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	<title>Beer Goggins</title>
	<link>http://www.beergoggins.com</link>
	<description>Observing Craft Beer Culture</description>
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		<title>Civilization of Beer Celebrates Five Years</title>
		<description><![CDATA[So you haven&#8217;t heard of the Civilization of Beer? We&#8217;ve written about this awesome organization in the past. Weren&#8217;t you paying attention? Well, anyway, we&#8217;ll recap. Civilization of Beer is an organization founded by friend of the blog, Samuel Merrit, one of 170 Certified Cicerones in the United States (it&#8217;s like a beer sommelier but more official). Sam is dedicated to promoting the appreciation and responsible consumption of high quality beer by educating through his many Civilization of Beer events. Those events include beer and food pairings, tastings, Cicerone test prep classes and even customized events for private or corporate organizations. In fact, Mad Hops and I have attended a Cicerone test prep class led by Sam &#8212; in preparation for the Cicerone Certified Beer Server test &#8212; and we gained everything we need for the test. He&#8217;s thorough and helpful but he&#8217;s also a ton of fun. His classes are well worth their weight in beer &#8212; though I&#8217;m not really sure how you weigh a class or an event. But if it meant a lot of beer, we could all put our heads together and figure out how to do it. Aside from the many beer events hosted [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.beergoggins.com/2011/09/civilization-of-beer-celebrates-five-years/</link>
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		<title>Oktoberfest in New York City Is Nearly Upon Us</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The official 2011 Oktoberfest celebration in Munich rolls out with all its full-stein and weird-giant-heart-shaped-cookie glory this Saturday, September 17. But for those of us who are too broke or too busy to go overseas this year (this includes me), we&#8217;ll have to find something to do stateside &#8212; more specifically, in our own cities. And there&#8217;s a whole lotta partying going on in New York City. For me, there are only a select few spots I&#8217;d choose to spend this historic festival mostly because I don&#8217;t dress up in lederhosen, I like good beer and I&#8217;m cheap. Here&#8217;s where I&#8217;d wanna be during the two week celebration of Oktoberfest &#8230; Which actually takes place at the end of September but, in some cases, it&#8217;s in October: Oktoberfest at Zum Schneider: I&#8217;ve attended the Oktoberfest at Zum Schneider a few times over the years, enjoyed several delicious German brews, devoured awesome pretzels and even sustained a couple injuries, actually. If you can get in the front door, this is one of the best spots to celebrate Oktoberfest in the city. But the line starts forming two to three hours before the doors open so be prepared to get there early. [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.beergoggins.com/2011/09/oktoberfest-in-new-york-city-is-nearly-upon-us/</link>
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		<title>Fourth Annual New York Craft Beer Week Kicks Off This Friday</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Over the past four years, New York&#8217;s Craft Beer Week has become a wonderful collection of events created by a beer-loving and friendly group of people. This year is no different. The 2011 New York Craft Beer Week will feature several events and it&#8217;s always hard to plan each day. To give you a little hint, here&#8217;s a guide to the events that Mad Hops and I either will attend or that we really want to attend over the next few beer-filled days &#8212; along with a few back-ups if we can&#8217;t get into the party. Hope to see all of your beautiful faces this year over a pint of quality beer! Side Note: I&#8217;m a little disappointed in how few events have been planned for anywhere other than Brooklyn or Manhattan. There are a few in Queens and maybe one in the Bronx but we really need to step it up here &#8212; am I right? This is New York City&#8217;s craft beer week &#8212; not Manhattan and Brooklyn Craft Beer Week. Friday, September 16, 2011 &#8211; Day 1 Barrier Brewing Co. at Rattle &#8216;N&#8217; Hum: Best to jump in feet first with craft beer week and a few [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.beergoggins.com/2011/09/fourth-annual-new-york-craft-beer-week-kicks-off-this-friday/</link>
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		<title>Remembering Ray Deter, Owner of d.b.a. Beer Bars During NYC Good Beer Month</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The last time I saw Ray Deter, owner of the d.b.a. beer bars in the East Village, New Orleans and Brooklyn, we were attending the party to announce the recent Good Beer Seal award winners, a distinction he himself had helped create and had earned for both of his NYC bars. We had what is probably the longest conversation I ever had with him &#8212; even after I&#8217;d guested on the show he co-hosted with Jimmy Carbone, Beer Sessions Radio, in February. We discussed beer, beer bars, the state of beer in the city and he congratulated me on my engagement. He also said that he hoped my fiance knew how lucky he was to have me. I have not known Ray long nor do I know him very well. But the tragic news of his accident and the news today from his wife (on this, the first day of Good Beer Month) that he will not make it through the weekend is very saddening. The loss of Ray Deter is a blow to the beer community in two cities and nationwide. He will be missed by his family, his dear friends, loyal bar patrons and many, many others. We [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.beergoggins.com/2011/07/remembering-ray-deter-owner-of-d-b-a-beer-bars-during-nyc-good-beer-month/</link>
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		<title>Good Beer Seals Awards Reveal Great Bars And a Lack in Bronx, Queens &amp; Staten Island</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Several bars in New York City already proudly display the Good Beer Seal. But Tuesday night, seven more bars were added to this prestigious group. As defined by GoodBeerSeal.com, those eligible to earn a Good Beer Seal are independently owned and operated New York City bars. They also need to be bars dedicated to the promotion and the proper service of craft beers, particularly local brews. With that in mind, the Good Beer Seal was awarded to: Fourth Avenue Pub, Bierkraft, Brouwerij Lane, Double Windsor (a personal favorite), Misson Delores, Stag&#8217;s Head and Waterfront Ale House (located in both Brooklyn and Manhattan). As part of the committee of beer lovers and enthusiasts chosen to decide on this year&#8217;s winner, I was happy with the results and I think we added some great locations to a list that already includes the likes of Jimmy&#8217;s #43, Against the Grain and Sunswick. But you&#8217;ll notice that the vast majority of the new inductees, with the exception of Stag&#8217;s Head and one of the two Waterfront locations, are located in Brooklyn. This is certainly a sign that Brooklyn is head and shoulders above the other boroughs when it comes to serving good beer &#8212; [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.beergoggins.com/2011/06/good-beer-seals-awards-reveal-great-bars-and-a-lack-in-bronx-queens-staten-island/</link>
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		<title>Schneider Weisse Dinner Series 2011 Hits New York &amp; Philadelphia</title>
		<description><![CDATA[An evening at Jimmy&#8217;s #43 is normally pretty delightful. But last night I also had the opportunity to experience the Schneider Weisse dinner series. That&#8217;s four courses paired with four different Schneider Weisse brews. Host Susanna Hecht and Chef Josef Nagler graciously invited Jimmy&#8217;s clientele to taste a bit of Germany in the beer and food served. The first course was originally supposed to be bull testicle carpaccio in Aventinus vinaigrette on arrugula salad. But there seems to be some difficulty getting bull testicle in New York City so that ingredient was replaced with a veal brisket. The dish was paired with Schneider Weisse Original, an amber hefeweizen. While the pairing was pretty tasty (the banana and clove flavors complemented this light dish well) I did have to wonder what it would have been like with a little bull testicle. Next, we were served a wheat beer soup with croutons paired with Georg Schneider&#8217;s Wiesen Edel-Weisse, a citrus-flavored wheat beer with a bit of spice. Susanna explained to us that this beer had been the brewery&#8217;s Oktoberfest submission when they were still located in Munich and able to participate in the fest. After World War II, when the Munich brewery [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.beergoggins.com/2011/05/schneider-weisse-dinner-series-2011-hits-new-york-philadelphia/</link>
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		<title>American Craft Beer Week 2011, Nearly Upon Us!</title>
		<description><![CDATA[We killed Bin Laden (well, our brave Navy Seals did anyhow); we didn&#8217;t have to pay for the royal wedding but we got to gab about it like crazy; the economy &#8230; okay, that&#8217;s not looking up. Either way, this is the perfect time for the entire nation to share a beer. Great timing: Running from May 16 to May 22, America&#8217;s own craft beer week will be touching down just a little later this month. All fifty states will observe with their own specific events but beers will be had no matter where you find yourself that week. And this year more than just your usual suspect tap rooms will be getting into the festivities. Several bars and restaurants are getting involved. So make sure you check with your fave local watering hole. They might have some big shindigs up their sleeves. Mad Hops and I will definitely be checking out a few of the parties in our neck of the woods and reporting back. But please let us know what&#8217;s going on in your local area so we can share with everyone. For more, check out CraftBeer&#8217;s American Craft Beer Week website and the Facebook page.]]></description>
		<link>http://www.beergoggins.com/2011/05/american-craft-beer-week-2011-nearly-upon-us/</link>
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		<title>Hello, Beer</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Think of someone you love. It can be a parent, or a sibling, or a significant other, but think about them. I bet you can picture their faces, their eyes. The little imperfections that make them &#8220;them.&#8221; You can probably hear that funny way they laugh, or their high-pitched sneeze. The way they only move their right hand when they tell stories. That college newspaper shirt they like to wear to bed. Now, think of something you love. It could be a sport, or a hobby, or an activity, or a place. Tennis. Photography. Hiking. An art museum. When you think about this thing, what do you see? Personally, I love baseball. I can recall past games I&#8217;ve played in or watched, the smell of the peanuts and hot dogs at the park, the anticipation of a 3-2 pitch with two outs in the bottom of the ninth. All of these things, and millions more, come easily and readily to mind. I bring this up because the problem is this &#8211; I love beer, but I don&#8217;t really know beer. Sure, I&#8217;m familiar with beer. I know the breweries and their geeky brews, and I know the various styles and [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.beergoggins.com/2011/03/hello-beer/</link>
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		<title>We Have Faces for [Beer Sessions] Radio</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Tune in tomorrow evening to Beer Sessions to hear Mad Hops and I rap about beer. We&#8217;ll be chatting with Jimmy Carbone of Jimmy&#8217;s #43 and Ray Deter of d.b.a. and a few others. We&#8217;re bringing all of our beer drinking and tasting capabilities and brushing up on our terminology so we don&#8217;t look like big fools on air. We are so excited to join Jimmy and Ray and we look forward to heated (or just friendly) discussions about our favorite beers. Hope you listen in as we drink beer and talk &#8230; about beer. I mean, what else is there to do tomorrow night?]]></description>
		<link>http://www.beergoggins.com/2011/01/we-have-faces-for-beer-sessions-radio/</link>
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		<title>At Home with Cigar City Brewing</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Florida typically does not rank among the places most people think of when it comes to good craft beer. But over the past few years, that reputation has been shifting. Breweries such as St. Somewhere in Tarpon Springs, Bold City in Jacksonville and Cigar City in Tampa have proven that good beer can also be made in the Sunshine State. On a recent trip home (I&#8217;m from Southwest Florida, myself), I spent a short time in Tampa and had the opportunity to visit the brewery. With the help of a good friend who lives in the area, I located the brewery at one end of a strip mall: a garage-style area hosted the brewing equipment while the tasting room awaited us just next door. There didn&#8217;t appear to be much of a tour available (although you could get the full gist of the place by peeking through the open garage area) but the gentleman behind the bar in the tasting room was welcoming and warm. And the clientele was even friendlier. One man at the bar applauded my Harpoon shirt and another gave us a few great recommendations for the two flights we ordered. Our first flight featured their Oatmeal [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.beergoggins.com/2011/01/at-home-with-cigar-city-brewing/</link>
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