Fat Harold's Beach Club Myrtle Beach earns popularity for beach adventures and seafood delights but there’s another must do experience for the South Carolina hot spot. You can not leave Myrtle Beach without a good shag. Shag dancing, or the Carolina shag to be specific, is the state dance and there’s no better place to try it than Fat Harold’s. This smooth-toed derivative of the jitterbug dance is said to have originated in Myrtle Beach during the late 30s and it continues to thrive in nightclubs throughout the area. This stylish swing dance is a point of pride for seasoned shaggers and Fat Harold’s Beach Club is theirofficialheadquarters. The dimly lit club is packed every night with dancers gliding across the floor in the required leather-soled shoes. Djs pump beach music or live bands perform mid tempo rhythms perfect for the dance. For therhythm-impaired, there’s even free weekly shag lessons so there’s no excuse not to join the fun...[more »]

Hops and Pie It’s still rare these days to find a craft beer restaurant that takes the right approach with the beer they serve and the food they create. Often times the food is okay and the beer selection not much better than the typical bar around the corner. One establishment that has successfully combined a good beer selection with great food is Hops and Pie in North Denver, Colorado. Owners Drew and Leah Watson opened Hops and Pie just over a year ago with a goal of having not just a great craft beer selection, but also creating artisan pizzas that paired specifically with the beers they served. They bring a combined 23 years experience in the fine dining industry and were looking to take their destiny into their own hands when they chose to re-locate to Denver from the San Diego area. In fact, it was while they were in San Diego close by to beer giant Stone Brewing Co, as well as Green Flash, Ballast Point, Lost Abbey and Alesmith, that their appreciate of what beer could be...[more »]

Goose Island holiday ale Wine may be the more common seasonal libation, but Goose Island brewery provides another means to be merry. Every month, Chicago’s premier craft brewery hosts a beer academy that allows participants to indulge in a range of custom blended brews. This month’s workshop features the festive theme of holiday brews. On December 28 at 6:30 PM, the Beer Academy kicks off at the Goose Island brewery on Clybourne. Think years of slinging backHeineken’s gives you beer know how? Not quite. The Beer Academy provides instructions of brew details likealcoholpercent, international bittering units and standard reference method to specify color. Head Pub Brewer Jared Rouben will pour 15-20 beers and explain the different styles, servingtemperatures, ingredients and history. The workshop lasts two hours and is aimed at novices as well as experts — although I recommend pacing yourself, hand-crafted beers can make you very, very, jolly if you&...[more »]