Natty Boh is not bad; it is nonexistent. It is carbonated water flavored by the subtlest essence of toasty malt. If you’re thinking about Natty Boh at all, you’re thinking about it too much.
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A few notes for your Memorial Day morning.
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A recent kerfuffle between a reporter and his brewery-owner interview subject reveals something important about journalism. The goals of the reporter are not the same as the interview subject. And for readers everywhere, that’s a good thing.
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Frank Boon started learning the craft of lambic-making in the 1960s, and has become the leading maker of lambics in Belgium. I visited him at his brewery in Lembeek in 2011.
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One should never age most beers, and the beers one ages should never be aged very long. Leave a bottle in your cellar that dates to the Clinton administration and it’s going to suck. Unless something very rare and special happens instead.
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Veteran Chicago Tribune reporter Josh Noel has spent seven years working on a complex and spiky narrative: the transition of Goose Island from indie champion to corporate hood ornament. What he delivers is the most interesting industry book I can remember reading.
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The annual national homebrewers conference, Homebrew Con, happens next month in Portland. To gear up, I have been speaking to local homebrewers about their approach and philosophy. Today we have one of the most decorated brewers in America, Rodney Kibzey.
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On Monday, the Supreme Court struck down a 1992 law that banned sports betting, opening the door to an estimated $150 billion in legal gambling. The beer industry will almost certainly benefit because 1) gambling increases fan engagement and 2) fans drink when they watch sports.
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What is big beer up to? Let’s check in with Elysian, which yesterday sent me a press release about their latest collaboration. Oh dear....
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Do you ever wish you could go back to a time before a beer style disappeared and have a pint? You can do the next best thing with this amazing video from 1973, the moment Irish porter—and the “high and low” system of pouring it—vanished from the earth.
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Everyone loves a good story about a writer on a bender. I remember reading about Hemingway driving around Italy swallowing prodigious amounts of wine and snacking from a wheel of cheese he kept in the back seat. But alcohol’s dark side is something we should all treat with respect.
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The idea that an intensely fruity IPA must be cloudy as a weissbier is one of the more dubious in all of beer. No surprise, then, that breweries are pushing the envelop and developing “clear hazy IPAs.” A collaboration between Fair State and Surly is instructive.
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Yesterday, Molson Coors Chairman Pete Coors sent out a mild, reasonable open letter that complained about the mean language directed at big breweries by the Brewers Association. Did it reveal how worried he was that people will start paying attention to this whole independence thing?
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Today, May 7, is National Homebrew Day. It's even a Congressionally-recognized day, though not a bank holiday (sorry). I use this occasion to celebrate this delightful hobby, and invite you to join in.
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Each year, The Beer Bible gets a nice bump in June for Father's Day. But in May? Nothing. Sons and daughters do not purchase a copy for their mothers; spouses do not gift it to their wives. I would love to see that change. Women like beer! Moms would love to indulge this passion as much as dear old Dad.
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I visited Head Brewer John Bexon at Greene King in Bury St. Edmunds in 2011. He has since left the brewery, but it remains one of the most entertaining brewery visits I've made. He was a very entertaining and informative host.
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Budweiser released a new star-spangled red lager, linking it to both Old Glory and US veterans—a beer that could otherwise be safely ignored. Except that they had to go and drag George Washington into it. Time to set the record straight.
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