Outside of my affinity for nips I seem to now have an affinity for smaller (or tasting) versions of glassware. As with numerous hobbies the tool that provides the hobby is almost as important as the substance and beer is no different. There are beer geeks with a large collection of glassware. This obviously takes up a lot of room. So for me, it seems, smaller versions of glassware is a new "little" hobby. As pictured above there are 4 glasses that are smaller versions of the regular glasses.

There are more out there that I will hunt down as well. Smaller version of La Trappe, Moinette and Val Dieu goblets, as well as La Chouffe and Duvel tulips are out there and I will be looking for them as well. These versions hold between 3-6oz whereas the regular sized glasses hold over 12oz. For comparison the picture above show a regular sized glass from New Belgium as well as a 750mL bottle with the smaller/tasting glasses up front.

Long time no write. Since the summer I have moved to Kansas, yup ruby red shoes, tornadoes, and everything KANSAS!

Well it's not that bad, I live in Lawrence, KS a college town with two brewpubs, both very good. The more famous one is Free State Brewing which has been known by beer geeks throughout the country for their Old Backus Barleywine and Owd Mac's Imperial Stout. A fine brewpub that is on the verge of expanding to bottling their brews. The second is 23rd Street Brewery, a younger brewpub but with a lot of potential. 23rd Street will be releasing a Bourbon Barrel Imperial Stout this winter, which should get them a lot more cred in the beer geek community. This will be a brewery on the rise.

I also live just about 30 minutes outside of Kansas City, which has a few brewpubs and many beer stores. The best part is the prices, much lower than what I was paying in NYC without losing much selection. Still plenty or imports and a lot of the Midwest beers I could never get on the East coast. This includes Schlafly, Bells, and Boulevard. I even get East coast brews like Southern Tier cheaper in Kansas than I do in NY and the damn beer is brewed in NY.

Speaking of Boulevard brewing, I moved into the area at the right time. Boulevard seems to be in a bit of an expansion, the fun kind. About a year ago they started to release their Smokestack series, a line of higher gravity, 750mL cork and wire bottled, specialty ales. This year they have expanded the line with a Saison-Brett, a beer that was bottled with one of beer geeks' favorite wild yeast, Brettanomyces. They will be expanding the line with a Russian Imperial Stout.

Outside of that I make lots of trips throughout the Midwest, particularly to Minneapolis, which it self is full of brew fun plus everything in between, which is all of Iowa. Plenty of stuff to discover in this part of the country so I will look forward to it.