This is a Drewrys beer coaster from the 1950s. Does anybody know what happened if you said “Fuggle hop” to the bartender? Maybe I should turn this into a caption competition à la BrewDog.    

It started with this email from a friend: “What is the best book on the market that touches on beer, history, styles, glassware, etc.?” This was an easy one to answer: Michael Jackson’s Beer Companion, even though it was published going on 20 years ago and requires tracking down a used copy. So easy I [...]

In the midst of the discussion about the Wine Enthusiast list of top 25 beers, Jeff Alworth posed a question: Stan, just to throw a hot potato back at you: if, under penalty of death, you were compelled to come up with a list of the world’s 25 best, what would it be? Actually, I [...]

I haven’t done a very good job of explaining why I occasionally seem to be a crazy old beer drinker, dashing out onto the lawn (perhaps with a beer in my left hand, shaking my right fist) and shouting, “You kids with the beer lists get out of here.” I don’t hate lists. In fact, [...]

Now the Village Voice has a list, Our 10 Best Beers. Great fodder — they include a “plebian” list and a “connoisseur’s list” — but a promise is a promise so nothing snarky from me. Instead I’ll take it out on . . . An opener for screwcap wines. Did some wine drinker miss the [...]

All of you thinking about posting lists — best beers of the year, best holiday beers, best beers sold in large bottles, best beers sold in cans, best beers [fill in the blank, context preferred] — can rest easy. I promise not to pick on any more lists until . . . I do again. [...]

Or Czech? I think all the chatter about brewing innovation last week locked up my brain, but there’s nothing like a list of best beers to give it a kick start. This time Wine Enthusiast magazine offers its (apparently first) “Top 25 Beers of 2009.” You can view the list in pdf form here and [...]

A quick reminder that Jim at Two Parts Rye hosts The Session on Friday. The theme is “Stumbling Home.” Here’s the idea: It’s time to give a shout out to your favorite watering hole. How good are the beers? Any interesting cast of characters? What are your drinking buddies like? They probably need to be [...]