Visiting a brewery is one of the best ways to learn about a culture and community - or at least one of the most fun ways. That's why I was so excited to visit Alaskan Brewing Company's brewery in Juneau on a recent visit to the city. Since 1986, they've been developing creative beers that serve a local / regional audience but also serve as ambassadors of Alaskan culture to the lower 48!

Fogo de Chao is hands down one of my favorite restaurants. Not only do you get a never-ending parade of meats but the place is fun and imaginative when it comes to creating seasonal updates to the menu. We were invited to check out their new Spring Menu this week, so how could I resist when it includes three new cocktails to try!

March has begun and that means that it is unofficially Irish Heritage month - even if that's mostly celebrated by St Patrick's Day traditions such as green beer and leprechauns as well as more palatable ones such as a corned beef and cabbage dinner.  Variations on the classic corned beef and cabbage recipes have been what I've eaten for St. Patrick's Day for the past 30+ years, so it's time to try something new and explore Irish culture a bit while doing so.

There are many great cities today that are a great choice for a beercation, but only Grand Rapids calls themselves "Beer City". It's a great destination that is located a close to Chicago, Detroit, and Indianapolis making it a great place for a weekend getaway. With more a Beer City Ale Trail boasting more than 80 breweries, it is certainly one of the top beer producers in the country. Experience Grand Rapids invited us to visit and see what all the fuss was about. Here's what we found!

Las Vegas has some of the best bars and some of the best restaurants in the world but no matter how much talent and desire to be the best... most are good at one or the other, not both. During a visit last night to Libertine Social inside of Mandalay Bay, I was treated to an experience that frankly I wasn't expecting based on the relatively unassuming entrance.

Sideways is one of the greatest Guys Weekend movies as far as I'm concerned. It's raw and fun - without being stupid and silly like tends to be the the case all too often. Most of all though, it highlighted one of the most fabulous parts of the country - the Santa Ynez Valley, including Santa Barbara and Solvang. This is an absolutely gorgeous part of California that is located just far enough away from Los Angeles to be a different world... but still close enough for a quick getaway. Let's take a look at how you can walk in the footsteps of Miles (Paul Giamonte) and Jack (Thomas Haden Church).

Last week I was invited to a fantastic dinner at a new San Diego brewery - 10 Barrel Brewing who collaborated with one of my favorite restaurants, Carnitas Snack Shack. While the food was good and the beer was excellent, it really made me think about the impact of social media and the current state of the "craft beer" scene in the United States right now. Specifically, what is a craft beer vs a local beer and does it really even matter anymore?

For most of you, winter is in full swing right now and that means it's time to warm up with a steaming bowl of hearty soup. I've also found that for some reason there seems to be a lot of spiral cut hams on sale right now. Perhaps it's just that "after the holidays" inventory close out, but who am I to complain. My only problem was that I end up leaving an awful lot of meat on the bone after eating the slices. So, instead of throwing them out - let's make soup!

Christianity has Bethlehem. Judaism has Jerusalem. Islam has Mecca…and beer-lovers have Munich. The capital of Bavaria is not only home to some of the oldest breweries in the world, but also some of beer’s most important history.

It was Duke Wilhelm IV, the owner of Munich’s royal Hofbräuhaus himself, who passed the 1500s-era creed – the Bavarian Purity Law – which defined what beer actually was, and over two hundred years ago, it was Munich that first instituted the beloved and all-holy biergärten.

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Don Q rum. All opinions are 100% mine.

Rum sometimes has a bad rap since there are a lot of inferior products out there, but thankfully there are some fantastic rums out there too. It all comes down to craftsmanship and market demands. Luckily, over the past few years we've started to see high quality products such as Don Q Gran Añejo make it to store shelves and bars around the United States. People from Puerto Rico probably laugh at this being a new trend since they've known the greatness of rum since Destilería Serrallés started producing the spirit on the island in 1865.

Wild Turkey has a great distillery experience that is also one of the newest. Visitors will get a chance to go "Behind the Barrel" like I did as their guest, but in a much abbreviated fashion. However, for bourbon fans this is a great opportunity to learn, taste, smell, and see one of the greatest bourbons in the country right now.

When it comes to mancation in Australia, Melbourne is surely a great choice of destination for all those men who are looking forward to have some fun with their friends. Melbourne has an urban setting, luxury hotels offering upscale amenities, great outdoor activity opportunities and even unique golf settings. Here are some top ideas for your next mancation in Melbourne.

Last week I had the privilege of joining Wild Turkey for a "Behind the Barrel" experience touring not just their distillery, but some of their partners including Vendome Copper & Brass Works and Independent Stave Company. During this tour, my eyes were opened wide to how complex the science and art of making great whiskey can be. While I knew that the mash bill and number of years aging in the barrel had a big say in how whiskey tastes, there's a whole lot more than that!

Making a classic cocktail is a skill that will impress your guests at a party, but sometimes that can prove to be challenging to get things "just right". Here's a way to cheat a bit and make some classic drinks such as an Old Fashioned or a Boulevardier quick and easy.

Islands is one of my favorite restaurants to take my friends and that's because the food is always good and while the classics never change, they always have new offerings to switch stuff up too. On our recent guys weekend to Palm Desert, California they invited us to stop by and fuel up as well as taste their new Islands Golden Ale brewed in collaboration with Karl Strauss Brewing.

The mountains of North Carolina have a rich tradition of producing whiskey and frankly trying new things to produce a unique product that other distillers may consider unconventional. While it is unlikely that you'll ever be able to hike out in the woods and see how illicit moonshine is made, this is the next best thing... maybe even better!

Despite the fact that I love all things wine and enjoy visiting new wineries for a tasting, at home I'm honestly not much of a drinker. As a result, no matter how much I LOVED that bottle of wine at the wine tasting, it's likely that it will be weeks or even months after I come home that it will be opened. Even once opened, sadly there are too many bottles that have gone to waste. I know that I'm not alone in this challenge though, so I thought it might be time to share some wine wisdom. Hopefully this helps save precious wine from being wasted!

It's time to cook down and enjoy one of summer's most delicious treats, but like everything in life - we can make it even better! So, with that in mind, here's a roundup of some of my favorite Watermelon Cocktail recipes. These are perfect for cooling off this summer, cheers!

Last night I had the opportunity to not just visit a fantastic new brewery but also meet with five of the best chefs in San Diego. We were assembled to help raise money for Feeding San Diego, while also celebrating the launch of Flesh & Blood - Bitter Brothers new Golden Sour that has a stunning color and flavor of tart cherries and raspberry. Each of the five courses was inspired by and paired with one of their beers, for a culinary experience that I wish could be shared better than just my words and pictures.

I love Crown Royal's Nobel Collection of spirits. They maintain the same great taste of Crown Royal - but tweak it just enough to make each variety something exciting and unique. This year they have introduced Crown Royal Wine Barrel Finished and it makes for a perfect Father's Day gift along side their Crown Your Father digital experience.