Features
Pubs and Publicans: The Secrets of America’s Top Taphouses
“Third place.” It’s a term coined by sociologist Ray Oldenburg to denote a site, outside the home and office, where people gather to socialize and enjoy themselves. A third place can be a church, a coffee house, a laundromat or a porch stoop, but a bar is especially suited to the role. A few beers […]
IPA Master Class
If cats have nine lives, then India pale ale can certainly lay claim to two. Its first span was relatively brief, not more than a hundred years. But during that time, this beer style refashioned 19th century brewing, not only in Britain but also on a world scale.
Columns
Remembrance of Things Past
“When nothing else from the past subsists, after people are dead, after the destruction of things, smell and taste alone remain, like souls bearing resiliently, on tiny and almost impalpable drops of their essence, the vast edifice of memory.”
Diatribe No. 130: Three Percent?
Yesterday’s newspaper offered information that all soda pop—including the so-called “diet” stuff and excepting maybe root beer—is destructive to tooth enamel. In other words, my old college swimming coach was perfectly correct when he told us, some 60 years ago, that we would be better off drinking beer than Coke, because the latter would surely […]
Departments
Beer Traveling in Tourist Class
Great beer in new places is always something to look forward to. But much of the fun of Beer Traveling is discovering something new. A brewery tour is a pleasant way to do both. It’s a thirst-quenching way to spend an hour or two while learning about the brewery’s history. You get a close-up look […]
Munich Dunkel
A revered institution is one that endures via love of tradition, one that needs little refinement, let alone overhaul or modernization. In the world of beer, that is, without debate, true about Munich dunkel. Sometimes referred to simply as dunkel (“dark”), it is the everyday, luxuriant brunette brew of Bavaria and Franconia, and the beer […]
with Rich Tucciarone
Most of your generation of brewers begin by homebrewing. Not many start out with a background like yours in food science or brewing chemistry. What were you going to do if brewing hadn’t come along?
Beer Talk
Humalupalicious
Short’s Brewery Bellaire, MI Available: MI Named for Humulus lupulus, the hop plant, not the little people in “Willy Wonka.” ABV: 7 ABW: 5.6 Color: 8-14 Bitterness: 70 Gravity: 1067
BORIS the Crusher Oatmeal Imperial Stout
Hoppin’ Frog Brewing Co. Akron, OH Available: OH, IN, IL “Boris” stands for “Bodacious Oatmeal Russian Imperial Stout.” ABV: n/a ABW: n/a Color: opaque black Bitterness: n/a Gravity: n/a
Festina Peche
Dogfish Head Craft Brewery Milton, DE Available: n/a Festina Peche is a based on the highly tart Berliner weisse style, with the addition of Washington state peaches. ABV: 4.5 ABW: 3.6 Color: hazy straw Bitterness: 12 Gravity: 1044
Dark Starr Stout
Starr Hill Crozet, VA Available: VA A dry Irish stout from a brewpub known both for its beer and its musical line-up. ABV: 4.88 ABW: 3.8 Color: 45 Bitterness: n/a Gravity: 1048
O’Fallon Wheat
O’Fallon Brewery O’Fallon, MO Available: MO, IL O’Fallon Wheat won the bronze medal in the American Hefeweizen category in the 2005 Great American Beer Festival. ABV: 5.1 ABW: 4 Color: 3.6 Bitterness: 10 Gravity: 1048
Moto Belgian Wit
Sequoia Brewing Co. Fresno, CA Available: CA Sequoia brewer Scott Kendall created Moto Brew in 2003 as a private label beer for a motocross event. This Belgian-style wit is the second beer in the series, again with label graphics by motocross designer Troy Lee. ABV: 5.2 ABW: 4.14 Color: n/a Bitterness: n/a Gravity: 1048
Beachside Porter
Florida Beer Co. Melbourne, FL Available: FL, NY, IL, GA, AL Florida Beer Co., the state’s largest craft brewer, was formed in 2005 when Indian River Beverage Corp., a Brevard County brewer since 1997, completed the acquisition of the assets of Ybor City Brewing Co. (which included Miami Brewing and Key West Brewery). ABV: 5.76 […]
Furious
Surly Brewing Co. Brooklyn Center, MN Available: MN Furious, an IPA from Surly Brewing, joins the growing number of fine craft beers available in cans, not bottles. ABV: 6.2 ABW: 4.9 Color: 31 Bitterness: 99 Gravity: 1062
Golden Leaf Pale Ale
City Brewery La Crosse, WI Available: WI, MN, IA The original Golden Leaf brand and bottle label was the product of the Williams Lithography Co. in Milwaukee, established in 1850. E T Mueller bought the rights to the brand in 1899. It was reintroduced with a new label in 1940. The Golden Leaf brand was […]
Good Harbor Golden Ale
Leelanau Brewing Co. Ferndale, MI Available: MI A bière de garde, aged in new French oak, with naturally occurring wild yeast. The recipe was crafted for Leelanau by Ron Jeffries of Jolly Pumpkin Ales. ABV: 7.5 ABW: 6 Color: 4 Bitterness: 20 Gravity: 1067
Orlio Organic Seasonal India Pale Ale
Orlio Organic Ales South Burlington, VT Available: VT, NH, ME, MA, RI, CT, NY, PA, VA, NC Orlio’s three organic beers are brewed and bottled at Magic Hat Brewing Co. ABV: 5.4 ABW: 4.3 Color: n/a Bitterness: 56 Gravity: 1058
Mother’s Milk
Keegan Ales Kingston, NY Available: NY Located in historic Midtown Kingston, NY, Keegan Ales calls a 250 year-old brick foundry building home. ABV: 6.7 ABW: 5.3 Color: 50 Bitterness: 25 Gravity: 1062
Mothership Wit
New Belgian Brewing Co. Ft. Collins, CO Available: western states “Mothership”, long the nickname of New Belgium’s brewing facility, has grown in meaning to encompass the brewery’s sustainable approach to doing business, including becoming the nation’s first fully wind-powered brewery in 1998. This is the brewer’s first organic beer offering. ABV: 4.8 ABW: 3.8 Color: […]
Zatec Bright Lager
Zatec Brewery Zatec, Czech Republic Imported by: Merchant du Vin Tukwila, WA Available: nationwide The Zatec region is the home of the hop variety known in English as Saaz. Brewing records in the town of Zatec go back over 1,000 years. ABV: 4.6 ABW: 3.66 Color: 4 Bitterness: 24 Gravity: 1046
Hop Meadow IPA
Thomas Hooker Brewing Co. West Hartford, CT Available: CT, MA, RI, ME, NY, PA, GA A beer modeled after some West Coast IPAs, but brewed with English malts. ABV: 6.3 ABW: 5 Color: 22 Bitterness: 73 Gravity: 1067
Satin Solstice Imperial Stout
Central Waters Brewing Co. Amherst, WI Available: WI Central Waters Brewpub is housed in Parkin Place, a converted dairy processing plant in Amherst, WI, which operated from 1941 to 1966. Parkin Dairy was noted for the elegant molded ice cream desserts, and the molds are on display at the modern brewpub. ABV: 8.5 ABW: 6.8 […]