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.
Dan Gordon (pictured), proprietor of Gordon Biersch, stopped by today with his latest brew, a real rarity in America (or anywhere else, for that matter). Dunkelweizen is a dark wheat beer. The brewing process is basically the same as Hefeweizen, but Dunkelweizen uses 40% dark malted wheat in the malt blend, along with 3% caramelized…
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This golden lager is a crisp and classic brew, but thicker in mouthfeel than most lager-type beers. It’s got some real weight to it, which makes it pair well with food that has a little spice in it. Czech and German in ancestry, I found it fit perfectly with a seasoned pork chop and asparagus,…
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Across the northeastern U.S. you’ll find bars serving Hook & Ladder beer, products brewed by a company with roots in the firefighting biz: The founders are two brothers, one of whom is a volunteer fireman. The beers aren’t widely distributed west of Virginia, but if you should find one, you’re in for a treat. I…
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Longboard Lager really is made in Hawaii. The Kona Brewing Company churns out 190,000 gallons of beer a year, in fact, with a staff of six people. It’s amazing, then, that Kona beers seem to be so easy to find here in the States, at least on the west coast. Longboard is the company’s flagship…
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Organic beer: OK, I’m in! Peak Organic brews three beers out of its Portland, Maine headquarters, using organic barley and hops and, of course, 100% organic water. Can you taste the difference? Well, depends on what you compare it to. I tried all three of Peak’s beers. Here are some comments. Peak Organic Amber Ale…
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Apple and spice in the beer? You bet. Leinenkugel’s Apple Spice seasonal brew is loaded with apple and cinnamon to the point where it tastes more like a cider than a beer. I found it incredibly sweet and difficult to drink much more than half a bottle, but the ladies seem to be bigger fans…
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With an alcohol level of 27%, served at room temperature, and not carbonated, Samuel Adams’ Utopias is not your father’s can of Pabst Blue Ribbon. With 8,000 bottles produced — some fetching up to $600 (though a still-insane $175 is a little more standard) — it’s definitely not PBR, no. So, what is it? Utopias…
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Merry Christmas, fellow drinkhackers. In the spirit — nay, the flavor — of the season here’s a short beer review. Saint Arnold heralds itself as Texas’ oldest craft brewery, and they put out about a dozen types of beer. Their Christmas Ale has been in production since 1995, and it’s apparently quite popular at holiday…
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Another holiday beer, this one a spin on a traditional brown ale, but overloaded with hoppiness. The dark brown “winter warmer” is certainly rich, giving off a nice aroma of chocolate and caramel malts… but an overpowering bitterness wipes the sweetness away once it hits your lips. It’s not a hard beer to drink by…
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Winter is approaching and that means holiday brews are hitting the stores. A nice choice is Lost Coast’s Winterbraun, a microbrew that is as holiday-appropriate as you’re likely to get. The secret is chocolate and caramel hops, which give this brown ale a distinct flavor of cocoa powder, even a bit of grittiness in the…
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