If you see the phrase “Czech dark lager” on a taplist, you may wonder about the story behind the style. To find the source, you have to start at a brewpub that has been making beers for over five centuries at the center of Prague.
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We’re three weeks into the NFL season and commercial breaks are notably thin on beer advertising. What’s going on and what does it say about beer, advertising, and this moment in US culture?
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Stray facts don’t help us understand the world. Meaning comes when they are woven together with themes, personality, and drama. A recent biography has got me thinking about how we tell stories and understand the world.
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The Brewers Association announced the winners of the annual Great American Brewers Fest this morning, and I have some of the big winners, the trends, and other interesting tidbits.
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Fresh hop season is underway, and it has so far proven to be unusual—and enlightening. Here are a few early lessons I’m taking away from the selection I’ve found.
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I have a hot alternate take for you on this fine Wednesday before the GABF. Yes, it’s a decades-old competition, but its value isn’t static—and now it may be as valuable as it’s ever been.
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A morning of fresh hops, nitrogen, and the magic the two combined to create.
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In case you can’t make it to the hop harvest this year, I’ve got you covered. Here are all the sights and sounds of a harvest—everything but the intoxicating aroma.
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After twelve years, Reverend Nat’s Hard Cider is ending its run. But founder Nat West isn’t sad about it and he doesn’t want his fans to be, either. Here’s the story, and the legacy the cidery leaves behind.
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No period on the calendar is more anticipated in the Pacific Northwest than fresh hop season. On this Labor Day—the unofficial start date of the green season—here’s a primer to help you navigate your way to the very best pints.
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“We have a secondary yeast that is right in the background called Debaryomyces hansenii, and after the brewery yeast is knackered and has completely given up, there’s a long lag phase and then that kicks in and goes through a secondary fermentation”
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What makes an iconic brewery? I wonder if sometimes it’s the distance from a major city so many of them seem to reside. Living out on the high desert of Eastern Oregon has given Barley Brown’s the freedom to make beers with a definite identity.
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Despite some anxiety that Americans prefer beer less than they used to, the numbers tell a different story.
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Perhaps you’ve seen “West Coast pilsner” on a taplist this summer. It is starting to look like a real style, and when made well, a total delight.
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There are a lot of new products and agents and ingredients on the market that help amplify or transmute or, in some cases, replace hops. But it turns out that good, old-fashioned hops remain the key ingredient in those IPAs we love.
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It’s too hot for normal blogging—but just the right temperature for these hot takes! As you hide from the heat, I invite you to read and retort. What else can we do on a 100-degree day?
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Here’s the latest Fireside Chat audio and video. The discussion was more intimate, frank, and searching than our earlier chats, perhaps because it touched a particular soft place these breweries have. Namely, how does a brewery live, thrive, and survive selling something other than IPAs in a world that just wants hops?
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What is the state of the art in brewing West Coast IPAs? pFriem took that question as its brief and this week releases a new year-round beer that collects all the tricks, techniques, and ingredients that characterize the style. Here’s what they came up with.
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Who had “ABI will sell off seven craft properties plus its weird, lame Shock Top brand to a weed company for $85 million” on their bingo card for this fine Monday? It’s pretty big news around these parts, because two of the brands are big in Oregon.
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With the release of pFriem’s West Coast IPA this week, I’m taking the opportunity to delve into the style—if it can be called that—more deeply. Soon we’ll discuss how pFriem interpreted the style, but first, how do customers understand it?
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