Jan-Erik Janko Svensson shook his head in near disbelief as the words came out of his mouth. The Swedish journalist and beer judge was standing outside a brick building in a commercial part of Stockholm, on break from judging a homebrew competition that grows in size each year. He once knew all the brewers in... View Article
With a background in chemical engineering, Jaime Jurado has worked at large and small breweries, including The Lion Brewery, England’s Courage Brewing and Truman Hanbury & Buxton Ltd., Stroh Brewing Co., The Gambrinus Co. (comprising Trumer, Spoetzl and BridgePort breweries) and Susquehanna Brewing Co. He recently brought his three decades of technical brewing experience to... View Article
The Italian brewing industry has grown up. Ten years ago it was a boisterous infant, noisy and colorful in the beers it made, spices, herbs, fruit and vegetables chucked into the mix with willful abandonment. It was not all tantrums, though. Some of the beers, packaged in wine-sized bottles with prices to match, were calmer... View Article
In just a few short years, Florida—with Tampa Bay as the epicenter—has seen explosive growth and expansion in brewing, accompanied by exciting new restaurants, cultural events and a populace that is increasingly demanding local quality. Tampa Bay is generally considered the collective of Hillsborough County (which includes Tampa) and Pinellas County (St. Petersburg and Clearwater),... View Article
On a cool Saturday night nearly a year ago, a mixed group of wine and beer fans was invited to a gracious Craftsman-style home in San Diego’s tree-shaded Mission Hills neighborhood. The guests gathered around the dining room table, which was crowded with 750-mL bottles and pint glasses, all in 11 neat clusters. The hosts,... View Article
At a small restaurant and brewery in Minneapolis, a line of taps behind the bar keeps patrons’ glasses filled with a variety of freshly fermented beverages, each named and described on the ever-evolving menu. The food here at Moto-I is Japanese, and the accompanying decor is rather typical of a sushi restaurant. It’s an unusually... View Article
There are certain parts of the country where a proper sandwich is worshipped with the reverence it deserves. It is more than just meat and cheese between two slices of bread. Ingredients matter. Construction matters. In order to get a proper sandwich you must go to a deli, not an impersonal shop with pre-sliced meats... View Article
I had my first tastes of beer as a child early on Saturday mornings. My grandfather—whom we all called Poopsie for some reason—was a prodigious beer drinker. And when I say prodigious, I mean he started drinking beer on Saturday mornings at around 7 o’clock. He’d wake up at 6, eat a big pile of... View Article
Traditional beer styles are often closely identified by cities, regions, strength or particular moment of invention. Doppelbock (double bock) can claim all of those. Its roots lie in the North German city of Einbeck, but is now synonymous with Bavaria. More specifically, the prototype is a monastic creation, designed for sustenance during Lenten deprivation. The... View Article
