Category: Front Page

Written by Kim Peterson for money.msn.com

A new beer maker has surged ahead to become the largest in America — and it probably isn’t the one you think.

Anheuser-Busch, the maker of the No. 1 beer Bud Light? Nope. That’s a subsidiary ofAnheuser-Busch InBev (BUD +1.88%), which is based in Belgium.

How about MillerCoors, which makes No. 2 beer Coors Light? Nope. MillerCoors is a joint venture of London’s SABMiller (SBMRY -0.88%) and Molson Coors (TAP -0.73%), which operates out of Montreal and Denver.

The biggest U.S. brewer is now D.G. Yuengling and Son, based in Pottsville, Pa., the Allentown Morning Call reports. Yuengling saw shipments soar 16.9% last year to 2.5 million barrels. As a result, it barely squeaked into first place, surpassing Sam Adams maker Boston Beer (SAM -1.00%), which rose 8% to 2.4 million barrels.
Continue reading “Who’s the Country’s Biggest Brewer?”

Written by Donna Goodison for Bostonherald.com

Samuel Adams is giving its social network a say in the brewing process by crowd-sourcing a beer.

Using the “Crowd Craft Project” app, Facebook fans can determine the color, clarity, body and character of the malt, hops and yeast for the collaborative ale, which will make its debut during the South by Southwest Interactive Festival in Austin, Texas.

“We’re reaching out to our Facebook fans to engage them at the beginning of the beer-marking process, asking them for their ideas on what their perfect beer would be,” Sam Adams brewer Bert Boyce said. “We’ll put that input together and we’ll brew a beer for them.”
Continue reading “Crowd to Craft Beer via Facebook”

Picture courtesy howderfamily.com and panoramio.com

Written by James F. Lee for Washingtonpost.com

Alois Bube was urging us on. “Drink plenty of beer!” he cried. “I put plenty of myself into every keg!”

Not needing any more prompting, I went up to the bar and ordered a Bube bock draft — rich, slightly sweet and with a hint of a coffee taste. As I sipped the dark brew, I wondered just what parts of Alois Bube I was drinking

Written by Will Trice for the AHA

Which is better, bottling or kegging? It’s one of the great homebrew debates, right up there with extract vs. all-grain and batch sparging vs. fly sparging. Both bottling and kegging have their advantages and disadvantages, and both can be onerous at times. Peeling labels off of used bottles is one of the worst tasks in homebrewing. But in the frustration department, finding a CO₂ leak in your system when the beer is already in the keg is right up there.

I find that most homebrewers are strongly in one camp or the other. But I straddle the line, happily kegging or bottling each batch as my mood and circumstances guide me. And to be honest, I actually enjoy the bottling process more than kegging because I have found the five paths to bottling nirvana. But this wasn’t always the case.

Seventeen years ago, after just my third time homebrewing, I went out and bought a humongous, 1960s era, avocado green refrigerator and a very used CO₂ bottle. Add to that a few used soda kegs, some fittings, hoses, and a picnic tap, and I was out of the bottling business for good. I hated bottling—the sanitizing, the filling, the capping. The chore of bottling was way more effort than I was willing to put into even this, the most satisfying of hobbies.

Continue reading “The Joys of Bottling (REALLY!)”

Professional brewers and beer business people in Arizona predict the future of Craft beer: both in Arizona and for the nation. Picture courtesy Pat Shannahan/The Arizona Republic. Ron Kloth, owner of Papago Brewing Company, passed an extensive test on beer knowledge, from brewing to serving, including how to pair different beers with certain foods to become a cicerone. -The Professor

Written by Andy Ingram for azcentral.com

New Year’s resolutions never seem to stick. And looking back over the past year, picking winners and losers doesn’t appeal to me, either.

Predictions, however, seem right up my alley.

Better yet, I decided to ask a beer educator, a bar owner and a brewer what they see in their crystal balls as it pertains to craft brewing for 2012. Here’s what they said.

Steves Parkes, owner and lead instructor of the American Craft Brewers Guild

Parkes’ guild, located in Vermont, is a leading brewing school. If you’re serious about brewing, I’d get serious about schooling, and ACBG is one of the best. (Full disclosure: Parkes was my instructor, and he has very high standards.)

He predicts there will be a return to session beers “if brewers get it right.”

The return, Parkes suggests, will be in conjunction with “less wood, less sour and less fruit beers.” In other words, a return to the traditional.

Layrd Mahler, owner of Sonoran Brewing Co.
Continue reading “Beer Buzz: Craft beer predictions for 2012”

Image courtesy alibaba.com

Written by Tom Becham for Professorgoodales.net

Brewed with Noble Hops From the Alps, Samuel Adams® Alpine Spring Hits Shelves this Month

BOSTON, Jan. 13, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ — The brewers at Samuel Adams have crafted a brand new seasonal beer, Samuel Adams Alpine Spring. This beer has the balanced maltiness and hoppiness of a helles, the strength and smoothness of a bock, and the unfiltered haze of a kellerbier. Although it’s categorized as an unfiltered wheat lager, this one-of-a-kind beer transcends any one style, and the crisp, citrus flavor notes make it a perfect offering for spring.

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Author NOT credited. From foxnews.com

QUEENSTOWN, New Zealand – Despite being named Beer, and making her own brew, a New Zealand woman has been prohibited from entering a home-brew beer contest because she’s not a man.

Rachel Beer, who makes a brew named “Beer’s Beer,” was shocked to be told a home-brew competition at an A&P show — an event which combines agricultural and entertainment events — on Saturday was a male-only competition, the New Zealand Herald reported.

Beer was told by the chief steward of the event, held at Lake Hayes in the central South Island near Queenstown, that she could enter her tipple, but it wouldn’t be judged.
Continue reading “Woman Named Beer Barred from New Zealand Brewing Competition Because She’s Female”

(Gee, who would ever think a politician might say something both ignorant and rather stupid?- The Professor)

Written by Ryan Grenoble for huffingtonpost.com

The one thing most Coloradans really behind more than the Denver Broncos? Craft beer. And unlike the hit-or-miss Broncos, Colorado’s craft beer industry is always a hit. One can only imagine the indignation, then, when Boston’s Mayor Tom “Mumbles” Menino yesterday uttered “The Beer Diss Heard ‘Round The World.” In an interview, Menino told the Boston Globe:

I mean, you know, Colorado beer? It hasn’t even made it east yet. Sam Adams has made it to the west and Harpoon has made it out there, but Colorado Rocky beer? Uck..

Continue reading “Boston’s Mayor Menino Disses Colorado Craft Beer Ahead Of Broncos Patriots Game”