We all know that a brewery is a place where beer is made. But what exactly is a microbrewery? Though you may have an idea that a microbrewery is smaller than a normal brewery, there are some deciding features that classify a brewery as a microbrewery. Let’s take a look at them now. What is … Read more
If you’re an avid beer drinker, or have spent a good amount of time in Germany, you may have heard the words “Dunkel,” shouted from a friendly patron requesting a beer. You may have wondered exactly what Dunkel meant or how the bartender knew exactly which beer to give the customer. If you are, in … Read more
After thousands of years, it’s pretty hard to pin down one single culture that made the first beer, or even the time period when beer was invented. Still, we do have some idea about when our favorite brew was made. Let’s take a step back few thousand years to the beginning of beer. The Start … Read more
Like stouts, porters tend to be thought of as dark, strong beers that are perfect for a cold winter night. But, like stouts again, porters can vary pretty drastically from brewery to brewery. If you haven’t noticed already, porters are extremely similar to stouts, making them hard to classify. In fact, even Guinness’ renown Extra … Read more
When it comes to cooling down with a refreshing beer during the hot summer months, typically pale ales, hefeweizens and IPAs come to mind. But more recently, saisons have made a huge rise in popularity in the States. The light flavor, bold taste and reasonable ABV of Belgium’s saisons have made it climb up the … Read more
So you’ve been wandering the liquor store’s beer aisles looking at all the fancy labels and wondering why so many breweries are obsessed with goats. Well, it’s not so much that they love a good can-eater, it’s that they’ve created a visual pun for the German style lager, bock. I’ll get to that story in … Read more
There’s nothing that reflects autumn like the smooth wheaty, banana and clovey flavors of this popular beer. Hefeweizen is made up of a lot of wheat, giving it its classic refreshing taste. But what differentiates a hefeweizen from other wheat beers, like Belgian witbier and dunkelweizen? Let’s take a step back to hefeweizen history, and … Read more
When most people think of stouts, they think of creamy, strong and dark beers. Usually, a Guinness comes to mind. Yet, though many types of stout do have these attributes, there are different varieties that don’t have any of them. In fact, Guinness doesn’t even have a high alcohol content. It’s the same as Bud … Read more
Though enjoying a quality craft beer is simple enough to do, brewing it to perfection is quite another story. It can take years of effort and lots of batches of beer to create a delicious brew. The more you understand about the beer you’re drinking, the more you can fully appreciate it in all of … Read more
Rice has been used to make alcohol for many, many years. Sake, the Japanese rice wine, is the type of alcohol usually associated with the grain, but rice can also be used in beer. In the West beer made with rice is generally looked down upon as it’s mainly used in cheap lagers like Budweiser … Read more