A Lviv brewery shifted production from beer to Molotov cocktails over the weekend, as columns of Russian soldiers marched toward Ukraine’s cities. War, in an instant, changes everything.
Read More
A chance discovery of an old homebrew book takes me back to 1971. Man, things were bleak.
Read More
Portland’s Von Ebert pulled off the singular trick of winning gold at both the GABF and Oregon Beer Awards for Volatile Substance, their IPA. A year earlier, their IPA Nothing Noble took bronze at GABF. It was high time I spent some time at the brewery to figure out their secrets.
Read More
A few hours apart, longtime stalwart Hair of the Dog and relative newcomer Modern Times announced they would close the respective breweries that sat a quarter mile apart in industrial Southeast Portland.
Read More
In the 1990s, American brewers discovered Belgian beer and developed a new consciousness around yeast. A similar process went into overdrive a decade later with hops. Malts remain sadly under the radar. But with dozens of small malthouses popping up, are we due for an era of malt consciousness?
Read More
Bud Clark died last week. He was one of Portland's most popular mayors, and sneakily famous for his “Expose Yourself to Art” fundraiser. In a city famous for beer, however, the old publican was also the city's most iconic figure.
Read More
Culture is often something observed in small gestures or when no one is looking. Here are a few observation from my visit to Dublin in 2016.
Read More
Seltzer is made with buckets of highly processed “natural” flavor, which doesn’t seem very crafted. But that same flavor is used in some beer—does that mean it’s not crafted, either?
Read More
The Hop Growers of America have issued their final, official report on the 2021 harvest, and it contains a number of intriguing details.
Read More
Here are two beer reviews, one written by a human at BeerAdvocate and one by AI software. Can you tell the difference? Whether you can or not, this is an unnerving demonstration for those of us who write for a living.
Read More
During an annual deep clean, I surfaced a small cache of personal memories.
Read More
Consolidation among craft brewers happens so often most people just shrug at the announcement of a new acquisition. One small brewer explains why you should care.
Read More
For the most successful of craft breweries, “independence” is increasingly a losing proposition.
Read More
We have a guest for the first event! I’ve got further updates and logistics to report as well. If you haven’t signed up yet, now’s a good time!
Read More
Monster Beverage announced the purchase of Canarchy today, a collective composed of the breweries Cigar City, Oskar Blues, Deep Ellum, Perrin, Squatters, and Wasatch. The deal was valued at $330 million.
Read More
So we bid adieu not just to Saint Archer, but the over-exuberance of an era that thought a buying such a brewery was a good bet. I don’t expect to see Molson Coors buying another small, two-year-old brewery founded by a bunch of surfers anytime soon.
Read More
Media in general has gone through a massive transition in the past decade with the rise of social media, the death of magazines, the arrival of podcasting, and, lately, a sort-of return to blogging in the form of email newsletters. But if you think blogs have no place in today’s media, you couldn’t be more wrong.
Read More
Prague’s U Fleků makes the iconic Czech dark lager, so much so they eschew terms like tmavý and cerne. Their’s is a “Flekovský ležák.” In my latest collaboration, this time with Zoiglhaus, we shoot for an homage. It’s a dead-on banger (no bias), but we didn’t dare name it Flekovský.
Read More
A new brewery in Scotland specializes in vat-aged beers that draw on traditions of previous centuries (as well as this one). Founder Gareth Young, a former university philosopher, has discovered an important style once brewed in his home town: Glasgow porter. He explains herein.
Read More
I have an annual tradition of posting some of my favorite photos from the preceding year. It’s my way of documenting the places I’ve been and the experiences I’ve had. Here’s this year’s batch.
Read More