In fact it is Sunday as I post this, but by the time you read this Monday we should have the RV pointed south. Might not see you until the New Year. If that’s the case celebrate carefully . . . – Will the economic slowdown dampen sales of small-batch beers? Common sense says yes. [...]

Do you think you know where in the beer world this photo was taken? Then leave a comment. Other comments are welcome as well. I don’t expect you to know where this table was, but there’s a good reason you should be able to name the country. Or at least I thought so until I [...]

Compared to Anheuser-Busch, Budejovický Budvar in the Czech Republic — the other producer of Budweiser — is small. But there’s small, and there’s small. Budvar brews more than a million hectoliters a year and soon will be able to make 1.3 million. I wouldn’t necessarily call that small. Here’s about a minute of video shot [...]

Before we begin Phase III of our grand odyssey we’re holed up in snowy New Jersey through the holiday, leaving me a bit of time for Monday musing. – I paid little attention in October to the final demise of Zima, and just caught up with the excellent piece at Slate about its long and [...]

I was first exposed to the concept of Lupulin Threshold Shift* when Vinnie Cilurzo of Russian River Brewing and Matt Brynildson of Firestone Walker collaborated on an online presentation, about hops of course, for Brewers Association members. I’ve since seen it on Russian River apparel and heard real live human beings use the words “Lupulin [...]

A couple of minutes into watching Discovery’s Channel’s “How Stuff Works” show on beer last night I was wishing my mother-in-law had Internet access to I could read what was being typed on Twitter and comment myself. Did he really just say Sierra Nevada produced 750 barrels a year (rather than 750,000)? When did Germany [...]

Speaking of lists, your can read Beer Advocate magazine’s Planet Earth Top 25s at the Stone Brewing website. I’m a little surprised that 23 of the All-Time Top Breweries are American. And that 22 of the top 25 Top Beer Bars are in the United States. I’m a little surprised that I’ve had all 25 [...]

Makin’ a list and checkin’ twice, it’s that time of year. I’m woefully behind so breathed a sigh of relief when I discovered a few books that were supposed to be here when we returned from Europe, so that I might provide an opinion if you should buy them, were not to be seen. Thus [...]

Question: What was my first American-brewed beer in more than three months? Why not start with an 11% abv beer brewed with honey and cherries? What could be more American? When I saw it at Oak Tree Liquors in South Plainfield, N.J., a store definitely worth the drive, I knew it would be the one. [...]

This is something I’ll start thinking about in a few days when we get on a plane to fly home. Right now I’m focused on what my next Franconian beer will be. How am I ever ever going to get caught up on new beers and drink my favorite holiday beers? I’m not, particularly since [...]