My blog n'at

Since the Pittsburgh Magazine article came out I’ve had quite a few notifications of new followers. Most times I’ll follow back because I’m always up for a good conversation and try to keep up with everything going on through the day but lets be honest, you can’t follow all the time (just like it can’t rain all the time).

This morning I tweeted that I was psyched to see Anthony Bourdain was coming to Pittsburgh to talk. This is a must for me so I told Lushie we need to make plans for it. Shortly afterwards I had a reply from TwinmamaTeb saying “@douglasderda clearly you missed all my tweets about the presale and gettting 8th row seats. heh.”. That’s when I thought, how many conversations am I missing?  Granted most tweets are people spewing random nonsense (I’m guilty myself) but what else have I missed out on? I decided it was time to checked my stats.

As of right now I have 1,250 followers, I’m following 987 back and I’m on 112 lists. Those 112 lists can be summed up in the following categories: beer, hockey, Pittsburgh.  If I were to die right now that is how I could be summed up in 3 words. I love craft beer, I love hockey and I love Pittsburgh.

The most popular question I get from people obsessed with Facebook is “Why do you tweet?”  I gave it some though and here’s the deal on how/why I use Twitter. I’m connected to every user. Because of tags such as “craftbeer” I have been introduced to a community of people that I may have never had the chance to meet besides the degrees of separation on FB. I use Twitter because it’s about the conversation. Over the past day I finally started watching the #craftbeer tag on Twitter with TweetDeck and have met some incredible bloggers, fans from all over the world and a few brewers.  I’m able to buy and sell hockey tickets and chat with other Pens fans during games. I have been invited to events I may not have known about before and helped plan a few of my own. All in under 140 characters. I can ask questions and people, while sometimes smartasses, answer. I can get traffic updates from not just the networks but from people out on the roads.

From the 1250 I’m not following 263. Odds have it you’re selling me a service I don’t want, you’re a spammer or I really have no clue what your deal is. Now there is the margin of error since Twitter is notorious from un-following people without warning and if you’re one of those let me know.

So now I’m reaching out to you. If you’re in the rest of the 987 and read this blog (which hopefully you do because you follow me on twitter and obviously wanna get to know me ) leave me a comment. I can say that I know MAYBE 2/5 of you personally from beer events or social media but if we’ve never met before I want you to say hi. If you wanna keep it personal then shoot me a message on my contact form.  Spoon wants know who you are! If you’re in the Pittsburgh area and want to meet others check out Pittsburgh tweetup!

I should probably tweet this…

You’re seeing that correctly. In what could be labeled as our worst kept secret ever, we grace the pages of the March 2010 issue of Pittsburgh Magazine. I was flattered when I first learned that Jonathan Wander wanted to talk to me about the show and since it was around Podcamp Pittsburgh time I figured he was a curious fan. That’s when I found out about his intentions to write the article which left me stunned. We’re talkin USA scores with 26 seconds left in regulation of gold medal game Canadian stunned. I’ve done many interviews with beer trade magazines but never with anyone outside that realm and I honestly didn’t know how their readers would take to us.  We do carry an explicit tag but also we’re genuine on there and not some corporate bullshit. People tell me they dig that so that has to put some odds in our favor. This past January Jonathan and I talked over the phone for a solid 2 hours about the show, my life, growing up in Erie and followed it with a photo shoot at Bocktown on a Sunday afternoon. The rest was up to his creative hands.

The article is incredible and I admit, when I first saw it in print at Giant Eagle, I blushed.  Oh hell I was glowing. Only a few select people know how much work I really put into this show behind the scenes and to see it on a stage like Pittsburgh Magazine just blows my mind, even more than when we appeared in national publication DRAFT. In a way it seems like the show was validated. When you hit local there’s something even more meaningful about it. Now if someone back in my hometown of Erie calls, oh lord I’ll never shut up.

The magazine will be seen by over 250,000 readers in 10 counties (Erie included). If you can’t find it at your local Giant Eagle, Borders or Barnes & Noble you can read the online version here

Thankfully with the show I have been able to develop skills that I never thought twice about and it turned into getting my butt employed. Should I Drink That has treated me well and with the plans that I have in mind for this year, should make the experience even more amazing.

Creatively I know where I want this to go and how the whole process should flow. Does it happen that way? Hell no. In fact getting an episode of SIDT together is a huge pain in the ass but one I like to have. When we started it was “lets go to the store and see what we can buy” and now there is a dry erase board that I plan out the next few shows on. Multicolored markers too cause I’m spiffy like that. I think once Studio B is purchased and wired I’ll have a better understanding of what it is I want but until then we’re going with what’s worked.

I want to thank everyone who has supported the show.  When I was starting college I wanted to get into radio and that dream was quickly shot down by my fam. Then again they also said I would never make a living in computers and look how that turned out  Without you, my kickass friends, I would never have moved forward with long lost dream and this thing would have been over with years ago.

Thanks everyone!

cheers!

15 years ago was my first formal dance in college and what would turn out to be the last at this venue. It was on this night that UPT will be slapped with a lifetime banishment from any future events and can only be describes as “Semi-formal 1995 – We Destroyed the Holiday inn Oil City”.

I can’t recall much from this night besides a few details that I get to relive in photographs so if any of you have pics from that night let me know. There wasn’t much to Oil City and quite frankly the Holiday Inn was about as nice as we were going to get.

I went with my friend Stacy from Erie and had a corner room double bed. Why? Her boyfriend was bringing my girlfriend Michele down from Eire. Make sense? Yeah I dont really remember why either. The dance and dinner wasn’t bad but no one cared since the 4 of us spent most of the night in the room playing drinking games along with Drew whom joined us with a bottle of Citron.

At some point the state police showed up and stood guard outside our room with guns drawn. They were searching rooms (apparently someone tried jumping into the pool from the 3rd floor) and when they arrived at ours everyone hid in the bathroom except for me and Chele (we acted like we were sleeping). Being the clean freak that Drew was our place was spotless so that helped in our alibi.

I did post these on Facebook along with a few others and stories are starting to trickle in. Like the reason why our room was suspect would be due to the 2 cases of empties the guys next door planted.

Now I was hoping to share all of these great pics with you but a few parties involved are now professionals so out of respect I wont put them on here but I will share this one.  I give you me and Stacy on that fateful night.

In case you’re scratching your head, grain alcohol was still available then and was indeed involved that night. We may have been a prime example why it was banned in PA. Probably a good thing, kids today wouldn’t be able to handle it.

and I’d do the same thing.

I don’t see what the big deal is and people, give them a freaking break. They busted their asses for years preparing for this one event and they came out with the gold. From all reports I’ve read this was after the fans have left and the media remained. There is absolutely no harm in celebration 30 minutes after the fact and just because it was smokes and beer over probably champagne and some other boring ass dried up tradition some people are having a fit. You’re not disrespecting. You’re celebrating the moment and when the fans are gone who cares, you’re not breaking any laws (well maybe the girl was is 18 was) and not being lewd or crude. You’re having a beer and smoking a cigar. If you’re worried about your kids you should stop watching professional sports and get a grip. Is your issue the fact they drank and smoke or that they came back out on the ice… when everyone was gone?

Granted I would never drink that Molson crap but its the beer of Canada so whatever, fire it up girls you deserve it!

My 34th birthday was Sunday and overall my weekend was pretty uneventful which is kinda how I wanted it. Most people have the 25 freak out, me its 34. I’ve always dreaded that age because when I was growing up I remember thinking how old my brother seemed at that age and now I’m there. What do you expect, I was 16 at the time so in perspective it’s similar to my nephew/godson Ben right now.

Lushie calls me last Wednesday to say that the ceiling in the kitchen is falling in. I get home and see our beloved vagina ceiling which I’ve now named Betty White. We both agree that her and Teaspoon should go to her mother’s for the weekend since the landlord said he would be over to fix it. Friday morning arrives, they leave and I wait… and wait…. and wait… and well you get the picture. I burned 2 vacation days to wait for repairs that never came. I love this guy.

Once late afternoon rolled around and I realized I was stood up there was only one thing I could do; buy a case of beverage. If you’re unfamiliar with my birthday treat I present to you the Weyerbacher Big Beers case ($54/case)

You may be scratching your head as to why I selected this one. When I first started ever performing beer reviews this was my first case which was purchased with Griff. The smallest AVB is 9% in this variety case.  In it you will find Old Heathen(10%), Double Simcoe IPA (9%), Blithering Idiot(11%) and Merry Monks Ale (9.3%).

Dinner Friday night night was; bah who am I kidding it was a Friday during Lent… I didn’t eat. I got word that our big surprise for SIDT was happening that day and not a week later so after catching my breath and checking a few things made the decision that I wasn’t going to spend my first bachelor birthday weekend doing any work. I’ll have time for that this week.

Saturday was spent with 2 things on my mind, NHL10 and BBQ. One of those two took me down for the count and it wasn’t the video game. I went to Smokey Bones for a rack of ribs and would soon find out this would be an epic fail.  You’re gonna have to wait to find out why though. Its worthy of its own post.

Saturday night was me, curling and chatting online until almost sunrise. Damn you west coasters but thanks for the birthday wishes and great time

Sunday, the birthday, was pretty mellow and I chilled at home, visited some fam and then the house was packed once again with Teaspoon craziness.

So there’s my recap. I have plenty of posts coming up when I’m dodging falling ceiling.

Upon reading an article in the Post Gazette we found out that Vintage Estate in Boardman, Ohio was ranked as the number 1 beer store in the world. You read that correctly, THE WORLD… in Boardman, Ohio! If you’ve never been to Boardman its basically strip mall heaven. Take Upper Peach in Erie or say 19 in Cranberry and multiply that by 10.

We’ve always heard about this place but never traveled. I guess we thought it was farther than it really is plus we think “Ohio? that’s another goddamn state!” (see, I’m a geography whiz). Turns out that it’s only 30 minutes from Cranberry TWP where we have SIDT Studio A. That’s right, it’s faster for us to get to Boardman than it is to Monroeville, Murrysville or anything in the South Hills.

We arrive shortly before 7pm at a store front that looks the size of Bocktown. Walking in the clouds parted and angels sang from the heavens. Immediately to our right were shelves of beers that we have never seen in PA; most importantly The Bruery.

That gives you a rough layout of the store. Its wall to wall beer and even more wine in the middle.  There is a tasting table in the back and also a bar in a side room that serves drafts and incredible flatbread. You can purchase a bottle and drink it in store but someone at the bar has to open it for you plus there is a small corking fee. Even with that the prices were considerably cheaper than PA. Keep in mind PA’s bullshit system for selling beer and the incredibly high tax (Johnstown flood was 74 years ago and we still pay on it). Hopslam in Pgh – $4.75/bottle | at Vintage Estate $2.99.

Vintage Estate is beer heaven and you need to visit. They have roughly 748 different beers and I would say 80% are ones we can’t get in PA. Its a short drive and if your significant other is giving you grief there are strip malls galore to keep them occupied. Downside, your beer wont be stronger than 12%abv. You’re not getting DFH 120 Minute here.

Here you go… The Beer List (some were doubles and triples):

• Alesmith Horny Devil
• Alesmith Speedway Stout
• Alesmith Wee Heavy
• Avery Hog Heaven
• Avery Salvation
• Avery The Reverend
• Allagash Curieux
• Birrificio Le Baladin Super Baladin Ale
• Brasserie Dieu Du Ciel ! Rigor Mortis Abt Abbey Style Brown Ale
• Brew Kettle Dark Helmet Imperial Schwarzbier
• Cantillon Classic Gueuze Ale (aged in oak barrels)
• Dark Horse Amber Ale
• Dark Horse Crooked Tree IPA
• Dark Horse Raspberry,
• Dark Horse Scotty Karate Scotch Ale
• Dark Horse Too Cream Stout
• Great Divide Oak Aged Yeti
• Kiuchi Brewery Espresso Stout
• Kiuchi Brewery Japanese Classic Ale
• Kiuchi Brewery Red Rice Ale
• Kiuchi Brewery Sweet Stout
• Kiuchi Brewery XH (matured in sake casks)
• Left Hand Brewing Company Fade to Black
• Mikkeller It’s Alive Wild Ale
• New Holland Charkoota Rye Smoked Doppelbock Lager
• Ommegang Biere de Mars (Batch 2, October 2008)
• Rust Belt Brewing Coke Oven Stout
• Rust Belt Brewing Old Man Hoppers IPA
• Rust Belt Brewing Rusted River Irish Red Ale
• Stone Brewing/Brew Dog Collaboration Bashah
• The Bruery Hottenroth
• The Bruery Orchard White
• The Bruery Saison Rue
• The Bruery Rugbrod
• Troegs Javahead Stout

If you can finish that lyric of who I’m mocking you are one bad mofo and we should have drinks.

Last night was the crazy insanely hugely successful Tweet-up organized by Uncle Crappy at Vietnam’s Pho. In attendance (christ I hope I get all these right from what I remember on where people sat) – @Techburgh and his lady, @Beth910 and The Boy, @psylum, @douglasderda, @Bobtv and his girlfriend, @colindean, @illyrias, @ilikesleep, @pgha, @jamilbroom, @mrscrappy, @unclecrappy, @andreadisaster, @shanlin1022, and  @shadow.

The Dinner – Don’t even ask me what everyone had cuz that’s not happening. However I do recall @shadow taking a bath in the chili sauce. You know he was shooting fireballs about later, he just wont admit to it. You know you have a friend like that. No matter what they eat its not hot enough? That’s @shadow.  One of these days I’ll make him cry from heat. Lushie may need to break out her home made wing sauce that cleared a high rise with tears.

The Pho - I dined on an appetizer of Goi Cuon (Spring Roll w/shrimp, pork, vermicelli and fresh veggies rolled in rice paper with a peanut dipping sauce) and finally caved for the Pho Dac Biet (Beef Round Eye, Flank, Tendon, Tripe, Brisket, Beef Balls and noodles). You read that correctly, tendon and tripe. The tough band of fibrous connective tissue that usually connects muscle to bone and the first three chambers of a cow’s stomach. Thankfully the Beef Balls were these and not these as I feared.

The tendon was a mess as always so I just picked most of it out but the tripe was mind blowing. You have to get past the mental fact that you’re eating part of a cow’s stomach and dig in. It takes on the flavor of what its in so it consumed the beefy goodness of the broth. The Beef Balls were an odd texture but tasted decent. Kinda chewy and what i would expect heart to be like. Everyone else around me seemed to have been won over on their dishes which secretly really made me happy. I think more people need to open their minds and give this a try as you can order a simple dish of broth, meat and noodles to enjoy. Work your way up to the big boy stuff !  Our final bill, $170.  that’s right, 20 people ate full meals and drinks for $170. You can figure the math

Highlight was also finding out that it is BYOB and with a few growlers of East End beverages in hand I think a Pho-king-beer tasting will be coming up shortly.

Dare I say the Pho was spiritual? On the drive home I thought I saw God and he was eating a bowl of Pho also and drinking a beer.

Here are a few other pics

cheers!

July
Began the month with recording at the BeerDependence Day celebration at Bocktown. Attended the Penguins Stanley Cup DVD Release Party. Started a contracting job at EDMC that would become the longest month of my life and that’s all I’m going to say. Enjoyed my first ever bowl of Pho. Rocked the Beer on the Bay festival in Erie which the videos are epic and may never be released. End the month being interviewed by KDKA for the Craft Beer Summit.

August
Won a 2009 Mustang! Bees invade our bathroom (landlord still has yet to remove the dead bodies). I got a full-time job in social media/web dev that has turned out to be freaking cool plus I’m on a rockstar team. Threatened Lushie with divorce after she gets rid of the Back to the Future marathon channels.

September
Attended “Best of the Burgh” at the Warhol with sickpuppy, PittGirl, Woy and Rachel. Go big time and hosted Beer School at the Cabaret downtown to a sold out crowd. Teaspoon hits 17lbs.

October
Hosted 2 sessions at Podcamp Pittsburgh 4. Should I Drink That passed 500,000 download mark. Pens start defending the Stanley Cup. Revised Google Maps errors. Celebrate 4 years of marriage with Lushie. Lay the smackdown on poor fact checking by the Post gazette about Erie. Teaspoon goes pumpkin farming.

November
I blogged the whole month. Seriously. Bought a X-box. Teaspoon’s first Thanksgiving. Wonders of fatherhood and a kid who grows like a weed. Craft Beer Dinner with Lew Bryson, Education on the Pittsburgh Potty. Making your own Bacon. BEER AT GIANT EAGLE! Yinz Bowl 2.o

December
Still living it for 5 more hours. Remembering dad on his anniversary. Hosted a Christmas beer sampling at Bocktown. Saw KISS in concert. Teaspoon’s first Christmas. Finished the school year with a 3.65GPA. SNOW!

So what do I have to look forward to in 2010?  Come back tomorrow and find out!

I have to admit that this has been the most life changing year of my life. Some good, some bad and some mind blowing kickass. Here’s a quick recap as I reflect before tonight’s festivities start. I’m splitting this up into 2 sections because lets be honest, no one will scroll through 12 months.

January
Reflected on the first beer I EVER drank and yes, I kept the bottle. Prepare for the end of my 10+ year employment at ForeSystems/Marconi/Ericsson. Bitched about the weather and yinzers inability to drive in snow plus dumb ass snow removal by my neighbors. Both of those still hold true today. Got ready for an unbelievable run to the Super Bowl

February
Steelers won the Super Bowl and became the first ever 6 time champ thus giving every knock off t-shirt maker starry eyes at the potential of “6 pack” shirts. Punxy Phil said 6 more weeks of winter. I was officially laid off, was interviewed for a Post Gazette story on unemployment moments after i was laid off (that never was published), Pens started to turn it around and the biggest shock of them all… Teaspoon arrived 2 months early making me the happiest and most terrified dad. Came in at 4.1lb, dropped to 3.2lb and would leave at 5 in March.

March
It was the month of Teaspoon. Lushie and I spent every minute we could at the Mercy NICU while he got healthy in an incubator. 28 days later he came home. Also witnessed the stupidity of some Hill District parents who think its a hotel in there and the joke that is unemployment system in PA.

April
Went to my first ever Rugby match and got addicted to watching Claire and the girls kick ass. Missed my first opening day of Pirates baseball since 1984 (watched it on TV with Teaspoon and started a new tradition with my boy). Bought a Wii. Enjoyed the greatest comeback in Pens Playoff hockey that I have witnessed as the Pens turned the series around with 1 fight and the Max Talbot shhhhhhh! Saw Beer Wars the Movie with hundreds of other craft beer fans around the world and baked an incredible beer ham for Easter.

May
Should I Drink That turned 3. Pens defeated Washington and Carolina to earn a second trip to the Stanley Cup Finals for a 2nd year. Bought a Blackberry. Joined Sadie’s Soldiers and took some Great Strides. KDKA reads my “tweet of the day” which I WISH they would bring back. The great personalized jersey debate. Meatshield welcomed his first child (i swear it was the year for kids to be born) and we had a cookout with some family. Bowling league ended and we were the undisputed champs.

June
Teaspoon’s first trip to the ER. Coming out of golf retirement after 3.5 year for a day with Yinz Teamer’s Woy, Lokay and Shireman at Cranberry Highlands. The Clarks release Restless Days after 5 years. Pens win the Stanley Cup in 7 games vs Detroit. Pittsburgh floods… again. Unemployed Utensil makes his first appearance as a way to help me get through not working. My first Father’s day and Pirates waste of talent Ian Snell cant take negative people.

up next… July through December.

I just woke up on the couch in the living room… I think. Could have been the floor and I moved. Empty fifth of Sailor Jerry on the floor, the TV is on NHL Network and Pearl Jam is on the stereo.

hey at least I remembered to turn the tree off last night.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I sometimes have a hard time dealing with Thanksgiving and honestly all my life I haven’t really cared for holidays (that’s a whole different post). The final time I saw my dad before he passed in 12/06 was over Thanksgiving when we had our last family photo and while time has passed since then I still get kinda weird around this time. He always loved the holidays and I’ve been meh about it. Now with Teaspoon here that will probably change and I’m looking forward to him being around family and all that food. He brings so much joy to every day that I’m sure my attitude will change.  i’m going to try and stay offline these next few days so I can spend some time with the little guy and not be bothered with anything online.

Tonight however is a bachelors night, I have a bottle of Seahorse and NHL10 queued up.  It’s about to get a little crazy.