Microbrews: A Ten Year Retrospective looks to be an interesting enough project that I may crosspost on it (also at Beer Travelers). The premise: The whole premise of this blog is to see how many of the 200+ microbrews and brews featured in MICROBREWS: A GUIDE TO AMERICA’S BEST NEW BEERS AND BREWERIES have survived [...]

Wines & Vines reports Americans are drinking more wine than ever, and appear to be moving away from mega-brands. Overall wine consumption reached an all-time high of 279 million cases in 2005, a 3.3% increase. Brands selling fewer than 1 million cases grew at double that rate. Smaller-production wines are also expected to drive industry [...]

Friday the New York Times had a story about Ambitious Brew and Saturday the Wall Street Journal chimed in with a review. Given that I’ve already posted a longish (three-part) interview with Ogle at Beer Therapy you might be tired of the subject. That won’t keep me from writing an actual review of the book. [...]

Nearly 100 news outlets have picked up the Associated Press story about the art of tap handles. That’s understandable, because tap handles can be pretty cool, although you’ll notice I chose to illustrate this story with the simple but elegant tap handles of Meantime Brewing in Greenwich. The photo was shot at the Brew Wharf, [...]

Ever think of taking your own beer to a fancy restaurant? I don’t mean homebrew, but a special beer you want to have with a special meal. Wine lovers often have the option, usually paying a corkage fee. After all, the restaurant is giving up a two-to-three times mark up on the bottle of wine [...]

Pumpkin beers seem to be bigger than ever this year. Almost any liquor store I walk into has a large display with six-packs stacked to eye level. But this headline: Anything but cloves sums things up nicely. This week’s On Draft started as a comparison of pumpkin ales, but after five brews, I decided that [...]

“Education is not just about sitting in a class. It’s about big ideas and how those ideas connect to the real world.” – Winona State University professor Jim Armstrong To make that happen a loosely organized group of techers at the Minnesota school created an intellectually stimulating atmosphere outside of the campus that brings students [...]

Chances are that neither you nor I will ever see Frederick Miller Classic Chocolate Lager because it’s only due to be distributed in the Midwest. But it has attracted a lot of attention than any of the excellent chocolate beers craft brewers have been producing for years. The latest is this story from the Associated [...]

The Tria Fermentation school begins classes tomorrow (Wednesday, Oct. 18) with Prof. Sam Calagione of Dogfish Head Brewery in Delaware at the helm. The Philadelphia school is the brainchild of Jon Myerow, who also owns the Innovate cafe Tria. He’s focusing on wine, cheese and beer, with classes led by by winemakers, fromagers, brewmasters, authors [...]

First, beer. Tomorrow a New York Times tasting panel will report back on porters. Eric Asimov writes in advance he “was impressed with the high quality of porters available today.” Second, wine. In his blog, The Pour, Asimov writes today about what winemakers are really saying when they describe themselves as “non-interventionist” – pretty important [...]