REVIEW: Cigar City Airport Brewpub/Jai Alai IPA

You may be thinking to yourself, “Why would anyone write about an airport bar?” Well this is not just any airport bar. This is the airport bar. It has…

Dogfish Head Higher Math – Golden Strong Ale

This golden strong ale is fermented with sour cherry juice and cocoa nibs and clocks in at 17% ABV. Going into a 17% ABV beer is all about mental…

Super Bowl Party 2016

The Denver Broncos defeated the Carolina Panthers 24-10. Although who cares about the game when you have a feast in front of you?! At this point, it is…

Tröegs Brewing Company – Solid Sender Ale

Piney hops, flowering herbs, orange pith, and honeysuckle give this copper ale a unique flavor, but it lacks any sort of substance. I think every Pittsburgher who loves craft beer…

REVIEW: Café Moulin in Shadyside

As a little kid in Pittsburgh, the best adventures were when my parents dragged  me out of the suburbs to run errands around the city. Growing up in Mt. Lebanon, I…

Stone Brewing Company – Enjoy By 02.14.16 Black IPA

This double IPA’s dark-colored malt canvas comes from German Sinamar and from Patagonia Black Pearl barley, which adds a pleasingly smooth taste. The Enjoy By series has always…

A Culinary Christmas

I’m never sure if culinary gifts are a Christmas tradition, or if my parents secretly enjoy fueling my love of cooking. Regardless, most years I receive a dope assortment of…

Stone & Sierra Nevada Collaboration – NxS IPA

A dry-hopped IPA, blended with another IPA aged in gin & whisky infused barrels. Stone Brewing and Sierra Nevada have long been two of my favorite breweries. I…

New web site in progress!

Hey Everyone! Welcome to josephbender.com/blog! This is where you are gonna see anything and everything that I am cranking out at the moment. Browse around the website and…