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.
Indiana-based Sun King dropped a heap of beers on us just before Christmas, and it’s taken us a while to get through them all. Why? Almost all are well over 10% abv, the kind of winter-themed brews that pair best with ski slopes and fireplaces. Clearly, some moderation has been in order. Below please find…
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It’s hard to believe but Breckenridge Brewery and Breckenridge Distillery are not owned by the same company. (Breckenridge Brewery is actually part of Anheuser-Busch, while the distillery is still independently owned.) Buddy Pass is nonetheless a natural collaboration between the two operations, a barrel exchange in which Breckenridge Brewery brewed an Imperial Oatmeal Stout which…
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Since its merger in 2019 with craft beer behemoth Boston Beer Co. (maker of Sam Adams), beachy brewery Dogfish Head has added several new offerings but also eliminated some of the old standbys from their initial craft lineup. Lighter pilsners and IPAs, like Hazy-O, have taken the place of darker beers like Burton Baton and…
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While double IPAs are often sweet and even cloying, Bend Oregon-based 10 Barrel Brewing’s latest DIPA is surprisingly down to earth, showcasing more of a west coast style with hearty notes of forest floor and alpine tree bark. The beer finishes with a touch of citrus and cookie dough, upping the sweetness component, but not a…
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There were a whopping seven different releases from Goose Island’s Barrel House line in 2021, including, of course, the fan favorite Bourbon County Stout. Among those options, one in particular may have been familiar to early Goose Island devotees. Goose Island Bourbon County Brand Fourteen Stout originally debuted way back in 2014 as part of…
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Oberon, the wheat beer that put well-known Michigan microbrewer Bell’s on the proverbial map, officially went barrel-aged last fall. Dubbed Uberon, this beer was already familiar to some devotees of the Comstock-based brewery from its infrequent appearances at special tap events and local beer festivals over the years. In August 2021, just as Oberon’s summer…
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Texas’s Shiner has been busy lately, offering new beers and a large line of seltzers to boot. Today we’re looking at one of each, including a seltzer with a … particular … flavor. Shiner 1909 – A “heritage lager,” Shiner 1909 is made with heritage 2-row barley, Noble hops, and Shiner’s proprietary lager yeast. Quite…
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Here’s a steady selection from Firestone Walker’s Propagator Series, an R&D location known for producing semi-experimental beers. There’s nothing particularly earth-shattering about this beer — available only through Firestone’s Crafted Through Hops IPA mixed pack — but if you’re hankering for a (nearly) classic west coast style IPA, you’ve come to the right place. Well-hopped with…
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Harpoon is set for winter with these two frosty-weather releases. Harpoon Imperial IPA: Big & Limited Edition – This may be a limited edition released only for the winter season — it’s made with Harpoon’s standard recipe, but with an upsized abv — but this monster IPA comes across largely as a classic imperial, sweet…
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Is every craft brewery having a 25th anniversary this year? Let’s catch up with California’s Stone, which recently dropped as new hazy that does not have tangerines and such in it — plus a monster triple IPA brewed special for the anniversary. We tried them both. Stone Hazy IPA – Yep, just Hazy IPA. It’s a…
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