IT TURNS out, corn isn’t so bad after all.
After decades of pounding the cob, the solons who represent America’s small brewers now say it’s OK to lighten beer with corn, rice and other so-called adjunct ingredients.
In other words, the days when craft beer distinguished itself as all-malt are all gone.
The change came as the Boulder, Colo.-based Brewers … Read the rest
THERE’S something new and familiar awaiting Phillies fans heading down to the central Florida Gulf coast for spring training, and I’m not talking about Bobby Abreu.
It’s beer, and I mean the good stuff like we’re used to finding in Philly – not the cases of Corona that college kids on spring break haul up to their beachfront hotel rooms.… Read the rest
A PAIR OF upcoming local beer-drinking events has me thinking out of both sides of my brain.
My left side – controlled and analytical – is focused on Saturday’s Bierfest at the German Society of Pennsylvania. I’ll sit on a panel of beer experts to discuss classic, old-world lager styles.
My right side – freewheeling and emotional – is preparing … Read the rest
FORGET those chocolate beers that are all the rage on Valentine’s Day. Those are for lovey-dovey sweethearts. If you want to get into the libidinous spirit of Cupid’s heart-piercing arrow, there’s only one brew for you:
Blood Beer.
Yeah, I’m talking about really red ale. Straight from the vein.
Plasma Porter. Clot Rot. A transfusion on tap that’ll have you … Read the rest
OVER the years, beer enthusiasts have chronicled some remarkable pursuits in the name of their favorite adult beverage.
Some have managed to drink a different beer every day for a year. There was the guy who visited a different bar every night of the year. There was another who lived on nothing but bock for the six weeks of Lent.… Read the rest
MAN, when did Anheuser-Busch get so lame with its slogans?
The company that gave us the memorable “This Bud’s for you” and “Real Men of Genius” campaigns of yore will spend an unconscionable $28 million on Super Bowl ads to unveil the latest and utterly forgetful tagline for Bud Light:
“The Perfect Beer for Whatever Happens.”
Just rolls right … Read the rest
GOD ALMIGHTY – an American-made Trappist beer?
That’s the news that stunned beer drinkers last month, as St. Joseph’s Abbey, about an hour west of Boston, revealed that its Spencer Trappist Ale had been certified as the first Trappist beer brewed outside of Europe.
The monastic brewery will carry on the ancient Benedictine principal that monks should “live by the … Read the rest
THE EAGLES’ absence notwithstanding, this should be a pretty decent NFL conference championship Sunday for beer lovers. I mean, we could’ve been stuck with third-tier suds outposts like Green Bay, Arizona and (the gods forbid) Kansas City.
Instead, the four teams vying for a shot at Super Bowl XLIII represent some pretty awesome beer towns. If you’re going to do … Read the rest
SO, THAT’S what they mean by Miller High Life.
With this month’s ballyhooed legalization of marijuana in Colorado, some beer makers are adding playful drug references to their brand names and labels, and regulators can do little to censor them.
Label oversight, a quirky if contentious area of federal alcohol law, has confounded breweries for years with often capricious … Read the rest
JUST BEFORE the end of 2012, the Brewers Association, the Colorado-based organization that represents small breweries across America, issued a fatwa against poseurs in the beer world.
The campaign, called “Craft vs. Crafty,” sought to expose breweries that did not meet its definition of “craft” brewers: “small, independent and traditional.” Its hit list included the likes of Blue Moon and … Read the rest