![\"\"](\"http:\/\/rdilauro.com\/CarpeVino\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/craft-eers-300x225.jpg\")
<\/p>\nAs much as I love and enjoy wine, I also have a special liking to<\/p>\n
craft beers.<\/p>\n
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When I was in high school and in college, (late 1960’s, early 1970’s) the beer of choice generally was\u00a0Shaffer, Pabst,Miller and then a special beer came along,\u00a0 Coors!, the original in the golden can and needed to be refrigerated since it was not pasteurized.\u00a0 Fast forward to about the 1980’s and it was boating time, playing time, softball and more.\u00a0 The beer?\u00a0 Coors in the Silver can.\u00a0 \u00a0 In the 1980’s and 1990’s, I started to take up home brewing.\u00a0 \u00a0I brewed about 50 or more beers.\u00a0 First starting with the can kit, so basically nothing could go wrong.\u00a0 As time went on and I became a bit more experienced and adventurous, I started selected the grains, the yeast, the hops and the real homebrewing process began for me.<\/p>\n This was so much fun and I quickly realized that even as a beginner, I could brew some excellent beers.\u00a0 I had tried my hand a making wine,\u00a0 <\/p>\n But beer making was a different story.\u00a0 \u00a0I started to read various books on home brewing, checking on different recipes to make. The sound of the beer fermenting and that ball cock gurgling was really neat.<\/p>\n I started making my own labels for my beers.\u00a0 I was using the bomber bottles (24oz).\u00a0 I loved the process of moving the fermented beer from one carboy to the next one until it was time to bottle.\u00a0 \u00a0 Bottling was fun, capping each bottle and then putting on the labels.\u00a0 \u00a0 However, after a while, this became a chore.\u00a0 Not the actual beer making, but the clean up afterwards and the sanitizing of all the equipment, especially the bottles.<\/p>\n In 2009, after I retired from IBM, I started working as the Wine Manager at a local retail store.\u00a0 \u00a0There is where I started to really learn about craft beer.\u00a0 \u00a0The beer person\u00a0<\/em>at the store did a great job in bringing in all those craft and hard to find beers.\u00a0 \u00a0We started a ritual , that every night when we closed, we would select 2 or 3 beers and tasted them.\u00a0 \u00a0Over several years, this allowed me to try so many great beers and to record my experiences with each.\u00a0 I started using Beer Advocate, since that was a great way to rate and record your beer tasting experiences.<\/p>\n I had my favorites over the years,\u00a0 but I basically was\/am a IPA lover (Heady Topper)\u00a0 and a fanatic about Stouts.\u00a0(Dog Fish Head World Wide Stout) <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n So after all these years, I have probably tasted and rating about 300 beers.\u00a0 \u00a0Some I have loved and some that I would like to forget about.\u00a0 \u00a0It is so interesting to see how many\u00a0 new breweries are establishing themselves in making some great craft beers.<\/p>\n Today, I still love my beers, but if I am going to drink a beer, it will be a craft beer.\u00a0 \u00a0Everyone once in a while, at parties or outdoor events, the only beers are the standard Bud or Coors.\u00a0 \u00a0While I used to love those in the past, they now seem so bland and tasteless to me.\u00a0 \u00a0(Though they are still fine while chugging them down after working hard in the heat!)\u00a0 \u00a0About the only non craft beer I still enjoy is PBR\u00a0 As much as I love and enjoy wine, I also have a special liking to craft beers. When I was in high school and in college, (late 1960’s, early 1970’s) the beer of choice generally was\u00a0Shaffer, Pabst,Miller and then a special beer came along,\u00a0 Coors!, the original in the golden can … <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/rdilauro.com\/CarpeVino\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/first-coors.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> first from a kit, then from grapes, but I soon discovered that there was so much involved in making wine.\u00a0 \u00a0My attempts basically produce jug like quality wines.\u00a0 I soon gave up on that.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"