Craft Beer

Articles, commentary, and reviews on homebrewing and craft beer.

Sign me up for this Father’s Day beer box, please!

I’ve followed the craft beer world for a lot of years, as a former beer columnist for the Philadelphia Weekly, a writer for HomeBrew Talk, and just plain as an enthusiast for varied taste experiences. Over the years, I’ve encountered many beer gift boxes and/or monthly beer clubs. You know the ones I’m talking about. Seemingly random mix packs at your local beer shop, or Beer of the Month clubs that send you an array of beers in the mail each month. To be frank, most of the time these mix packs are kind of awful. The beers are often old, the selections are lousy (and are likely made up of overstock rather than by choice made by discerning craft beer geeks), and they’re just…
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Top 6 Beer related movies

Beer lovers would appreciate this kind of movie since they are based on the brewing or drinking process of beer. It’s the perfect company to enjoy during football games or even while watching the horse race Kentucky Derby (click here to see the current odds). Despite the fact that so many people love this incredible drink, there aren’t many movies where the beer is a crucial part of the story if we remove the documentaries. Of course, beer is the sidekick of every teenage movie (like the American Pie series), but in this list we only targeted movies who gave the jolly drink the full spotlight. Here are the best movies where the beer has a crucial role as protagonist: Strange Brew (1983) This movie…
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6 Tips That Will Help You With Your Home Beer Brewing Process

Homebrewing is very popular in the past couple of years, and people are working on perfecting their beer recipe. Whether you want to brew your own beer for reselling or just to enjoy a freshly made drink, you have to know some of the essentials in the process. Even though it is not a complicated process, a small mistake can ruin your mixture. In today’s article, we will go through some of the home-brewing basics that will help you make the entire process easier, more enjoyable, and a much tastier finished product. Sanitation Is Crucial The most important things about brewing beer are sanitation and sterilization. People often overlook these segments in the brewing process, which can ruin your finished product. The sanitation process begins…
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There’s a Reason So Many Beers Are Named After Myths, Gods and Monsters

Originally published in the Philadelphia Weekly, May. 30, 2012, but long since taken offline (though available on the Internet Archive). So here it is in full. Drinking beer: It’s an act that transcends mere enjoyment, isn’t it? Throughout history, we’ve had an almost spiritual connection with our beer, one that leans toward the most fierce, primal part of who we are as human beings. Whereas wine is seen as civilized, refined, and at times erotic, beer conjures up something quite different—something wild, something untamed. In ancient days, triumphant warriors returned home from a day of plunder to down their ale while bragging of victory—intoxication swelling each boast into a bloated, fantastical account of deeds that defy human abilities. Small wonder, then, that so many modern…
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J.R.R. Tolkien, Hobbits, and BEER

Originally published on Celebrating the Suds, September 23, 2011 So, J.R.R. Tolkien, author of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Yeah yeah yeah, I know what you’re thinking. “This is a beer blog. Why the hell are you posting about the dude who wrote about elves and hobbits and all that?” I’m doing it because Tolkien and beer go together like me and Kate Beckinsale. (Just go with me on this, please.) Tolkien loved his beer, something reflected in his fiction by way of the Hobbits’ passion for a pint and the way in which a good pub is shown to be central to finding true contentment. Throughout The Lord of the Rings, for example, Merry, Pippin and Sam are forever looking for…
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