Category: Front Page

For the green-conscious crowd, it can be argued that it’s far more important to drink beers from environment-friendly breweries than to seek out organic beers that may leave you unsatisfied. (Photo: Phil Velasquez/Chicago Tribune)

Written by Evan S. Benn for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch McClatchy-Tribune

Over a plate of eggs from a free-range, hormone-free, vegetarian-fed, organic chicken, I pondered the carbon footprint of my beer consumption.

I recycle bottles and cans, sure; but is that enough to offset all the water, energy and other resources that go into making liquid gold?

So I started looking into organic beers — and I was underwhelmed. Unlike the wine industry, which in recent years has exploded with bio-dynamic and organic wines produced in sustainable ways, there are still only a relative few number of beers out there that have gone green.
Continue reading “Green beer: Not Just for St. Patty’s Day”

Written by Lilith Raymour

Homebrewers have an unsung hero. They may be familiar with the founder of Guinness, or that lager yeast was created at Carlsberg by one Christian Hansen. The heroes and innovators are many. But without a way to keep the creamy head from escaping, without a head or at least just a slight tingle that carbonation delivers to the palate, beer just simply wouldn’t be, well, beer. Simply fermented wort, or “wert” as it was once spelled.

Hiram Codd.
Continue reading “Hiram Codd”

Ballantine Brewing/Ballantine XXX

Written by Greg Glaser for chowhound.chow.com

The real story of the greatest of the traditional American ales.

Mention the name Ballantine to beer lovers, especially beer lovers with more than a few flecks of gray in their beards, and more often than not they will begin to rhapsodize rapturously about this famous ale. You’ll hear stories of old bottles mysteriously and wondrously discovered and tasted; tales of long-discarded techniques employed by the original brewers; accounts of the slow, steady decline of the beer’s greatness as it passed from brewery to brewery, the result of corporate takeovers.
Continue reading “The Late, Great, Ballantine”

From left, Michelle Piegaro of Charlotte and Angela Jankowsky and Marlene Dailey of Cary have worn traditional German dirndl dresses to the beer festival in Durham for four years. Photo by Corey Lowenstein.

Written by Lynn Bonner for newsobserver.com

DURHAM — Local brews took their place beside some of the world’s best-known brands at an annual beer festival Saturday, with North Carolina crafters creating recipes they say will satisfy tastes for distinctive brews.
Continue reading “Beer Fest Brings Out the Best”

Written by Lynnette Hintze for dailyinterlake.com

I wonder if anyone has ever calculated how much beer has been consumed at the Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany, since it began 200 years ago?

A staggering amount, to be sure, and I’ll have to admit I contributed a few pints to the sum total.

I’ve had Oktoberfest on my mind lately because I keep getting e-mails from the Whitefish Chamber of Commerce about its upcoming inaugural Oktoberfest — “Beer, Brats and Bavaria” — Oct. 14-17. This sounds pretty exciting.

After a mayoral toast and tapping of the first keg, a tradition still practiced in Munich, the Whitefish event gets under way Thursday with all kinds of crowd-pleasers, including a bratwurst-eating contest and competitions to see how many beer steins men and women can hold. And it sounds like there’ll be polka music ’til the cows come home.
Continue reading “Oktoberfest a One-of-a-kind Experience”

Photo by Gretel Daugherty—Gubernatorial candidate and Denver’s Mayor John Hickenlooper savors a bite from a ripe Palisade peach during a brief stop at High Country Orchards, 3548 E 1/2 Rd., on Sunday. Hickenlooper said he’s touring the state for two weeks to find out the concerns of Colorado residents.

Written by Charles Ashby for GJSentinel.com

Note: the article does not mention the actual name of the brewpub chain. Odd. Several online articles do not. Really odd. The Professor’s research indicates: Wynkoop Brewing Company-PGA

July 5 is a day John Hickenlooper will never forget.

In 1986, it was the day the oil and gas geologist got laid off from his job, jeopardizing the only career he had known. The same day six years later, his wife, Helen Thorpe, gave birth to his son, Teddy.

“Isn’t that weird?” Hickenlooper said. “What are the chances?”

Though seeing his son born obviously was a good day for the Democrat, losing his job so many years ago eventually turned out to be a good thing, too.

If that hadn’t happened, Hickenlooper might never have started a brew-pub in Denver, parlayed that into a successful enterprise that included several restaurants, married his wife at age 49, started his first run for elective office in early 2002, and now run for Colorado governor.
Continue reading “Hickenlooper Turned to Beer After Losing Geologist Job”

Like to collect tap handles? If you Google tap handle there are a lot of displays out there that will help you present your collections…

Written by David Burke for bevlog.com

Continue reading “The Beef is Here (Meaty Booze)”

Profile by Tom Becham

It’s that time of year again! Time for Oktoberfest!

While most of us who attend Oktoberfest celebrations in the United States will tend to drink very similar versions of the same style of beer, if you get the chance to try The Kaiser from Avery Brewing in Colorado, do it. You won’t regret it.

I was rather uncertain about this beer, as Avery has always been rather hit-and-miss with me. Some of their stuff I love, others I loathe. There seems to not be any middle ground. They tend to make very strong and/or very hoppy brews, so any mistakes tend to big and difficult to ignore.

Avery bills The Kaiser as an “Imperial Oktoberfest”, which seems like an inherent contradiction.

The Kaiser pours with a moderately large head of dense foam, which lingers for some time. It appears a coppery brown-orange, as is expected for an Oktoberfest/Marzen.

The aroma has the toffee and caramel-like malt one expects of the base style, with some earthy hop notes.

I had some misgivings about the taste and mouthfeel, but they turned out to be totally unfounded. The Kaiser has the same malty-but-not-quite-sweet quality of any good German Oktoberfest/Marzen. There is a hop quality that both balances the sweetness, and gives a somewhat citrus jam quality to the flavor. There are also some vague earthy hints that almost remind me of ginseng. Surprisingly, for a beer of 9.73% ABV, there is little perception of alcohol. Frankly, I expected this one to be much “hotter”.

All in all, I would definitely recommend The Kaiser for anyone seeking both a traditional and innovative approach to Oktoberfest drinking. Just be careful not to overdo!