Written by Franz Hofer for A Tempest in a Tankard A TECTONIC SHIFT At first blush, the Munich Baker-Brewer Dispute might look like a curious footnote in the annals of medieval history.[1] But it’s much more than that. Flaring up sporadically between 1481 and 1517, this inter-guild dispute is not only a colorful story, it …
Continue reading “THE MUNICH BAKER-BREWER DISPUTE: YEAST AND THE EMERGENCE OF LAGER”
Written by Franz Hofer for A Tempest in a Tankard In between evenings of losing myself in my annual “big book” (Don Quixote this year), I’ve been reading Terry Theise’s What Makes Wine Worth Drinking: In Praise of the Sublime. Theise makes a compelling case that people who write about wine or who sell wine …
Continue reading “ACCOUNTING FOR MY TASTES IN BEER”
(Thanks to Deb Evans for the link.) New York is home to many great breweries, but there might be none that are more revered than Brewery Ommegang near Cooperstown. Brewery Ommegang was established in 1997, which also makes it one of the state’s oldest breweries. Located on a 140-acre hop farm, they claim to have …
Continue reading “Brewery Ommegang: Cooperstown’s Destination for Beer Lovers”
Before I retired I used to tour through Rhode Island in the 90’s and 2000’s as an entertainer and educational service provider. Of all the things I miss, I miss spinach pies the most. I was determined to find one if I ever came back. Millie was skeptical regarding how good they were, and how …
Continue reading “A Beer Judge’s Diary: Pawtucket!”
Tucked up against the Front Range palisades that form the entry to the Rockies, Denver and other erstwhile frontier settlements beckon with a cosmopolitan flair that belies their one-time reputation as a collection of cow towns.