IN A REVOLUTIONARY GESTURE intended to draw more American Catholics back to the church, Pope Benedict XVI has signaled his acceptance of a plan to offer parishioners beer instead of wine during Holy Communion.
The astonishing change, revealed in documents obtained by this reporter, is seen as recognition of both the decline in weekly church attendance as well as the … Read the rest
WHAT DOES the label mean when it says “spring beer”?
I know what it used to mean: bock. Bavaria’s seasonal beer of Lent. Brewed dark, malty and strong to sustain fasting 17th-century monks, bock beer’s annual appearance on the shelves stemmed from a longstanding historic tradition.
These days? “Spring beer” means anything a crafty copywriter can come up with, which … Read the rest
IMAGINE THE SCENE: The winter has ended, the sun is shining and the sidewalks are packed with milling crowds. A stream of beer trucks parades down the avenue. Celebrities judge a beauty pageant for goats in the city park. Brass bands play Strauss in outdoor gardens.
And a quarter-million barrels of strong, dark, malty lager are about to be tapped … Read the rest
ST. PATRICK’S DAY is upon us, and you’re going to hear a lot of people insist that if you really want to be Irish for a day, you’ve got to drink black-as-ink stout. Either that, or green-dyed beer.
Here’s another color for you to consider on this holy day of beer drinking: red, as in Irish red ale.
Hundreds of … Read the rest
There’s a reason most breweries stopped malting their own grain about 100 years ago: It’s really hard work.
Just ask Andrea Stanley, a 34-year-old mother of three from Hadley, Mass., who partnered with her husband, Christian, last year to open their own micro malt house.
“Sixty percent of what we do,” she sighed, “is seed cleaning.”
They clean the grain … Read the rest
WE’RE JUST two cold, gray months into the year, but 2011 is already showing sunny promise. Here are six signs that better days are on the horizon.
Center City will get a new brewpub as early as next month, at 1113 Walnut St. OK, the owners (the same folks behind East Falls’ candlelit Fork & Barrel) say it’s … Read the rest
IT TOOK FEWER than 30 seconds for someone to hand me a bottle that I’d never heard of before: Evolution Rise Up Stout. “If you like coffee,” the guy said, “this is the stout for you.”
I no sooner had it in my mouth when someone else was handing me another: Portsmouth Winter Hefeweizen. It was dark and … Read the rest
SOMETHING STINKS in Fishtown.
Late last year, a 33-year-old Internet developer named Tim Patton went before the Fishtown Neighbors Association with a proposal for a small brewery in his home on Richmond Street near Marlborough. The company would produce about four kegs a week – so small that it wouldn’t qualify as a microbrewery; instead, it would be classified as … Read the rest
SUPER BOWL Sunday is upon us, and the testosterone of championship-hungry football fans rages nowhere stronger than in the kitchen.
Armies of chefs, fortified with tongue-searing hot peppers, are trash-talking the competition, certain that this year – this year, I tell you! – they have an unbeatable game plan. They boast, they strut and they rant over the proper ingredients: … Read the rest
IT WASN’T ALL that long ago that if you wanted to sound semi-intelligent on the wonkish topic of hops, all you had to do was remember a few key varieties.
Hallertauer is the perfect match for the soft water of Bavaria’s lagers. Cascades gives a grapefruit flavor to West Coast ales. And EKG is not a stress test – it … Read the rest