Features
Tasting Beers from Offshoot Breweries
by John HollTasting notes on the following beers accompanied “Offshoot Breweries,” which appeared in our July 2015 issue.
Pedaling for Beer: A Bike Tour of Belgium’s Southern Highlands
by Dan RabinOn a damp Monday afternoon in a bustling café in a small village deep in the Ardennes highlands of southeast Belgium, I was enjoying my first beer of the day. Houblon Chouffe, a Belgian IPA, offered an interesting interplay of noble and American hops and spicy Belgian yeast. The 9% ale, produced at Brasserie d’Achouffe,... View Article
The Beercycling Experience
by Dan RabinBeercycling was founded in 2011 by Evan Cohan, a Portland, Oregon-based systems administrator and, not surprisingly, a beer and cycling devotee. Before the Beercycling concept had taken root, Cohan’s appreciation of Belgian ales had prompted a biking pilgrimage to Belgium, where “I just fell in love with the country,” explains the adventure-loving 33-year-old. “The business... View Article
Offshoot Breweries: Why Established Companies are Opening Spinoff Facilities
by Justin KennedyOne afternoon several years ago, Jace Marti was wandering the warehouse of his family’s 150-year-old brewery in New Ulm, Minnesota, when he discovered a set of hulking cypress lagering tanks. The tanks, which dated to the 1930s and hadn’t been in use by August Schell Brewing Co. for nearly 20 years were in terrible, dilapidated... View Article
The Agony and Ecstasy of Beer Reviews
by Heather VandenengelWhen Scott Smith, founder and owner of East End Brewing in Pittsburgh, started selling his beer more than a decade ago, rating websites like BeerAdvocate and RateBeer were valuable resources for his young brewery. In the pre-social-media era, the forums on the sites provided insightful access to consumers, and reviews provided a “first line” for... View Article
Tasting Beers with Flawless Consumer Ratings
by John HollThe following three beers accompanied “The Agony and Ecstasy of Beer Reviews,” which appeared in our July 2015 issue. Consumer review systems often find their value depending upon how effectively the information is presented and, in turn, used. Individual beer pages on RateBeer include, in addition to each beer’s overall score, its score relative to just those... View Article
Shell Game: The Storied Past and Bountiful Resurgence of Oyster Stouts
by Jess MayhughA few months after the BP oil spill ravaged the Gulf Coast in the spring of 2010, Louisiana’s Abita Brewing Co. announced a homebrew contest. Hundreds of recipes came in from around the country. Baton Rouge native Kerry Dale Yoes, who had been homebrewing for eight years, looked to his beloved-now-ravaged home for inspiration. “After... View Article
Columns
Departments
Stout Hearted Brewing
by K. Florian KlempI remember when stout was synonymous with Guinness. When we talk stout now, it’s described by brand, ingredients or sub-style. Few taprooms are without at least one on offer. Irish dry, foreign extra, English, American, sweet and imperial are the familiar basic styles, but the variety based on those is as wide as in any... View Article
Pairing Roller Coasters and Beer
by Brian YaegerBeer pairs with a great many things, primarily food and good company, but it’s fun to explore the less-cerebral marriages, too. Consider roller coasters. Both the beverage and the ride are capable of taking you on a wild adventure of the senses. Now, personally, the last thing I want to do after enjoying a few... View Article
Pull Up A Stool With Eugene Kashper
by John HollHeadlines (including in this magazine) spoke of a Russian company purchasing the iconic American Pabst Brewing Co. when Eugene Kashper bought the brewery in 2014. While born in the Soviet Union, Kashper and his family immigrated to the U.S. as political refugees when he was 6 years old, and he later became an American citizen.... View Article
Yuengling at Top of Craft
by Heather VandenengelThe Brewers Association (BA) released the top 50 U.S. craft brewing companies, based on 2014 beer sales volume, and for the first time Pennsylvania’s D.G. Yuengling and Son Inc. topped Boston Beer Co., makers of Sam Adams, to become the largest craft brewery in the country. It was a change in how the BA defined... View Article
Breweries Sign on to Climate Declaration
by Heather VandenengelForty-two breweries and counting across the country and world have signed the Climate Declaration, a business call to action that urges policymakers to seize the economic opportunity of tackling climate change. The declaration was launched in 2013 by Ceres, a nonprofit sustainability advocacy organization and its business network, Business for Innovative Climate & Energy Policy... View Article
Oskar Blues Sold, Acquires Perrin Brewing
by Heather VandenengelThe Oskar Blues Brewery sold an undisclosed but majority stake of its business to a private equity firm in April, a deal that will help fund its acquisition of Perrin Brewing, a small Michigan brewery with a strong local presence. The acquisition is backed by beer wholesaler Keith Klopcic of West Side Distributing, who introduced... View Article
Flying Dog Wins Freedom of Speech Case
by Heather VandenengelA six-year battle over Flying Dog Brewery’s Raging Bitch Belgian-Style IPA label ended when a United States Court of Appeals ruled that the Michigan Liquor Control Commission can be held accountable for violating Flying Dog’s First Amendment rights. In 2009, the commission banned the sale of the beer in state, citing it as “detrimental to... View Article
The Resurgence of Schwarzbier
by K. Florian KlempThis story first appeared in the July 2015 issue of All About Beer Magazine. Click here to subscribe. Our obsession with black beers is undeniable. Porter and stout are stalwarts, and newly cobbled styles, such as black IPA and saison, more trendy. But the eldest and most anachronistic of them all is German schwarzbier (black... View Article
One Drink May Make You More Attractive
by Heather VandenengelExactly one drink is the magic number for appearing your most attractive, according to a study published in the journal Alcohol and Alcoholism. In the study, photos of individuals who had consumed a low dose of alcohol—equivalent to one drink, 250mL, of wine—were rated as more attractive compared with when they were sober or after... View Article
Drinking Beer in Big Sky Country
by Jesse BussardMontana is best known as Big Sky Country. Mention of this mountainous majesty of a state conjures up images of wide open spaces, free-flowing rivers and pristine views. Boasting more than 50 breweries, the state’s beer industry is strong and continues to grow, in the southwest region of the state in particular. A budding beer... View Article
Beer as an Economic Stimulus
by Myles DannhausenThis story first appeared in the July 2015 issue of All About Beer Magazine. Click here to subscribe. At the heart of most brewery stories is a love of beer and brewing. While Door County Brewing Co. founder John McMahon certainly has that, there’s a more-practical reason he launched his brewery in 2013. He wanted... View Article
Brewing Porters & Stouts: Origins, History, and 60 Recipes for Brewing Them at Home Today
by Daniel BradfordBrewing Porters and Stouts (Skyhorse Publishing, Paperback, $16.95, 224 pp) is a love story. But not for the romantic or faint of heart. It is a rigorous and passionate investigation into the life of porters and stouts. Foster is the perfect person for this subject. He combines a scientist’s rigor for data with a beer lover’s passion... View Article
Experimental Homebrewing: Mad Science in the Pursuit of Great Beer
by Daniel BradfordThere comes a point in most homebrewers’ lives when they just want to step out from under the elementary brewing techniques. Perhaps this means moving from extract to all-grain. The change in processes seems relatively straightforward, but the results fail to meet expectations. Maybe they want to nail the perfect IPA or re-create something encountered... View Article
Hoofing It in Hallertau
by Stan HieronymusMore than a half-dozen years ago, Firestone Walker brewmaster Matt Brynildson paused in the middle of a conversation about the relationship between agriculture and beer and nodded toward Eric Toft, a Wyoming native who has brewed beer in Bavaria for more than 20 years. He said he wished he could be “as connected as [Toft]... View Article
The Complete Guide to Making Mead: The Ingredients, Equipment, Processes, and Recipes for Crafting Honey Wine
by Daniel BradfordMead has a mixed reputation. On the one hand, the honey wine is often thought of as an excessively sweet drink, and on the other hand we have manly Vikings quaffing “horns” of the beverage in their mead halls. The beverage slipped away possibly because of the high cost of honey compared with grapes and... View Article
Britain’s Beer Revolution
by Daniel BradfordWhen the two deans of United Kingdom beer journalism pen a survey of the new world of British beer, get ready to be frustrated. If you don’t live in the British Isles, you are going to hate reading the wonderful descriptions of beers you won’t be able to buy. However, you will feel the excitement... View Article