In its final chapter, Stone Brewing ends up in the hands of a multinational beer company as a diminished brand selling a lime-flavored Mexican lager. That’s certainly not how Greg Koch drew it up when he was selling Arrogant Bastard all those years ago.
Read MoreOne of the more remarkable stories in the beer world is the incredibly long process of developing a viable commercial hop variety, and the long odds any single seed has of becoming a winner. In this piece, I examine HBC 1019 to see how it all works.
Read MoreAfter revolutions in hop breeding and product development and micromalting, yeast is getting its moment in the sun. A proliferating number of yeast labs offer organic and genetically-modified strains that do things like ferment without diacetyl or finish in half the time.
Read More“Old Portland” is dead. Long live Old Portland!
Read MorePew Research just released a report on journalists’ attitudes about their profession. There’s just one problem: Pew apparently thinks we all write about politics.
Read MoreWe know it’s impossible to keep track of all the breweries in the country, never mind their individual beers. I was doing some back-of-the-envelope math recently and was startled to learn just how many beers they actually make. That plus a look at the world’s largest beer company. It’s really large!
Read MoreOn my recent, short visit to Seattle, I managed to pop in to six different breweries, but here are three that illustrate the range and diversity the city now boasts.
Read MoreOld breweries compact time and preserve it. The hands of old brewers are evident in every dent and scuff. Their habits are preserved in the movements of the brewers they trained. When I stepped into Caledonian’s brewhouse, wort steaming and foaming in weird bespoke coppers, it might have well been 1869.
Read MoreIn the wake of the news Trappist monks at St Joseph we’re closing their Spencer Brewery, I have happy news. Father Martin confirms Oregon’s Benedictine Brewery is thriving.
Read MoreDo you subscribe to my weekly digest emails? If not, you’re missing some good stuff.
Read MoreThis half-mile jaunt through Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood will take you past nine breweries (and a cidery). Surely no place has more breweries per linear foot than this?
Read MoreMassachusetts-based Spencer Brewing, America’s only Trappist brewery, abruptly announced its closure a couple weeks back. The causes tell us a lot about how challenging the brewing business has become.
Read MoreThe people have spoken. And, unlike so much in America, they speak with a single, unified voice. From coast to coast, people’s preferences with respect to hazy IPAs are remarkably consistent. They also hint at a move back toward a drier, more bitter palate.
Read MoreI stepped into the exhibition hall in Oslo and felt a buzz of excitement, like an electrical current, crackle through the jubilant crowd. It was my first beer festival in over a thousand days, and despite its distant location, it felt familiar in all the best ways.
Read MoreAmericans are increasingly aware of kveik yeast, which comes from the Western fjords of Norway. Too few are aware of the surviving tradition that preserved those yeasts, or how it’s so much more than just about brewing. I hope my description, along with a short film, offer more context.
Read MoreI need your help! I’m working on an article about the way IPAs have evolved in different regions of the US. If you have a few minutes and you live in the US, please consider filling out this survey. I’d love a robust sample size, so share it with your friends!
Read MoreI am finishing up my short trip to Norway, and have a brief comment and some pictures to hold you over until the real blogging can begin.
Read MoreStanding in front of the taplist at Brygg in Oslo, you might mistake it for a pub in Ohio. After a few days in Norway, one brewery tour, and three sessions at the Oslo Craft Beer Festival, I can tell you we’re not in Ohio anymore.
Read MoreAs a response to the strife of 2020, Reuben’s and Metier created an immersive, stipended mentorship program called the Mosaic State Brewers Collective. Here’s the story behind the program, which is now taking applications for year two.
Read MoreThe beer at Mountain View Brewing is the fourth-most important product, and visitors realize immediately they’ve actually wandered in to a winery. The beer, however, is no afterthought.
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