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Beercycling Beertography Contest Winners

John Kleinchester — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 16:00:12 +0000

Thanks to everyone that entered our joint contest with BeerCycling. People really do enjoy bicycling and beer (responsibly)! We got a ton of entries and it was really tough narrowing them down but here are your winners. Each of these wonderful folks will receive a prize package from BeerCycling!

FIRST PLACE

Kate Stover

SECOND PLACE - TIE

@mikeanz

SECOND PLACE - TIE

@SunshineBelieveTheRide

Beertographer of the Week - Oliver Gray

John Kleinchester — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 13:00:30 +0000

You know the drill by now, don't you? A new week means a new Beertographer! This week we highlight the work of Oliver Gray who hails from the Maryland/DC area. I would tell you all about him, but thankfully he's already done so for me! Check it out:

Aperture and Ales

On particularly nice days I stalk my neighborhood, DSLR in one hand, beer bottle and glass perched carefully in the other. I wander through backyards, search porches, looking anywhere and everywhere for the perfect spot. A spot that I haven't used before, that balances the colors of the label, that has the right shadows or textures or backdrop of spring blossoms.

And when I find it, I open and pour, place and shoot.

I'm pretty sure my neighbors think I'm insane.

I'm a writer, and have no formal photography training. But they say a picture is worth a thousand words, so I figure I'm saving myself a ton of work by taking all these photos. I photograph craft beer because I write about craft beer, and sometimes the best way to augment the mood of a piece of literature is with a piece of art.

Sláinte,

-Oliver Gray

Cheers Oliver! How about we take a look at some of his other great beertography? But first, let's make with the linkage:

Website - www.literatureandlibation.com
Twitter - @OliverJGray
Facebook - facebook.com/grayoliver -or- facebook.com/LiteratureAndLibation
Untappd - untappd.com/user/OliverJGray

Which one is your favorite?

Beertographer of the Week - The Beer Truck

John Kleinchester — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 14:00:31 +0000

We continue our series highlighting the best beertographers out there this week with a spotlight on The Beer Truck. Dan Miller, the man behind The Beer Truck comes forward to tell us how he got involved in shooting such wonderful beertography:

A Life Changed by Craft Beer and Craft Photography

For several years I've had a love for craft beer. A little more than a year and a half ago I started dating a professional photographer who would later become my wife. At the time, I had no idea that photography with her has a great mentor would have such a significant impact on changing my life in addition to gaining a wonderful wife.

With her support and guidance, I am now her second shooter for weddings. I have also had the opportunity to speak to groups about craft beer, photograph craft beer events, have my photographs displayed in a beer exhibit at a museum, sell my first print which just happen to be a photograph of four of the brewers at Founders and without question the best thing...I got married at Founders Brewing.

Who knows what the future holds, but I do know for certain, I'll always love trying to make beer look as good as it tastes.

Cheers!

Dan Miller: The Beer Truck

Craft Beer. Craft Photography. Craft Life.

Thanks Dan! Be sure to check out Dan's other great work and follow him on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and of course check out thebeertruck.com and lizziephoto.com.

Beercycling Beertography Contest

John Kleinchester — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 12:00:00 +0000

UPDATE 6/3: You only have until the end of tomorrow to get your entries in! Quit lollygagging!

Summer's right around the bend, so that means it's time to start getting outdoors and enjoying the warm weather. That's why we're combining two of our favorite things: craft beer and bicycling! Thankfully, there's already a great site for just that very thing: Beercycling! For anyone unfamiliar with Beercycling, the concept is simple (and awesome): you want to tour the greate beery desinations of Europe. Well, what better way to do so than a guided tour where you're biking across the countryside! This is such a brilliant idea, I've been wanting to go on one of their adventures for quite some time.

So, we've teamed up with the fine folks at Beercycling to bring you the Summer's first beertography contest! The idea is as simple as could be. All you have to do is take a photo of something that inovlves both beer and bicycling (see the excellent example from Beercycling above, hah!) and hashtag it #beercycling. You can submit via the twitter hashtag or the instgram hashtag or you can upload your entries directly to the Beertography Facebook Page. If you'd prefer to submit via email, you can do so by emailing it to beertography@gmail.com with the subject "Beercycling Contest".

We're going to award three prize packs to the three photos we think best represent both craft beer and bicycling.These prize packs will include a Beercycling T-Shirt (both Men's and Women's varieties available), a 33beers tasting journal, Beercycling stickers/postcards, and a Belgium beer style guide, created by Beercycling. Also, anyone that submits an entry into this contest will be granted a discount for a 2013 or 2014 tour through Beercycling. Honestly I might have to submit myself!

So get to it! This contest is officially open NOW and will close at 11:59pm on June 4th.

Be sure to check out and follow Beercyling's Twitter, Instagram and Facebook Page for all the latest info!

Playoff Hockey Beertography

John Kleinchester — Fri, 24 May 2013 12:57:46 +0000

If you're a fan of the NHL or really sports in general, you already know that the National Hockey League playoffs have been incredibly exciting this year. Even last night, the New York Rangers defied the odds and held off elimination by defeating the Boston Bruines 4-3 in Overtime after being down in the series 0-3.

The other day I received the above #beertography that I thought was a really great representation of playoff hockey. Granted I'm not a fan of the Los Angeles Kings, but what a fantastic photo. Thanks to Ian Sheppard who has now sent in two fantastic photographs specifically for use on the site! Here's his previous work of art. The beer he highlighted is the Eraser IPA from Rough Draft Brewing out of San Diego.

If you've got a spare minute and a good camera, go ahead and try to compose an interesting piece of beertography. It's not always easy. Most of the time we reach for our phones because it's easy and still takes quality pictures, but sometimes it's worth grabbing the SLR and trying to compose something different.

Be sure to check out Ian's website and hire him for all your photographic and beertographic needs!

Yankee Stadium: Live Sports & Craft Beer (Updated 5/22/13)

John Kleinchester — Wed, 22 May 2013 13:00:00 +0000

Update 5/22/13: A year later, and we have... more Goose Island IPA and an actual craft beer (albeit hidden away). If you're okay with supporting a company owned by Anhueiser-Busch InBev, then the good news is that the number of draught lines pouring 20oz Goose Island IPAs (for $12.00 each) has increased. Last season I had to hunt down the few sections actually offering it. Clearly it's sold well if they've expanded it as much as they have.

The better news here is that an actual independent, craft brewery has representation at Yankee Stadium: The Bronx Brewery Pale Ale is on draught and in cans. BUT! And ths is a huge but, it's only offered within the Hard Rock that's inside the stadium. And the biggest disappointment of all is that they won't let you get it in a plastic cup and bring it back into the stadium. You have to stay there and watch the game on TVs. So essentially it's just a bar, you'd barely even know you were at the stadium.

The other head-scratcher about the Bronx beer is that inside the Hard Rock, 16oz draughts are $9.00. If you want to go out onto the small patio area of the Hard Rock, there's another stand selling 16oz cans of Bronx Pale Ale for $11.00 each. Figure that one out. I can't.

Hopefully despite the caveats, getting Bronx Brewery represented in the stadium is just the beginning of the doors opening to more craft beer. Especially for one you can actually enjoy at your seat.

BEER CHEAT SHEET (AS OF 4/14/12)

Inside

Sections 134, 206, 232B, 237, "Beers of the World" Section 310, "Malibu Rooftop Deck" - Goose Island IPA
Section 110, "Beers Cocktails" - Goose Island IPA, McSorley's Irish Pale Ale (16 oz., $12.00 each), Magic Hat #9, Goose Island Honker's Ale, Widmer Hefeweizen, Leffe (bottles, $9.00 each)

Outside

Yankee Tavern - Brooklyn Brown, Goose Island IPA ($8.00 each)
The Dugout - Sam Adams Summer Ale

Continuing our series on Live Sports & Craft Beer, I paid a trip to Yankee Stadium in the Bronx this past weekend, hoping against hope that their beer selection had improved from previous seasons. The short, disappointing answer is no but there still remain (very) few options for the craft beer drinker that's willing to walk a bit to get a decent brew. Saturday's visit, while a beautiful day to catch a ball game, saw the Yankees play abysmally falling behind by seven runs in the fifth inning. The bright side of this being that there was plenty of time to walk around the entire stadium in search of a good beer. But first, let's start with outside the stadium walls.

Outside Yankee Stadium

Every sports fan likes to enjoy a beer before going in to the game. Unfortunately the situation outside the stadium mirrors the inside: 97% macros, 3% decent stuff. Yankee Tavern (72 East 161st Street) was offering draught pours of Goose Island IPA and Brooklyn Brewery Brown Ale for $8 each and The Dugout (880 River Avenue) merely had Sam Adams Summer Ale on tap. I didn't visit more than these two bars, but I was happy to find something halfway decent at each. Yes, Goose Island is owned by Anheuser-Busch InBev but hey, at least it's an IPA.

Inside Yankee Stadium

As you stroll around Yankee Stadium, you occasionally see a sign that inflicts a glimmer of hope in your craft beer-loving heart: "Beers of the World". As you can see from the photo above, it's not quite an accurate sign. It's mostly macros and cheap imports, but the best part is the "Imported Beers" menu. Among those listed is Amstel Light, Blue Moon, Bud Light Lime, Bud Light Platinum, Corona, Heineken, Heineken Light and Yuengling. I'm curious as to where exactly the Yankees are importing these from, since quite a few our domestic. Either way, your best bet here is Yuengling unless you're a Blue Moon fan.

On the upper level behind Section 310 is what's known as the Malibu Rooftop Deck. This is an outdoor area which unlike most of the rest of the stadium, brings you away from being able to see the field (one of the redeeming qualities of the new stadium is being able to see the field from virtually anywhere you're standing). This section has Goose Island IPA as a draught offering but little else.

If you're visiting Yankee Stadium and love craft beer, this area behind Section 110 on the First Base side of the lower level is the go-to spot. Your options here are a 16 oz. pour of Goose Island IPA or McSorley's Irish Pale Ale for $12 each. Also available are bottles of Magic Hat #9, Goose Island Honker's Ale, Widmer Hefeweizen (also part-owned by AB InBev) and Leffe for $9 a pop.

If the line is too long at the Cocktails/Beer section, directly to its left is this small stand that also carries the Goose Island IPA.

That about wraps it up. It's unfortunate that the Yankees took so much time revamping their stadium menus to have a wide array of upscale food but left the beer selection as an afterthought. If there was ever a case to be made that beer is still not as respected as it should be, well here you go.

Also, I should note that while I covered a vast majority of the stadium, I didn't go into any of the additional bars/clubs they have there. Some people have told me that they'd seen Brooklyn Lager available but I did not find it anywhere on Saturday. If anyone has any info from inside the Hard Rock, Mohegan Sun Sports Bar, etc., please email me beertography@gmail.com and I will update this post.

Beertographer of the Week - Instapint

John Kleinchester — Mon, 20 May 2013 13:00:00 +0000

We continue our Beertorapher of the Week series with someone who absolutely gets it. If you're a fan of beer photography you probably already know Instapint. So when I asked Suni, the man behind Instapint if he would be interested in being the Beertographer of the Week, he gladly obliged. But enough from me, let's hear from the man himself!

It's not particularly difficult to access and enjoy craft beer in the San Francisco Bay Area. We're spoiled in that way.

However, while I've enjoyed craft beer and amateur photography for years, I'd been more about "foodporn" than "beerporn" until recently (for example, http://www.consumd.com). Just about 2 years ago, though, Instagram changed that. Without realizing it, my Instagram feed became focused solely on craft beer, so I decided to run with it. I found myself enjoying more than the taste of craft beer, but the whole experience - the colors, the people, the act of pouring, the bottle shares, etc. - all through screen on my iPhone. I also began to enjoy the challenge of composing simple photos of beer into something interesting. (This is still my favorite iPhone snap from my feed, more than a year later: http://instagram.com/p/G8EoI3CZ_a/)

And in the last year, I've enjoyed taking my beertography beyond the iPhone, exploring the craft beer scene with my Sony Nex-6 camera. The higher quality results needed a much bigger platform than the 612x612 Instagram square could capture, so I've now added a Tumblr gallery into the mix, and beertography has become such a big part of my overall social presence, that I've "rebranded" most of my accounts to "Instapint". Snapping photos of craft beer has just become a natural part of the process for me: Shoot, drink, check-in on Untappd, blog, repeat.

I get the feeling this is a hobby that'll stick. In fact, I'm off to celebrate the 7th Anniversary of City Beer Store in San Francisco (with my camera of course). Cheers, and thanks for the shout out!

Twitter: @instapint

Blog: http://www.instapint.com

Instagram: http://instapint.com/instagram

Untappd: http://instapint.com/untappd

BeerAdvocate: Instapint

Thank you sir! If you were looking for a how-to on beertography, look no further than any of Instapint sites or social media accounts. All amazing stuff. Check out a few more photos below!

Beer Tripping - Southern New Hampshire

John Kleinchester — Wed, 08 May 2013 14:00:50 +0000

Once a year or so I take a trip up to Southern New Hampshire to visit my sister and her family in Fitzwililam, NH. Unfortunately there aren't many breweries in the immediate area, but there is an excellent beer store just down the road: BrewTopia in Keene.

This was my second-ever stop in this fantastic craft beer oasis of a store and yet again, it did not disappoint. Zack Cooper, one of the two co-owners of the store has greeted me both times now with open arms and a willingness to share even his rarest bottles. Zack is extremely friendly and excited to discuss the latest and greatest beers to hit Southern NH.

The selection at BrewTopia is pretty tremendous and even includes an entire homebrew shop for local budding brewers. I would be a weekly regular there if I lived in the area. Of course, I was looking for anything that I can't get back in NJ/NYC and Zack was quick to help me with that. First he offered up their last bottle of Founders Doom which I just assumed I wouldn't be able to get my hands on. He also pointed me towards a bottle of Smuttynose Bloom which I was able to try just a small sample of at Brewer's Choice during NYC Beer Week and loved.

It's incredibly awesome and helpful when a beer store employee goes out of their way for you without even batting an eye. Among the other recommendations Zack gave me, I also picked up some White Birch Brewing from Hooksett, NH and Moat Mountain from North Conway, NH. It also didn't hurt that he busted out a Founders Backwoods Bastard for me as well.

Unfortunately my trip went nowhere near the Portsmouth area which is home to the Portsmouth Brewery, Throwback Brewery and of course Smuttynose. Hopefully I'll be remedying that this Summer.

Definitely check BrewTopia out if you're ever in the area. Great beers and great customer service. Full list of my haul below (L to R):

Otter Creek 20th Anniversary Ale
Black Diamond Jagged Edge IPA
Bar Harbor Cadillac Mountain Stout
White Birch Our Humble Porter
White Birch Oak-Aged Tripel 2011
Smuttynose Bloom
Founders Doom
Moat Mountain Imperial Stout
Moat Mountain Iron Mike Pale Ale
Whole Hog Six Hop IPA
Founders Backwoods Bastard

Beertography Shirts

John Kleinchester — Mon, 06 May 2013 13:00:00 +0000

You asked for it, and now they're here! Beertography T-Shirts are now available at our online store. Stock is extremely limited right now, so if the size/color combination you want is sold out, let us know. The Beertography T-Shirt is available in Medium, Large, XL and XXL. Our current color selections are Turquoise, Red and Kelly Green (pictured above). Not interested in one of those colors? Let us know which other colors you would want and we'll be sure to get them soon!

So what are you waiting for? Head on over to our store and get yours today! /shamelessplug

Red Bull Arena: Live Sports & Craft Beer (Updated 4/22/13)

John Kleinchester — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 12:30:33 +0000

Update 4/22/13: Upon visiting Red Bull Arena for the 2013 campaign, I discovered some changes in the beer lineup. The biggest change is the removal of all of the craft bottles in Secion 124, which is disappointing to lose the Long Trail options. The good news is that Section 124 now has Flying Fish Hopfish IPA on DRAUGHT! This is now by far your best option for craft beer at the venue. And additional props for having it be a New Jersey Craft Beer, something we suggested after scouring the options last time around. There were some other minor changes that I'll add to the end of the post, so scroll on down.

We continue our series on Live Sports & Craft Beer today with a sport that's all too often overlooked in America: Soccer. Thankfully things have started to look brighter for the sport in the US. Teams have been seeing an improvement in attendance and ratings, and soccer-specific stadiums have been popping up all over the country.

One such stadium is Red Bull Arena in Harrison, NJ. The Red Bulls clinched a playoff berth this past weekend, so it's the perfect time to check them out if you haven't because there are some very exciting matches coming up. If you'd like to read a bit more about how I got into soccer, head on over to Free Beer Movement (FBM is an awesome site that promotes American Soccer in all it's forms by the way of craft beer - know someone that doesn't like soccer? Buy them a beer and invite them to watch a game).

Red Bull Arena is one of the easiest arenas to get to in NY or NJ. New Yorkers may have a stigma about traveling to NJ on the PATH train, but it's actually a shorter trip from Manattan to Red Bull Arena than it is to Yankee Stadium or Citi Field. Check out the directions here. So now I've convinced you to check out the arena, bu what about the beer inside? Well, it's not stellar yet. But there are enough decent options to satisfy a craft beer fan.

Section 104: Yuengling Lager – medium $9, large $12
Section 105: Yuengling-Branded Stand, draught
Section 114: Brooklyn Lager – 16oz. cans $9
Section 124: Flying Fish Hopfish IPA (draught) - $12, Yuengling Lager Cans $12
Section 130: Yuengling-Branded Stand, draught
Section 102: Brooklyn Brewery branded stand – Brooklyn Lager & Guinness 16oz. cans - $9 (this stand is mobile so location may change) **CASH ONLY**

So there you have it. This is already a pretty big improvement over the past 2 seasons I've been attending matches, so hopefully the trend continues. Cheers, and lets go Red Bulls!