Professor Good Ales

Written by Craig LaBan, Philadelphia Inquirer Restaurant Critic

As someone with a weekly drink column who’s always in quest of the next great sip, variety in my glass is just a way of life. In the past decade, I’ve almost never ordered the same bottle twice. The notion of having an entire keg of one beer to consume in my home, then, has always been the ultimate nonstarter every time I thought about tackling home brew.

And then Devin and Meg Griffiths moved in down the street. Within merely a few days, these outgoing newcomers from Texas (he’s a postdoc fellow in University of Pennsylvania’s English department) already had a steady stream of happy neighbors coming through their home. The reason? Aside from her fresh-baked apple strudels and his pit-smoked Texas brisket, Devin is also a devoted home brewer. Nothing draws a friendly crowd like a well-stocked Kegerator.

Continue reading “Home-Brewmaster Makes a Fine Neighbor”

Tom Becham did an excellent review for us a while back on Maui Brewing. Here’s a short article by the founder of Maui Brewing…

Written by Garrett W. Marrero, courtesy Craftbeer.com

I am fortunate to have been introduced to craft beer early in my life. Shortly after I turned 21, the beers I kept at home were from breweries like Sam Adams, Sierra Nevada, Pete’s Brewing Co., and anything imported. I even tried homebrewing a few times. Mom wasn’t happy when the first attempt ended up on the kitchen floor. Fast forward to my investment consulting years in San Francisco; my favorites were beers by Moylan’s Brewery, Marin Brewing Co., Thirsty Bear Brewing Co., and the other East Bay greats.

After a trip to Maui in 2001, I knew I had to make a change.
Continue reading “Maui Brewing”

Courtesy 2leep.com

Written by Michael Donaldson for www.stuff.co.nz/sunday-star-times

It’s brewed in a laundry, but this beer’s a winner, writes Michael Donaldson.

Niels Schipper thinks of himself as a craft brewer, even though his award-winning bitter was brewed in his laundry at home.

Schipper, a photographer who dreams of running his own brewery, has just won the inaugural Moa Beer Home Brew Challenge with his well-named Schipper’s Bitter. His reward is to see his laundry brew recreated at Moa’s brewery, and then bottled and kegged for sale.

Schipper said the key to his success was trying to create a craft brew, not a home brew.

“There’s a distinction between home brew and craft brew,” he told the Sunday Star-Times.

To avoid the dreaded “home-brew taste”, Schipper refuses to use home-brew kits and instead uses malted grains, which he mashes (steeping the grain in hot water) in an old chilly bin. The malty liquid (wort) he gets from that is then boiled in an old tea urn.

It sounds basic, but Schipper is meticulous in his brewing, taking around seven hours to put down a brew, which then has to ferment for a couple of weeks before being bottle-conditioned for another two or three weeks.

Moa beer baron Gareth Hughes said Schipper blew away the competition with his bitter.

“While Niels’ bitter took home the prize, all six of his entries were top-class brews with the right complexity and carbonation. It’s a real achievement, given the guy’s brewery is a laundry.”

Schipper said he was inspired to brew great beer because he was unhappy with the commercial beer on offer locally.

Continue reading “Beer Cleans Up the Competition”

Courtesy 2leep.com

More than 100 events across Ontario are planned for June 19 to 25

Written by Laura Robin for Ottawacitizen.com

If you’re traveling pretty much anywhere in Ontario (or even if you’re staying home) during the week of June 19 to 25, you can probably take part in some sparkling beer-related activities. It’s the second annual Ontario Craft Beer Week and the celebrations go from Niagara Falls to Vankleek Hill and include everything from a steamship cruise to beer pong tournaments.

“The idea is to celebrate excellence in craft beer,” says Gary McMullen, chair of the Ontario Craft Brewers Association, which has close to 30 members. “There are now craft brewers spread across the province, in big cities and small centres, and it’s a chance for everyone to get together and celebrate and taste the products.”

McMullen, who is 43, says that when he was a kid “there was only one brand of beer in the fridge” but now there are nearly 40 craft breweries across Ontario.

“It’s definitely not a fad,” he says. “Everyone talks about a renaissance in beer. If you step back and look at the cultural changes in North America as a whole, you realize that we’re only a few generations from being pilgrims, when people were just trying to make it through the winter. Now, we’ve developed to the point that we can appreciate culture and food and drink.”

More than 100 events are planned for Ontario Craft Beer Week. Here’s just a taste:

The weekend of June 17 to 19 in Toronto: CASK Toronto will be putting on its third annual Cask Ale Crawl. At more than 10 participating pubs in Toronto, you can order cask beer, get a special passport stamped and win prizes.

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