Written in August 2009, after two Willie Nelson concerts had been announced – then canceled – in central Mississippi. A third concert was set in north Mississippi; and yes, it was canceled. There are two Willie shows scheduled in Mississippi this summer – we’ll see …. Meanwhile, I still...

A few years ago, three of my best friends and I bought 24 different India Pale Ales, took them down to a beach house at the Oregon Coast, and held a blind taste test. The results were satisfactory enough, with each of us determining which IPAs we favored, but the test was run haphazardly.  I dumped...

Let’s face it; unless you’re under the age of 10, soccer just isn’t that cool. Somewhere after that glorious period of mobbing the ball with nine of your friends through fields of dandelions while shrieking screams, the sport becomes drastically less cute and increasingly more boring for parents...

A tip from my friend Kristy lead me to this poll, which sought to definitively decide which American city could truly be called “Beer City USA”. Allow me to quibble with the results. (Also, what’s the beer glass on that image doing in Edmonton, Alberta?) 1. Portland, OR2. Asheville,...

Embedded video from CNN VideoBen Cannon, that young, earnest-looking fellow intent on taxing the hell out one of Oregon’s finest products represents District 46. District 46 includes the Mt. Tabor neighborhood, where I grew up (and where my parents grew up and still live). In fact as his bio...

Fort Collins-based Odell Brewing is new to Arizona, opening up distribution with a packed-house party in Scottsdale some weeks ago. Because Mindy was working a 30-hour shift, and I do love a new beer, I stopped in to the packed-house, catching the national championship game on a TV with folks clamoring...

On one slow evening at the store where I worked in Portland, I was working the cash registers when a boozed-up gentlemen in his mid-20′s with a backward baseball cap stormed in. “WHERE’S YOUR BEER?!” he shouted. I squinted derisively and pointed toward the back. Moments later,...

Ah, Fall. What a glorious season. Around the Green household, Fall means three things: 1) Football2) Chili (It’s Mindy’s signature dish.)3) A new batch of freshly hopped pale ales Two of those really just pertain to me. Mindy might like the changing of the leaves or something like that. For...

Green Flash is a pretty decent, under-the-radar brewery. They’re based in San Diego, and specialize in an excellent IPA, though their Imperial IPA isn’t quite as spectacular. They dabble in the 22 ouncer market with a series of Trippels and fancy-pants beers, but, outside of their typical...

John Bachman, one of my two best friends, made the trip down to Phoenix this weekend for some football. And when I say “some football”, I mean that’s pretty much all we did. From 9 am until the USC officially put Ohio State away, we were parked on the couch. It helped that Oregon...