We all know how craft beer history goes. Beer was great until the 19th century, when mass production of lagers took over the world, and American brewers put corn and rice in their beer to make it cheaper. By 1950, everyone was hypnotized by marketing into drinking the fizzy yellow beer. It looked bad, but... View Article
It’s a good time to be a beer lover in North America. The United States now boasts more operating breweries than any other country in the world. North of the border, the number of breweries in Canada grew by nearly half in ten short years. Craft beer in both countries attracts growing and more sophisticated... View Article
New England is a vibrant, dynamic region for craft brewers. Each of the six states boasts excellent microbreweries and brewpubs. These breweries in the cradle of “Yankee” America are methodically, thoroughly and efficiently described and profiled in The Good Beer Guide to New England.
We’re accustomed to pouring fine wines and champagnes from sleekly tapered green bottles with foil and corks. On the other hand, everyday food items—tomato paste, evaporated milk, chili—we scoop out of metal cylinders.
New York—a diverse state that hugs the Great Lakes—is home to the Adirondacks, the Hudson River Valley, and, of course, The Big Apple. Most anything can be experienced in the state of New York. The state also has a rich brewing history, and today it is home to many fine breweries and brewpubs, some of... View Article
Why does so much great beer come from small states? Case in point: Vermont, population 608,827. Vermont ranks number one in breweries per capita, and its residents spend almost one-fifth of their beer money on in-state products. It couldn’t be easier to find micros, either; there are specially priced 12-packs in gas station beer coolers... View Article
Recently, I was invited to participate in one of those wonderful McMenamin’s “drink tanks.” Once or twice a year, Mike and Brian McMenamin gather their friends, workers, and other assorted followers together to participate in ceremonial rites to formulate one of their very special brews. This one, held at the Portland’s Hillsdale Pub, was for... View Article
Twenty-plus years ago, one of America’s favorite cult beers often was “smuggled” east of the Mississippi. “It was heavenly, like everything else in Colorado,” Jim Robertson wrote in his Connoisseur’s Guide to Beer in 1983.
