In places that are reopening, tensions abound. “I know some folks who aren’t willing to wear masks have the cavalier attitude: ‘well, I’m not worried about getting sick.’ And that’s fine, but I’m worried about me and my staff, so I’ll keep this mask on and sanitize your picnic table when you leave!”
Read MoreAmong the unloved styles, which is the most unloved? And for those of you who love them anyway, is there hope?
Read MorePilsner Urquell’s ubiquity obscures its importance—and also its general weirdness. Yet this is easily the most influential beer ever made, and one with a history deeply scarred by the darkness of empire and war. It is also, for those who taste carefully, a totally bizarre beer that is quite different from those it inspired.
Read MoreLast Thursday afternoon, Oregon Governor Kate Brown gave the green light for counties in Oregon to reopen businesses in most of the state. Below are accounts from a few breweries about the decisions they made about reopening and why they chose their present course.
Read MoreIt’s been two months to the day since I had a pint of beer in a pub. In that time, alternately feeling like ten years or ten minutes, we’ve inherited a new world.
Read MoreSo much in life has become politicized that it’s hard for any domain to resist being pulled into the culture wars. Craft beer seems to be an exception.
Read MoreAnchor Steam forms the connective tissue binding the older American tradition of European brewing and the inventive era of craft brewing that followed. The processes used to make Steam Beer cast backward, but the formulation created the blueprint craft breweries would use when they emerged a decade later.
Read MoreIn the latest edition of the Coronavirus Diaries, Old Town’s Adam Milne tells us how big banks let him down—but a little, local brewery came to the rescue. Meanwhile, Van Havig offers a typically trenchant take on the current situation, along with an update about the second taproom in planning when the virus hit.
Read MoreIn the latest edition of the Coronavirus Diaries, Lisa Allen updates us on Heater Allen (and offers a touching personal aside), Ben Parsons gives great analysis of the Baerlic’s actions of late, and Matt Van Wyk describes the challenges and opportunities at Alesong.
Read MoreA story Fritz Maytag told in 2010 would seem to complicate the narrative about the “first American IPA.”
Read MoreWhen things are dire, seek safety and comfort of the familiar, which salves our frazzled temperaments. That classic flagship reaches a different part of our consciousness, the place hankering some reassurance amid a world with too much change.
Read MoreEven though many of us are cooped up inside our little pockets of stasis, the world continues to move forward. Here are a few interesting things underway.
Read MoreDuring this time of pandemic, when we have more time for reading than exploring new beers, I thought it would be a great time to explore some classic, much imitated (but rarely equaled) beers and what makes them tick.
Read MoreI’ve been joking that it’s been slightly deflating to learn that your site is less a place of intrinsic interest than one where bored workers rest their eyes as they avoid work, but this pandemic has brought hard truths to us all.
Read More“The decision was easy: get that beer into bottles as soon as possible and get it into the hands of our supporters who would hopefully like to enjoy it. If Rosenstadt had any chance of survival, this would have to be it.” (Tobias Hahn, Rosenstadt)
Read MoreToday’s wonderful document from this moment in history is a long account from Gigantic’s Van Havig. It perfectly captures the nearly universal twin reality we’re all living in right now: one of hard realities and forced behavior on the one hand and the deeply emotional reaction this moment creates.
Read MoreMost of the city’s activity, once focused on commercial hubs, has moved to residential streets. What’s happening with the breweries? I decided to take a tour and have a look.
Read MoreIf the name or ingredients in a beer change over the century, is it a different beer? How do we contend with “style” in the historical record when beers evolve?
Read MoreOn Friday, afternoon of April 10, between 2:15 and 3pm, I took a bike ride through the most densely-populated parts of Portland, Oregon, a city of 650,000. This is what things looked like.
Read MoreIn the latest update from Baerlic, Gigantic, Heater Allen, Old Town, and Reverend Nat’s, we hear how things are going with production schedules, home delivery, and government assistance as the ongoing COVID-19 crisis continues.
Read More
