The United States now has more breweries than any other country in the world, more than 2,400, according to the Brewers Association. We are opening small breweries about as fast as they are being closed in Germany! More than 10 percent of U.S. breweries are here in Oregon.
As winter wends its way into spring, the Beer Enthusiast goes from dark to amber in the search for the great beer. After the bock beers have been enjoyed, and the weather warms, it is time to begin the search for copper-colored beers, a time to get back to basics. What we need is a good pale ale. Pale ales have what we search for in the spring: strong special taste and good hoppy flavor.
Portland brothers Mike and Brian McMenamin have built themselves a modest empire of wondrous proportions. They operate some 56 (mostly historic) establishments. They include about 23 breweries and brewpubs, a vineyard, a really good winery and two excellent distilleries (one—Cornelius Pass—built in a barn, using age-old, traditional construction and distillation techniques). There is even a single malt whiskey, aged in bourbon barrels!
It was the first of a lot of things: my first trip to Chicago, my first chance to see Wrigley Field. It was the first time I had beers with author Michael Jackson; it was my first authentic deep-dish pizza and late-night Chicago Red Hot. But most importantly, it was my first taste of bourbon barrel-aged beers.
In the old days, not the long-gone old days, but the recent old days, when craft brewing was new, I made an interesting discovery. I noticed that when I visited Seattle and sampled Oregon craft beers on draft, they didn’t seem to taste as good. I concluded that they did not travel well, hence the taste difference. Read More…
It isn’t necessary to imagine the world ending in fire or ice. There are two other possibilities: One is paperwork, and the other is nostalgia.—Frank Zappa
This will be my last column, as the Mayans have predicted that we are all to experience a painful death in December 2012. Unless the Mayans are lying, we’re dying. But then again the Mayans weren’t the most trustworthy bunch. Did they really predict the end of the world? No matter, if this is it, I sure as hell ain’t going to be banging out any more articles. I’ll be too busy immersing myself in a sort of Bacchanalian revelry. Caligula will have nothing on me. Bring me my bottle of Infinium and my jewel-encrusted chalice and release the dancing girls. What, no jewel-encrusted chalice or dancing girls? Well, just bring me my 1998 Anheuser-Busch commemorative mug, a can of Steel Reserve and my long-suffering wife. Read More…
