Beer is beer...right?  Grain, water, and yeast? Not always. While those who favor craft beer often deride the big brewers for skimping on grain and using fillers such as rice and corn to achieve alcohol and thinner bodies, fillers can be used to ad wonderful characteristic to beer.  Belgian candy sugar, for example, can be used to up the ABV of a beer while keeping the body thin (sugar from malt thicken the body of the beer) and adding some delicious caramel flavors.  The result is a very smooth beer that goes down easily. As a home brewer who has a affinity these styles of beer, I frequently find myself loading up on Belgian candy sugar at my local brew shop.  Two things irk me as I throw the one pound packages in my cart.  First, is the price.  One half pound costs $4.99.  Second, I realize that someone else made the candy sugar.  one of the many enjoyable aspect of home brewing is the sense of ownership you feel as you sip on one of your creations.  Each step of the process that I can take away from a manufacturer, the better I feel about my brew. Recently I designed an imperial recipe ...

Within the next few months I intend on writing a post(s) on how to "taste" beer.  By "taste" I mean, how to unlock the intricate nuances in your mouth.  Before delving into this subtle art, I felt it necessary to first report on how to review/rate the beer subsequent to the tasting.  Some may find this order illogical, I find it imperative. This is part one of a two part series, and unlike the soon to be posted part two, this is going to be short and simple, and entirely unscientific.  Part two will deal with the categories that beer reviews typically cover, and thus will be more methodical.  Until then, the thesis of this article can be summed up in one statement: Do Not Be A Lemming Lemmings are the arctic rodent fabled to commit mass suicide by jumping off of sea cliffs.  The metaphor, of course is that of "don't follow the herd." Following the herd is inescapable in many senses and necessary in some cases.  For example, if it came out that a brewer used urine as an ingredient in their beer, I do believe it would be wise for the common consumer to follow the herd and abstain from drinking ...

Having a hard time buying for that special beer geek in your life?  Are you finding yourself lost in the beer aisle trying to figure out what he/she hasn't tasted?  Let me offer you a suggestion.  Learn from my (Nate) wife, who surprised me this past wedding anniversary with a unique and addictive beer gift:  The Essential Reference of Domestic Brewers and Their Bottled Brands, 3rd Edition. Having learned of this book through a notable beer blogger, Simply Beer, I knew I had to have it.  Having casually mentioned to my wife that it was on my radar, she somehow remembered this book with a brutally long title and made my day this past Monday.  Aren't I a lucky guy? The Essential Reference of Domestic Brewers and Their Bottled Brands is the brain child of Micheal S. Kuderka, whose purpose in creating this reference book was "to be the industry recognized resource for information on all domestic beer and brands..."  And let me tell you, he is is doing a great job. This book is exceedingly exhaustive, easy to navigate, full of helpful charts and figure, and just what it aims to be:  a great resource.  The book walks the beer business man ...

To all our readers and searchers: I rarely--let me rephrase--I've never written on religious topics on the site.  Nate has posted a couple of things, but we don't want to make this a Christian beer website.  Nate and I both happen to be Christians, but our website loyalties are strictly beer.  Of course, we were being quite literal when we called the site thankheavenforbeer.  Be that as it may, I would like to write an article about whether or not it is actually sinful to drink beer.  I realize this is a niche article and not everybody will appreciate, like, or even understand what all the fuss is about.  Fortunately, there is a plenty of other unaffected, at least as far as "religion" is concerned, stuff on the site.  Feel free to read on or go to another article. Why am I even bothering to write this?  Well, the answer is simple.  I've seen multiple times that people have searched the exact terminology "Is drinking beer sinful?" or "Is drinking sinful?" and I want to be a vanguard against neo-prohibitionist logic.  In some sense, I know very well that tortured soul who is asking this question, and I feel an obligation to ...

Awhile back we encouraged our readers to try their hands at having a beer tasting party.  On Friday, June 5, I got together with 13 other people to try thirty beers.  A tall order, indeed!  We had a blast at the party, and I think that we all learned a lot.  I hosted the party but had some help with the beer purchase (thanks to all of you who contributed).  For my part, I brought three of my homebrews along with my purchases.  Here is a list of all the beers at the tasting: Ichnusa (Sardinian Lager) Spaten Lager (German) Duvel (Belgian Golden) Ayinger Brau-Weisse (German Wheat) Jever (German Pilsner) Samuel Smith’s Pale Ale (English) Chapeau Framboise (Belgian Lambic) Victenaar Flemish Sour (Belgian-Flanders) Saison (Belgian) Rochefort 8 (Belgian Trappist) Crooked Tree IPA (U.S.) Victory Hop Devil (U.S.) Chouffe Belgian Trippel IPA (Belgian) Tilburg ...

We're getting near the end of actually completing our Style of Beers series. A lot of terrain has been covered, but a few styles had to wait on being written. It's getting to be the time of year that many people prefer a lighter bodied beer that doesn't fill them up. Even avid beer drinkers will sometimes switch gears during the warm weather. For me, I can drink a heavy stout no matter the time of the year. However, since Kolsch is lighter, I've decided to wait on the warmer weather to post about it. By the way, the rest of our styles series articles are here. Kolsch, as a style, was initially made in Cologne, Germany. The official name wasn't given until the early half of the 20th century, and much attempt has been made to protect it, such as only calling a Kolsch from Cologne by that name. Some non-Cologne breweries skirt the issue by simply calling their versions Kolsch-style beers. Whatever works! As far as what a Kolsch actually is, it is technically considered an ale because it uses top fermenting yeast and is kept warmer during primary fermentation temperatures. ...

This guest series has actually been written by Howard, a reader and frequent commenter/educator here on Thank Heaven for Beer. Since his experience far outweighs ours, we thought it only fitting to open up the floor. Thanks Howard! Packaging For my shipping, I buy the Duck brand bubble wrap at Wal-Mart for $10-$11. It’s 100 square feet, perforated every 12”, and I wrap each bottle with one sheet and tape it in the middle. When I have a 22 oz or 750 ml bottle, I use two sheets, one for the bottom half and one for the top. I typically fold the loose ends at the top and bottom and secure them with tape. I buy boxes at Office Depot in the $2-$4 range. I’ve seen people line the ends and sides of the box with foam rubber, bubble wrap, and/or crumpled up newspaper, either will work fine. I also wedge crumpled up newspaper in between bottles so nothing moves when the box is shook. I also use the 4- and 6-pack holders to separate the beers so they’re not knocking into each other. I’ve seen people use all kinds of stuff to ship ...

This guest series has actually been written by Howard, a reader and frequent commenter/educator here on Thank Heaven for Beer.  Since his experience far outweighs ours, we thought it only fitting to open up the floor.  Thanks Howard! BIF stands for Beer It Forward, which is just like the movie “Pay it Forward”, but with beer instead of good deeds. Sometimes they’ll allow new traders, but they usually require you have at least a little bit of trading history. The way these trades work is: 1. A user posts that they’re starting a new BIF. They will either lay out the rules, or they’ll look for other people’s input on what the rules should be. There is usually a minimum or maximum amount of beer per package, plus a theme like local beer only, >10% ABV beer only, beeradvocate.com Top 100 only, etc. Sometimes there are extras, like X number of beers and X number of cigars, or a T-shirt, or glassware, you get the idea. 2. Users sign up for the BIF by replying to the thread and asking if you can join in, or by sending a private message to the original poster. 3. A master list ...

First you need a place to setup a trade. I use the beeradvocate.com forums, but there is also a trading area on ratebeer.com, and I’m sure several others that I don’t know about. Since beeradvocate.com is what I use to trade, it will be used for my examples. The site offers three ways to trade beer: Wants/Gots lists, the Beer Trading – ISO/FT group, and the Beer Trading – BIF group. Wants/Gots When you’re browsing for beer on the site, there are a few links in the upper right portion of the page that relate to trading: Clicking “+ Add to your Wants” will add this beer to the list of beers you’re looking for. Clicking “+ Add to your Gots” will add this beer to the list of beers you currently have. Keep in mind that you don’t actually have to have the beer you add to your Gots, it can be any beer that you can buy at your local liquor store. If you click on the “44 wants” link it will show you all of the users looking for this beer, and the “16 gots link” will show you the users who have this ...

This guest series has actually been written by Howard, a reader and frequent commenter/educator here on Thank Heaven for Beer.  Since his experience far outweighs ours, we thought it only fitting to open up the floor.  Thanks Howard! Beer Value Most traders like to trade dollar-for-dollar, meaning if they send you $40 worth of beer, then you send them $40 worth of beer in return. They also like to trade rarity-for-rarity, meaning if they are trading a hard to get, or brewery-only release, they expect to get an equally scarce beer in return. So if you really want to get a bottle of Dark Lord, you’re going to need a one day only, brewery released beer (Darkness, Sexual Chocolate, Kate the Great, etc.) to trade. Some people are incredibly strict about this and will only trade for equal rarity. Others are happy to share their beer, and are willing to trade for other stuff that they want that isn’t so hard to come by. Some people will not give up their rare beer at all without completely taking advantage of you. When you’re trading up, meaning trading regular beer for rare beer, all bets are off. There ...