Features
The Growler List: 125 Places to Have a Beer Before You Die
Beer drinkers are particular not only about what they drink, but also where they drink. We all have our favorite places to enjoy a cold one. Some are laid back and relaxing. Others are loud and rollicking. Because beer is such a social beverage, our favorite places to sip a brew are often where our […]
Food Fight—Beer and Wine Square Off Across the Table
This feature couldn’t have been written 25 years ago. The idea that beer should be taken seriously as a partner for fine food—that beer might be wine’s peer when we search for a compatible beverage for the table—would have provoked dismissive chuckles from wine aficionados, and it wouldn’t have occurred to beer people at all.
Bridging the Beer-Wine Gap
Thanks to taxes and regulations, Americans reflexively divide alcoholic drinks into three categories: beer, wine and liquor. But, if we take an open-minded look at how these products are made, how they’re consumed and how they taste, something becomes obvious. While fermented beverages and distilled spirits are truly distinct, beer and wine are more alike […]
Sensory Pairing Principles at Home
Want to experiment with pairing principles for yourself? A few simple side-by-side comparisons can provide amazing insights you’ll never forget. Gather a few beverages and a few common kitchen staples, and check out how your senses operate.
Rolling Out the Barrel-Aged Beers
Walking into the brewery at the Glacier Brewhouse in Anchorage, AK, you might think you were in a wine cellar instead. There in one alcove is head brewer Kevin Burton’s “wall of wood”—an impressive row of about 50 oak barrels, all filled with beer. “Everything goes in the barrel,” Burton says, especially his stout, porter, […]
The Breweriana Road Show
Charlie Staats from Texas stands in his hotel room at the Adam’s Mark in Denver, with the door propped open. He’s stashed the hotel trinkets in drawers, and every horizontal surface—the coffee table, the bed, the chairs, even the ironing board—has become display space for his collection of Texas brewery memorabilia. Staats specializes in anything […]
The Collector’s Calendar
A list of the major collecting organizations, and their annual events. June 17-22, Dubuque, IA. The American Breweriana Association (ABA) Annual Meeting, www.americanbreweriana.org July 16-19, Sunday River, Bethel, ME. Eastern Coast Brewerania Association (ECBA) Convention, www.eastcoastbrew.com July 29-August 3, Bettendorf, IA. NABA National Association of Breweriana Advertising (NABA) National Convention, www.nababrew.org July 30-August 3, Bad […]
The Collectors’ Collectors
In 1951, when Herb Haydock returned to Wisconsin from his tour of duty in Germany, he brought back nine beer glasses that intrigued him. Over the next 35 years, he and his wife Helen built their breweriana collection into arguably the world’s finest and largest, with over one million items covering all areas of breweriana. […]
Columns
Collaborators?
Who brewed these 25 beers over the last 10 years: Hallucinator, Snow Plow Milk Stout, English Brown, Belgian Dubbel, Belgian Wit, La Vie, Bermuda Schwartz, Pre-Prohibition Lager, Steel Bridge Porter, HB25, Hop Nation, Fearless Scotch Ale, Sled Crasher, Moore Fearless Maibock, Saul’s Stout, Saison Christophe, Alpenhorn Vienna Lager, Hopnosis, Zephyr, Lagerhead Pilsner, Big C Stout, […]
This One’s On Me
I walked through the crowd on pint night and someone shouted across the room, “Buy you a beer?” I scanned the group and recognized a member of our festival volunteer team. I yelled back, “No, this one’s on me.” He replied, “You’re always buying. Let me return the favor.” In a moment, beer’s social foundation […]
Departments
Bonjour Montreal
Even before we became Beer Travelers in earnest, Montreal was a favorite destination. The city’s francophone roots are still strong, and French remains the language you’ll hear spoken most often. Don’t let that scare you off. Your efforts to speak a few words of high school French will be warmly received and appreciated. And English […]
Basic Brown
Though the brewing industry continually reinvents itself with regard to beer style, few breweries would have survived, or even been established, without a portfolio of familiar, time-tested beers. Often given less attention than the flashier of their nouveau brethren, these styles endure because of their soft edges and drinkability. With their unassuming roundness and rich, […]
with Brendan Moylan of Marin Brewing Co.
I’m Irish, so I talk fast. First generation American: My father’s from Tipperary and my mother’s from Wexford. I grew up in the Sunset District of San Francisco. It’s a great place to live. Shhhh—don’t tell anyone. How’d you get into brewing? It was that first six-pack of Coors that I shared with my buddy […]
Beer Talk
Hog Heaven
Avery Brewing Co. Boulder, CO Available: Available: AK, AZ, AR, CA, CO, CT. DC, FL, GA, IL, IN, KS, KY, MD, MA, MI, MN, MS, MO, NJ, NM, NY, NC, OH, OK, OR, PA, TN, TX, VA, WA, WI Family owned and operated since 1993. This strong beer is cellarable for three years or longer. […]
Hopalicious
Ale Asylum Madison, WI Available: WI Brewed with eleven separate additions of Cascade hops. Alcohol (vol): 5.5 Alcohol (wt): 4.38 Color: 9 Bitterness: n/a Original gravity: n/a
Original Edelsud Exklusiv
Innstadt Brauerei Passau Passau, Germany Imported by: Morandell Imports Gardena, CA Available: CA, OR, WA, AZ, IL, PA, IN, ID, CO, MD, NV, NY, FL Beer has been brewed in Passau in westernmost Bavaria since 1318. Alcohol (vol): 5.3 Alcohol (wt): 4.22 Color: pale Bitterness: 17 Original gravity: 1050
LTD Recipe No. 01
Full Sail Brewing Co. Hood River, OR Available: AK, AZ, CA, CO, FL, HI, ID, LA, MN, MT, NM, NV, OH, OK, OR, TX, WA, WY, UT This is the first beer in Full Sail’s LTD series, a program of seasonal specialty lagers. Alcohol (vol): 6.4 Alcohol (wt): 5 Color: 21 Bitterness: 26 Original gravity: […]
Spring Ale
Otter Creek Brewing Middlebury, VT Available: CA, CT, DE, DC, FL, IL, ME, MD, MA, NH, NJ, NY, NC, OH, OR, PA, RI, VA, VT, WI Otter Creek employs techniques to reduce refrigeration needs, CO2 and particulate production, and wastewater generation. Alcohol (vol): 4.8 Alcohol (wt): 3.8 Color: 3 Bitterness: 20 Original gravity: 1048
Jockamo IPA
Abita Brewing Co. Abita Springs, LA Available: n/a This IPA is brewed to celebrate the “Mardi Gras Indians,” who sing and chant in the streets of New Orleans, wearing elaborate costumes or “suits” of beads and feathers. Alcohol (vol): 6.5 Alcohol (wt): 5.2 Color: 16 Bitterness: 52 Original gravity: 1060
Big Eddy Russian Imperial Stout
Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Co. Chippewa Falls, WI Available: WI, MI Big Eddy is a new family of beers from the Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Co., named for the spring that runs through Chippewa Falls, where the brewery was founded in 1867. Alcohol (vol): 9.5 Alcohol (wt): 7.56 Color: black Bitterness: 75 Original gravity: 1112
La Goudale
Les Brasseurs de Gayant Douai, France Imported by: United States Beverage Stamford, CT Available: MD, CT, DE, NY, NJ, FL, SC, IN, WI, IL, MI, MO, NE, CA, NV, AZ, CO Brewed by a family-owned company, founded in 1919 in the northeastern region of France which borders Belgium. Alcohol (vol): 7.8 Alcohol (wt): Color: 12 […]
Kaiser Pils
Pennsylvania Brewing Co. Pittsburgh, PA Available: PA, DE, MD, VA, OH, WV, FL, NY Kaiser is a northern German-style pale lager. Alcohol (vol): 5.0 Alcohol (wt): 3.98 Color: 4.0 Bitterness: 46 Original gravity: 10446
Imperial India Pale Ale
Anderson Valley Brewing Co. Boonville, CA Available: AZ, CO, ID, WA, CA, IL, KY, MD, DC, MA, MI, NE, NJ, NM, NY, NC, OH, OR, PA, UT, UT, VA, WA, WI This Imperial IPA was created to mark the 20th anniversary of Anderson Valley Brewing Co. Alcohol (vol): 8.7 Alcohol (wt): 6.93 Color: n/a Bitterness: […]
Miller Lite Brewers Collection Amber
Miller Brewing Co. Milwaukee, WI Available: selected markets in MN, NC, CA, MD The three beer styles in the Miller Lite Brewers Collection each have 110 calories and 6.2 grams of carbs per 12-ounce serving. Alcohol (vol): 4.2 Alcohol (wt): 3.34 Color: 7.2 Bitterness: 14 Original gravity: 1034.4
Double Porter-Smoked
Rock Art Brewery Morrisville, VT Available: VT, MA, PA Rock Art Brewery’s graphics incorporate Kokopelli, the ancient flute-playing figure portrayed in petroglyphs across the country. Alcohol (vol): 8.0 Alcohol (wt): 6.37 Color: brown Bitterness: 60 Original gravity: 1072
Toasted Lager
Blue Point Brewing Co. Patchogue, NY Available: NY, NJ, MD, PA, IL, MA, RI The “toasted” part of the name refers to the brewery’s direct-fire brew kettle’s hot flames that impart a toasted flavor to this dark lager. Alcohol (vol): 5.5 Alcohol (wt): 4.4 Color: 22 Bitterness: 28 Original gravity: 1054
Sternweisse
Hacker-Pschorr Munich, Germany Imported by: Star Brands Imports White Plains, NY Available: beginning in June/July The Hacker Brewery was founded in Munich 99 years before the enactment of the Rheinheitsgebot Purity Law of 1516. In 1972, Hacker merged with the much-younger Pschorr Brewery to form Hacker-Pschorr. Alcohol (vol): 5.5 Alcohol (wt): 4.4 Color: n/a Bitterness: […]
Lucky Kat
Magic Hat Brewing Co. Burlington, VT Available: VT, NH, MA, CT, NY, PA, NJ, DL, MD Lucky Kat is Magic Hat’s newest year-round beer. Alcohol (vol): 5.8 Alcohol (wt): 4.6 Color: n/a Bitterness: 58 Original gravity: 1056
Green Lakes Organic Ale
Deschutes Brewery Bend, OR Available: OR, WA, ID, MT, AK, CO, CA After working with Oregon Tilth for nearly six months, Deschutes Brewery received organic certification for its 50-barrel brew house. Alcohol (vol): 5.2 Alcohol (wt): 4.1 Color: 25 Bitterness: 45 Original gravity: 1055