Archive by Author

Imbibe Highlights New Hop Varieties, Alcohol Trends

It’s rare that I’ll lean upon outside news sources or magazine articles as primary content (which probably just points to the fact that good bloggers are significantly more savvy and reactionary than I tend to be), but the recent issue of Imbibe magazine (July/August 2010) touched upon two topics that figure in prominently in this [...]

Desperately Seeking Session Beer: visits Southern Oregon

Our recent trip up north into southern Oregon and to Crater Lake National Park called for two things: (1) a beer that would be appropriate for drinking under the stars, waiting for occasional Perseid meteors; and (2) something appropriate for that afternoon heat, following a long day of hiking and falling asleep in an open boat. [...]

Pictures from the Road: from Sierra Nevada to Crater Lake

Probably one of the hardest things to learn - if not so much in beer writing, then certainly in fiction – is that ultimately the story itself should help determine the manner in which it’s told. One’s epic toenail-clipping adventure, despite all its charms, would probably make a better youTube video than it would a summer [...]

BrewDog, Bacon, and The New Extremes of Craft Beer

The biggest news of last week (possibly some of the biggest news in craft beer in some time, at least in terms of the amount of mainstream media coverage) was obviously the fact that BrewDog made a 50+% ABV beer. Of which it would be selling 11 bottles total. Lovingly packaged in dead animals.

The Hop Press is Now Open to Submissions

For most of the past ten years, Ratebeer Weekly was an important part of Ratebeer’s community of craft beer lovers. And I’m happy to announce that we’re now ready to accept article submissions from Ratebeer users once again. Details inside.

Desperately Seeking Session Beer: A Barrel-Aged Sour in the Heart of Wine Country

Ken’s weekly column is packing up its things, forwarding its mail, defrosting its fridge, and relocating to Wednesday. Huzzah! (Desperately Seeking Session Beer remains a collaborative effort with Lew Bryson’s The Session Beer Project™.)

The Highly Encouraging Trends of Craft Beer

Ali and I have been traveling back east for the past week and a half. We met up with our much-missed DC crew for a weekend of camping and craft beer in Shenandoah National Park. We then headed north, back to Northeastern Pennsylvania (NEPA NEPA!) to drink our fill of Selin’s Grove, stock up on [...]

Excuse me, Sierra Nevada, but are those Blueberries in my Pale Ale?

The Audition 44 hops remain unnamed, simply a number on a piece of paper somewhere. They are probably from Yakima. They may or may not ever see the light of day again. Bill mentioned that, two years previous, they’d tested a hop variety nicknamed “Teamaker”, which produced a unique, black-tea character. Those hops still haven’t reached the point of commercial production. [...]

Desperately Seeking Session Beer: Interview with Dan Carey of New Glarus Brewing Co.

I’d originally planned to interview Dan regarding his fruit beers – Apple Ale, Raspberry Tart, and Belgian Red – but the story of how New Glarus came to be so successful while keeping close to home proved more interesting. This is a story of session beer, of how one brewery thrives without being extreme.

The Best Little Beer Bar in California’s North Bay

Taps Restaurant and Tasting Room in Petaluma opened in September of last year on the ground floor of the historic Petaluma Hotel, just before we moved to the area. We recently caught up with Eric Lafranchi, owner of Taps, before their Firestone Walker Parabola release party.