Beer seems to have received a bad rap this past century of its long and rich history.  Perhaps this is due to the unholy stigma affixed to it from such movements as fundamentalism and the prohibition, or perhaps due to the fact that when it comes to medicinal qualities associated with alcohol, red wine takes the cake.  Thus the inundation of light and low carb beers as lesser evils in the American marketing system. But nutrition scientists (and we all know scientists know everything) have weighed the indisputable evidence of beer ingredients and have discovered that beer is, in fact, good for one's health.  A recent study shows that drinking beer in moderation (two 12 ounce brews a day for adult males) is quite beneficial.  In fact, craft beers--those beers that this blog specializes in--are the most medicinal of all.  So please, for your own good, subscribe to this blog! From a recent Forbes article, here are eight reasons you ought to drink up: Beer prevents heart disease.   Drinking beer regularly can decrease your chances of heart disease by 35%. Beer prevents blood clots that lead to stroke. Beer lowers blood pressure. Beer increases insulin sensitivity, leaving one less prone to type 2 diabetes. Beer actually ...

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 ...

As the title indicates, this article will cover more ground than just a single type of beer.  However, it will deal with a singular concept, namely, the role of hops and grains in English Ales.  There will be plenty of time to cover other Ale considerations in future articles.  The particular types of top-fermented Ale covered in this article will be "Normal" English Ales, Milds, Bitters, and Extra Special Bitters (E.S.B.s).  As I mentioned above, hops are the major consideration in the variance of these types of Ales.  I'm using "Normal" to designated an English Ale that cannot be further defined by another category of Ale (i.e., it is not a Bitter, Pale Ale, Irish Ale, India Pale Ale...you get the idea).  So, in some ways it is a catch-all phrase.  I suppose these "Normal" Ales have also been called "Pub Ales" (of course, Bitters can also be called by the same name).  Hobgoblin might be a good example of "just a normal English Ale."  If you see the simple terminology of English Ale or English Style Ale, you are probably dealing with a "Normal" English Ale.  A beer that is less hopped than a "Normal" Ale is often characterized as a "Mild Ale."  ...

Doing this review is certainly one of the least Bourgeoisie things I've done.  Imagine paying anywhere from $160-$230 dollars for a 24 ounce bottle of beer, even if it does come in a hand-crafted vessel.  Now it is true that different boys like different toys, so I feel a little better in that respect.  I spend my money on beer...what can I say?  As some of you may know, Sam Adam's makes the strongest and most expensive beer in the world.  Utopias comes in at an amazing 26% abv.  It is an astounding achievement to make a beer that strong.  There is no distilling, nothing but grains, and a whole lot of very robust yeast strains in this beer.  Believe me when I say producing a beer of this strength is already a feat.  Since I sipped on some of this Utopias the other night, I thought I'd offer a review of it.  From the beginning of the pour (1 1/2 to 2 ounces suggested) Utopias does not look like a common beer.  In fact, there is no carbonation, no head, and a thick tracing on the glass.  The beer sits there with a thin clear line of liquid sitting on top of a beautiful whiskey-colored body.  As the ...

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!

This article has been a while in the making.  Part of the reason for the delay is that I was not quite sure how to address the rest of the Lager family of beers.  After a considerable amount of deliberation on the subject, I've decided to put them together.  As I've said at numerous points in this blog, Lagers are more about yeast strains and fermentation temperatures than color.  The color of a Lager can be iridescent.  The palest blond beer can be a Lager...but so can a black beer.  Here is the hit list of various lagers that can be considered distinct styles: American  Microbrewery  Lager - this style distances itself from Mega-breweries and emphasises domestic hops. Australian and Mexican Lagers are worth a mention if only for the fact that they are based on Czech, Bohemian, and German traditions of Lagers. Bierre de Garde beers (from France) are aged for long periods in order to mellow them out. The rest of the styles that could be mentioned are often defined by where they are made.  Bohemian, Czech, Dortmunder, Erlanger, Munich Dunkels, Kulmbacher and other area defined beers vary in darkness and alcohol content but are not necessarily well-defined beyond the appellations that they carry.  Some Lagers such as Klosterbier are monastery ...

Ok, it's not just in Guinness, as we experienced this past Friday as we drank Wexford Irish Cream Ale. I remember the first time I bought Guinness Draught in the can.  My first thought was, "Who screwed up?"  But then I examined the can and realized that the little ball in my empty can must be a result of the most brilliant minds of science (beer science) for the purpose of simulating Guinness off the tap.  I was right.  But not knowing how something works bugs me, and I am guessing bugs a lot of other beer drinkers.  So here's whats in your beers: Typically beer is carbonated with CO2.  In the can this CO2 is in the beer itself, and in the can.  That's why when you pop the top of a canned beer it goes, "pshhhht."  That is the preassurized CO2 that rests on the surface of the beer escaping the can.  When the CO2 escapes, it agitates the beer, as does the action of pouring, causing some of the CO2 mixed in the liquid to escape.  You see this in the form of the head that floats on top of your beer.  (Don't worry, even though I know the ...

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 ...