All About Beer Magazine November 2010 Issue

The One Beer

What Beer is That You’re Drinking Now?

Durango, Colorado

Skiing: Purgatory (despite the name change, nobody calls it Durango Mountain Resort) offers over 2,000 feet of vertical for all levels of skiers and snowboarders. The naturally terraced mountain means ample opportunities for sick air, if that’s your thing. Mountain Biking: Slothower says bikers gravitate to the Telegraph Trail system. It’s literally a choose-your-own-adventure single-track... View Article

Flagstaff, Arizona

Watersliding: If you’re going to tackle several trails, pick up Cosmic Ray’s 50 Favorite Hikes: Flagstaff & Sedona (available all about town and on Amazon) but don’t miss the chance to whisk down a red rock creek canyon at Slide Rock State Park. Fun for the whole family. Cross-country skiing: Taylor says the Flagstaff Nordic... View Article

Jackson, Wyoming

White Water Rafting: The Snake River can be run as early as May and as late as October. The mostly class II and III rapids make it a thrill that even novices can handle. Hiking: With over 200 miles of trails in Grand Teton National Park, every direction is the perfect one, but for a... View Article

Pull Up A Stool with Alan Pugsley

What was the status of craft brewing when you arrived in the U.S.? Back in 1986, there were about 50 breweries, period, including all the big guys. I came here in June of ’86 to help David Geary build Geary Brewing Co. About a month after I got here, Richard Wrigley opened the Commonwealth brewpub... View Article

Beer Into Thin Air Amid Three Great Mountain Towns

Is it a coincidence that some of the best brewing regions are set in or near the Rocky Mountains? Whichever side of the Continental Divide you find yourself on, from Wyoming down through Colorado and over into Arizona, there truly is something in the water.

Plain Porter

Porter doesn’t have the fame of stout, the thunderous hops of IPA or the quirk of barrel aging, but once upon a time, it boasted all three. Largely relegated to ordinary status, porter was designed as a populist brew in London.

Ranger

New Belgium Brewing Co. Fort Collins, CO Available: AR, AZ, CA, CO, ID, IA, KS, MN, MS, MT, NC, NE, NV, NM, NC, OR, TX, TN, WA, WY New Belgium’s first IPA is brewed with pale and dark caramel malts; spiced with Cascade (citrus), Chinook (floral/citrus), and Simcoe (fruity) hops; and dry hopped with Cascade.... View Article

Cornstalker Dark Wheat

Thunderhead Brewing Co. Kearney, NE Available: NE Cornstalker is a black version of an American-style wheat beer, as opposed to a dunkel weizen. It is brewed with malted organic corn, as well as wheat and barley, with the idea of involving the local farming community, and giving Nebraskans a chance to try a dark beer.... View Article

Chelsea Moylan’s Porter

Moylan’s Brewery and Restaurant Novato, CA Available: CA, OR, WA, AZ, NM, CO, PA, IL, NJ, MA, NV, TX, AR, MO, WI, MI, IN, SC, AL, NY, MD, VA, DC, BC Named for owner Brendan Moylans’ daughter, Chelsea, this is an American take on the beer style that Dublin brewers brewed as their “porter style”... View Article

Vandalia Ale

Mountaineer Brewing Co. Martinsburg, WV Available: WV, MD, VA, TN In the seventeenth century, a 14th American colony was proposed, to run roughly from Pittsburgh through West Virginia and into Kentucky. One name under consideration was Vandalia, in honor of Queen Charlotte’s supposed descent from the Germanic Vandal tribe. The area was named West Virginia... View Article

BluePaw Blueberry Wheat Ale

Sea Dog Brewing Co. Portland, ME Available: AL, AK, AZ, CA, CO, CT, DE, FL, GA, IL, IN, IO, KS, KY, LA, ME, MD, MS, MI, MN, NE, NH, NJ, NM, NY, NV, NC, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, TN, VT, VA, WA, WI This wheat ale is brewed with the addition of fresh... View Article

Farmhouse Ale

Smuttynose Brewing Co. Portsmouth, NH Available: ME, NH, VT, MA, RI, CT, NY, NJ, PA, MD, DE, VA, OH, WI, NC, SC, GA, FL, DC This saison-style beer, or “country ale” is native to the French/Belgian border region, brewed to quench the thirst of farm workers, or “saisonaires.” It is fermented with a Belgian saison... View Article

Oktoberfest

Karl Strauss Brewing Co. San Diego, CA Available: CA What started as a community celebration of a royal Bavarian wedding in 1810, 200 years ago, has turned into a beer tradition like no other, drawing some six million people to Munich every fall. Karl Strauss brews this beer true to the traditional style. ABV: 5.0... View Article

Silverback Pale Ale

Wynkoop Brewing Co. Denver, CO Available: CO Silverback Pale Ale is made with grains of paradise, an African spice with a pungent, peppery flavor. The spice is also a key part of the diet of Africa’s mountain gorillas. Wynkoop donates 50 percent of all profits from the beer to the Denver-based Mountain Gorilla Conservation Fund.... View Article

Fall Festivus Ale

Cricket Hill Brewing Co. Fairfield, NJ Available: NY, NJ, PA, ME This fall release is a harvest ale, in keeping with the brewery’s commitment to making session beers in classic flavors. ABV: 4.8 ABW: n/a Color: n/a Bitterness: n/a Original gravity: n/a

Dark Cloud

Mother Earth Brewing Kinston, NC Available: NC Owners Stephen Hill and Trent Mooring founded Mother Earth Brewing in an old building in downtown Kinston, employing green techniques at every stage of the renovation. Their commitment to environmentally low-impact business influences their brewing practices, as well. ABV: 4.9 ABW: 3.8 Color: 16.7 Bitterness: 18 Original gravity:... View Article

Maduro

Cigar City Brewing Tampa, FL Available: AL, FL, NY, PA Maduro is a Northern English-style brown ale that has elements of a higher gravity brown porter, somewhat higher alcohol, and features flaked oats in the malt bill, which imparts a silky mouthfeel. ABV: 5.5 ABW: n/a Color: 20 Bitterness: 25 Original gravity: 1060

Schlagl Dopple Bock

Stiftsbrauerei Schlägl Schlägl, Austria Imported by: Morandell Imports Los Angeles, CA Available: n/a This doppelbock is brewed only at once a year, in the summer, and bottled in the winter. ABV: 8.3 ABW: 6.6 Color: 15 Bitterness: 34 Original gravity: 1076

Zuur

Brewery Ommegang, Cooperstown, NY Available: AK, AZ, AK, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, IL, IA, KS, KY, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, NJ, NM, NY, NC, NE, OH, OK, OR, PA, TN, TX, VA, WA, WS Is “sour is the new hoppy, “ as a number of craft beer writers profess? This new sour... View Article

Black Noddy

Buckbean Brewing Co. Reno, NV Available: CA, NV, OR The Black Noddy Lager is named after a tropical seabird, despite the brewery’s location in Nevada. The brewery itself takes its name from a herb that grows in mountain bogs, the leaves of which have been used as a substitute for hops in beer, as well... View Article

Back Road Ale

Back Road Brewery LaPorte, IN Available: IN Back Road Brewery is the first microbrewery in LaPorte, IN. The brewery`s flagship beer, the first original recipe of 1997, is brewed with Styrian Goldings and English Fuggles hops, and dry hopped. ABV: 5.0 ABW: n/a Color: 12 Bitterness: n/a Original gravity: 1050

25th Anniversary Belgian Dubbel

Sprecher Brewing Co. Glendale, WI Available: CA, NY, IL, OH, MN, MI, WI Celebrating its 25th year, Sprecher Brewing Co. was Milwaukee’s first microbrewery since Prohibition. Sprecher makes over 20 beers, including two gluten-free African-style brews. ABV: 6.52 ABW: 4.38 Color: 36 Bitterness: 19.3 Original gravity: 1066