Features
Guiding Thirsty Travelers
In 1987, a D.C.-based freelance journalist and speechwriter named Jack Erickson published the first comprehensive guidebook for people who not only wanted to drink American craft beer, but visit the breweries, too. Star Spangled Beer: A Guide to America’s New Microbreweries and Brewpubs devoted one-third of its 155 pages to directories of American microbreweries and […]
Rise of the Micro-Maltsters
Spend enough time in a tavern or a taproom and you’ll almost certainly hear it. Hophead: a beer lover with a bad case of the bitters. From extra-pale ales to imperial stouts, nothing makes them happier than a pint exploding with hop flavor and aroma. You know who you are. Plenty of brewers put themselves […]
Drafting A Revolution
One day in August, 1965, a 27-year-old former graduate student in Japanese studies at Stanford walked into his favorite bar, the Old Spaghetti Factory in San Francisco’s trendy North Beach neighborhood. He ordered his usual: an Anchor Steam. The bar’s owner, a World War II veteran and local eccentric named Fred Kuh, ambled over. “You […]
Columns
My Winding Journey to Beer
by Julia HerzAll beer lovers have their story. Mine began in an unlikely way, but looking back now it all makes sense. When I was young, my brother, Billy, had a beer can collection. I remember following him on my banana-seat bike (sans tassels ’cause that’s how I rolled) as he’d score collectibles in shopping mall parking […]
Making the Case for Beervana
The United States now has more breweries than any other country in the world, more than 2,400, according to the Brewers Association. We are opening small breweries about as fast as they are being closed in Germany! More than 10 percent of U.S. breweries are here in Oregon.
Departments
Pull Up A Stool with Tyson Arp
Tyson Arp has been with the brewpub since it first opened just over five years ago. Originally a carpenter, he studied brewing at the Siebel Institute. His lucky break came when he won Best in Show at his first homebrewing competition. One of the judges, Paul Kavulak, was poised to open Nebraska Brewing Co., and […]
Beer Talk
Helles Golden Lager
Sly Fox Brewing Co. Pottstown, PA A German-style golden lager brewed with imported German pils malt and Saaz and Hallertauer hops. Packaged in a can with a removable lid. ABV: 4.9 ABW: 3.9 COLOR: 4.5 BITTERNESS: 18 ORIGINAL GRAVITY: 1046 AVAILABLE: PA, NJ, NY, DE
Totonac Bourbon Vanilla Oatmeal Stout
Dolores River Brewing Co. Dolores, CO Named for the Totonac people of Mexico, credited as the first to cultivate vanilla by hand-pollinating the vanilla orchid. A stout brewed with flaked oats and conditioned with whole bourbon vanilla beans. ABV 6.8 ABW 5.4 COLOR: 42 BITTERNESS: 48 Original Gravity: 1064 AVAILABLE: CO
Sága IPA
Summit Brewing Co. Saint Paul, MN Named after the Norse goddess Sága, drinking companion of the God Odin. Norse epic poems depict the two drinking from golden cups to the sound of waves resounding nearby. ABV: 6.4 ABW: 5.0 COLOR: 9 BITTERNESS: 80 ORIGINAL GRAVITY: 1056 AVAILABLE: FL, IL, IN, IA, KS, KY, MI, MN, […]
Gaspar’s Porter
Florida Beer Co. Melbourne, FL This porter is brewed with a combination of eight malts, including four distinct specialty malts (Victory, chocolate, rye and midnight wheat), and Nugget and Cascade hops. ABV: 6.1 ABW: 4.8 COLOR: 37 BITTERNESS: 40 ORIGINAL GRAVITY: AVAILABLE: FL, MD, VA, DC
Tank 7 Farmhouse Ale
Boulevard Brewing Co. Kansas City, MO At Boulevard, fermenter No. 7 is considered a temperamental piece of equipment. However, when brewers were experimenting with variations on Belgian-style farmhouse ale, the final version came together in Tank 7, an accomplishment this beer’s name commemorates. ABV: 8.5 ABW: 6.8 COLOR: 4.96 BITTERNESS: 38 ORIGINAL GRAVITY: 1069 AVAILABLE: […]
Rubber Mills Pils
Pearl Street Brewery La Crosse, WI Pearl Street Brewery, which started in a basement with a seven-barrel subterranean brewhouse, is now a 30-barrel brewery. Rubber Mills Pils is hopped with whole-leaf Saaz hops. ABV: 5 ABW: 3.92 COLOR: 30 BITTERNESS: 50 ORIGINAL GRAVITY: 1044 AVAILABLE: WI
Oil Man Imperial Stout
Elevation Beer Co. Poncha Springs, CO Oil Man is aged in Breckenridge Distillery bourbon barrels. The beer is part of Elevation’s Double Black Diamond series, which features “extremely complex barrel-aged beers.” ABV: 11 ABW: 8.8 COLOR: 40 BITTERNESS: 50 ORIGINAL GRAVITY: 1081 AVAILABLE: CO
Cherry Blossom Lager
Old Dominion Brewing Co. Dover, DE Old Dominion, once Virginia-based, is now a part of Fordham Brewing Co., under the umbrella of Coastal Brewing Co. Cherry Blossom Lager is conditioned on 300 pounds of Michigan cherries for 48 hours. ABV: 5.4 ABW: 4.2 COLOR: 7.1 BITTERNESS: 18.5 ORIGINAL GRAVITY: 1050 AVAILABLE: MD, DE, NJ, VA, […]
Brunette
Fireman’s Brew Ukiah, CA Started by two Los Angeles-based firemen, Fireman’s Brew offers three year-round beers, in addition to coffee and soda. Brunette is a traditionally styled German doppelbock. ABV: 8.0 ABW: 6.23 COLOR: N/A BITTERNESS: 19 ORIGINAL GRAVITY: N/A AVAILABLE: AZ, CA, CO, IL, NE, NV
Undercover Investigation Shut-down Ale
Lagunitas Brewing Co. Petaluma, CA This beer is brewed in remembrance of the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control’s 2005 undercover investigation into a suspected marijuana-selling ring at a weekly Lagunitas tasting. The ABC could only find Lagunitas guilty of running a “disorderly house” and placed the brewery on a 20-day suspension. ABV: 9.75 ABW: […]
Resin Imperial IPA
Sixpoint Brewery Brooklyn, NY Resin is one of Sixpoint Brewery’s latest beers to be released for year-round canning, joining Sweet Action, Righteous Ale, Bengali Tiger, The Crisp and Brownstone. ABV: 9.1 ABW: 7.28 COLOR: 9.5 BITTERNESS: 103 ORIGINAL GRAVITY: 1078 AVAILABLE: CT, DE, FL, IL, IN, KY, MA, MD, ME, MI, NH, NJ, NY, OH, […]
Outta Range Pale Ale
Lone Tree Brewing Co. Lone Tree, CO A pale ale brewed with a combination of malts including but not limited to Maris Otter, dark Munich, Crystal 45 and flaked wheat, and several different American hop varieties. This beer is bittered with CTZ (Columbus, Tomahawk, and Zeus—three varieties often grouped together) and dry hopped with Simcoe […]
Whale Ale
Six Row Brewing Co. St. Louis, MO Whale is a hybrid wheat and pale ale. It features a total of 10 malts and three hop varieties. Whale is hopped like a pale ale in a malt-forward style. At Six Row, it is dubbed Frankenbrew. ABV: 5.5 ABW: 4.4 COLOR: 5.5 BITTERNESS: 35 ORIGINAL GRAVITY: 1041 […]
Maibock
Fort Collins Brewery Fort Collins, CO Fort Collins Brewery says this beer, brewed with Munich malt, is brewed in the fall, aged in the winter and celebrated in the spring. ABV: 6.4 ABW: 5.2 COLOR: 22 BITTERNESS: 34 ORIGINAL GRAVITY: 1068 AVAILABLE: AR, CO, FL, GA, IL, IA, KS, KY, LA, MI, MS, NJ, NC, […]
Point The Way IPA
Golden Road Brewing Co. Los Angeles Point The Way is brewed with two-row, Golden Promise and Caramalt and hopped with Cascade, Chinook, HBC 342, Galena and Warrior hops. ABV: 5.9 ABW: 4.7 COLOR: N/A BITTERNESS: 60 ORIGINAL GRAVITY: N/A AVAILABLE: CA
Gypsy Tears Ruby Ale
Parallel 49 Brewing Co. Vancouver, BC, Canada Parallel 49 is the realized dream of three lifelong friends from Vancouver. Gypsy Tears Ruby Ale, which is one of the brewery’s three year-round releases, is brewed using only late hop additions and dry-hopping. ABV: 6 ABW: 4.8 COLOR: 23 BITTERNESS: 46 ORIGINAL GRAVITY: 1060 AVAILABLE: BC, AB, […]