Boost your Wi-Fi signal with a beer can
So I have no idea if this works or not, but the TheChive.com has a how-to guide on increasing the wireless signal in your home. It involves a beer can, scissors and some adhesive. Looks relatively simple, and it’s certainly cheaper than buying a new router. Check it out.
- Matt Pritchard
Take a virtual brewery tour at Blackstarbeer.com
For me, nothing will take the place of a good, old-fashioned road trip to check out a brewery. But this comes close. Take a few minutes and check out the new Brewery Tour from Blackstarbeer.com. It’s a look at the transformation going on at Great Northern Brewing Company in Whitfish, and it’s one of the nicer Web sites I’ve seen in a while.
Some of the best aspects might be the videos they have posted, particularly the one where they ask people if they can define some interesting brewing terms. So what do you think grist is?
Enjoy,
GG
Want to keep track of your favorite breweries from around the country? Follow BreweryFans.Com
This is a great resource Web site. Hopefully you can spend a few minutes checking out BreweryFans.com.
But I’ll let Jonathon Lunardi do the talking:
Prost,
GG
Bitterroot Brewing goes social
As in social networking. Check out their videos and updates, and be sure to become a fan.
Bitterroot Brewing Facebook page.
Prost,
GG
Top 50 craft breweries on Twitter
For those of you beer lovers who count yourselves among the Twitterati, BeerNews.org has compiled a list of the top 50 craft breweries on Twitter. It’s a great way to keep track of what your favorite breweries are up to in 140 characters or less.
Prost,
GG
Awesome new craft beer guide app for iPhone/iPod Touch and Google Android
Just got a note from the folks at Democracy’s Drink about a new iPhone/iPod touch and Google Android app that offers many services related to learning about craft beer, defining styles, flavor profiles and even a note pad to make your own notes. I love technology, but so much of it, especially iPod apps, is fairly impractical on a day-t0-day basis. This is the exception, and I plan to use this regularly.
The app is called Gallagher’s Beer Guide. Just search for it in the apps app on your iPhone/iPod Touch or find it at the web site.
Here are a few of the features:
Beer Flavor Profiles
Food Pairing Wheel
Beer Guide
Craft Beer Radio: NPR features Big Sky in a story about canned beer
I love when Montana craft breweries get good press. Combine craft beer and NPR, and you have something magical. Two of my favorite things. Sometimes I listen to Oregon Public Broadcasting in my office, because I knew many of the reporters from when I worked at the capitol in Salem. At any rate, while doing some light beer reading this afternoon I found this Sept. 5 story and article from NPR about canned beers. And while it’s nothing new to you, as far as your knowledge of canned beers goes, it’s a little piece of encouragement about how the industry in general is doing. A little shout out for Montana beer innovators is always good for moral.
Prost,
GG
Microbrew 2.0: Blacksmith Brewing Co. gets a new Web site
One of my favorite activities is an afternoon visit to Blacksmith Brewing Co. in Stevi. Often we ride our bikes from around Lolo on the side road. However, the snow is falling early this year, so we’ll be road-tripping to Blacksmith through the winter.
On a whim, I pulled up their web site only to find a well-designed and highly readable site that not only highlights their beers but lists musicians playing on Wednesday and Saturday nights and upcoming specials.
I particularly like Blacksmith brewer Mike Howard’s page, where he talks about specialty brews and local favorites. Currently, he’s featuring something I find very interesting called an I.R.A. I’m going to have to check that out. Mike also mentions a vanilla porter. Man, where are all you Growler fans out there? Keeping this stuff to yourselves just isn’t cool.
Mike also mentions some fresh hop beers coming soon, including one featuring New Zealand hops.
I’m a huge fan of craft brew web sites, because they push the envelop of beer education. A well-designed site should inform and make you want to visit the brewery. Blacksmith has an admirable site, one of the best I’ve seen in Montana so far. Nice job guys.
Prost,
GG
Beerthink
Since moving to Missoula in 2007, I’ve been enamored of Grupthink, a local company that uses kick-ass software to gather public sentiment through polls, open-ended questions and other techniques in searchable forums. That sounds like a mouthful, but it’s one of the coolest technologies I’ve seen in awhile as it relates to the news business.
All that to say that I’ve started a group dedicated to posting questions about the craft beer we love. To those of you who read this blog regularly, it would be a huge help if you could register at www.speakupmissoula.com and join the group. If you use your Facebook login, you’ll make logging in in the future so much easier as you will have a universal login.
I know it’s a pain-in-the-ass to register, and I apologize, but it’s the way things work in the high-tech world these days.
Here’s a question concerning which Big Sky Brewing Co. beer you’d most like to see in a can next. Click on it to go to the site and register. Then tell me all about which beer you think should be the next canned. Who knows, you might be able to persuade the guys and gals at Big Sky to can your favorite Big Sky beer.
Prost,
GG
Living beer
I’ve had a lot of comments and questions about live beer recently. And while this video isn’t necessarily a full explanation, the delivery and general entertainment quality of the individual were enough for me to post it here today. Also, it helps me get caught up from a busy weekend of wine tasting. And now back to your beer.
Prost,
GG