The United States Department of Agriculture’s food pyramid suggests that we all consume two to four servings of fruit daily. I’m relatively certain that fruit beers don’t qualify, but with a wonderful fruity lambic or wheat beer in hand, one can dream.
The next time you order a coffee or a chocolate drink, you might not be in a coffee house. Starbucks may not like to admit it, but a growing number of people are turning to brewers instead of baristas for their daily fix.
If you have ever taken a wine-tasting class, chances are you have been exposed to the “Flavor Wheel.” This handy tool is meant to give tasters a common vocabulary. You might not know it, but the same thing exists in the beer world.
The last decade has seen an arms race among American craft brewers and the weapon of choice has been the noble hop. The International Bitterness Unit scale has been turned into a scoreboard and brewers have acted like the Harlem Globetrotters, running up the points against the hapless Washington Generals.
What would you do if you could not drink beer? I’m not talking about finding yourself in a dry county on a Sunday afternoon or in the “family section” at a minor league baseball park. I mean, what if having a beer would cause you to have an almost immediate negative physical reaction?
With this issue All About Beer launches a new column called Your Next Beer. The goal of this column is to look over the horizon – or at least down the bar – at trends that are taking hold in beer and brewing. Craft beer fans are always looking to try something new and with Next Beer we’ll take a closer look at what you are likely to be drinking next.
