Features
Team Yeast
GROUP EFFORT In John Palmer’s How To Brew, he recommends pitching around 400 billion yeast cells for a 5-gallon batch of high-gravity beer. (He does not, thankfully, recommend counting them out one by one.) On a per-bottle basis, that means more than 7 billion yeast helped make that 12-ounce bottle of imperial stout—equivalent to the […]
Beer Around the House…and Garden?
We’re so used to beer in our glass that it’s worth giving pause to consider how useful beer can be outside of the glass. Besides providing enjoyable nourishment, beer can be a useful tool around the house and garden. If you’ve ever been had to figure out what to do with leftover or undesirable beer, […]
Raised from the dead
Driven by the never-ending nostalgia craze, several old-time brands have risen from the grave, including: Duquesne (1899-1972) Once king of western Pennsylvania, the Duke returned a couple years ago, calling itself “the Prince of Pilsner.” Falls City (1905-1978) Formed as an attempt to break Louisville’s beer monopoly, the brand was once the official beer of […]
How They Survive Today
Anchor Brewing San Francisco Founded: 1896 Current rank: 32 How it survived Prohibition: Shut down for duration. How it survives today: Fritz Maytag’s legacy. Anheuser-Busch St. Louis Founded: 1852 Current rank: 1 How it survived Prohibition: Grape soda, ginger ale, carbonated coffee. How it survives today: Resistance is futile. Cold Springs (formerly Gluek) Cold Springs, […]
Heritage Breweries
“Brewing since 1907.” For an industry that spends millions to emphasize the freshness of its product, there’s still some attention to be paid to dusty, sepia-shaded history. “Made in San Francisco since 1896.” It takes some looking, but if you shuffle through the cooler at your local beer store you’ll find labels that proudly boast […]
The Secret Life of Yeast
To earlier generations of brewers, the microscopic beings responsible for fermentation typically arrived on the scene in the form of a family’s trusty brewing stick, the dank, wooden crevasses pocking the walls of a farmhouse, or straight from thin air, carried along within the currents of cool nightly breezes. While a growing number of traditionally […]
McMedalists
How good is the beer coming out of chain brewpubs? Pretty good if the 2011 Great American Beer Festival results are any indication. TAPS Fish House & Brewery, a California chain with seven locations in Orange County, was named Brewpub Group of the Year, winning a gold medal for the German-Style schwarzbier made in Corona, […]
Five Largest Brewpub Chains
BJ’s Restaurant & Brewery (53,203) (Includes contract barrels.) Rock Bottom Restaurants (42,576) (Includes Walnut Brewery and Chophouse locations) Gordon Biersch Brewery (32,631) (Includes Big River Grille, A1A Alehouse and other locations) McMenamins Breweries (23,848) Ram/Big Horn Brewery (20,579) (Includes C.B. Potts and C.I. Shenanigans) (Brewers Association data based on 2010 sales)
Chain Brewpubs Shine on the American Craft Beer Landscape
The craft beer movement has always been one part quality, one part creativity and one part rebellion against corporate business practices that place an emphasis on efficiency, operating systems and conformity. In the early days of craft beer this, David vs. Goliath philosophy came to life most vibrantly in the form of brewpubs.
Columns
Dad, Can I Try a Sip of Your Beer?
Read that headline again. I vaguely remember asking my dad that very question. If I had to guess, I was in the third grade. My dad wasn’t a regular beer drinker, but he certainly enjoyed a cold Bud after a few hours of mowing the lawn under the blazing Nebraska summer sun. One day I […]
In The Beginning, One Of Our Beverages Had Disappeared
I started to write about the good taste of beer, as opposed to brewing beer, in 1978. I had been brewing and writing about brewing since 1969. And I had been struggling to publish the Amateur Brewer since early in 1977. A local delicatessen asked me to write a column about beer for their monthly […]
Departments
with Geoff and Marcy Larson
Congratulations on this anniversary! What’s the most surprising thing to you about the fact that you’re sitting there in Juneau, observing the 25th anniversary of your brewery? Marcy: It went by so fast—in some ways. It seems like forever ago that we were first were trying to raise the money and all that, but on […]
Maibock and Helles Bock
Nowadays, beer lovers can turn to seasonal brews at virtually any time of the year. New season-specific styles, such as fresh hop and pumpkin ale, have taken a seat at the table with more reverent names such as oktoberbest, doppelbock and winter warmers. Many seasonals were originally brewed for celebrations, or when ambient conditions or […]
Feelin’ Single?
Sawtooth Brewery’s Kevin Jones is an avid mountain biker, frequently taking advantage of more than 500 miles of single-track with new trails continually being developed. USA Cycling was so pleased with hosting the new Cross Country Mountain Bike National Championships in Sun Valley last summer that it returns July 19-22 this year. Among the features that […]
Getting Loopy
The area is ideal for riders of all levels and boasts 99 percent singletrack. If tackling the entire 142-mile Kokopelli trail is over the top, the Tabeguache Trail System is equally popular. Snazzy said many of the rides are called lunch loops because people spend their lunch breaks on them. If you’re looking for backcountry […]
Cascading Bend
Set in and against the Cascades, mountain biking trails abound in this natural playground. An hour’s drive out of town is the volcano Mount Bachelor from which Deschutes’ refreshing ESB takes its name. The Sparks Lake to Lava Lake Trail is heavenly singletrack sp? covering lava rocks and crossing alpine streams amidst lush forest. The […]
Mountain Biking
It’s not just New Belgium’s Fat Tire. There’s Ska’s Wheel Sucker, Hopwork’s Bike IPA, Chama River’s Broken Spoke, and, of course, Boulder’s Singletrack. People passionate about biking and those who are fanatical about craft beer share a huge overlap. Naturally, the mountainous areas of this country that have become renowned for their biking are breeding […]
Beer Talk
Koko Brown
Kona Brewing Co. Kona, Hawaii Available: AZ, CA, CO, CT, FL, GA, HI, ID, IL, IN, KS, KY, MA, MD, ME, MN, MO, NC, ND, NE, NH, NJ, NM, NV, NY, OH, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TX, VA, WA, WI, WY. Kona Brewing Company was started in the spring of 1994 by father and […]
Black Metal Imperial Stout
Jester King Craft Brewery Austin, TX Available: TX Located in the beautiful Texas Hill Country, Jester King Craft Brewery is an authentic farmhouse brewery committed to brewing artisan ales of great depth and character. ABV: 10.4 ABW: n/a Color: n/a Bitterness: n/a Original gravity: 1108
Deviant Dale’s
Oskar Blues Brewery Longmont, CO Available: AZ, CA, CO, CT, FL, GA, MA, MD, NC, NH, NJ, NM, NY, OR, PA, RI, SC, TN, TX, VA, WA, WI, WY This beer is intended to be a sensory assault for hop lovers. At 8% ABV, four hop additions during the brewing process, and a final wallop […]
Black IPA
Alaskan Brewing Co. Juneau, AK Available: AK, AZ, CA, CO, ID, MT, NV, OR, WA, WY Alaska has a rich history of brewing. From the explorers of the 1700s through the Gold Rush, many a thirsty Alaskan has been able to enjoy locally made beers. In 1986, Marcy and Geoff Larson reignited that tradition when […]
Hop Bomber
Rivertown Brewing Co. Cincinnati, OH Available: IN, KY, OH An American pale ale named after the famous B-24 Liberator bomber. This beer has a wonderful malt backbone from the use of dark English crystal malt and spicy fresh rye malt. It is dry hopped with two varieties of American hops for a crisp, refreshing flavor. […]
Cascade Kriek Ale
Cascade Brewing / Raccoon Lodge & Brewpub Portland, OR Available: CA, FL, IN, MA, NY, PA, SC, OR, WA Located in Portland, OR, Cascade Brewing is an award-winning brewer of Northwest-Style sour ales. The brewery has more than 400 oak barrels that once held wine, port, sherry or whiskey, now filled with sour base beers […]
Steel Toe Stout
Ska Brewing Co. Durango, CO Available: AZ, CO, IL, KS, MO, NC, NE, NM, TX Steel Toe is one of Ska Brewing Company’s most decorated beers with 12 national and international medals including 3 GABF medals and a World Beer Cup. ABV: 5.4 ABW: 4.32 Color: 41 Bitterness: 15 Original gravity: 1073
AMA Bionda
Amarcord Brewery Apecchio, Italy Available: CT, DE, FL, GA, IL, IN, KT, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, NH, NJ, NY, NC, OH, PA, RI, SC, TN, TX, VT, VA Brewed by Amarcord Brewery (Birra Amarcord) in the small medieval town of Apecchio, Italy, AMA Bionda is a beer made specifically for the Italian dinner […]
Monk’s Indiscretion
Sound Brewery Poulsbo, WA Available: WA Sound Brewery is the dream project realized for five like-minded individuals with a common goal: To make and distribute the types of beers that we’ve been buying, searching for, imagining, brewing and enjoying for decades. ABV: 10 ABW: 7.96 Color: n/a Bitterness: n/a Original gravity: n/a
Northstar Imperial Porter
Twisted Pine Brewing Co. Boulder, CO Available: CO, FL, LA, NE, NM, MO, TX Twisted Pine Brewing Co. is driven by innovation and experimentation in brewing. We are inspired by our employees and promise to produce a high quality, all-natural product. We pride ourselves on customer satisfaction, community service and socially conscious, ethical business practices. […]
Imperial Stout
Nøgne Ø – Det Kompromissløse Bryggeri Grimstad, Norway Available: All states, except AR, MS, TX When Nøgne Ø was founded 10 years ago it was not with commercial intentions. It was all about the love of beer. Today, though things have changed and there are salaries to pay and budgets targets to meet, we have […]
Hefe-Weizen Dark
Erdinger Erding, Germany Imported by: Erdinger USA Littleton, CO Erdinger dark hefeweizen is a traditional bottle-fermented German wheat beer. ABV: 5.5 ABW: 4.4 Color: n/a Bitterness: n/a Original gravity: n/a
Provo Girl Pilsner
Salt Lake Brewing Co. Salt Lake City, UT Available: UT In the Bavarian tradition, this golden-hued Pilsner is brewed with German variety Magnum hops then lagered for 30 days. ABV: 4 ABW: 3.18 Color: n/a Bitterness: n/a Original gravity: n/a
Flagraiser IPA
Somerville Brewing Co. Somerville, MA Available: DE, MD, VA Slumbrew is the research and development brand and concept of Somerville Brewing Company. Our mission is to brew unique, ingredient-driven beers that challenge common notions of what a beer should taste like. ABV: ABW: Color: Bitterness: Original gravity:
Milk Stout
Lancaster Brewing Co. Lancaster, PA Available: DE, MD, NJ, PA, VA By producing Lancaster’s first commercially brewed beer in nearly 40 years, Lancaster Brewing Company has reawakened a rich and colorful brewing history. In 1995, Lancaster Malt Brewing opened and brought back the popularity of Lancaster-brewed beer. ABV: 7.9 ABW: n/a Color: n/a Bitterness: n/a […]
Grand Cru
Brasserie St-Feuillien Le Rœulx, Belgium Available: AK, AZ, CA, CO, CT, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, KY, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, MT, NE, NV, NJ, NM, NY, NC, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, TX, VT, VA, WA, WI, WY Grand Cru is a speciality beer carefully crafted by Belgium’s St […]