AS ONE OF THE ragged survivors of the Mayan apocalypse, I now look back at the wasteland and remember the lost ones – those now-empty bottles, cans and pints that rocked my world in 2012.
There were plenty of old favorites, of course – standbys like Victory Prima Pils, Weyerbacher Merry Monks and cask-conditioned Yards ESA that are among my … Read the rest
BEER IS the Everyman’s drink, which is to say that at this time of year, there’s a beer gift for Every Man (and Woman).
For the newbie: Let Me Tell You About Beer: A Beginner’s Guide to All Things Brewed ($19.07, Amazon.com) by British beer expert Melissa Cole is a fine reading, paired with a snifter of Stone Vertical Epic … Read the rest
BUDWEISER – FIZZY, yellow Budweiser – now makes a bourbon-and-vanilla-flavored amber lager. If that’s not a sign of the impending apocalypse, I don’t know what is.
Not to worry. The End is precisely why we drink beer to begin with.
Drinking is all about enjoying life. It is hedonistic and intemperate. We drink for the moment, not the future. We … Read the rest
THE “WORLD’S BEST BEER” finally comes to America, you’re damn straight Jason Johnson is going to get himself a sixpack.
By 4:30 a.m. yesterday, the Acme meat cutter was first in line outside a Delaware liquor store, patient but shivering in anticipation of the long-awaited arrival of Westvleteren 12.
“Hell, I want to try this beer so much, I … Read the rest
ABOUT THIS time of year, Andy Musser and I would catch up with each other for a glass of Anchor Our Special Ale, the San Francisco brewery’s Christmas beer. With the recipe for the dark beer famously changing every year – a different spice or grain – he and I would spend an hour or so trying to guess … Read the rest
IT WILL be a sad day, a generation from now or so, when everyone does his or her Christmas shopping online. That will be the death of the Great Xmas Beer Run.
Most beer lovers have their own version of the annual pursuit, I’m sure. An hour, an afternoon, a weekend devoted to scooping up special beers of the season. … Read the rest
MAYBE IT’S ALL product placement hype, but the new James Bond movie, “Skyfall,” has drooling Internet denizens and clueless movie reviewers harrumphing over the appearance of Heineken’s well-recognized logo. Bond, they insist, would never drink a beer; his choice of beverage, they claim, is a martini, shaken not stirred.
True James Bond fans – the ones who’ve read Ian Fleming’s … Read the rest
WITH THE HOLIDAYS approaching, my thoughts are on eating good food with great beer. As usual, I have a bunch of suggestions. But first, I want to make a pitch to support those who don’t have enough to eat.
This season, I’m partnering with Philabundance, the city’s food bank, to drive hunger from our community. It’s a very simple program … Read the rest
THE QUESTION arises: Are you really going to make beer in a bathtub at the Bathtub Beer Fest?
Philly Beer Week has been promising an authentic bathtub brew at next Thursday’s festival at the National Constitution Center, as a tribute to its outstanding exhibit, “American Spirits: The Rise & Fall of Prohibition.” The idea is to wheel some old-fashioned cast-iron … Read the rest
SATURDAY IS Learn How to Homebrew Day, and I’m here to tell anyone who’s tempted: Forget about it.
It takes hours to make and weeks till it’s ready to drink. It’s messy. Something often goes wrong. Sometimes it doesn’t taste so great.
And it’s not 1980 anymore.
Back then there were, like, two beers in America, and one of them … Read the rest