The Judge (Education/Mentoring) | Beer Mentor

As an apprentice on the “Beer Consuming” Track (see this link for why this is important), there are 3 basic things on which to focus as you begin your training: 1) Picking a good beer, 2) Finding the right location to consume that beer, and 3) Finding the right people with which to drink that beer.

I will be publishing a syllabus in the near future for this track but in this post I wanted to focus your attention on step #2 … the right location. There are several options available for you to find this information.

#1: Beer Mapping Project: “They find the beer. You drink the beer.” This site does exactly what it says. It is focused on helping you find where the beer is located, whether that is a store, a pub, a tour, whatever! This is a good starting point for your search.

#2: Brookston Beer Bulletin: Jay has an extensive website devoted to the Craft Brew industry — populated on his site are breweries all over the U.S. Check out what he has to offer in the way of finding good brews … and many other

These two sites should keep you busy in your first lesson towards your apprenticeship. Stay tuned for the syllabus and the test for passing the first stage of your apprenticeship!

Beer Mentor

On Saturday, Mar 7, Ray and I showed up at the Devil’s Den in Philadelphia for some good beer and socializing … and we met two great brewers: Larry Bell and Pete Slosberg.

First, Pete Slosberg, was the creator of Pete’s Wicked Ale.

From Wikipedia, Pete Slosberg “was one of the pioneers of the craft beer movement in America, along with others such as Jim Koch of Samuel Adams and Larry Bell of the Kalamazoo Brewing Company, now Bell’s Brewery Inc.” It was a pleasure meeting Pete and shaking the hand of someone who had a significant influence in the variety of Microbrews that are now on the market (besides producing some pretty good beer!)

And, so, we add in Larry Bell.

It was a Firkin of his brew we had at the Devil’s Den (see previous post). His beers are “kicking a**” lately. His Amber Ale is fantastic. Top it off with the fact that he is a very nice guy and we had a fantastic time sampling the wares during Philly Beer Week!