IN A YEAR that saw Anheuser-Busch actually brew a pumpkin-flavored ale, you might worry that small brewers would have a tough time coming up with anything original.
I mean, if the beer borgs of St. Louis are going to start churning out a quirky seasonal variety flavored with allspice and cinnamon, what’s left for an industry that depends on creativity … Read the rest

In the beginning, Schmaltz Brewing’s Jeremy Cowan had a schticky idea for a beer: He’Brew, the chosen beer.

It was, he acknowledges today, a bit of inside joke – a kosher beer made for Jews, who aren’t generally regarded as the world’s biggest beer-drinkers.

Cowan’s first creation was Genesis Ale, an amber ale.

Genesis was followed by a brown ale … Read the rest

IT ONLY TOOK 70 years, but America’s cutting-edge craft brewers have finally discovered . . . the beer can.
Till now, these tiny brewers have distributed their quirky ales and lagers in either kegs or dark brown bottles. It was all about purity and taste and the protection of their delicate product from unpleasant flavors.

Cans? Those were for crushing … Read the rest

NINE OUT OF 10 beers consumed in this country are the same dependable American-style lagers. But what about that 10th one?

Increasingly, it’s India Pale Ale, a style that resides defiantly at the opposite end of the flavor spectrum. Flowery, bitter and full of fruity aromas – it’s astonishing that this edgy style thrives in a world of indistinct sameness.… Read the rest

JUST BACK from Brussels is Jessica Waltz, a bartender at Ten Stone and the first American to win the 9th annual Stella Artois global Draught Master competition.

The wha . . . ?

It’s sorta the Olympics of Suds, a grueling – make that, drooling – two-day pourathon pitting the top tap-handlers from taverns around the world. Each was judged … Read the rest

TOO BAD the state of Connecticut backed down last month on its attempt to ban Seriously Bad Elf beer over the Santa Claus on its label.

The state had said that the British import violated its liquor rules because the label depicted a mean-looking elf with a slingshot firing Christmas balls at Santa’s sleigh.

The beer’s importer, Shelton Brothers of … Read the rest

THE DAY that beer freaks always feared is upon us. Rivers boiling, the dead rising from the grave, dogs and cats living together – Anheuser-Busch, the big, bad Evil Empire, is brewing . . . a pumpkin ale.

That’s right, the St. Louis behemoth that dumbed down American beer palates with bottle upon bottle of fizzy yellow rice juice is … Read the rest

NODDING HEAD, the tiny Sansom Street brewpub, brought home a gold medal from the Great American Beer Festival in Denver this month, and this time it’s George’s Fault.

It’s also brewer Gordon Grubb’s fault, and ex-brewer Brandon Greenwood’s, too.

But in the days following America’s most important beer-judging event, Philly locals were pretty much in agreement that this honor truly … Read the rest

SEEN THOSE posters for Moosehead around town? They’ve been popping up on telephone poles on South Street, Old City and elsewhere. No names, no ad copy, just a green silhouette of a moose head.

You’re witnessing the start of a quirky marketing campaign to revive one of Canada’s classic but forgotten lagers. Whether it works or not, Moosehead’s effort to … Read the rest