Behind the United States of Beer Map October 07 2013

When I first designed 33 Bottles of Beer, my goal was to create something small and portable that made taking notes on beers I tried fast and easy.

Four years later, I think I've succeeded, with nearly 100,000 copies printed, a fact I still find incredibly hard to believe. I agonized on printing that initial run, wondering if I'd be giving them away for gifts for decades to come, or using them to steady tipsy tables.

I've filled a good number of the books myself, most while attempting my "beer a day" project back in 2010. And while writing things down has helped me a great deal in remembering details about the beers I've enjoyed (or not), it's always felt a little solipsistic.

So I created this map.

With it, you can try a beer from each state in the US, logging it as you would with the standard 33 Beers book. There's a flavor wheel, and space for recording the beer's name, brewer, date you tried it, and your own rating, from 1 to 5 stars. Here's a great beer from Minnesota, Surly Brewing's Overrated! West Coast IPA.

The poster lets you take your reviews out of your pocket 33 Beers book, and put them on display for all to see. It makes a great visual for your cube, office, home bar, man cave, lady lair, dorm room ... I can't wait to see where they end up.

Post your poster photos on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook using the hashtag #unitedstatesofbeer and let's see who fills one out first, starting ... NOW.

Featured Partner: A Kitchen Box August 22 2013

One of the best things about my day is finding out all the cool ways "33" books are used. The stories of personal enlightenment, great travel experiences, discoveries make this a really fulfilling job. 

I also get to work with a lot of really interesting partner businesses, one of which is called "A Kitchen Box." You may already be familiar with the box model, but if not, there are a growing number of interesting mail subscription services that provide you a package full of unique and engaging goods on a monthly or quarterly basis (check out the "Must Have Boxes" blog for a nice list/review). Usually there is some theme - in this case, culinary items - but the contents are a surprise until you actually receive the box. It's kind of like a mini-Christmas every month. Here's what it looked like when I opened mine a few weeks ago.

Score! Freddy Guys Hazelnuts are a favorite stop of mine at the Portland Farmers Market, and while they're available in grocery stores here in Oregon, I think it's awesome the rest of the world gets to try them now. They are awesome (pro tip: get the pancake mix should you be lucky enough to visit their farmer's market stall).

33 Pieces of Cheese was featured in AKB's inaugural box, along with a lot of other really fun cheese-themed items, including a neato bamboo cheese spreader, flour sack towel, original letterpressed "fig and onion jam" recipe, porcelain cheese place cards, cheese storage papers ... I'm trying not to ruin the surprise, but there's a lot of fun stuff in there.

Check out A Kitchen Box!

I Fear No Cheese June 24 2013

The American Cheese Society's annual convention has been described to me as "the GABF of cheese." The mind - and my cholesterol count - boggles.