I just returned from my therapist, and he says I’m fighting a newly discovered discontent known simply as GBA (Grumpy Brewer Affliction). It’s not contagious, but given that I’ve been in the craft brewing business for almost 20 years now, he’s not surprised I caught it. Apparently, I am one of many brewers (young and old) who... View Article
Seventeen years ago, I earned my first brewing gig as an assistant brewer at a startup brewpub in downtown San Diego called Cervecerias La Cruda. Like many apprentice brewers of that era, I was a great consumer, but I was greener than the Jolly Green Giant when it came to brewing knowledge. I knew what... View Article
There should always be a spot reserved in the cellar for abbey and Trappist beers. Though the brewers of these beers may be considered idiosyncratic, it would be fair to say that they have largely settled on a few loose styles. North American microbrewers have long been disciples of the abbey/Trappist doctrine, but homebrewers also... View Article
Porter in all its forms may be one of the more misunderstood and underappreciated of all beer styles. Common porter was the dominant brew on the planet during the cusp of the 18th and 19th centuries, bringing rock-star fortunes to the beer barons of London and great beer to a global clientele. Porter was sent... View Article
Brewing Made Easy is a handy-dandy little guide to getting new brewers up and brewing quickly. By following this book’s easy-to-follow instructions, anyone can become a confident homebrewer in short order. This is the second edition (the first edition dates to 1996). Both editions were written by Joe and Dennis Fisher. The brothers Fisher run... View Article
Growing up in a family with three Heisman Trophy winners and NFL running backs (John Cappelletti and, through marriage, Alan Ameche and Glenn Davis), I never had to go far for my football fix. Games, memorabilia, awards banquets—I was blessed to have intimate access to a sport I loved. But it wasn’t until I left... View Article
California earned its place on the world wine stage at the Judgment of Paris in 1976 when, in a blind tasting, French judges selected both a Californian white and a red over wines from their country. Not only was this a major hit to the French psyche, it also signaled to the world that Americans... View Article
For Trekkies, space is the final frontier. For nerds of another flavor—beer geeks—there’s always somewhere new to explore, some vast area of beer to pioneer if only on a personal level. With a rapidly growing number of hubs that vie for the title of Beer Town, USA, what about places not yet steeped in suds?... View Article
Do you know what a SKU is? In the consumer goods industry, it is an abbreviation for stock keeping unit, and we pronounce it “skew.” A stock-keeping unit is just a very unfancy way of referring to a specific brand and package combination. In the beer industry, a brand would be Lagunitas IPA. A package... View Article
