Better Know A Beer

Viewers of The Colbert Report (some day we may see the Cold Beer Report -- pronouncing the T is up to you) know of Stephen's serial segment "Better Know A District," a compass of sorts to the 435 House of Representative seats and who's in 'em (or wants to be in 'em, as the case may be).

With that approach in mind, Beer-Stained Letter (the title is a takeoff on a Richard Thompson tune, "Tear-Stained Letter") will fill you in on where to fill up on New Jersey's best in malt beverage. The main focus is on brewpubs and Garden State microbreweries, with a dash of color about those watering holes and production houses, and the towns where they're located. The minor focus will be on bars that do it right (good food and grog), maybe some places that help you brew your own beer, and some homebrew artisans who work real magic with malted barley, hops, water and a dose of healthy yeast (after all, most of the people behind microbreweries and brewpubs brewed a batch in the kitchen before they dreamed big and got to your glass.)

Why go to all this trouble? Why not? Maybe a better answer in the era of Web 2.0 is: Because we can. So we are. So there.

So grab a glass, fill it up and enjoy. The beer that is; this is just a blog.