Words have consequences. Even if those words are as obtuse as “that’s not craft,” they can damage friendships, and that kind of thing is ripping up the American brewing industry. It’s time to consider the potential damage. I remember a lot of nasty stuff being said about beer over my lifetime. In the early years... View Article
Whenever the name of a widely distributed American adjunct lager lingers pejoratively on the tongue, a prevailing wisdom tends to lay the blame of any perceived “cheap” or “poor” tastes on adjuncts like corn and rice. The Brewers Association, a trade association that works to define and advocate for craft beer, once excluded brewers who... View Article
While nothing we’ve covered in this Trending column to date can quite match the degree to which hazy IPA has taken off, we are quickly approaching peak berry beer. The larger recent rosé trends in the beverage industry—rosé cider, rosé vodka, rosé gin, rosé hard seltzer, rosé pretty much everything—are ramping up to a fever... View Article
Learning about beer and food can be a ton of fun. Any beer pairing dinner will feature lively interactions carefully put together to show off the best in the beer, and if you’re paying attention, you may pick up on a few general principles and a few hints and tips. But what if you want... View Article
While I’ll travel something fierce to experience the best or most beautiful, most remote or most weird breweries, it’s less reported that I’m also a sucker for doughnuts. I profiled a veteran doughnut baker before I ever interviewed a brewer. I just produced the fourth Baker’s Dozen Festival in Portland, Oregon, which juxtaposed coffee-infused beers... View Article
Even though I am a globe-trotting beer writer, one of the things I love most is boasting about my hometown’s craft beer scene. Since moving to Atlanta in ’94, I knew it would be a matter of time before the entire state of Georgia embraced the craft beer movement. Though I was initially welcomed by... View Article
Every worthwhile human endeavor has a genre of written criticism attached to it: music, theater and film, sports, painting and sculpture, dance, certainly food, and writing itself. Why do we want to write about these things, and why do people eagerly read about them? Why do we write about beer? Why do you read about... View Article
Pittsburgh has come far since James Parton described it in 1868 as “hell with the lid taken off.” Gone is the industrial valley choked by its own smoke. In its place is an emerging tech hub. Beautiful parks from the Point to Mount Washington. Two major research universities and an eminent medical center. Downtown neighborhoods... View Article
A renaissance blossomed in American restaurants throughout the mid-1990s. The Food Network had just launched, and notable chefs were becoming household names. It was a time of growth, experimentation, education and sophistication in the culinary industry—a community that gained a steady foothold during the decade. Diners hungered for new and exciting flavors, farm-fresh ingredients and... View Article
