Category Archives: All About Beer

Hop Forward

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AAB 32.2

AAB 32.5

This cover story in All About Beer (Vol. 32, Iss. 5, 2011) was rooted in some of the entries I wrote for the Oxford Companion to Beer on hop varietals and really learning how long it takes for a new hop to go from a little-hope experiment to A-list hop, essentially, getting to know tomorrow’s hops today. Hop Forward is one of my favorite stories I’ve ever researched’n’written as a beer writer.

Dr. Shaun Townshend of Oregon State University amidst offspring from the 2010 breeding crosses, grown in partnership with Indie Hops.

Dr. Shaun Townshend of Oregon State University amidst offspring from the 2010 breeding crosses, grown in partnership with Indie Hops.

Book review: Craft Beers of the Pacific Northwest

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Wherein I review Lisa “The Beer Goddess” Morrison’s (full disclosure: we’re friends) guidebook to the luscious craft beers of the Pacific Northwest. The narrative is friendly and reads more like behind-the-wheel banter rather than an outdated, second-hand field guide.

Beer Traveler: River Rafting

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Why River Rafting? In AAB (Vol. 32, Iss. 4, 2011) I postulate that lovers of craft beer and outdoor enthusiasts have been one and the same since the get-go. Most of the pioneers of post-Prohibition brewing are in fact or in heart grizzled nature buffs who carved out career paths that enabled them to make a natural and thrilling product far away from the mainstream. Not unlike wild rivers themselves.

And like the beer we love, some of these rivers are easy to navigate, some are too challenging for most, they’re each about 95 percent water (remember, it’s air that makes rapids white), and, thankfully, these liquidy adventures can be sourced from all over the country. Namely: the Gallatin River near Bozeman (MT), the Rio Grande River near Santa Fe (NM), and on the Chattooga River near Athens (GA) and Greenville (SC).

Beer Traveler: The Burger Road

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Got Burger? was the title All About Beer (Vol. 32, Iss. 3, 2011) went with for this expose of America’s prime burger’n’beer towns. These include not just overall awesome cities like Los Angeles and Kansas City but other microclimates, too, including Ypsilanti (MI), Adamstown (PA), Portland (OR, aka Burgervana) and, um, New York City.

#Nips!

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Variety pack of 18 cl bottles. Photo: Brian Yaeger

Variety pack of 18 cl bottles. Photo: Brian Yaeger

I don’t recall the catalyst, but starting in 2011 I rapidly took up the mantle in support of small (AAB, Vol. 32, Iss. 2) forming something of a Nip Bottle Preservation Society (an army of one). Nips, typically those diminutive packages that offer a scant 250ml (about 7 fl. oz.) aren’t just cute, they’re great for myriad reasons. And I got to explore them even more beyond the feature story for a triptych of 3 posts in All About Beer’s then-blog, Beer Soup, for which I’d started blogging in early 2011.

Everybody Wants Some. Smaller portions of limited volume means more consumers get to try the beer (even if they get less liquid than they may like,)

Does this beer make me look fat? Sorry fellas, but beer’s not exactly dietetic. If we’re all about quality not quantity, maybe smaller portions aren’t such a bad thing.

It’s the economy, genius. Nips and splits are the answer to the “problem” of the rising cost of rare beer. I’d rather spend $16 for a 375ml than $30 for a 750.

But I didn’t stop there. I went on to launch www.WeLoveNips.com and you can follow our exploits on #Twitter at @welovenips.

Remember, less is more.

Beer Traveler: the Road Less Traveled

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The Beer Road Less Traveled (Vol. 32, Iss. 2, 2011) wanders down the less trodden paths toward towns that–who knew?–have their own nice beergardens growing, such as Highway 1 along California’s Redwood Coast and Hwy 264 running through North Carolina’s Outer Banks.

Birth of a beer

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To kick off 2011 in All About Beer (Vol. 32, Iss. 1) I looked at how beers today are conceived quite differently than when beer itself was still being created. Many generations and scientific breakthroughs later, some brewers strive to recreate traditional styles while others run shrieking from them. Authenticity versus innovation (or authenticity plus innovation) are factors allowing so deep a field of brewers to give birth to new beers.