Beer is a potion of flavor and aroma compounds, and humans are creatures of opinion. In one culture, people favor some and eschew others, while elsewhere they may favor the other and eschew some. This is both inexplicable and universal.
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Now I’m looking for that wonderful, recognizable taste of the harvest. If peach season signals the end of summer, the iridescent green flavor of a fresh hop tastes like autumn.
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Some exciting new research is happening as I write this, and will examine why fresh hops taste different than dried ones. Four breweries are participating, and Oregon State University will be analyzing them. Here are the details.
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Or, how Britain got the Honorable Order of Bass Drinkers while Americans got the milkshake IPA.
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Are GMO yeasts that eliminate diacetyl production a good thing? There’s no “right” answer to this question, but listening to brewers from different generations wrestle with the question turns out to be enlightening in other ways.
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Hamdi Ulukaya bought the Anchor Brewery a year ago. When he did, he purchased both a beer and (sort of), a style. But it might be that the two can’t both survive—one must pass for the other to live.
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For most of the craft beer era, Oregon’s major newspaper has assigned someone to cover beer. The accurate, credible information they’ve provided beer fans over the decades probably plays a much bigger role in our beer culture than we appreciate.
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Modern cask bitters have evolved. Many include juicy new world hops and modern IPA hopping techniques. But to achieve the delicacy and harmony bitters are famous for, breweries have to do more than just adding Citras.
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Why aren’t Americans drinking beer? Maybe because they’re too busy sucking down water, sparkling water, sports drinks, energy drinks, “natural beverage,” and real and artificial juices.
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Last week, a new nonprofit announced the inductees into the American Craft Beer Hall of Fame. They will be familiar to anyone who reads this site, and left me feeling ambivalent. In overlooking less-heralded names, the Hall missed the opportunity to reshape the narrative of American brewing.
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Herein lies one of the more interesting ironies of our times: there is a distinctive New England school of IPA. It is characterized by strength, sweetness, lack of bitterness, and high residual sugar. But maybe the haze is negotiable.
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They start filling up before five and buzz with the chatter of conversation, the clack of cue balls, and the clink of glassware until long after my bed time. Brewery taprooms are struggling, but my local dive bars are flourishing. Why is this?
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The magazine for which I write, Craft Beer & Brewing, has an annual round-up of writers discussing the best beers and experiences they had that year. I didn’t submit one to the mag, which means you can only find it here.
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Did you know that there’s an American Oktoberfest, distinct from the kinds of beers you find at Munich’s famous fest? Did you further know that it’s a more characterful and interesting beer? Well, it is, and here’s why.
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FH Steinbart, the 106-year-old Portland institution, has been sold. This should ensure that the nation’s oldest homebrew shop will carry on for years to come.
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One of the great artifacts of brewing culture was saved from history’s dustbin when Chobani founder Hamdi Ulukaya bought Anchor recently. If you had Chobani money, which other important breweries would you save? Our researchers have investigated hte question and have a definitive list.
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In my nonscientific surveys of the pubs in which I drink, it seems there has been a transition underway: pilsners replacing pale ales as the standard session beer. I decided to check my work to see if this was really true.
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Cask ale is on life support in its home country, and it’s not because the beer isn’t delightful. When fresh, it is. The problem is that old orthodoxies have defended an indefensible method of serving, one that guarantees the beer goes stale very quickly. It never had to be this way.
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When a brewer tweaks the formula and gives a name to their new creation, we tend to want to use the lens of “style” to understand what’s happening. That’s not always the best way to think about things, though.
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Is May the season of our discontent, or is there just something in the air? Lately I’ve been seeing a lot of grumbling about hazy IPAs, a sense of lost fun, and a generalized mood of dyspepsia. But I think things are pretty good.
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