Dave Shea is a beer aficionado and beer correspondent for foodists.ca. He’s the kind of guy who knows what’s pouring at the local pubs before the servers do, and will happily max out his duty exemptions to bring back boxes of stuff we can’t find in Canada. He can tell you how to fill a suitcase with bottles that can survive even the roughest airport baggage handler. If you give him a starting point, he’s pretty sure he could put a beer in front of you that you’d love even if you don’t like beer. He also now makes the stuff himself, thanks to an ever-patient wife who gives him rather more leeway than she likely should. (Dave works as a freelance UI designer to pay for all this hoppy goodness.)

In case it’s not obvious, Dave will be talking about this fascinating grain-based beverage.