1. Which beer style is your "go-to" beer style and why?
When I am presented with a beer list, my eye is automatically drawn to the word Belgian. You can't beat the strong aroma, fruity taste, and rich history of a quad or tripel. These beers are fun to drink and share with friends. It is also a great beer to use when introducing wine drinkers to craft beer because of the similarities in presentation and alcohol content.
However, these probably aren't what you would refer to as a "go-to" style due to the high alcohol content and the price, but they are some of my favorites. My true go-to, as in I will ask for it more than 50% of the time, would probably be an Irish dry stout, a.k.a. Guinness. The super creamy head and light body make this a great beer to have all night long while stomping along to the beat of an Irish folk band.
2. What's your favorite beer label and why?
This is a tough question for me to answer, because I have a habit of peeling off my beer labels. One of the best that I've seen though would have to be "Kill All the Golfers" from B. Nektar Meadery. It features the Caddyshack gopher dressed up as Bill Murray's character driving around in a golf cart. The name of the beer is great too, featuring one of the best lines from the movie.
3. What's your favorite brewery?
I am biased to my hometown brewery, Leinenkugel's. Growing up, all I knew was Miller and Leinie's. There is a ton of history there and they are so connected to the town of Chippewa Falls. They don't have the greatest beer in the world, but they have been doing some pretty interesting things there the past couple years, especially with the Big Eddy series.
If I were to put my hometown biases aside, my favorite brewery would probably be Dangerous Man. They consistently brew top notch beers. Their peanut butter porter is always a crowd favorite. They also tip the supply and demand scales in their favor by refusing to distribute. You can only get their beer at their tap room or by purchasing a growler (which they have had to place daily limits on, so they don't sell out).
4. Do you remember your first craft beer? Tell us about that experience.
I can't remember for certain, but I believe my first craft beer was at Summit Brewery in Saint Paul. I was there for a political event. After President Obama had his beer summit in DC in response to a racial profiling case, one of the Minnesota representatives decided to host her own beer summit at Summit Brewery (get it). I remember being wary of the tap list, but I did try all of them including a red ale, an EPA, an oatmeal stout, and a few others. I don't think I was won over right away, but a year or two after that, the craft beer scene in the Twin Cities took off and after a few tours/samplings I was hooked.
5. If you could create a job for yourself centered on craft beer, what would you do?
I would love to go around the country and lobby on behalf of craft beer. There are so many stupid laws leftover from prohibition that need to be discarded and there is a lot that can be done legislatively to improve the business climate of the craft beer industry.
One of my favorite things about the craft beer culture is introducing it to people who have only been exposed to macro-beers or they say that they don't like beer in general. I would love to travel around and open people up to the huge world of craft beer. Maybe something like what the Brew Dogs do:
So is there a craft brew representative/lobbying position open anywhere?
6. What is the farthest you have traveled for craft beer? What was the beer? Who did you share it with?
My wife and I took a car load of friends down to New Ulm, MN to tour the August Schell's brewery. This was a two hour drive that ended up being much longer with stops at a couple bars on the way there and back. It was a great way to spend the day. The brewery is set back in the woods with some beautiful gardens and the whole place makes you feel like you've stepped back in time.
7. Is there a style of craft beer that you don't like at all?
No. I may not be partial to chili spiced beers or the American adjunct lagers, I can appreciate them for what they are and have a 10 oz sample.
8. Do you homebrew? If yes, share your success story. If no, have you tried? Tell us about that.
No, but I really want to start. My wife and I are moving into a new place which has a basement, so I'll have the space and temperature for it. I would like to construct a kegerator beforehand though so I don't have to deal with the bottling portion. I'm also really interested in growing some hops next spring to do some wet hopping.
9. If you were stranded on a deserted island and could only take ONE IPA and ONE STOUT, which would they be?
For my IPA, I would choose Surly's OverRated. It's a dry West coast style IPA that is full of flavor and not just hop flavor.
For my stout, nothing else even compares with Guinness. The addition of their widget will ensure that I have a healthy dose of nitrogen in my stout whenever I decide to crack the tab.
10. If you were to take Minnesota craft beer to another country as a rep of our Great Beer State, where would you choose?
I'd love to travel to Ireland and plan to do so next year. Ireland is dominated by Guinness and they could really use some help in breaking those big brewery chains that are restricting the craft beer market.
11. If you were to open a craft brewery, what would you call it?
Holliday's Brewing Co. You don't have to get too creative when you have a cool last name like mine.
12. How many kinds of beer glasses do you own?
Seven that I can think of: a 2 liter das boot, two smaller 16 oz boots, an assortment of shaker pint glasses borrowed from various bars, a large supply of Guinness branded imperial pint glasses, two oktoberfest mugs, a couple flare pilsner glasses, and a Leinenkugel's version of the Samuel Adams Perfect Pint glass.
13. If you were a craft beer, what would you be and why?
An English brown ale, because I'm not here to impress anyone. If you like me, great! Let's sit down for several hours and get to know each other. If not, fine. I'm not going to be bitter about it (see what I did there).
14. What is your favorite craft beer memory?
I went to visit Lucid Brewing down in Minnetonka, MN and received one of the most informative tours of my life. We spent the better part of an hour walking around the kettles and fermenting tanks and were able to look in to see exactly what was going on throughout the entire brewing process. We were allowed to sample the malted grains, smell the hops, and taste each beer as the guide was describing it. Our tour guide answered every question thoroughly and then gave more background knowledge to further answer the question that you wouldn't have thought to ask. This created a huge thirst for knowledge in me and probably developed my desire to become a cicerone.
15. Finish this sentence: When Chuck Norris drinks beer, _______!
...he chews a mouthful of barley and hops,then washes it down with a glass of water.
Santé!
