Santa's Butt-- what an interesting name for a beer.  This is one beer in a series of Christmas-themed beers from Ridgeway.  Let's break it down a little.  First of all, Santa's "something" is an appropriate name for this time of year.  Surely, his "Butt" is not appropriate.  Well, there's actually more than meets the eye to the name.  Double entendre anyone?  A "Butt" is actually an older term that meant barrel.  Porters, such as Entire Butt, play to this fact.  I guess the implication is that the beer came from Santa's Barrel (you can see why I didn't say that it came from Santa's Butt).  Ah! British humor.  Without futher ado, let's talk about the beer. The beer comes in at 6% ABV, which is perfectly fine for a Porter.  Of course there are stronger versions, notably Okocim's version.  Santa's Butt had very little head retention and a deep reddish-brown body.  It fit very nicely into a pint glass.  On the nose, it had a slightly metallic, winish touch, plenty of toasted & burnt grain, and touches of chocolate.  There were also hints of honey, hops, and sweet malts.  Along with the chocolate taste, the sweet malts translated into the palate.  Dry burnt grains  also gave off a very nice roastiness to the beer, as well as a imparting a slight ...

Has anyone ever wondered what an I.P.A. (India Pale Ale) is?  I'm going to talk about Pale Ales first because an India Pale Ale is an amped up version of the former.  I've actually already given some good information on Pale Ales when we had Samuel Smith's Pale Ale (here is a link to that article and review).  Even though I've covered some of the bases before, let me just briefly define a Pale Ale. A Pale Ale is not pale at all.  The utilization of lighter grains as compared to those used in English Porters and Stouts helped to give this beer its name.  Some of this had to do with technological advance.  I've written some stuff on grains already, so I'm not going to cover it much here (I'm providing multiple links in the articles to cover some other questions you might have).  In addition to being lighter than other Ales of the time, the beer was also more hopped than a Porter or Stout might typically be.  Rolling Rock is not actually a good example of a Pale Ale (check out the Samuel Smith's that we have reviewed on here for a more classic example of this beer type). Well, Pale Ales were great for the homefront.  But what about people ...

It's been a while, but we're getting around to writing about Ales.  If you want to know what distinguishes an Ale from a Lager, check out this article.  Basically, it breaks down in terms of where and how fermentation takes place.  Many people assume that when we are talking about Ales, we are talking about English beer.  It is almost an aphorism to hear people speak about beers in this manner.  In one sense it is true that the British are known for their Ales.  In quite another sense, it is fundamentally wrong-headed to speak about beer in this way.  Before the storage of beer in caves and the Lager revolution, all beers were Ales.  This is the case because Lager temperatures were not consistently achievable until the mastering of refrigeration (there is so much on this website to read, if you don't know what I'm talking about).  In fact, Lagers are actually the anomaly in beer history...despite what Budweiser says about their long brewing tradition.  Perhaps a counter-claim to the Budweiser mantra would be, "Ales are the king of beers."  There happens to be a very wide variety of distinguishable styles of beer that can properly be considered Ales, so there is a great deal on which ...

I really do love the Christmas season...the majority of individuals, despite a wretched economy, allow their mood and general good will to elevate. That woman at Walmart--stubbornly blocking the tight aisle with her cart and large body--moves out of the way without my exacerbated sighs. The teller at the bank pretends to be interested in my stories.  And, we give gifts to our friends and families, because we want to.  Some of us give gifts out of tradition, some under influence of the proliferate and enticing marketing coming through their television, some out of obligation and others do so in thespian commemoration of the one moment in history in which God was birthed in human flesh as a gift to mankind. Regardless, gift giving is intrinsic to this time of year, and I thank heaven for this seasonal activity. Quite often, though, it is more burdensome than it ought to be. One may find themselves wandering the malls and the pandering sales people, only to find they are unable to deliver that special gift for that special person. Your dilemma is futile...beer is the answer, after all, wasn't Christ's first miracle actually a gift of alcohol? Just last week I received this heavenly ...

When they are not busy infiltrating American automotive markets, making crazy violent animated movies, or developing robots who promise to be your best friend, the Japanese busy themselves with making the most ridicuously expensive beer you could dream of...space beer. Using barley only grown in the International Space Station hundreds of miles above the surface of the earth.  I'll have to be honest, I pretty much think Sapporo (the distributor, in this case) puts out crap beer--an over priced novelty here in the US, but given the opportunity I would give this beer a glug just say I've had it.  I can vaguely recall from the four years of Japanese I took as a foreign language in high school..."Anata wa Biru o nomimas!"  (I am drinking beer!) Watch and enjoy!

I suppose this post should have gone up yesterday, but seeing as my wife is out of town and I have all four of my little ones to myself, and that on Thanksgiving (driving around to see family) Thank Heaven for Beer had to take a back seat. Anyhow, I thought it fitting to regurgitate some beer history.  We all have learned from an early age that Thanksgiving is traditionally a holiday commemorating an autumn feast held together between the Plymouth colonists (pilgrims) and the Wampanoag Indians.  The feast was actually quite a traditional event for the Natives who were celebrating the bounty of the harvest. I must point out, beer played a most pivotal role here.  In fact, we would not even have "Thanksgiving" without it.  You see, those sailing on the Mayflower were traversing to the new world with hopes of not only religious freedom (less than half the voyagers were actually separatists) but also of being land owners and growing crops in the rich soil.  According to the charter granted to them, they could only settle down and set up shop between the 38th and 41st latitude lines.  Plymouth Rock (Cape Cod) lies just north of this legal designation.  ...

Since I mentioned Lagers first, that is what  I'm going to talk about (yes, it's that arbitrary).  I know that we have all heard the term "Johnnie come lately."  In the beer world, the pinnacle of this saying is found in the Pilsner style of beer.  As you might or might not have guessed, Pilsner is actually an appellation that denotes where the beer came from.  Pilsners came from a Czech town called Pilsen.  A few factors really led to the dominance of Pilsners.  Here they are. One: Pilsners picked up steam because of advances in malting techniques.  Grains were now more evenly cooked, and this led to lighter colors in the grains and, therefore, in the beer.  Two: The mass usage and availability in glassware allowed these new phenomenal beers to be seen in a different light, so to speak.  Before this time, glassware was not able to be mass produced.  In addition, there was not a great deal of continuity in glass size (in that they were blown by mouth).  Three: Advances in refrigeration allowed these Lager beers to be clean and crisp in the mouth.  Prior to the advances in refrigeration, there was not the ability to ship and spread these beers around the world.  These three really led to the almost hegemonic dominance of ...

Now that we are getting some people who really seem to be interested in our site, I thought I would write a series on various beer styles.  We will try to address topics like what is the difference between a Lager and an Ale?  Beyond this, we will also address categories within this types of beer.  We will talk about a Porters, Stouts, Marzens, Bocks, Lagers, Pilsners, Scotch Ales, Irish Ales, English Ales, Belgian Ales and far beyond this.  Beer styles are a veritable color spectrum of variety.  I'm expecting this to be about 20 or so articles that are informative yet concise.  The main thing that I'm hoping to accomplish is a building of knowledge without an inundation or too much info.  I'm also hoping that when we post a beer these articles can be used as a reference point to understand a particular beer better.  The more that we know about the characteristics and even history of a beer, the better we can understand a beer's particular characteristics.  So, buckle up for a beer thrill ride (this should be read in a quasi suspense movie voice-over inflection).  My dream for this series (and the site in general) is to make you a knowledgeable beer lover.  Cheers!

This article is what you might call an inspired tirade.  I don't think I can inspire like William Wallace in Braveheart, but here goes.  Maybe instead of leading you into battle against an oppressive foe, I can smooth talk you into taking a chance.  Here is the chance that I propose: drink as many different types of beer as often as you can.  As the picture shows, the world is a much smaller place then it used to be. There was a time in history that world beers were very difficult to get.  With the increase in industrialization, there was a commensurate increase in beer availability.  Now we can get beers that were impossible to get years back.  The two options that were available to the consumer: go to a country to have the option to drink various beers or go without.  Now with technological advances in brewing, refrigeration, and shipping, there are a gambit of beers that people could only dream of trying.  How neglectful would it be if we kept drinking the same swill (or even the same good beer for that matter). What inspired me to write this?  Well, I have been to a few places lately that have 700 to ...

In an earlier post I alluded to the fascinating connection between beer and religion.  Unbeknownst to many of our readers, both authors of this site have an educational background in theology.  Unavoidably thus, when two passions intersect we take notice.   Below is a beautiful--and outstanding paragon of journalistic excellence-- AP article that explores the historical connection of God and beer.  After reading the article, let us know what you think! ____________________________________________________________________ DENVER — In the beginning, there was a long line for Judgment Day ale. Shortly after the doors opened on the 27th Great American Beer Festival, a crowd congregated at the booth offering that and other pours from The Lost Abbey of San Marcos, Calif., where the tap handle is a Celtic cross and the legacy of beer-brewing monks endures. Standing under a banner promising "Inspired beers for Saints and Sinners Alike," proprietor and former altar boy Tomme Arthur had a confession: He's using God to sell some beer. "It's the oldest story ever told — the struggle between good and evil," said Arthur, 35, a product of Catholic schools in his native San Diego. "There is a battle being waged between those who make good beer and those who make evil beer." Without question, ...