The Tettnang hop growing in the southwest of Germany. (And the photo that has replaced one taken along the Beartooth Highway leading into Yellowstone as my desktop background.) More next week, but if you’re of a mood to consider terroir Zac Early has a “new, looser interpretation” (music included).

Did I mention the Edelstoff from Augustiner was from the wood, and a lot cheaper than beer at Oktoberfest in Munich? Last week Veronika Springer was crowned Hallertau Hop Queen (Hopfenkönigin) for 2011-2012. I didn’t vote for her, but she received 62 percent (1,478) of the votes. The Wolnzach Volkfest tent was rocking, packed with [...]

This is the view from the first (remember, on this side of the Atlantic the ground is 0 and the first floor one above it) story of a pretty typical hop drying barn in Spalt, Germany’s oldest hop growing region. Hops, trees, enchanting village . . . there’s a lot more to Bavaria, but I [...]

The picture gets small fast when you try to capture the expanse of hops. The yards are everywhere. I knew this. We’ve driven through here in December, but it’s quite different when hops are growing. A more amusing photo would have been me trooping through the test plots at the Hop Research Center at Hüll. [...]

Last beer yesterday: Fuller’s Chiswick Ale in the pub on the brewery grounds. Four different hops. Five different hop additions. Just what a 3.5% abv English bitter should be. First beer today: Augustiner Pilsner after driving through scores of German hop fields sparkling in the late afternoon sun. No stopping for photos on the autobahn, [...]

We skipped the light fandango turned cartwheels ‘cross the floor I was feeling kinda seasick but the crowd called out for more The room was humming harder as the ceiling flew away When we called out for another drink the waiter brought a tray And so it was that later as the miller told his [...]

First, a bit of disclosure. I own the domain name www.beerterroir.com (you don’t need to go look; you’ll just end up back here). Collecting domain names is cheaper than owning pets. DRAFT Magazine has posted the story I wrote for the July-August issues they call “The dirt on terroir.” A little science, a little history, [...]

You have to live in the UK to participate and you’d have to sign up via Facebook but Budweiser Budvar’s “Judgement Day” taste off with “The Other” Budweiser, but here are the basics . . . Budweiser Budvar will choose 200 participants who have signed up as Facebook fans by July 29. “Successful applicants will [...]

The good First we’ve got the Chicago Tribune update: “The world of Chicago-made beer is expanding so quickly — at a rate unseen in the lives of modern-day beer lovers — that new entries arrive almost monthly.” A complete rundown. There’s there’s the Boston Globe: “Region awash in new wave of niche breweries.” Includes the [...]

. . . what beer might the resulting aromas make you think of? For extra credit consider some or all of these options: Campers in the forest ate garlic pesto pizza last night; had mango ice cream for dessert; grapefruit at breakfast . . . Now what beer?