Forgot To Mention: You'd Better Pre-Order The Book

Let's talk about book pre-orders. It's a pretty simple discussion: you want to buy my book. I want you to buy my book. But I really want you to buy it before it's actually available (currently projected release date is February 18, 2020). 

It takes an extra effort to pre-order a book. I get that. There's no instant gratification; not even the Amazon-instant gratification of knowing you'll have it in a day or three. No, you look at that picture of the cover, and read those glowing comments by other authors, and get to look at a couple pictures that may or may not be in the book, and you think, "Yeah, what's the rush?" 

All four of these pictures are in the book. I swear this to you. 

We get that. But pre-orders are what make the book-selling world go around. Pre-orders mean bigger orders from Amazon and Barnes & Noble. If you pre-order from your local indie bookstore, that can be even better, especially if you get some kind of excited when you do it, because then the people at the bookstore will get excited about it and tell other people about it. (And maybe even invite me to do a signing event, I mean, why not, right?)

Pre-orders are the key to the best-seller lists (well, for books about things that get on the best-seller lists, but a guy can dream), and pre-orders are the quickest way for me, your old buddy the whiskey writer, to get paid. You want all that to happen, right?

So do I, and so does my editor. We came up with a plan. If you pre-order, we have some bonus material for you. See, I was constrained by the word-count on this one, and my math was not up to snuff. I overwrote, and there were a couple thousand words that didn't fit. There's a section on making whiskey from a craft-type beer mash that got cut, and about a dozen tasting notes, including a couple nice long comparatives. I was maybe going to try to sell that to a magazine or website, then the editor says, 'hey, wait a minute...'

You can get this bonus material (in PDF form, as a download you can read on your smartphone or tablet) if you pre-order. Once the book's out though (currently February 18), offer's over, and the stuff's gone. But if you do stir yourself, and your credit card, you can get Whiskey Master Class...Plus! And don't worry: if you've already pre-ordered, you will also receive the bonus material. Of course you will. And thank you!

That's beautiful, baby. Yeah.

(We don't have to ask you not to share/post the PDF once you've received it, right? Because you respect copyright, and the idea of a creator making a fair living for their work, and don't want to create any negative waves? Thought so. Thanks!)

Here's how it works. It's going through the publisher, so it's a bit hand-made, not all slick and Amazony, but it works.

First, order the book before February 18! Next, email your proof of pre-order purchase -- see the Amazon example below, which you'd want to copy out of your Amazon order and paste into the email; if you pre-ordered at a bookstore, snap a photo of the receipt and send that along with the name of the book, the store, and date showing -- and send it to us at whiskeymaster@quarto.com with a subject line of "Whiskey Master Class Bonus Offer". Easy-peasy. Copy the proof of purchase, paste it in an email, send it to us, and we'll send you the PDF. Done.

COPY AND PASTE THIS PART:

Order Confirmation

Hello Amy F Lerseth, Thank you for shopping with us. You ordered "Keto: A Woman's Guide: The..." . We’ll send a confirmation when your item ships.

Details Order #113-5877026-4278628

Arriving: Tuesday, June 11 Ship to: Amy Lerseth 750 CORTLANDT DR... Total Before Tax: Estimated Tax: Order Total: $13.38 $1.04 $14.42(or less) Why?

But here's the BEST part! If you pre-order and send in your proof of pre-order, we'll send you the bonus material right away! (Okay, as soon as the editorial assistant can get to it, but real soon!). So you can start enjoying Whiskey Master Class right now. That's pretty cool, right?

So help me out here. You'll get the book, plus the bonus material. You'll be assured of getting it as soon as it comes out, so you can start learning about whiskey flavor creation right away. And you'll be helping me get paid, which is a noble gesture on your part, thank you very much!

How about it? Pippin likes people who pre-order.

Seriously...

And that's as political as we're gonna get here.
(It's a joke, BTW.)

Boy, it's dusty in here. 

Hard to believe I used to post every day, for four years. That passed, and then I tried to start it up again in 2016, but blessedly, I got busy, and the blog came in dead last in my priorities.

Things change. I have a book to support, and free rein to do that, so I'm starting up the Inferno again...no, sorry, wrong reference. I'm going to start blogging again.

It's going to be a bit more whiskey-focused this time, since there's that book I'll be flogging. But there's still going to be beer, and food, and travel, and probably pictures of my dog. And I'll be sticking to the original principles of the blog, explained in full here; briefly, though, I'll be writing criticism, not snark, and recognizing that none of us know everything. So whiskey reviews, and industry overviews, and personal profiles will be written with care, with charity. That doesn't mean "I love everything" reviews, it just means that the negative reviews will try to understand what happened, and I probably won't review the real train wrecks. If you want to revel in deliciously cruel reviews of the whiskeys you love to hate...look elsewhere.

There are going to be regular whiskey reviews, and some other spirits, and beers, but mostly whiskey. Part of that's the book support, but some of it is that I found that I missed writing the reviews I was doing for Whisky Advocate. (Yeah, no link. It's the least I can do). And since no one else is really paying for whiskey reviews, I'll do them for myself.

The first new post -- after this one, natch -- is going to be a chat with Beam Suntory's Freddie Noe and a review of all three of his Little Book chapters, the blended whiskeys from Beam that shook things up a bit. The idea that Beam had some aged malt whiskey*, that Beam was going to admit that they had stocks of Canadian whisky, or that there was 12 year old Baker's...well, I found that all pretty exciting. So when the Beam people asked me if I'd like to talk to Freddie about it, I thought, 'Hey! That would be a great first post for the revived blog.' So that's what I did. That's going to be coming soon, couple of days.

All I can show you for now. Note: no ice in the glass. Fought hard for that, because I know you care. 

Anyway, about the book. It's titled Whiskey Master Class, and it's about the creation of aroma and flavor in whisk/ey. (I promise, I'm not going to make a habit of that 'whisk/ey' construction.) From traditional formulations and the grains in them through malting, milling, mashing, fermentation, distillation, barrel construction and selection, aging, blending, proofing, filtering, bottling, and all the intangible stuff that's so hard to measure...I've tried really hard to cover everything that makes whiskey what it is.

The book was inspired by something that renowned blender and Scotch whisky innovator Dr. Bill Lumsden said to me one time. “If the barrel gives a whisky 50% of its flavor...that just means that the other 50% doesn't come from the barrel.” To really understand a whiskey then, you have to know where every bit of that 100% comes from, and how it's different from another whiskey. That's what the book is all about. I'm very pleased to say that Dr. Bill agreed to write the foreword.

Pippin's only 10 months old...
but his ears are full-grown!

It's due out on February 18 but you can pre-order now: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, your local independent bookstore (assuming someone asked them to order it...I'm looking at you). You can be sure the blog will run at least that long, and probably up through the 2020 Christmas book-buying season. And I'll probably be fully in the habit by then, and we'll just keep going. My publicist tells me that the blog's good, but I'm going to have to back it up with Instagram (and Twitter, and Facebook), so I'll be there as well, hashtagging like a champ.

I've made a fair number of promises here. I intend to keep them. This stuff is fun. And...pictures of my dog. Promise that, too. Here, take a look at Pippin. 

Little Book is coming soon. And then it's off to the races.






*I have a really annoying habit of mistyping "whiskey" as "shiskey," so if you see that...I was typing so fast I missed it. I almost did here. Just letting you know. 

Dogs and Tröegs at the Beer Yard (and TND, too)

Uncle Jack sent this earlier today (and supplied the first photo), and I'll happily pass it along. Big Matt Guyer is a dog person, as are the Trogner Bros, Uncle Jack, and I, and we hope you'll consider this charity beer event. 

Beer Yard, Tröegs Brewing and Teresa's Next Door Team Up To Support SPCA

Last year: Matt G, back left; Big Dan Bengel center; and Jack's Buddy, lying down

Once again, The Beer Yard, Tröegs Brewing and Teresa's Next Door are offering their customers and fans a chance to enjoy great beer and food at a Saturday afternoon celebration benefiting the local SPCA, held in the Beer Yard parking lot. The event runs from 1-4PM on Saturday, Sept 1.Attendees will enjoy a wide variety of Tröegs beers and tasty treats from the grill set up by Teresa's Next Door. A free logo pint glass (while they last) will accompany every case of Tröegs sold and $5 from every case sold throughout the entire weekend will go to the Delco SPCA. That same deal applies to every check at TND for the weekend on which a customer writes "SPCA," so it's a party that just keeps on keepin' on right through Labor Day.
You'll be proud to tell your canine companions you attended...in fact, they're invited as well, just so long as they are on leashes). It's going to be a barkin' good time.

I'd be there with the Corgis, but we're spending the weekend with family. Get on out there and drink for the dogs!

Please fill this cooler with beer for us dogs.

Nick Johnson, Matt Guyer, beer, dogs...you can't help but wanna go, right?

Uncle Jack drew my attention to this event: we're both dog owners, he knows I'm a sucker for stuff like this (I'm a sucker for the beers at the Beer Yard and Teresa's Next Door, too, and God knows I'm liking the Tröegs). It's tomorrow afternoon, so check it out if you got nothing going on. I'll be in Boston, taking the boy back to school, but hey, that's the sacrifices you have to make. Cheers!

I'm Back

Hope everyone (in America) had a good Thanksgiving holiday; hope the rest of you had a good weekend. The family and the dogs and I went to my parents' for Thanksgiving (the pies were great, and I made a batch of scalloped oysters, too). Cathy and I took off Friday morning for a rental along the Potomac River outside of Sharpsburg, MD; we were celebrating our 20th anniversary. Didn't do much except read, do crosswords, and drink East End Brewing Toaster Imperial Stout in the hot tub. We hiked around the Antietam battlefield a bit, and did some shopping in Shepherdstown, WV, then went out for dinner at Brewer's Alley in Frederick last night. Good pilsner, very good English-type IPA (a 2009 GABF Bronze), and a delicious dessert of Blackfrost barleywine. Then the cottage ran out of water...but that's another story.

Anyway, we're home now, so it's blog-biz as usual. Miss me?

House Full O' Corgis

By the way, in case I forgot to mention it in the Massachusetts posts?

We missed the dogs.

Nora and I went and picked them up this morning, and it was a wonderful reunion. "I can just let him go, he'll run to you, won't he?" the woman at the kennel said (Pen's been there more than a few times). Sure, I said, and braced myself. He ran right past me, to the car! Sat at the door, waiting to get in. Smart boy. Oh, it's good to have them back.

Things That Suck II

Things suck again.

I won't be going to the Iron Hill Media fest this weekend; too much crap to do.

Somebody -- won't say who -- sucked down way too much of a really nice bottle of whisky -- won't say which -- without even noticing how nice it was. Cretin.

Miller Chill.

Maud's away overnight, getting 'the dog operation' at the vet.

There are still no bars within walking distance of my house.

It's raining. Again.

There is no brewpub in Newtown. But there is an Applebee's. Jesus wept.

Pennsylvania is finally non-smoking in bars, but there are way too many loopholes.

The PLCB still runs all booze in Pennsylvania, despite my best efforts.

Pollen hates me and wants to make me sick.

My computer's back, but I'm going to spend all day re-loading shite on it (You were right, Amy, damn you!), a process that's taking so long I'm here pissing and moaning.

I need a new phone, and no phone on the market has everything I want...and I don't really want that much.

I fell off Weight Watchers, and can't summon the will to go back. My problem, I know.

One good thing: Maud comes home in half an hour. Which will probably make the other things recede a bit. I miss my little dog.

My weekend weren't too bad

So...I was able to finish up my story on Friday in time to pick up Nora at school, get her home, and head down to the Grey Lodge for Friday the Firkinteenth. Wow. Things were moving fast! Out of 20 casks, begun at noon, there were only 7 still on, with three in the wings...and within five minutes of my arrival, two more kicked (including the Stoudt's Scrawny Dog, which I really wanted to try). Things went incredibly fast; the last cask looked to be kicking by 7, a new record, I think. Everyone kept telling me how great the beers I missed were; luckily, the Sly Fox Seamus was pretty damned good, beautifully conditioned. It was a great time...but I decided to haul back home. We cued up a DVD of Silverado I'd picked up at the grocery store for six bucks, and drank a couple Nugget Nectars.

Saturday was my birthday. Had coffee and the morning paper with Cathy, and after we settled Nora in with the dogs -- she wasn't feeling too well (pronounced "would rather be on Facebook") -- Cathy and I went out for lunch (Thomas is away at a forensics meet). We went to Earth Bread + Brewery, where I got an Ed Bear Stout (nice, drinkable, burnt grain bitter) and Cathy got a glass of wine. I finally got the Seed Flatbread, and it was as good as everyone's said, which I can't believe I'm saying. Get one. I had it with a glass of Schlenkerla Helles, and it was perfect.

After we were done, we walked down to McMenamin's for a beer, kind of for old time's sake -- we spent a...different kind of evening there on my birthday about ten years ago. Glass of ESA, and then off we went to Weaver's Way Co-op, because I wanted to see what the big deal was. It was not a big deal. The prices were okay, the selection was okay -- just okay -- and while some of the people in the store were very nice, there were some annoyingly impatient regulars who just didn't want anyone to get between them and their tofu because they had to have it right now! I was also kind of jarred by the big "Buy Local" sign and all the Mexican produce. Nice idea overall, but I'll pass.

We went home and hit the Newtown Farmer's Market, looking for an idea for a birthday dinner. We wound up with some great double-smoked bacon and hydroponic tomatoes and made BLTs (which rocked) on Le Bus bread (which we got at Weaver's Way), smoked salmon, some triple cream Delice de Bourgogne and Bucheron, and finished up with baklava. Then I gave Cathy her Valentine's Day present: a case of Sierra Nevada Torpedo Extra IPA (she was very happy, and yeah, I do know how lucky that makes me). And we drank some and watched some of the first season of Buffy (got it for the kids for Christmas).

Sunday? I woke up feeling crappy, didn't sing, and spent the afternoon cleaning the house and playing with the dogs. Had some more Nugget Nectar with dinner -- "beefy soba noodles," which looked like something a Klingon would eat, but tasted pretty good -- and then read some.

Gratuitous Corgis

Two Corgis. Good day.

Say hello to Maud

We took a drive with Nora today, the last act of The Maud Hunt. Ever since about three months after we got Penderyn, Cathy's been agitating for a second Corgi, a female, that she could name Maud. I'm not sure why, to tell the truth, but she is my wife, and I love her, so we hunted, on and off, for a female Corgi. We finally honed it down to wanting a tri-color, a Corgi with black, brown, and white hair (which means her shedding will now show up on everything we own, but hey, whatever). And after the holidays were over, and Cathy's job situation was secure, we started looking.

After looking at two great-looking litters right on the Lancaster-Chester county line (both raised in homes by families, no puppy mills), we made a very tough decision (which, um, included serious consideration of some great little non-tri-color pups...) and chose the little beauty you see here. We stopped by my folks to show them the new addition, then brought her home to meet Penderyn. He was a bit anxious at first, and curious, but they've settled down already after less than an hour.

Sigh. We must be nuts, but puppy time is here. Better get me a beer.