Beer
First brewed at least 5,000 years ago, beer is one of the oldest and most universally consumed alcoholic drinks. It is usually made from cereals, most frequently malted barley, but other ingredients can be used, such as wheat, corn, or rice. In the majority of cases, hops are added to the process (originally as a preservative), although in centuries past other flavorings were used. Today, a whole host of flavored beers exist, ranging from conventional ingredients such as fruit to crazier additions including bacon, donuts, and rocky mountain oysters (aka bull testicles). The most popular beer style, however, is the easy-drinking pale lager style. It used to be thought that beer in cans was inferior quality to beer in bottles, and that there was a safety worry over the use of aluminum, but that is no longer the case. Cans are perfectly safe and sales of canned beers are growing while bottles are on the decline.
Top Beer Posts:
Lager? Ale? Beer? What’s the Difference?
6 Beers from Melvin Brewing, 2018
12 Beers from New Belgium, Early 2017 Releases
7 Beers from North Coast Brewing Co.
One of my favorite beers ever is Elysian Brewing’s Space Dust — and I’m clearly not alone on that opinion of the Seattle-based operation’s flagship beer. Well, here comes a Space Dust spinoff: Dank Dust. It uses the same hops — Chinook, Citra, and Amarillo — has the same abv, and the same IBU level.…
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It’s a bold move for Deschutes to send us its non-alcoholic Black Butte Porter and its standard, pro-alcoholic expression side by side. Can an NA version of this beer really hold up to its big brother? Let’s find out! Deschutes Brewery Black Butte Porter – This is the year-round version of the Deschutes expression which…
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California’s Firestone Walker Brewing Co. celebrated a quarter century of beer-making last fall with the release of this brew, dubbed XXV. It’s the 16th release in what has become an annual autumn rite in which the brewery and their local winemaker friends gather for a friendly blending competition and what must be one helluva party.…
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Ready for a beer that’s as straightforward as it gets? Houston’s Karbach has cranked out a new lager in collaboration with the Houston Rockets basketball team. At all of 4% abv, the lager is best served while watching hoops on TV — and, for most drinkers, probably by the six-pack. Also worth noting: “A portion…
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Parabola, the flagship in Firestone Walker’s Proprietor’s Vintage Series, is changing things up once again for 2022. While last year’s release saw aging, for the first time ever, in a mix of bourbon, rye, and wheat whiskey barrels, the latest edition is a much simpler, all ex-bourbon-aged creation with one catch; the barrels used were…
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The last time we took a look at Scottish brewers Innis & Gunn, they had just collaborated across the pond with Tullamore Dew to age their stout in the distillery’s Irish whiskey casks. While that bottling, dubbed Kindred Spirits, was a rare partnership with a particular distillery, it wasn’t the first time Innis & Gunn had…
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Few would associate Texas’s Shiner Beer with IPA, but public outcry has demanded the traditionally lager-based brewery to head into that direction. To that end, a new IPA franchise, called Tex Hex (aka TexHex), and its flagship offering: Bruja’s Brew. The first of three Tex Hex offerings, Bruja’s Brew is a bright and juicy beer…
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Sierra Nevada has four beers in its “Little Thing” series, and recently the brewery refreshed the packaging for all of them, bundling them together in a mixed 12-pack called the Little Things Party Pack. We reviewed a couple of these beers last year, but this is our first look at the quartet together. Let’s try them…
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A relatively new brewery, Ferment Brewing Company opened in 2018 in Hood River, Oregon. They offer a range of beers in various styles, including ales and lagers. Today we’ll be trying their Nitro Dry Stout, brewed in the tradition of Irish stouts. Ferment also brews an Imperial stout which boasts 11% abv – much heavier…
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Dutton Estate is one of the more unsung, high-quality wineries in California’s Russian River area, and recently the operation made a bold move that’s highly unusual in these parts: They launched a cider, born from 200 acres of organic apple orchards in the region. Today we look at a collection of five newly released wines…
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