfect (not too hot) and at the finish line there was a boat load of food and a generous amount of Longboard Lager flowing thanks to Kona Brewing Company.

After the run we went back to our rental, jumped in the pool and relaxed before our next adventure that day, the Kona Brewers Festival (KBF). We planned on getting down to KBF for the blessing that was scheduled to take place between 1:10-1:30, but sadly we missed it. It’s always a challenge coordinating a group of friends. All was good though. We weren’t stressed. After all, we were on the beautiful island of Hawaii.

The Earning Your Beer Series: Takeru Kobayashi

NEW! The Earning Your Beer Series: Hunter Pence

Made In Oregon will carry our ‘I Love Oregon Beer’ Sticker

Just a quick post to let you know Made In Oregon will carry our ‘I Love Oregon Beer’ bumper sticker. This is exciting news for us! Made In Oregon’s first store opened at the Portland International Airport in 1975. Today, the company has nine retail stores located in Portland, Salem and Newport Bay. For over 35 years, Made In Oregon has supported the Oregon economy by sourcing and selling local products. We are delighted to be part of the tradition.

In addition to Made In Oregon, you can find various Eyeluvbeer items at these fine establishments:

Belmont Station
Brew Brothers
Bridgetown Beerhouse
Homebrew Exchange
Mainbrew
New Seasons

As always, we encourage you to support your local retailer!

Where the heck have I been?

So, where the heck have I been? Busy! My day job has picked-up big time.  As you know, the global financial crisis began back in December of 2007 (according to the U.S. National Bureau of Economic Research). The same agency reported that it ended in June, 2009. Maybe it did for you, but my financial crisis didn't end (I use the term lightly) until about 8 months ago. It has been a long, hard road for myself, and for many of my friends and colleagues. It was financially and mentally one of the most challenging times for me. Thankfully, I never lost my job, but it wasn't an all glitz and glam easy ride. In retrospect, my problems were minor. To me though, they sucked.

My financial crisis continued well beyond the above time frame 

I hope those days are behind me, and you, if you happened to share a similar experience. At the moment, I’m a busy, happy-ass beaver. As a result, my blog has suffered. She (yes, my blog is a woman; one hell of sexy one) has been dealing with rejection and abandonment issues for months, and has recently sought counseling. She convinced herself I left her for #pdxbeergeeks, Brewpublic, Beervana Buzz, Beervana, A Pint for Dionysus, Brewmance NW, or the seemingly controversial, New School. I told her “although very tempting, I would never do that.” “You see”, I said, “you complete me” (in the same vein that Jerry conveys his feelings to Dorothy in Jerry Maquire). I think she has finally begun to realize I have other obligations to live up to. I told her I felt bad about not giving her the attention she deserves. I even shed several tears on my keyboard's Alt key and Spacebar.  She consoled me and said, “I just want you to love beer as

San Diego: The Land of Sun, Surf and Suds

Famed guest Bloggers, Mark and Brenda report on the ever expanding craft beer scene in San Diego:

San Diego... land of sun and surf, palm trees and excellent IPAs. We planned a February trip from Portland in pursuit of some vitamin D, sand between our toes and crafts brews. Little did we know we would weather the worst storm in the last 10 years.

Luckily, we had a beer adventure to take our minds off the weather. After fortifying ourselves with fish tacos (South Beach Bar and Grille in Ocean Beach boasts the best and was recommended by Mr. and Mrs. EyeLuvBeer), we headed to our first brewery: Modern Times. Nestled among strip clubs and industrial buildings, there is no sign for this Brewery, just Google map's reassurance it is here somewhere. When we entered into the spacious brewery, we were pleasantly surprised by the amazing decor...a bar built out of old hardback books, a mural "painted' with sticky notes, and a wall mosaic of comic book pages all warmly illuminated. The friendly greeting we received was followed by a taster tray of excellent beers - those of note being the "Hoppy Tropical Wheat" which would be perfect for a HOT day with its lightness and citrusy hops and the "Black House Coffee Roast Stout" which is brewed from coffee roasted onsite and has a tag line "taste the OCD". Brunch anyone? We finished with a special pour of Monsters Park Imperial Stout. Boozy yet smooth at 10% ABV. We inquired about buying their beer as we eyed towers of empty cans in the brewery, but they were sold out! No "Blazing World Hoppy Dark Amber" for us to warm those rainy San Diego nights.

Alas, it was time to move on. We selected Acoustic Brewing, located in the shadows of the long defunct Mission Brewery. Acoustic has a cigar room,

Will you fill your growler at Fred Meyer?

I received a tweet from my better half the other day stating:

"Maybe @eyeluvbeer will actually go grocery shopping with me. @FredMeyerInc Hollywood rocks!"

Photo Credit - My Hot Wife

I will say I was quite impressed with the picture of the growler (64oz.)/growlette (32oz) fill station, and I agree with the above statement that the Hollywood store rocks although I’ve only been in about a dozen times. Now that you have growler/growlette fills I may make a 13th appearance at some point, but I’m more likely to hit up my local bottle shop or brewery for a fill. You see, I was born with a genetic predisposition to shopping; I hate it.  Fred Meyer, you could be giving away free craft beer to the masses, but that wouldn’t lure me in. Your parking lot, the size of your store and the isles typically filled with dazed, zombie-like shoppers with no apparent mission all initiate my anxiety and test my already limited patience. If you’re unlike me, and love shopping at a ~150,000 sq.ft. store, I highly recommend making a pit stop on your one-stop shopping adventure for a 32 or 64 ounce fill. The 16 taps of beer and cider at the Hollywood Fred Meyer look amazing. You can also find fill stations at their Burlingame and Hawthorne locations. Congratulations guys on the new addition! The late, great Fred G. Meyer would be proud!

The tap list the day my wife was there (click to enlarge):