The fall is by far my favorite season. The weather is warm but not hot during the day, the nights have the perfect sleep-inducing chill in the air, and the trees slowly explode into a symphony of rustic beauty. Every year, there’s one moment in early September or late August when I step outside […]

Let’s have some fun, o legion of beer geeks. I’m writing a post for the Today Show’s website in honor of the 2012 NFL season, and I thought it would be cool to recommend a local craft beer to enjoy while watching each of the 32 NFL teams play. I’d love to get you guys […]

I had a bit of a caffeine-fueled run in with Marty Nachel yesterday, and it led me to a new realization about the state of beer writing in the age of the Internet. It started with a comment he left on my “Five Beer Stereotypes” post that struck me as odd: We typically don’t get […]

I recently wrote about how my uneasiness with Renaissance Faire play-actors has kept me from trying mead, a form of honey wine that’s been around for thousands of years.  Every time I see it on the shelf, my thoughts immediate go to men and women dressed up in medieval garb, putting on thick accents and […]

It’s weird to think that a country as established as America doesn’t have its own official thing to say as we raise our glasses, but that seems to be the case.  “Cheers” is British, “Salud”/”Salute” is Mexican/Italian, “Prost” is German, and “Slainte” is Irish. But now there’s a (weak) movement afoot to correct this and […]

I was at one of the larger beer stores in my area last week, picking up a four pack of Founders Cerise, their ale brewed with Michigan tart cherries that is particularly excellent this year. I love fruit beers in the month of August – they are a tasty pick-me-up at the end of a […]

My most recent weekly post over at Today.com was about Prestige De Nuits, a Belgian Strong Ale that runs $45.00 a bottle.  I nearly fainted when I saw the price tag on this one, but it won me over with its complexity and craftsmanship.  Considering that this is a rare, world-class beverage, $45.00 for a […]

This week’s article over at TODAY is about people replacing champagne with a finely crafted beer, which I think is an awesome trend. One interesting piece of data provided to me by Sam Adams is that if given the choice, 60 percent of men prefer to toast a special occasion with beer rather than champagne. […]

It turns out that American beer geeks see the world quite differently than the other 90% of beer drinkers.   A series of events unfolded over the past few days that demonstrated this point to me quite clearly. Let’s start at the beginning. Last Thursday morning I posted an Olympic-themed poll here on B&WB, featuring […]

With the Olympics underway, we get to see countries around the world compete to determine who is the best of the best at riveting feats of skill and prowess like gymnastics, swimming and…uhhh…table tennis.  Seriously, they made table tennis an Olympic sport?  What’s next, Bocce? Anyway, as with many important international events, I quickly get […]

Good news boys and girls, we can now add IKEA to the ranks of companies that have gotten into the beer business for no good reason. The Swedish purveyor of impossible-to-assemble furniture has begun selling a its own branded beer in its UK stores. It’s called Öl Mörk Lager, an obvious homage to the classic TV […]

My boss is out of town this week, and I’m using his absence as an opportunity to get myself organized.  Step one was getting my to-do list up to snuff, and step two was cleaning out three years worth of crap from my office. I was down in the basement, stashing the stuff that was […]

Before I was a beer geek, I liked my morning coffee with milk and a couple of packets of Equal – a sweet pick-me-up to start the day.  But then two things happened; I started working on the Starbucks Coffee account at work, and I started getting into IPA’s.  Both taught me to appreciate bitterness […]

. I know it seems preposterous to hardcore beer geeks, but some very bright and experienced people think it is better to drink craft beer from the can rather than the bottle. Okay, so maybe it’s just one bright and experienced person, The Alchemist’s John Kimmich. 

There’s a bit of spin happening in this press release that summarizes the findings of a recent survey conducted by SaveOnBrew.com.  Here’s the beginning of the release (emphasis mine): One in four beer drinkers say price matters when it comes to craft beer. A recent survey of 1,000 craft brew enthusiasts conducted by SaveOnBrew.com looked […]