A decade and a half ago, a prominent national newspaper announced on the front page that the craft beer industry was undergoing a “shakeout.” The immediate reaction to this pronouncement was a lot of backlash with prophecies of the end of craft beer, of the bubble bursting, of doom for beer lovers. Craft beer continues... View Article
On the walk up Putney High Street, my toes turned to little frozen nubs. It was the first of many pub nights I’d share with two friends I made through our semester exchange program in London—Kayla from Oregon, a left-wing blonde with a lip ring, and Sissel, my hall-mate from Stockholm with old Hollywood curls.... View Article
Recently, I got a Facebook message from Joe, one of my numerous post-college roommates. Turns out, he and his partners own a bar in Downtown San Diego, where they are in the process of renovating the upstairs space to include a new beer bar concept. While Joe’s interest in opening a beer bar was not... View Article
It’s not uncommon for me to have a mug of coffee on my desk me while I’m writing about beer. It makes sense given that I spend the afternoons and evenings reporting on the day’s beer news and then the morning transcribing notes or reworking articles. The two beverages are such an important part of... View Article
By now we’ve all become accustomed to seasonal creep with our beers. Summer lagers showing up in April; pumpkin ales arriving in August; this year at least one brewery of German heritage released Oktoberfest in July. Like some others, I’ve begun thinking ahead to make sure I stock up on seasonal beers early so I’m... View Article
As usual, I was scrolling through Facebook in the middle of the day when I saw a beer label that—because of it’s font, coloring and overall look—I assumed was a new beer from Magic Hat. I kept moving. But there it was again, and again, and soon I took a closer look and saw that... View Article
A clash of perspectives is raging in the beer aisles across the country. How should the aisles be set? Are they set by brewery, with all of the beers from that particular outfit grouped together into one big billboard for the business? Or are the beers all grouped together by style, with all the IPAs... View Article
Brian Grossman, whose father, Ken, founded Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. in Chico, CA, in 1979, has been overseeing construction of the company’s new facility in Mills River, NC. The new brewery has already brewed its first batches of beer and will open officially later this year. AAB: Ultimately, how big will the new facility be?... View Article
Everybody I know these days hates light beer, except those who don’t. It’s not just that they don’t prefer light beer or that they like more flavorful beers: They actually actively and morally despise light beer. It’s as if light beer was once a significant other who wronged them somehow—cheated with an import, say—and forgiveness... View Article
