Starry, starry night. The light is low in Orval’s brew house, giving its trinity of copper-clad lauter tuns and kettle the glow of a late sunset, while pinpricks of light adorn the ceiling, the first evening stars. A simple wooden cross hangs on the wall. Colored glass panels featuring devotional scenes add to the sense... View Article
Appearances can be deceptive. The place is an old stone barn amid a group of farm buildings on the edge of a village in the Oxfordshire Cotswolds. This is an area of mellow stone, high hedges, winding lanes and long views over rolling hills. It’s the kind of landscape that is home to many a... View Article
Meantime Helles, 4.4% Honeyed lemon nose; crisp, full-bodied mouth feel with delicate lemony notes, dry grainy finish. Freedom Pilsner, 5% Fine bitter lemon and grainy toasted white bread nose; soft mellow citrus on the palate with a lingering bitter finish. Cotswold Dark Lager, 5.5% Dark gleaming amber; nose is a soothing confection of milk chocolate... View Article
It typically starts off in a basement or a garage, or perhaps, if you’re lucky, in 10 square feet in the corner of the den.
The Federal Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau www.ttb.gov American Homebrewers Association www.homebrewersassociation.org The Brewers Association www.brewersassociation.org
Getting a license to sell beer is often the most harrowing experience many brewers have to deal with, and the ease with which they’re granted varies drastically from state to state. But in order to legally sell beer, a brewer must have a license, and many do pursue this route. In fact, according to Julia... View Article
Here is the paradox of water as it relates to brewing beer: it is, by volume, the dominant ingredient, yet it’s the one that you hear the least about. Hops, with the myriad of exotically named varieties—Fuggles, Tettnanger, Crystal, Nugget, et al.—is the attention-getter that has become the sexy ingredient du jour. Malt, beer’s backbone... View Article
Burton-on-Trent, England The bedrock below Burton, where the city draws its water is rich in minerals—calcium, magnesium, sulphur—and thus quite hard. Though you don’t specifically taste them in the English pale ales, such as Bass, that made the area famous, the effect they have is unmistakable. The clipped, pronounced edge to the hop bitterness is... View Article
I’m not much for soda pop. To my taste, most of it is bland, mass-market stuff lacking in real character or subtlety. But in researching old beers, I’ve seen references to earlier “soft” drinks, not entirely alcohol-free, brewed for refreshment and hydration. While ginger and root beers are still made today, other old school brews... View Article
