Category: Front Page

California might be the state with the most breweries totaling 245 in 2010, but Los Angeles County, with a population over nine million, is still behind with their number of craft breweries. With the recent movement of Alchemy & Science, the newly formed craft beer consortium of Ace Beverage and Mission Beverage, and four more L.A. breweries in development (according to the Brewers Association), L.A. is rapidly catching up to the rest of the craft drinking region of the United States.

Landscape changing

Los Angeles beer drinkers are more knowledgeable than ever and are demanding craft brews at establishments like Barney’s Beanery or Big Wangs Downtown, where macrobrew dominates the beer list. Beers like L.A. based Golden Road Brewing Hefeweizen and San Marcos based Port Brewing Mongo IPA are starting to pop up in between Budweisers and Coronas.

It wasn’t always like this. Just five years ago, craft beer was hard to come by. “There weren’t enough distributors down here,” said Ryan Sweeney, owner of three craft beer bars in town, including the newly opened Little Bear in downtown Los Angeles. Due to the limited access to craft, drinkers didn’t have the chance to refine their palates. He recalls the opening of Verdugo Bar, a craft beer bar in Glassell Park about five years ago, “we had to train everyone on everything. Everything was exotic and most of the beers we wanted to get we couldn’t.”

Continue reading “Los Angeles Beer Drinkers Becoming Savvier”

Written by Jesse Hughey for dallasobserver.com

​Here’s what passes for my year-end list, 10 of the beers that really impressed me this year, listed in no particular order other than roughly reverse-chronological. It’s late because I tend to do my heaviest drinking during the holidays. I wanted to be sure to include anything I tried up till midnight on New Year’s Eve; the tardiness is not at all because of a weeklong hangover combined with post-holiday depression rendering me nearly catatonic and completely uninterested in writing about … urp … beer.

Deep Ellum Brewing Co. brewmaster Drew Huerta is putting out some really good beer already, even with the brewery just a few weeks old. Festivus, a sort-of black IPA created in the wake of a brewery equipment failure that nearly rendered a huge batch unusable, was a fine holiday beer, but my favorite beer they make is the biggest: the imperial rye stout Darkest Hour. It’s just as dark as the name implies, with a nice dark-fruit sweetness and bracing spiciness and bitterness keeping the sugars in check. If you like dark beers, order some before it’s gone.

Maybe it was just in contrast to the burnt-rubber nastiness of Tactical Nuclear Penguin, but Mikkeller Barrel Aged Black Hole Cognac Edition was a wonderful deep, dark stout. The price was crippling at $20 a 12.7-ounce bottle at Strangeways (haven’t seen it in stores), but it was so lusciously rich and dark and strong I’d probably splurge on it again.

Deschutes The Abyss 2010, tried that same evening at The Common Table, was awesome, molasses and toffee and dark fruit swirled into an 11-percent ABV chocolate milkshake of a stout.
Continue reading “Hophead: My Favorite Beers of 2011”

Written by Norman Miller for milforddailynews.com

Massachusetts had one of its best beer years in anyone’s memory in 2011, so it is going to be hard to top in 2012, buts several Bay State breweries have some big plans for the new year. This week, we’ll take a look at what some breweries will be doing in 2012.

The Boston Beer Company, the brewers of Samuel Adams Boston Lager, has many new beers planned and a change for one of its existing beers.

In the spring, Samuel Adams will introduce its new seasonal, Alpine Spring, which is described as an unfiltered lager with “bright floral and citrus notes.” The Noble Pils, which has been the spring seasonal, will become a year-round beer beginning in March.

Also being introduced later this year will be the Whitewater IPA, which is a “fusion’’ style of beer – it has both the attributes of a Belgian-style white ale and an IPA.

The new Brewer’s Choice beer, which was chosen by a vote of Samuel Adams fans, will be the Mighty Oak Ale, which will be available in the new Brewer’s Choice mixed 12-pack.

Finally, Samuel Adams will introduce two new Single Batch series beers. They will be the Dark Depths, which is a Baltic porter, and the Cinder Bock, which is a smoky double bock.

The Cambridge Brewing Company, which started bottling its beers for the first time in 2011, has planned new beers for the new year, including Sgt. Pepper, a farmhouse ale brewed with peppercorns, Weekapuag Gruit, Heather Ale, Mind Left Body and Red God.
Continue reading “The Beer Nut: Big Plans a Brewin’ in the Bay State”

Written by Christopher Seward for ajc.com/Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Red Brick Brewing Co. staffers arrived at work Friday in northwest Atlanta to find a refrigeration unit used to keep its specialty beer tanks cooled had malfunctioned.

On closer inspection, the staff at the brewery at 2323 Defoor Hills Road realized an electrical box that powers the $100,000 “chiller” had been stripped of its copper wiring.

Red Brick, formerly Atlanta Brewing Co., is the latest target of metro Atlanta thieves who risk electrocution to steal copper wiring and tubing from utility poles and air condition units at vacant homes and schools, churches, shopping centers and businesses.Each theft can cost a property owner thousands of dollars of damage for a few hundred dollars’ worth of scrap metal.

“We’ve been running around here like chickens with our heads cut off,” Red Brick Brewing President Bob Budd said Friday in a phone interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “This is the first time we’ve ever had a theft problem in 17 years. It’s really kind of a shock.”
Continue reading “Copper Thieves Hit Red Brick Brewing, Put Beer in Jeopardy”

Homebrewers and the brewing business in India- The Professor

Written by Nupur Chaudhuri for indianexpress.com

A puree of raisins, reduced over a high flame, an addition of Italian seasoning – oregano, thyme, sage, seven types of grains and a blend of three yeasts. The result: Anuj Mundi’s Belgian Dubbel. Mundi is a Pune-based techie. He works as programme manager at Motorola Mobility. But when he’s not immersed in work, he’s devoted to his passion – brewing beer. His recipes have even been used to brew interesting new beers at the 1st Brewhouse (Doolally on Tap!) at Corinthians, NIBM Road. Since October 2009, Doolally has been serving up handcrafted beers, freshly brewed – from the dark brooding Black Magic Ale which immediately casts its spell from the first gulp to the Bavarian Wheat Beer, with a fruity nose, a delicate bitterness and prominent clove aftertaste. In Mumbai, the Gateway Brewing Company too is on its way to being the gateway to all the different styles of beer.
Continue reading “Grin & Beer It”

Written by Greg Kitsock for Washingtonpost.com/blogs

Washington had four breweries operating in the early 20th century before the city was dried up by Congressional fiat in 1916.

With a little luck, we should exceed that mark in the coming year, as 3 Stars Brewing Co. joins DC Brau, Chocolate City Beer and the Gordon Biersch and District ChopHouse brewpubs.

Look for 3 Stars to open during the first quarter of 2012. “We’re going through buildout,” says Dave Coleman of the brewery headquarters at 6400 Chillum Place NW, a former postal sorting facility about 3/4-mile from the Takoma Metro station. “We’re having a construction team do the schematics for the electricity and gas.”

Continue reading “D.C. is Fermenting a Brewery Culture”

Written by Jay R. Brooks for .mercurynews.com and The Bay Area News Group

Now that we’re safely into the new year, it’s time to make some new beer resolutions — and try some different kinds of beer this year.

For a number of years now, India Pale Ales have been the fastest-growing type of beer sold — and “seasonals” have been the biggest-selling category, which means people also are keen to try something new. But beer drinkers tend to stick to a small subset of the dozens of American craft beer styles. Last year, for example, seasonals were in the top spot again, and the next five best-selling beer categories were IPA, pale ale, amber ale, amber lager and wheat beer.

They’re all fine beer styles, and I drink my fair share of them, too, but they’re not exactly a diverse crowd. So this year, break out of your comfort zone and try one of these exceptional beers.

Craft pilsners

When microbreweries started making beer in the early ’80s, the vast majority made ales. They took less time to brew, required less aging and, some said, were more forgiving. But pilsners have been a popular beer style since their introduction in the 1840s. If you have enjoyed a beer by one of the big breweries, you’ve already had a version of a pilsner, with added corn, rice or other adjunct to lighten the color and flavor.

If you’ve had Pilsner Urquell, you’ve had the original all-malt pilsner. But a growing number of craft breweries now make a pilsner, and many of them are world class, too. Berkeley’s Trumer Pils, for example, is one of the best pilsners brewed anywhere. Moonlight Brewery’s Reality Czeck, a Czech-style Pils, and Lagunitas Brewing’s Pils are both excellent pilsners, also. They tend to be a little spicy — from the signature Saaz hop — and crisp and clean, but still very full-flavored.

 

Altbier

In German, “alt” means old, as these ales continued to be popular in Germany even after lager brewing became all the rage in the 19th century, especially around Düsseldorf and other parts of northern Germany. But Rich Higgins, at Social Kitchen in San Francisco, is making a great example of this old style, calling his Old Time Alt. It’s slightly peppery with great toasted malt character. If you can’t make it to the source, Alaskan Amber is also an alt, and is available in six-packs. Altbiers are delicate and complex, with spicy hops and usually a dry finish, though sometimes they’re nutty or bittersweet.

Oatmeal stout

 

Continue reading “Brooks on Beer: New Year’s Beer Resolutions”

Another interesting location for the brew business- The Professor

Written by Steven Jack for http://oswego.patch.com

The world of beer is no longer just Bud, Miller and Coors.

Craft brews have taken over the beer scene with double-digit increases in sales in the last few years. And now a group of three local guys want to bring their own brand of specialty beers to Oswego with a brewery proposed for the old Fire Barn location at 59 Main St.

Jason Thalman, Steve Woertendyke and Rafael Gomez are the co-owners of Misfit Craft Brewery. They will appear before the Oswego Plan Commission at 7 p.m. Thursday at Village Hall to discuss a special-use permit for the building that has sat vacant since 2009 when the Oswego Fire Protection District opened its new Station 1 on Woolley Road. If the commission recommends the project for approval, it could appear before the Village Board in the coming weeks.
Continue reading “Craft Beer Brewery Proposed for Downtown Fire Barn (Oswego, IL.)”

Written by Melissa D’costa for indiatimes.com

Beer drinkers have something to cheer about if a recent report is to be believed: The consumption of beer in moderate quantities (that means one to two glasses only!) could reduce the risk of heart disease.

The findings are based on a meta-analysis of several different studies conducted worldwide from over 200,000 people’s drinking habits, conducted by Italy’s Fondazione di Ricerca e Cura. It showed that moderate consumption of beer decreases drinkers’ risk of heart disease by 31 per cent, just as much as moderate consumption of wine.