Why are some fests dying or dead, while the Festival of Dark Arts was the hottest ticket around? A week after the event, I look at what makes a successful fest—and how others might use it as a blueprint for success.
Read More
A report on yesterday’s surprise storm over Portland, and the lovely time we had amid the swirling tempest.
Read More
Today I wrap up AI week with a consideration of the nightmare scenarios—as well as the lesser examples that might be just as bad. What happens, for example, when a distributor replaces its sales team with AI?
Read More
Users can plug the name of living artists into AI generators to get art that looks like Banksy or Jeff Koons or Em Sauter. But should they?
Read More
We kick off AI week with an update. A year ago I first explored AI, but the advances since then are startling. In this post, I discuss the ways it can research a beer style for a new release, name your beer, write a press release for it, and create a label. But the real advantage is the way it will make the creative work we already do a lot faster.
Read More
Did you know there were two Kona Breweries? Both make Big Wave and Longboard Lager. Both have the same evocative island art and the same motto (“liquid aloha”). Yet the original one on the Big Island is now independent and has nothing to do with the stuff made on the mainland.
Read More
Today we hear from Alesong's Brian Coombs, who spoke to me about the brewery's experiments with wild fruit inoculations. It's a rare practice I wrote about in Craft Beer and Brewing.
Read More
Historically, hops have been divided by category—”bitter” versus “aroma” was the classic dichotomy. Because of the massive changes in beer and hop breeding, German researchers are suggesting expanding that group to four categories. But are categories really necessary?
Read More
A blogger may rest, but the news never does. Several big and small stories developed while I sat on a beach, and here’s my omnibus post of catch-up hot takes. Get ‘em while they’re fresh!
Read More
Chocolate, like beer, goes through a spontaneous fermentation. In my recent visit to Hawaii, I had a chance to see and smell the process in action—and later taste the results. If you know where to look, you can taste fermentation’s effects in chocolate. Here’s a primer.
Read More