Come in and have a seat.     This may be one of our most genuine breweries out there: its brewer/co-founder—moonlighting as an EMT/high school batting practice pitcher/graphic designer—who has been solely responsible for their very cool labels all this time; the bar manager who’s been there for 21 years who harasses you... Read more →

Bear Republic brewed over 100 different beers in 2018—about average output over the last few years.   Warning: some beers reviewed below might not be currently available. Unfortunately, this is the case for three of the four Legacy Beers: Hop Rod Rye, Peter Brown, and Red Rocket. As two of my drinking partner and my favorite beers... Read more →

1,000 years from now, when the story of Australian wine is told, it will be a tale of two eras: a) the Yellowtail Era; and b) the post-Yellowtail Era. We can all rejoice that we are now living in the era of the latter—it’s the year 2019 A.Y., and it’s the best of times to be alive and drinking Australian wines.   In the blink... Read more →

From the Barossa to Yarra Valleys, the Mornington Peninsula, Clare Valley, Margaret River, Coonawarra and Tasmania—exploring the wines of Handpicked Wines is like having a first-class seat on a flight through the distinguished, distinctive and astonishingly varied wine regions of Australia.   There may be no simpler, and more... Read more →