There’s not much to look at while driving through Connecticut on Interstate 95. It’s harbor cities with industrial skylines for the most part, with billboards providing the most visual entertainment between New York and Boston. You quickly get a sense of just how many McDonald’s there are conveniently located just off the next exit. Or... View Article
If you look at the production of beer, it really is often just that, production. There’s a standard recipe, made from ingredients with little variability, and the process is often machine-controlled. For that reason, chances are the Fat Tire you drink today will taste just like the one you enjoyed five years ago, and the... View Article
Tasting notes on the following beers accompanied “Blended to Perfection,” which appeared in our September 2015 issue. These beers were tasted by Ken Weaver.
This sidebar on traditional blended beer styles accompanied “Blended to Perfection,” which appeared in our September 2015 issue. Gueuze: A blend of one-, two-, and three-year-old lambic that requires the blender’s artful attention to not only bring the various vintages to their full potential, but also maintain each producer’s “house” profile. The young lambic brings a... View Article
Tasting notes on the following beers accompanied “Offshoot Breweries,” which appeared in our July 2015 issue.
Some studies suggest that as many as one in seven people may have a sensitivity to gluten. Hannah Murphey considers herself to be one of them. When chronic digestive problems sent Murphey, 30, a teacher from San Carlos, California to a doctor, she tested negative for celiac disease, a serious autoimmune disorder affecting about 1 percent... View Article
Those who today enjoy drinking the beers produced by New York’s F.X. Matt Brewing Co. have soft drinks to thank. It was soda production that helped the Matt family business stay afloat through the 1920s and early ’30s, when producing and selling alcohol became the business of bootleggers. Once Prohibition ended, beer production resumed and... View Article
Is there an official beer of summer? Starting well before Memorial Day each year, ales and lagers with summer in their names, picturing all manner of warm-weather activities or leisure, begin arriving on shelves and on tap. It’s a can-popular season, and from lightly spiced ales to citrus-heavy wheats, or even specialty-branded American lagers, there’s a... View Article
Like so many breweries around the country, New Holland Brewing Co. gives visitors a selection of special offerings when they grab a seat in the brewpub. Recent options have included a maibock, Czech pilsner and even a fermented tea known as kombucha, dubbed “Pina Colada” by the brewers. But sometime around mid-2014, unsuspecting patrons were... View Article
