Yearly Archives: 2016

In pursuit of the hirsute in craft brewing

IN THIS WEEK’S column, we ponder the greatest mystery in beer:Why do so many brewers wear beards? (I mean male brewers, naturally, not female, which perhaps is a column for another day. )

I’ve been noticing this for the last couple years, but it came into full light at the Craft Brewers Conference in Philadelphia this month. You couldn’t walk … Read the rest

How to build the perfect beer garden

NOW THAT BEER gardens are officially a thing in Philly and – shockingly – the suburbs, it’s time for these outdoor drinking spots to get a few things right.

Because a beer garden is more than just a bar without a roof.

A beer garden is a shared place, in the sun, without solid walls and the typical constraints of … Read the rest

Craft brewers draft a candidate

DONALD TRUMP for president? Forget about it, say the nation’s brewers. But don’t expect them to line up behind Hillary Clinton, either.

That’s the outlook from a straw poll I conducted among beer makers at last week’s Craft Brewers Conference in Philadelphia.

Among the 96 brewers and other beer industry members I polled while strolling around the conference exhibition hall, … Read the rest

Brewery will make a dry town damp

There are no saloons in Pitman. No bottle shops or restaurants with liquor licenses, either. This is a dry town, a vestige of its founding as a Methodist retreat.

Yet on Saturday afternoon, with a ceremonial tapping of the first keg, a brewery will open on Broadway, the Gloucester County town’s main drag. A brewery with a tasting room and … Read the rest

Brewers conference returns to Philly

In 2005, the last time the Brewers Association held its annual conference here, a few local brewers thought it would be a swell idea to expose the conventioneers to a unique slice of Philly’s growing craft-beer scene.

So they trooped the visitors down to a seamy stretch of Delaware Avenue and held what was surely the city’s first-ever cask-ale event … Read the rest

Debating Germany’s 500-year-old beer purity law

SATURDAY MARKS the 500th anniversary of Reinheitsgebot, the German law that simply decreed beer can be made with only water, barley, and hops. Yet there is nothing simple about Reinheitsgebot, starting with its name, which Americans can correctly pronounce only after a liter of lager or two.

For, even after half a millennium, the edict remains a lightning rod for … Read the rest

Hazy beer is no longer a bad thing

Appearance:Should be clear, although unfiltered dry-hopped versions may be a bit hazy.

A BIT HAZY?

That might be the traditional standard. But these days, some of America’s top-rated India pale ales are as overcast as the airspace above South Philly’s oil refinery on an August afternoon.

Murky, cloudy, and even milk-like are some of the descriptors for the likes of … Read the rest

Needle beer: A poke at Prohibition-era brew

IMAGINE ORDERING a nice, cold pint of beer in a bar, but before the foam has a chance to settle, the bartender pulls out a syringe and gives the glass a squirt of alcohol.

Forget about careful brewing methods or even enjoyable flavor. Just choke down your dose of ethyl alcohol like it’s medicine.

This was needle beer, and it’s … Read the rest

Yards Brewing has a head for good causes

EXACTLY WHAT is Yards Brewing selling in its new series of videos, Yards Good Fight?

It sure doesn’t look like beer.

The 90-second pieces shown online and in social media are part of the Northern Liberties brewery’s ongoing Brew Unto Others advertising campaign that aims to frame the brewery as a solid part of the community.

So far, two Good … Read the rest

Beer collector leaves behind 4,000 empties

ONE NIGHT in 1987, Jeffrey Rosenblum opened a bottle of Whitbread Ale and poured himself a glass. He took a sip and glanced down at the bottle.

Something caught his eye. Something unspoken, something visceral. Something.

He rose from his living room couch and placed the empty on the mantle.

That’s where it all began. With a single bottle of … Read the rest