Features
Resources
www.cheesesociety.org This trade association (ACS) has a good deal of useful information on its site, including a membership directory that lists not only cheesemakers, but specialty retailers as well. www.cheesemaking.com In case you need another hobby. Honest, the microwaved mozzarella is like a miracle! The Atlas of American Artisan Cheese, by Jeff Roberts. This is […]
Getting Started With Beer and Cheese
Cheese offers the same kind of variety, subtlety, sense of terroir and sheer bliss of a great beer, so there’s no reason not to dive right in. As a beer lover, you are already more than halfway there. Here’s my thoughts for getting started.
Cheese Primer
Semi-Soft—These are the familiar cheeses, such as Colby and Jack that have little or no rind, and are not treated with bacteria or fungus. Pasta Filata—These are kneaded cheeses, like Mozzarella and Provolone. The fresher varieties tend to have simple, milky flavors. Wax-Dipped—This is the classic American method, in which cheeses are sealed in an […]
Glassware Directory
Frosted Pint Glass We’re mounting a campaign against the frosted glass: the chill drops the temperature of your beer another five degrees and robs you of flavor. But this is a simple shaker pint with a lightly sand-blasted exterior. That’s a frosted glass we can welcome. $4.00 each, Pub Glasses, www.pubglasses.com
Fine Reproductions
As you can imagine from your own fumbling at the dishpan, there isn’t a lot of genuine 16th century glass left intact. So if you want to know what it’s like to hoist one of these ancients pots to your lips and drink from it, you’re going to have to go repro. There are a […]
The Stein
The stein, or steinkrug, is the epitome of masculine drinkware, despite being closely associated with lederhosen. This epic container is a ubiquitous classic—easy to recognize no matter how ornate or plain its exterior may be. From high culture to pop culture, you can find steins that commemorate anything from military victories to cartoon characters to […]
Glasses as Decorative Art
Since the dawn of civilization, people have been drinking their favorite beverage out of special, artistically decorated vessels: pottery and metal at first, befitting the social class. Glass was used in Roman times, but became much more important for drinking vessels in late Medieval times. Drinking glasses have always been, as they are today, status […]
Oddball Drinking Gadgets
Beer has inspired a variety of odd games, glasses and gadgets. Some were necessary, while others—well, not so much.
Glassware
Like wine, many beers’ underlying aromas and tastes are both influenced and complemented by the vessel in which they are served. This goes beyond visual appeal—although a well-poured beer in a sparkling glass certainly sharpens your anticipation of that first sip. The shape and construction of the glass are meant to enhance aroma and flavor, […]
The Real History of Beer
We all know how craft beer history goes. Beer was great until the 19th century, when mass production of lagers took over the world, and American brewers put corn and rice in their beer to make it cheaper. By 1950, everyone was hypnotized by marketing into drinking the fizzy yellow beer. It looked bad, but […]
The Irish Heartbeat
Walk through The Front Door in Galway and the ear-splitting volume of the music and the size of the fashionable crowd spilling between the first and second floors might deceive you into thinking that you have stumbled into a nightclub in Manhattan.
The Irish Heartbeat
Walk through The Front Door in Galway and the ear-splitting volume of the music and the size of the fashionable crowd spilling between the first and second floors might deceive you into thinking that you have stumbled into a nightclub in Manhattan.
The Irish Heartbeat
Walk through The Front Door in Galway and the ear-splitting volume of the music and the size of the fashionable crowd spilling between the first and second floors might deceive you into thinking that you have stumbled into a nightclub in Manhattan.
Cheese and Beer: A Perfect Partnership
Beer and cheese have a lot on common. As Brooklyn Brewing’s brewmaster, Garrett Oliver, is fond of pointing out, cheese is grass processed by microbes in the cow’s stomach, and beer is grass processed by the brewer and the action of a microbe, yeast.
Columns
Living in Beervana
While visiting a TV station in Albuquerque on business—like many of my beer-writing brethren, I have a “real job” in addition to my “beer job”—one of the news anchors and I got to chatting about my growing enchantment with Land of Enchantment’s famous cuisine.
What I Really Do at the Dixie Cup Every Year—Mostly
Every year since 1989, I have traveled down to Houston, TX, a lovely city that is widely unappreciated among the great cities of this country. Did you know that Houston is closer to Chicago, IL, than it is to El Paso, TX? Moreover, it is a remarkably beautiful city, quite green—not at all the oil-reeking […]
How It All Began
How did this all come about? Well, I wrote about the beginnings of that on these pages, in the January 1991 issue of All About Beer Magazine:
Fred’s 2007 “Good Stuff” Tasting: The Quest for the Holy Ale
All beers are from Texas craft breweries, except the last. 1. Fredericksburg Gold Medal Porter with fresh, hot cornbread slathered with honey and butter 2. St. Arnolds Amber Ale with spiced hazelnuts 3. Two Rows IPA with California Humbolt Fog Blue Bavarian cheese 4. Blue Star Baltic Porter matched with a good blue cheese 5. […]
Departments
Belgian Masterpieces, American Style
“Mussels in Brussels?” That’s what the gal who wrote our plane ticket asked us before our first trip to Belgium.
Big Baltic Porter
British brewers began “imperializing” ales over 200 years ago. Stout and pale ale were re-formulated as stronger variations designed for export: Imperial stout and India pale ale. Imperial stouts were sent to the relatively nearby Baltic regions as a pure commodity; India pale ale to distant India to gratify British troops.
with Matthias Trum, Bremaster
What’s the history of the Schlenkerla tavern and brewery? The building dates back to 1405, so it’s a little more than 600 years old. At the time of its first recording, it was owned by coopers, people who make barrels. In Bamberg, coopers and brewers were united in one guild, so very often the coopers […]
Beer Talk
Lazy Mutt Farmhouse Ale
Minhas Craft Brewery Monroe, WI Available: WI, IN MN The brewery, founded in 1845, is now owned by the sister and brother team of Manjit and Ravinder Minhas, the youngest brewery owners in the United States. ABV: 5 ABW: 4 Color: 4.3 Bitterness: 7 Original Gravity: n/a
Stinger Wild Honey Wheat
Estes Park Brewery Estes Park, CO Available: CO, WI Stinger is brewed with Colorado honey. ABV: 6.1 ABW: 4.86 Color: 10 Bitterness: n/a Original Gravity: 1050
Steelhead Double IPA
Mad River Brewing Co. Blue Lake, CA Available: AZ, CA, CO, ID, MT, NC, NV, OR, PA, VA, WA, WI Mad River Brewing Co. is an industry leader in environmentally responsible brewing, achieving a waste-reduction rate of 98% through composting, recycling, and reuse. ABV: 8.6 ABW: 6.85 Color: reddish-copper Bitterness: n/a Original Gravity: 1080
Narragansett Lager
Narragansett Brewing Co. Providence, RI Available: RI, MA, CT, NH, ME, VT, FL Fans of this Rhode Island beer which dates back to 1888 will remember the jingle “Hi neighbor have a “Gansett!” that played on the radio until 1981. ABV: 5.22 ABW: 4.16 Color: 5 Bitterness: 5.5 Original Gravity: 1004
Chocolate Indulgence
Brewery Ommegang Cooperstown, NY Available: n/a This chocolate stout was released to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Brewery Ommegang. ABV: 7 ABW: 5.8 Color: n/a Bitterness: n/a Original Gravity: n/a
Imperial Choklat Stout
Southern Tier Brewing Co. Available: NY, PA, OH, NJ, MA, RI, CT, MD, VA, MI, IL, WI, ON (Canada) The Popal Vuh, the sacred book of the Maya describes the mystery of xocoatl which was popularized in Europe at the court of Louis XIV. Now it is an ingredient in beer. ABV: 11 ABW: 8.76 […]
Hoppy Otter IPA
Otter Brewing, Savannah, GA Tipple Time, Savannah, GA Available: GA, NC, MA, NY, KY, OH, IN, OR, WA, MD, DE, DC, VA, PA, NJ After a visit to the United States, the team from the Otter Brewery in England decided to create an Old-World-meets-New IPA that combines English floor malts with American hops. ABV: 6.8 […]
Nut Brown Ale
Peak Organic Brewing Co. Portland, ME Available: CA, CT, IL, FL, ME, MA, MN, NH, NY, NJ, PA, DC, VT, VA, WI Organic beer sales are rising in the United States. ABV: 4.8 ABW: 3.8 Color: n/a Bitterness: 28 Original Gravity: 48
Caldera IPA
Caldera Brewing Co. Ashland, OR Available: OR Caldera is the first craft brewery in beer-crazy Oregon to join the growing number of craft brewers releasing their beer in cans. ABV: 6.1 ABW: 4.9 Color: n/a Bitterness: n/a Original Gravity: 1057
Blonde Ale
Orlando Brewing Orlando, FL Available: FL Orlando Brewing Co. is Florida’s only certified organic brewery with beers containing “99% organic ingredients.” ABV: 4.46 ABW: 3.55 Color: 2.9 Bitterness: 10 Original Gravity: 1040
Firestone Pale Ale
Firestone Walker Brewing Co. Paso Robles, CA Available: CA ABV: 4.8 ABW: 3.8 Color: 7 Bitterness: 38 Original Gravity: 1046
Dark Island
The Orkney Brewery Legends, Ltd. Baltimore, MD Available: AZ, CA, CO, DC, DE, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, KY, LA, MA. MD, MI, MN, MO, NC, NJ, NV, NY, OH, OR, PA, RI, SC, TN, VA, WA, WI strong>ABV: 4.6 ABW: 3.65 Color: deep ruby Bitterness: n/a Original Gravity: n/a
Wolaver’s Brown Ale
Otter Creek Brewing Co. Available: ME, NH, CT, MA, VT, RI, NY, NJ, DE, PA, MD, DC, VA, NC, FL, OH, IL, WI, OR, CA, WA, NM Wolaver’s ales are certified organic by Vermont Organic Farmers, using at least 98% organic ingredients. ABV: 5.7 ABW: 4.5 Color: 20 Bitterness: 21 Original Gravity: 1056
Track Town 100 Meter Ale
Eugene City Brewery Eugene City, OR Available: OR, WA, CA, TN, TX, LA, NY, MA, IN Rogue Ales re-opened the brewery where the Eugene Brewery, originally built in 1866, stood. Henry Weinhart purchased it in 1890. The building was torn down in 1914 and rebuilt across the street , where it is sited today. ABV: […]
Schlafly Reserve Barleywine-style Ale (2007)
St. Louis Brewery Available: MO, IL This limited-release beer is aged on new Missouri oak. Schlafly Beer was born in 1991. The company brews 34 different beers, of which it typically serves six or more at a time. ABV: 10.3 ABW: n/a Color: 24 Bitterness: 75 Original Gravity: 23.2
St-Ambrose Oatmeal Stout
McAuslan Brewing Imported by Eurobrews Ashland, MA Available: NY, RI, VA, PA, KY, MA, OH, MD, CA (USA); QC, ON, NS, AB, BC (Canada) This stout, first brewed in 1990, is newly available in the United States. ABV: 5 ABW: 4 Color: black Bitterness: n/a Original Gravity: n/a