While some brewers feel stifled by stringent style guidelines, others have been quietly pushing against rigid style-centric enforcers for years. Empowered by their own ingenuity, many brewers have found success with products that cannot necessarily be defined by conventional nomenclature. I am not suggesting that strict style-adherence is unimportant, but rather that being “style-aware” would be a better approach in today’s brewing industry. Read More…
In a distant bowling alley, I remember bowling with my grandfather while he enjoyed his beer of choice, a beer some might now call a “macro lager.” So what has become of the lagers of my grandfather’s generation?
A year ago, I mused about the proliferation of specialty beers (i.e. beers made with unusual fermentables or techniques) diluting the very concept of what it means to be a specialty beer. Based on the wide range of “extreme,” fruit flavored, smoked, herbed, spiced and “alternately grained” beers we reviewed from around the world in this year’s specialty session, the transformation of specialty to normalcy is far from over. In fact, it’s accelerating. Read More…
Wheat ales are different, generally lower in hoppiness and higher in frothiness. I know of many otherwise well-rounded beer aficionados, particularly hopheads, that hate them and obversely many beer novices that love them. Maybe it’s the softness of hops that fuels the passions of both groups, but whatever the cause their appeal is singular.
Continental ale styles in all of their myriad manifestations can be some of the most inspiring and inspired beers in the world. Whether they originate in religious or secular traditions of sustenance or solace, they have become guiding lights for the imagination and artistry of generations of brewers around the globe. Every year we dip our toes (and tongues) into this ocean of fermented wonderment and see what new taste treasures have washed ashore. Read More…
I always enjoy the British and American Ale round of the World Beer Championships, because it’s great to see how American efforts compare to their British cousins within the same style. What emerges is an interesting snap shot of the import ale market: traditional, session ales that one would expect from the Old World, along with more experimental, perhaps American-influenced ales. And, on the domestic front, a continuation of the ascent to the summit of Mount Hop-Olympus for some, but fortunately tempered by a more mature sense of balance on the way up. Read More…
The Beer Lover's Buying Guide is produced by the Beverage Testing Institute, an independent, full-time, professional review service.
Michael Miller, owner, Delilah's Night Club; Brian Van Zanbergen, Merchant Du Vin (Importer); Jerald O'Kennard, Director BTI; Patrick Berger, Paddy Long's; Tom Gardner, Duvel Moortgat USA.
Wed Jul 3rd, 2013
The Young Turks and Old Lions of Breweries
Once a year the whole world of craft brewers, and I do mean the whole world, gathers together for four days of catching up, digesting new ideas, staying up way...
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