There once was a time when I exerted a LOT of effort searching out beer stores, trying to find the next greatest beer.  This practice subsided–nearly stopped–when I realized the next greatest beer was the one brewed in my driveway.  That being said, I still get a huge kick when I stumble upon a store [...]

Why do people eat a hamburger rather than Spam?  Why do people like a Ferrari better than a Pinto?  It seems the answers to these questions is somewhat obvious (cost prohibitive aspects to the Ferrari aside).  Quality, quality, quality. It is intriguing when those who are unfamiliar with craft beer ask the question, “What’s fueling [...]

I refuse to ridicule someone for drinking “crap” beer…you know, anything brewed by a “Macro Brewery.”  Why?  First, negativity is far less conducive to communicating a better idea, and two, I’d be making fun of myself because I wasn’t just born into this idea that there are better beers out there.  I, like many others, [...]

The more we as a people  embrace postmodernism, the more aggressively we profess a disdain for rules and standards.  But deep inside, we know they can be beneficial and are meant for our own good.  They keep our roads flowing, our pockets less pick-pocketed, and our beer delicious.  That doesn’t mean that at times a [...]

In a recent article I espoused the view that a good brewery is consistent in their brewing process; that is, from one batch to the next, I’d expect a brewery’s flagship porter to taste EXACLTY the same.  But inconsistancy (intentional) is also necessary…at times. My thunder for this post was a bit stolen in the [...]

How Inflation affects craft beer.

Continuing our series on factors (including grains and hops) that contribute to the higher cost of craft beers, let’s take a look at yeast.  There are many types of yeast that can be used in brewing.  Oftentimes, a brewer will use more than one yeast in a particular brew.  For instance, a lot of the [...]

In my last post that dealt with the cost of beer, I mentioned the impact of grains.  My expatiation was plenty for many of you.  And since “brevity is the soul of wit, brief let me be.”  Hops are important on various levels for making a beer.  There was a time in history when they [...]