D.G. YUENGLING & Son made it through the Civil War, Prohibition and untold skirmishes with the giants from St. Louis and Milwaukee. But those were nothing like the challenge it faces in the age of endless choice.
These days, the shelves are filled with everything from Lime-A-Rita to triple IPA. Samuel Adams has a TV commercial boasting that it makes … Read the rest
WITH NO FANFARE or explanation, Goose Island Brewing this year changed the name of its winter seasonal beer from Christmas Ale to Festivity Ale.
I suppose if I were Bill O’Reilly, I’d go into a spittle-spraying rage over yet another breach in the so-called “War on Christmas. ” The pagan in me, however, will instead point out that removing Christ’s … Read the rest
IT’S JUST A WAFFLE, but Brian and Andrea Polizzi’s newest product is the next step in the maturation of American small brewing.
The couple’s 13-month-old, West-Chester-based company, Waffatopia, last month unveiled Sweet & Stormy, a ready-to-heat waffle flavored with Victory Storm King Imperial Stout.
The waffle is sweet and chocolaty and, even if it doesn’t contain a trace of alcohol, … Read the rest
BEER ENTHUSIASTS are so easy to buy gifts for. As long as it comes in a sixpack, we’re happy with whatever you give us.
And we’re even happier with a little more imagination on your part. Look no further than Joe Sixpack’s Annual Ultimate Gift Guide.
Local home-brew shops offer all-in-one starter kits for kitchen brewmasters. Or … Read the rest
GUINNESS is one of the greatest, most valuable brand names in beer. From its familiar harp logo to its stenciled typeface to Arthur Guinness’ famous signature, everything about it is immediately recognizable. Even its bubbles have a trademark look.
You think of Guinness, you think of rich, dark, smooth Irish stout – the biggest-selling, most famous dark beer on the … Read the rest
LOOKING BACK on the takeover of a tiny Oregon brewery last week by Anheuser-Busch InBev, some years from now we may remember it as a turning point.
Or maybe we won’t remember it at all.
But right now, it feels like the Day the Music Died – the day when craft brewing took the inevitable step from the adolescent innocence … Read the rest
DID YOU ever drink a pint that tasted so good it left you wondering if you had just swallowed a work of art?
You heard the flavor speak, you welcomed the body’s warmth, you smiled, you cried, you sighed at the rush. Something struck you at an emotional level. Not just an appreciation of a well-crafted beer, not just the … Read the rest
YOU SAY you’ve got mad beer-making skills and you’d go pro if only you had the time to step up your game?
Send the old ball-and-chain out of town.
It worked for John Wible, who went from a complete noob to head brewer at 2nd Story Brewing, in Old City, in just five years.
He looked almost sheepish as he … Read the rest
WHEN LAST WE heard from Hohenadel Brewery, the 19th-century East Falls landmark was wincing under the weight of a wrecking ball.
It was 1997. Just one look at the stubborn but crumbling brick structure at Conrad Street and Indian Queen Lane told you it was time to pull the plug. The brewery that once proclaimed its “Well Earned Supremacy” could … Read the rest
THE GREAT American Beer Festival awards are such a tease. Like brazen tarts, the judges tempt us time and again with medals for seductive, mouthwatering brands that just beg you to take a drink.
But we can only look, never taste.
These award-winners are one-offs. Brewpub seasonals. Special blends.
They come and go, peeking out at you like a Maxim … Read the rest