The “Fish” cafes Juho Lehto, a leading figure in the craft beer movement, operates a string of six beer cafes all with fish names. Lehto started the trend for Helsinki bars with welcoming atmospheres, ranging in feel from “grand cafe” to homey sitting room, with daily papers, board games to play, and a great selection... View Article
The Nordic countries seem to fall too far north of the European “beer belt” to be known for great beer. The region’s distilled spirits are more common on American retail shelves than any of its beers, except those of the Danish brewing giant Carlsberg. And a history of prohibition movements and tight government control of... View Article
In the hours immediately after terrorists flew airplanes into the Pentagon and New York City’s twin towers on September 11, Rich O’s Public House publican Roger Baylor paced anxiously between his pub and Pizza Time, the restaurant/bar next door that he also owns. Pizza Time has television sets; his pub does not.
Since the Beer Travelers’ charter is to help readers find interesting places to drink interesting beer, here’s a bit more about the bars in this column: Rich O’s 3312 Plaza Drive, New Albany, IN 812-949-2804 A particularly well-chosen 23 beers on taps, covering a spectrum of styles. Also about 160 to 170 beers by the... View Article
The chicken dance has become as essential to an American Oktoberfest celebration as beer. The tune for the song was written in the late 1950s by a Swiss accordion player named Werner Thomas, who at the time tended a flock of ducks and geese. Thomas, now 72 years old, began performing his unnamed song at... View Article
Consider these two very different scenes: In Munich, Germany, two weeks of celebration begin when the city’s mayor taps a ceremonial keg of beer. By the time it is over, more than 6 million visitors will have consumed about 6 million liters of local beer. In Cullman, AL, “The Fest of Two Worlds” opens October... View Article
Twenty-plus years ago, one of America’s favorite cult beers often was “smuggled” east of the Mississippi. “It was heavenly, like everything else in Colorado,” Jim Robertson wrote in his Connoisseur’s Guide to Beer in 1983.
Deep in the heart of Texas, San Antonio’s links with its rich brewing history are on display in some unlikely places—such as a noted art museum, a historic hotel, and a brewpub run by a local boy who learned the satisfaction of transforming raw ingredients into consumer product while managing his father’s tortilla factory.
Pennsylvania Breweries by Lew Bryson Stackpole Books $16.95, Soft cover, 240 pp. ISBN 0-8117-2898-6 If there were more books like Pennsylvania Breweries, we would never have compiled The Beer Lover’s Guide to the USA. That book began as our personal list of beer places to look for while traveling because there weren’t up-to-date guides to... View Article
