The New Yorker released its annual food issue this week and before a hardcopy arrived in my mailbox, my Facebook feed was filled with pictures of the cover. Friends in the beer industry talked about how cool it was and said it’s a sign that beer has “arrived.” The New Yorker asked artist Peter de... View Article
Tell people about this job you have to do and you might get a smirk or a raised eyebrow, or maybe some mock sympathy. However, judging at the Great American Beer Festival (GABF) is serious business. In the days leading up to America’s biggest annual beer gathering at the Colorado Convention Center, a group of... View Article
It was overcast but hot in San Diego on this particular afternoon four years ago, the first time I met Daniel Bradford. It was in a courtyard of an aging hotel and convention complex that was playing host to the annual Craft Brewers Conference and he and I were the only two wearing suit jackets. Bradford, the... View Article
Drinking beer can cause the mind to wander, and to ponder the important questions of our time. Sometimes it can even lead to intriguing hypotheticals. That’s where I found myself several weeks ago when I was having beers with Matt Kirkegaard, an Australian journalist who covers beer. He asked me, quite seriously: If beer was... View Article
BOSTON—For a long while there was a race among brewers to see what kind of strange or oddball ingredient could be used in a beer while still having it taste good. Taking existing styles—ones that have endured for centuries or less—brewers in the United States got to adding all manner of things from spices to... View Article
Here’s something that might be hard to believe in the beer world: until earlier this year San Francisco’s iconic Anchor Brewing Co. did not have a product that was labeled as an IPA. That’s right. India Pale Ale, one of the most popular styles in America. One of the most recognizable and brewed styles in... View Article
Recently, I’ve been told that my beer does not have enough foam. I’ve also been told that my beer has too much foam. In both cases, the arguments were linked to products that could either add to a beer’s head, or reduce it greatly. I first learned of my potential foam problem last autumn at a trade show in... View Article
LAS VEGAS—The email that I received prior to my arrival in Sin City was specific. Representatives in blue-logoed polo shirts and black pants would be waiting by door 51 at Terminal C. They would escort me to the bus that would take me to the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino—dubbed for this week only as... View Article
In the next issue of All About Beer Magazine, I take a look at the art of brewing with coffee and beer. As KBS Week kicks off today, we wanted to share an excerpt from our cover story on the origins of Founders Breakfast Stout. One of the more popular beers on the market is... View Article
