We have become rather smitten with sours in recent years, an affair that shows no sign of waning. The venerable examples are more attractive than ever, and brewers are embracing them passionately. This, in turn, has piqued great interest from homebrewers, who now have at hand the necessary design and ingredients. Brewing sours by traditional... View Article
With a background in chemical engineering, Jaime Jurado has worked at large and small breweries, including The Lion Brewery, England’s Courage Brewing and Truman Hanbury & Buxton Ltd., Stroh Brewing Co., The Gambrinus Co. (comprising Trumer, Spoetzl and BridgePort breweries) and Susquehanna Brewing Co. He recently brought his three decades of technical brewing experience to... View Article
When a group of young adults from Congregation Rodeph Shalom gathered at Rabbi Eli Freedman’s home for a “sha-barbecue” one summer evening, he did not say kiddush over wine. Instead, he recited the traditional Sabbath blessing over beer. No one was shocked. In fact, the swap made total sense, since many of those at the... View Article
Traditional beer styles are often closely identified by cities, regions, strength or particular moment of invention. Doppelbock (double bock) can claim all of those. Its roots lie in the North German city of Einbeck, but is now synonymous with Bavaria. More specifically, the prototype is a monastic creation, designed for sustenance during Lenten deprivation. The... View Article
We’ve all seen the T-shirt, Beer Is Food. A growing number of brewers have taken that sentiment to near-literal levels by concocting recipes strongly influenced by culinary creations, be they breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert or between-meal snacks. Of course, any time a brewery attempts a beer designed to evoke a certain edible, it walks a... View Article
‘Tis the season for folks named Old St. Nick, Rudolph, Frosty and Jack Frost. Contrary to what some people say about Christmas being a way bigger event in America than it is in Europe—and while it’s true that you don’t see nearly as much commercialism splattered in each store aisle, painted on all shop windows... View Article
California keg thieves, you’re on watch. California Gov. Jerry Brown has signed a bill, sponsored by the California Craft Brewers Association, that makes it illegal to obliterate, mutilate or mark out a manufacturer’s name on metal kegs. It is already illegal to recycle kegs inscribed with the name of the manufacturer without its written consent,... View Article
Many universities are offering brewing programs today, but a discovery at The College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, VA, predates them all—by a few centuries. While working on widening a sidewalk outside the Wren Building, the oldest college building in America, 18th century remains of an on-campus brewery were unearthed. According to the Associated... View Article
As the American brewing industry surges forth, university archivists are hoping to record brewing history from pre-Prohibition to the modern age—and they want brewers’ and drinkers’ help. At Oregon State University in Corvallis, OR, the Oregon Hops and Brewing Archives (OHBA) has been seeking operational or administrative records from breweries, beer recipes, oral histories, photographs... View Article
