Out of nostalgia and obligation I added it to the cart.

Not too long ago the idea of summer specific offerings from larger breweries was met with excitement and reverence. Sam Adams Summer Ale comes to mind as one that led a generation of beer drinkers to wish for the warm weather as soon as it arrived every Spring. Bright and lemony, it never crossed into the soda like sweetness offered by shandies. Sam Summer, first introduced in the mid 1990s – was exciting because it was a limited run, it conjured up ideas of hot afternoons on the lake, camping, or just hanging around a backyard cookout.

At some point years ago the Boston Beer, the company behind the brand, changed the recipe by using what they said were different lemons. That taste was more artificial, and a bit of soul was lost. It never regained that snap and vibrancy it once had, at least for me. The brewery would again change the recipe in 2019.

Now, before you roll your eyes, this is not another column where a guy who has been writing about beer for a long time laments that the landscape has changed and wants things to go backwards. It’s perfectly reasonable that palates change as do life experiences. Sam Summer lives happily in my mind in a good way for my mid-to-late 20s. There are drinkers today who still get those experiences in their own way today, and I’m happy for them.

Summer Refreshment

I was at the local beer store to buy a 30 pack of Genesee cream ale when I saw the Oberon. Genny Cream is a beer I’ve had a fascination and fondness for as long as I can remember. Simple green and white cans, easy drinking, thirst quenching. There are no frills, no grand tasting notes, nothing to say except it’s a beer that does the job it’s supposed to do.

Being the editor of a beer publication is a charmed life. There are a lot of samples that come into the office that I gladly drink and catalogue and take tasting notes on. There are occasionally leftovers, and on a holiday weekend like July 4, I will load up one cooler of those hoppy and experimental ales and lagers to bring them to parties where my beer loving friends will be present. They can dig around and find something that strikes their stout or hazy fancy.

A second cooler is filled with Genny and that’s what I go back to again and again. It’s simple, consistent, pairs with everything coming off the grill, and keeps me hydrated. It’s a tradition I’ve created for myself that fits a long weekend where I try to unplug from work.

Fading Rays

Which brings be back to Oberon.

Bell’s Brewery, now owned by Kirin, has put significant marketing behind Oberon. There’s a big party at the brewery to celebrate its annual launch. Some line extensions have been introduced.

For craft beer drinkers of a certain age, and for new ones coming of age, the familiar sun logo – a cross between a bumper on CBS Sunday Morning and the angry sun in Super Mario Bros. 3 – is a visual Pavlovian cue that warm weather is upon us.

I opened the first can of the 12-pack about an hour before I was compelled to sit down at the table to write this. I had two more in quick succession to confirm my suspicions. This is a perfectly OK beer. The orange peel comes through, the medium body keeps the taste buds engaged and the tongue a bit fat. A 5.8% abv gets the good time going a bit faster than other summer seasonals. This year, for me, it was just tasting a bit different, a little diminished.

I recall fondly summers, in my late 30s, on the lake whiling away the hours, going through cases of this with friends. We all (mostly) have kids now, so the abv does more harm than good come the next day.

At this point in my life Oberon is a good nostalgia beer. It brings back more memories than it does help make new ones. I suspect there are drinkers out there that feel the same way, as well as younger ones who feel the opposite.

Forever summer

Summer is a great time to drink beer. Hard Seltzers have taken a lot of the wind out of the summer seasonal beers, but beer lands a bit better than the seltzers and other flavored malt beverages, there’s something that and a little more soul to it. Something that feels a little more real, substantial.

There was a time in craft beer where watermelon wedges were served with watermelon ales, or blueberries added to pints of blueberry summer ales. They added visual pop and flavor to these beers and reminded us of where we were on the calendar.

Seasons are fleeting. The older we get the faster they seem to go. Having a drink of nostalgia brings happier times to the forefront of the mind. Breweries of all sizes now make their own summer seasonal, and this column, if nothing else, is an encouragement to get out there to make some warm weather memories with new-to-you beers.

And for those drinkers who don’t want to let go of summer no matter what the calendar says, MolsonCoors announced that its Leinenkugel’s Summer Shandy is now available year-round.

For me? I’m happy. Oktoberfest lagers have been on shelves since early August and Labor Day weekend means it’s almost time for the winter warmers to arrive, and with it fresh nostalgia.

Since 1979 All About Beer has offered engaging and in-depth articles and interviews covering every aspect of brewing and beer culture. Our journalism needs your support. Please visit our Patreon Page to show your appreciation for independent beer writing. 

The post Summer Beer Blues: Have They Lost Their Cool? first appeared on All About Beer.

It’s an intimate gathering held each autumn in Denver during, but not affiliated with, The Great American Beer Festival. DRBT is hosted by Pints for Prostates a “grassroots campaign designed to raise awareness about prostate cancer and the importance of early detection in fighting the disease.” All About Beer is once again honored to be the media sponsor of the event.

Every year the DRBT has a collection of some of the best beer in the country all under one roof. The rare part is emphasized. Samuel Adams brings special batches of its already special Utopias. The Lost Abbey picks great vintages of its beers to pour. Avery is known for bringing out barrels that are otherwise hard to find. Sierra Nevada always goes deep into the cellar for something unique.

Other breweries like Jester King, Primitive Beer, Reuben’s Brews, Ale Song Brewing and Blending, Other Half, and Weldwerks have all chosen truly unique offerings to pour.

It’s a mix of larger breweries and smaller ones, but all are united to bring great beers and often the brewers and owners are on hand pouring their beers, giving attendees a better chance to learn about the beers and to meet the artisans.

Check out the beer list here.

Tickets on Sale Now

This year’s DRBT will be held on September 22, 2023 at the McNichols Civic Center in Denver from Noon to 4p.m. There are 64 breweries that have committed to the event, and they are bringing their A game to the beer list.

There are still a few tickets available.                       

All-inclusive tickets are still available for the Denver Rare Beer Tasting 14er, which include four hours of beer sampling, the opportunity to meet the people who brewed them, buffet lunch, collectible tasting glass, t-shirt and program. Attendees will be entered in a drawing to win an amazing beer trip and get the chance to bid in an exciting silent auction that includes a variety of unique beer experiences and collectibles.

Pints for Prostates has also partnered with the Prostate Conditions Education Council on the screening event, which is open to the public. You do not need to have a Denver Rare Beer Tasting ticket to take part in the health screening, which is a simple five minute blood test. The free screening, a $700 value, is available to anyone born with a prostate, including men, transgender women and non-binary people assigned as male at birth.

As editor of All About Beer I’ve spent some time reading over the list over the last few weeks and I’ve been increasingly excited and thirsty. Admittedly, I think lists like this can be silly. If you’re going to the event (and you should) you should read the program in advance and get excited to curate your own experience, or just wander the floor and get pours of what looks or sounds interesting.

But for the purposes of this article here is my list of 10 Beers You Should Drink at the 2014 Denver Rare Beer Tasting. It’s a biased list for sure, but you won’t be disappointed.

10 Beers You Should Drink at the 2023 Denver Rare Beer Tasting

The Big Friendly

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Oblique & Bent ABV 4.2%

Table 34

Brewers description: Petite Saison. This 2022 GABF gold medal winner is dry, slightly funky, with a full and complex flavor.

Holl says: Brothers Joe Quinlin and Will Quinlin will be on hand pouring. I had a great conversation with them on the Drink Beer, Think Beer podcast following their win. Their passion and commitment to quality should be commended.

Bombastic Brewing

Hayden, Idaho

Bukwus ABV: 16%

Table 58

Brewers description: Meet the Bukwus, the Wild Man of the Woods, who lives in the country of ghosts. He offers weary travelers a deceptive delectable feast that, when eaten, turns the person into a ghost who becomes part of the Bukwus’ entourage. Will you fall for the temptation of the Bukwus? Imperial Stout aged for 14 months on premium Kentucky Bourbon barrels. Made only once, producing just 91 cases.

Holl says: I don’t know anything about this brewery, but I love the description of this skull pouding stout and that the brewery is bringing a truly rare beer excites me. I expect this one to go quick.

Fox Farm Brewery

Salem, Connecticut

Triolet: Blend of One, Two, and Three Year Old Spontaneous Ale ABV: 6.5%

Table 15

Brewers description: This is a three-year-blend. Inspired by lambic brewing traditions, each thread within the blend was made from the brewery’s untreated well water, a grist of 60% local barley malt and 40% unmalted locally-grown wheat, and whole leaf aged hops. Fermented and aged within a variety of oak formats (wine barrels, puncheons and large casks) the various components were blended for complexity and balance. This is 100% spontaneously fermented and a unique expression of the brewery’s place, people and environment. Fox Farm calls a former dairy barn on a 30-acre parcel home.

Holl says: Fox Farm is the best reason to visit Connecticut for beer. Em Sauter, the co-host of the All About Beer podcast will be pouring on the brewery’s behalf. So, you should stop by the table to say hello and tell her how much you enjoy the dynamic between her and Don Tse. Also, talk to her about art and check out pintsandpanels.com

NoDa Brewing

Charlotte, North Carolina

SLURP Tsunami ABV: 9.2%

Table 37

Brewers description: The SLURP series is an RnD project started 1.5 years ago and the acronym stands for Superior Lupulin Research Product. The series is used to base IPAs on a thiol driven flavor platform and utilize new hop products to accent the base beer without diluting the thiol presentation. This past year NoDa won bronze at the Great American Beer Festival in Experimental IPA with our hazy double IPA version, Big SLURP and months later launched our 6% version, Lil SLURP and it has become one of its best year round sellers. Recently NoDa launched a pilot version called SLURP Surfin’ which was a west coast iteration and it was a huge hit. This beer is the Imperial version of that beer and is hopped with exp 17701, Citra Incognito, Citra Lupomax, Mosaic Incognito and Strata hops. This batch is done as an RnD pilot run and only 4 barrels were produced.

Holl says: Speaking of the All About Beer podcast, Chad Henderson of NoDa Brewing is on a recent episode, talking about how he created and approaches Gordgeous, his award winning pumpkin ale. Plus, Henderson is a DRBT veteran and always brings something special to embrace the spirit of the event.

Twin Elephant Brewing

Chatham, New Jersey

Under the Running Board ABV: 13%

Table 44

Brewers description: Bourbon barrel-aged imperial stout with toasted coconut and Guinean cacao nibs. First time single barrel collab release with the band Dillinger Escape Plan. Twin Elephant has minority women ownership.

Holl says: This is the brewery’s first DRBT appearance, and as one of two New Jersey breweries (make sure you stop over at Kane Brewing at Table 5 as well) it’s deserving of your time and attention.

Wallenpaupack Brewing

Hawley, Pennsylvania

Bourbon Barrel Fermented Grodziskie ABV: 3.3%

Brewers description: This Polish-style smoked wheat beer was fermented in freshly dumped Heaven Hill Bourbon barrels. A grist consisting solely of oak smoked wheat contributes prominent smoke flavor and considerable body for such a small beer. A healthy dose of noble hops and high carbonation level cut through the smoke, keeping it light and refreshing. Barrel fermentation rounds out this unique brew with subtle notes of oak and vanilla. Only six oak barrels of this beer were produced, and you would be hard pressed to find this combination elsewhere.

Holl says: Polish Champagne! That there is only one Rauchbier on this year’s DRBT list means that the style has finally gone mainstream and as it’s available at every corner bodega and multiple taps at each brewery, creating a rare one is truly special. It’s not often that you’re getting a bourbon-barrel-aged beer at just above 3%, but when you do, you know it’s coming from Logan Ackerley, Wallenpaupack’s head brewer.

Smoked beer lovers unite by joining us at the This Week in Rauchbier Facebook page.

Weathered Souls Brewing

San Antonio, Texas

French Press – Prince Style ABV: 14.5%

Table 8

Brewers description: This barrel-aged Imperial  Stout is a member’s only  off ering brewed with rare  coffee produced by Longroad  Coffee Company. A well balanced coffee stout with  delicate flavors based on the  method of processing the  coffee in the beer. Lots of chocolate, caramel, and light vanilla notes from the coffee with a balance of bitter dark chocolate from the toasted nibs that finish with the oak and tannins from the barrel.

Holl says: I don’t belong to brewery bottle clubs, but often wish I did. DRBT is a chance to taste what those lucky folks who do have memberships get to drink at home. This is one of those beers, and given how Marcus Baskerville approaches barrels, we’re in for a treat.

Bow & Arrow Brewing 

Albuquerque, NM

Sunbloom Saison ABV: 6.3%

Brewers description: Infused with Navajo sumac berries and orange peel. The sumac is sourced from the tribally-owned Navajo Agricultural Products Industry.

Holl says: I’m intrigued by these ingredients and to learn more about the sourcing. The description is indicative of truly local brewing, something I enjoy learning about and tasting.

Dogfish Head Craft Brewery

Milton, Delaware

Bière de Coupage ABV: 10%

Table 56

Brewers description: Le Botaniste blended farmhouse ale comprised of a Saison aged one year in DFH Mellowdious Gin barrels blended with a mixed culture golden ale aged in French oak for 3 years.

Holl says: Dogfish head has been reveling and innovating in rare beer since its founding. This kind of sorcery is in its DNA. Not all of the beers work, but there’s always much to admire in the effort. This will have a lot going on in the glass, and I’m looking forward to the experience.

Bierstadt Lagerhaus

Denver, Colorado

Oktoberfest ABV: 5.6%

Table 31

Brewers description: A traditional marzen, this is a seasonal release. Brewed based on readily available ingredients, tradition and weather conditions, the rarity of a seasonal is part of the associated charm to be revered and celebrated. Bierstadt is a lager-only brewpub located in the RiNo district of Denver.

Holl says: This beer is rare in that it’s a seasonal offering. But, it’s a lager made by Bierstadt and Ashleigh Carter and Bill Eye are masters of the craft. After all the imperial stouts, the vanilla everything, these pours of Oktoberfest are going to taste even more magical. I will likely be living at this table.

Get Your Tickets Now

There are still limited tickets available for the Denver Rare Beer Tasting. Get yours now.

A quick search of flights from various points around the country and of hotel rooms in the city shockingly shows availability. If you were going to be spontaneous for a beer adventure, this is the time.

I’ll see you there, and obviously at Bierstadt Lagerhaus afterwards.

The post 10 Beers to Drink at the Denver Rare Beer Tasting 14 first appeared on All About Beer.

The tradition started on a holiday before I was fully writing about beer, had a few extra dollars in my pocket, and wanted to expand my beer horizons past hops or lagers. The label, a portrait of the Mary, the Duchess of Burgundy, is a familiar site around the world, and is the flagship offering from Brouwerij Verhaeghe in West Flanders, Belgium. 

Flanders Red is not too common a style and can be difficult to make well. The base of rich roast malts and aged hops along with ambient yeast helps give the beer its distinctive taste. The final product is a blend of 18-month old and 8-month old double, and spontaneously fermented ales that is aged in oak casks. There is also a cherry adjunct version of the beer available, as well as a low ABV “petit” offering in some markets, but I suggest sticking with the original.

I was so taken by this beer those many years ago and come back to it annually, if not sooner. It is among my favorite beers. In fact, I included it in my roundup for the CAMRA book World’s Greatest Beers.

Poured into a chalice, this complex tart ale has aromas and flavors of black cherry, toffee and balsamic vinegar. It is medium bodied and smooth, with a neat little dry finish that tickles the salvatory glands. It is artful and filled with so many layers that working through a four pack will reveal new flavors or suggestions with each one. 

Suitable whenever the mood strikes, this appeals to my inner Christmas nature. It can be paired with fruit cake and roasts, or just spending a little time with this beer in the quiet of the evening helps put the holiday into perspective, almost demanding that I slow down a bit and get lost in the twinkle of the lights on the tree. I always welcome the experience.

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

 This beer reminds me of my favorite Christmas song, “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.”

“Have yourself a merry little Christmas

Let your heart be light

From now on your troubles will be out of sight

Have yourself a merry little Christmas

Make the Yuletide gay

From now on your troubles will be miles away

Here we are as in olden days

Happy golden days of yore

Faithful friends who are dear to us

Gather near to us once more

Through the years we all will be together

If the fates allow. Hang a shining star upon the highest bow.

Have yourself a merry little Christmas now.”

Song written by Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane.

Wishing you all something great in your glass, wonderful company to share it with, the peace of the season, and a very happy and prosperous new year.

The post Duchesse de Bourgogne: A Beer for Christmas Eve first appeared on All About Beer.

A true Renaissance man, his interests ranged from Science Fiction to philanthropy, and beer.

When writing for All About Beer, Wooster mainly focused on book reviews. History was a passion and he had been attending the Ales Through the Ages symposium in Williamsburg, Virginia when he was struck near his hotel.

The Williamsburg Police Department did not respond to a request for information. It is unclear if the department has made any arrests or the current state of the investigation.

It is in the mail

In several other obituaries and tributes posted online a common thread emerged. Wooster a veracious reader would take to sending articles – both digital and printed – to authors and writers he befriended over the years in multiple fields.

I was proud to be included in those mailings. Over the last several years he reached out when he noticed that an article of mine was used to illustrate a page in the recently released The Dogfish Head Book: 26 Years of Off-Centered Adventures and that The Week had been re-running reviews and insights I had first published in Wine Enthusiast. In both cases he spotted these before I did.

In an exchange I’ve long remembered Wooster reached out on Christmas Eve 2014 sharing thoughts on a piece I wrote for the Washington Post about Russian dressing, and its differences from the more popular Thousand Island dressing.

In the note he shared this tidbit:

“You should know my single favorite food item is the Montgomery Burger at Woodside Deli in Silver Spring [Maryland], which is a burger with fried onions and Thousand Island dressing on rye bread.”

That deli, according to online reports, closed in 2022.

He reached out just after New Year in 2015 to note the same piece had run in the Philadelphia Inquirer that weekend.

Constantly reading

In his tribute in the National Review John J. Miller wote that Wooster would send him clippings and links from other people named John Miller.

“Early on, he sent clips by regular mail, cut from the pages of his prodigious reading,” Miller wrote. “At some point, the emails outnumbered the stamped envelopes. Along the way, I learned about hordes of people with whom I share a name. They included loads of criminals and at least one person who attended a Star Trek convention as a Klingon.”

Wooster was thoughtful and he was inquisitive.

Stan Hieronymus, who presented at Ales Through the Ages spent time with Wooster during the weekend but had left Virginia before the incident.

“As was typical of Martin, he had plenty of questions about hops when we headed to lunch after the Saturday am session,” says Hieronymus. “Typical because he asked the questions in a way I painlessly realized changes I could have made in my presentation that would have made what I was saying clearer.”

In addition to his work for All About Beer and other beer publications Wooster was the author of three books Angry Classrooms, Vacant Minds (Pacific Research Institute, 1994), The Great Philanthropists and the Problem of ‘Donor Intent’ (Capital Research Center, 1994; revised 1998, 2007, and 2017), and Great Philanthropic Mistakes (Hudson Institute, 2006; revised 2010).

Additionally, his articles and reviews appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Washington Times, American Spectator, Chronicle of Philanthropy, Commentary, Elle, Air and Space, Esquire, Philanthropy, Policy Review, Reader’s Digest, Reason, and the Washingtonian.

“I aspired to his standards when writing the occasional book review,” says Lew Bryson.

An Interest in Beer

Any writer will tell you that praise and compliments are almost as good as being fairly paid for work.

In late 2015, during my first stint as editor of this publication, Wooster reached out via email:

“I think ALL ABOUT BEER is showing steady improvement.  There’s a lot more depth to the articles than in the past and a lot less filler.  And I’m not just saying this because you publish me.

THANK YOU for letting me know about STRANGE TALES OF ALE.  I love Martyn Cornell’s work and did NOT know about this book.

I am in the happy condition of having TOO MANY BOOKS to review.  I like being in this condition!”

Praise like that from Wooster was a gift.

A resident of Maryland he was active in the beer community in the greater Washington, D.C. area.

“I first met him at a Brickskeller tasting in the early 90s and last saw him a few years back at the Silver Spring farmers market,” says Volker Stewart founding partner at The Brewer’s Art in Baltimore. “Our conversations were always fairly brief but covered a wide variety of topics in that brief time. I will miss him.”

Indeed. He will be missed by all who knew him, including, I bet, his local post office.

Articles by Martin Wooster

A sampling of book reviews by Martin Wooster from the All About Beer archives:

Brewing Champions: A History of the International Brewing Awards.

The Homebrewers Guide to Vintage Beer

Gilroy was Good for Guinness

The post “Wooster here…” Remembering a Man of Many Letters first appeared on All About Beer.

One of the great privileges and perks on this job is visiting breweries around the world. It allows me to meet brewers, drink beer and see the innovations, ingredients and trends that help shape the coverage in this magazine and on our website. On a recent trip, I ordered a flight of beers from a brewery that opened its doors to the public 24 hours earlier. The room was buzzing with a happy energy despite gloomy weather outside. Staff was busily attending to visitors while still working out answers to everyday questions, and there was still a whiff of fresh paint in the air.

The beer itself was fine. The lineup was what you’d expect from a U.S. brewery these days: a few IPAs, a Scotch ale, an amber, a wheat. My notes from the day express appreciation for some, a few flaws in others, and some technical issues, like low carbonation, that will likely be addressed down the line. At one point the brewer walked up, looking exactly like a brewer who had just run a marathon to the finish line of opening a brewery. Without prompting, one of the first things he did was apologize for one of the beers on the table. It’s not how he hoped the recipe would turn out; he knew there was an off flavor; he’d work to get it better the next time.

That admission represents the good and bad about professional brewing. Good because he has the desire to do better, to push his talents and to offer customers a stronger product. Bad, obviously, because you only have one chance to make a good first impression, and to knowingly put sub-par beer into the glass of paying customers is an affront to the whole industry.

It’s no secret that brewing is a business and to survive you need to make money. One of the hardest things brewers have to do is make the decision to dump a bad batch of beer. It’s heartbreaking because of the time that went into the liquid, the admission of failure and, of course, the lost revenue. But it’s almost always the right thing to do.

The alternative is to serve the beer, be called out on social media for flaws and off flavors, and see a reputation take body blows. That is likely more harmful in the long term, because customers might be forgiving once or twice, but in an era of choice they will eventually find their way to a place with consistency and clean flavor.

This is where we, the drinkers, come in. It’s up to us—super beer geek or not—to know the basics of off flavors. Even if you don’t know the technical terms, knowing that (generally) beers that have heavy aromas of wet cardboard, skunk, green apple, mildew or gobs of fake butter—like you find on movie theater popcorn—are flavor flaws.

A little politeness goes a long way, and if you find a beer with one of these traits, find a way to personally bring it to the brewer’s attention. If this happens enough, over time the beers will get better, and that’s good for everyone.

The post Don’t Settle for Flawed Beer first appeared on All About Beer.

At the annual Craft Brewers Conference last year the Brewers Association held a press conference. There, leaders and division heads of the group that represents and is composed of “small and independent” brewers rolled out good news about growth, new initiatives and some warnings on what “big beer” could do to the industry and consumers.

During questioning by members of the media, the writer Bryan Roth (who tackles a different version of this topic in our March issue) posed a question about diversity. What is the BA doing, he asked, to make small brewers more aware and supportive of “inclusivity and diversity, whether that’s race, ethnicity or gender identity?”

What followed was a number of statements from BA employees that ranged from economic to geographical, to celebratory of the industry, with a nod toward needed progress. Since then, the group has stated publicly it has intentions to research gender and race in the industry and how it can do better in regard to fairness and attention.

Inclusion and equality don’t get discussed in open forums enough, and these are topics we’ve been thinking about here at the magazine for quite some time. Specifically, the way some breweries view and depict women in beer names and on labels.

This isn’t a new issue. It’s been simmering below the surface for quite some time, with only the occasional bubble-up. Some take to the internet to express outrage; others shrug it off. Still others criticize the critics. However, as the national political conversation centers on how women are treated in society these days—to say nothing of the xenophobia, racism and homophobia permeating so much of everyday American life—it would be wrong not to stand up and join in a call to action.

How, in an age of progress, technology and enlightenment are breweries still releasing and producing beers with demeaning names like Once You Go Black or Panty Dropper? Or just skipping over the suggestions of getting a woman drunk for the purposes of sex and heading right to the name Date Grape. To be fair, the last one was a crowdsourced name solicited by MobCraft. When alerted to the name, it was immediately pulled, and the Milwaukee-based brewer apologized and promised to put editorial checks and balances into place to avoid future embarrassment and hurt.

This is still a male-dominated industry, both in terms of its employees and its customers. The jocular attitude that women are somehow beneath men or simply objects, however, is something that should have been eradicated a long time ago.

This magazine exists to cover the beer industry in all its forms. We also have a social responsibility to stand up against anything that demeans our fellow citizens, regardless of gender, religion, sexual orientation and race.

We will not be quiet about this important issue. We want to do our part so that the next generation of beer drinkers can focus on the fun, the flavorful and the future. Beers that demean women or promote rape culture will not be reviewed or promoted in this magazine or on AllAboutBeer.com.

This isn’t anything new for us. Beer names that fall into poor taste—except when newsworthy—have largely been kept out of these pages and our online reviews. We see no benefit in rewarding juvenile behavior, and often the names in poor taste were there to distract from poor beer. This is a topic we will continue to tackle—head-on—both in person and in our coverage. Demeaning or objectifying women has no place in society or on beer labels.

Editor’s Note: This editorial appears in the March issue of All About Beer Magazine.

The post Taking a Stand Against Sexist Beers first appeared on All About Beer.

While I struggled to comprehend the staggering level of filth that had accumulated in the glass, the bartender turned back to a trainee finishing up a conversation about his “serious beer geek cred” with his peers and a recent beer trade he just made. I caught his eye and told him that I needed to send the beer back. “Sorry you don’t like the taste,” he told me. “It’s a craft lager so it might not be for everyone, but I’m still going to have to charge you.” Now, with my Irish temper just bubbling below the surface, I informed him that it wasn’t the taste, it was his serving an otherwise excellent beer in a dirty glass. He sheepishly took back the glass, tried to offer me a clean one, but my stomach had turned and I simply left.

Even as I write this, I know that was an extreme reaction. But life is too short and beer is too good to be served in a nasty glass. Yet I see it all the time—although, thankfully, it’s not as severe as that place.

Carbonation is the spark of beer and a necessary part of the drinking experience. As those little bubbles of CO2 rise from the beer to the surface, it’s doing an important service in not only appearance, but also aroma and mouthfeel. Some glasses have tiny etching at the bottom—nucleation sites—to concentrate the carbonation and add some uniformity to the rising. It’s essentially an imperfection in a smooth surface. So that’s what we’re seeing when carbonation is clinging to the side, but rather than a divot carved into the class, this is gunk stuck to the glass.

It can be anything from soap, lipstick or leftover food from the dishwasher. No matter what it is, it’s not something we want to be drinking, and as more and more bars up their beer game, they need to be paying attention to how the beer is served. We, as educated and passionate beer drinkers, need to speak up as well. If you see a dirty glass (like the one pictured above), you don’t need to make a scene, but you should take the opportunity to explain why it turns you off. Hopefully, the bar will re-evaluate its process.

At home and in the office,  I use Beer Clean bar glass cleaner, a powder, and a little bit goes a long way. If you’ve ever sat at a bar near the sink when glasses are being (properly) washed, you’ve likely seen it in action, and it’s available in the cleaning aisle at most stores.

As this issue was going to bed, I was watching a documentary that focused on two small breweries and various challenges they were facing. Video chronicling the opening night of one brewery had a shot of a filled logoed pint glass with—you guessed it—carbonation stuck to the side. We’ve come a long way with getting liquid choice on tap, but still have a long way to go in other ways.

RELATED: The ‘Eeuuww’ Factor

The post The Unappealing Dirty Glass first appeared on All About Beer.

I wasn’t out of my car for seven seconds when a guy approached me in the gravel parking lot of the Hill Farmstead Brewery in Greensboro Bend, Vermont. “You getting Damon?” he asked with a sense of urgency. No pleasantries, no greeting, just a blunt question. I replied honestly that I didn’t know, since I didn’t know what it was and walked past. I was propositioned by three other gentlemen with the same question before I made it to the front door.

I soon came to find out that Damon is a bourbon barrel-aged imperial stout made by the brewery in honor of a beloved dog. It comes in 500-mL bottles, retails for $22 and is limited to one per person. I’m looking at the one I purchased here on my desk as I write this. On my way out a fifth guy offered me triple the price I just paid.

Hill Farmstead is a remarkable brewery making many fantastic beers. It brings people to a remote part of Vermont, down long distances of dirt road. Fans and enthusiasts come with high expectations and empty trunks. I watched as many took selfies with their glasses and checked in online, too, I’m sure, the great envy of their friends. Here the experience is all about the beer, the bragging rights, the desire to get that second bottle of Damon.

Many of these beers, I suspect, will wind up on forums and then packed up and mailed to a new home in exchange for other beers or cash. Trading has never been more popular among beer fans, and in this issue Oliver Gray looks at the benefits, pitfalls and problems with the practice.

Less than 24 hours after leaving the farm, I was sitting in an Adirondack chair around a large fire pit outside the Harpoon Brewery in Windsor, Vermont. I was on my second pint of IPA when a fellow patron sat down across from me. “Isn’t it a lovely day?” he asked. “How are you?”

It was indeed a gorgeous day. Temps in the low 80s, clear blue sky with only a few high fluffy clouds. A breeze would pass through, and shade was provided by old, big, lush trees. We chatted for a while about jobs and family, about travel and other life experiences. The beer was delicious, but we didn’t need to go on about it, because it was only part of the experience. That night a local musician strummed cover songs while people danced. Phones mostly stayed in pockets, and conversation was loud and lively.

In this column I’ve been harping about how we need to unplug, to enjoy the moments to focus on what’s important. And I realize that what’s important varies greatly for people. For the guys at Hill Farmstead, snagging a second bottle of a stout was important. For the folks at Harpoon, the ones sitting and chatting, or the ones with six-packs on the lawn playing corn hole, it was about being together and enjoying a stunning afternoon outdoors.

Maybe we should all take the advice from the beers outlined in Ron Pattinson’s article on Page 32, the ones that take time to mature and get ready to be consumed. Maybe we should all slow down and focus on each other and a little bit of personal peace.

The post Two Breweries, Two Different Experiences first appeared on All About Beer.

HAVANA—We came to Cuba for beer. The locals thought us odd for that. Most Americans come here for the cigars, cars, the rum, to glimpse behind the curtain of our neighbor that has been shut off for so many years. But we arrived looking for cerveza. We found it, but left with a greater sense of perspective on what is truly important.

Since President Barack Obama began his effort to normalize relationships with Cuba, I carried a strong desire to get this magazine on Cuban soil, and in early April it happened. Not long after landing, I was at Plaza Vieja, a brewery in a Spanish square, with Jeff Quinn, the magazine’s art director, and we were clinking mugs of helles together, toasting the next few days. However, I’d quickly learn that this was no ordinary beer trip.

From the cars, to the architecture, history, government, and more, the country was everything you’d expect. It’s beautiful and brutal. Quinn captured about 3,800 pictures during our four days in the country. See a selection of his images along with a detailed look into the country’s beer scene on Page 30.

We cruised around Cuba in a 1958 Ford Fairlane. Since I live in metro New York, I was amazed that we never hit a traffic jam. Over lunch one afternoon, the conversation turned to Obama’s recent visit and the rekindled diplomatic relations between Cuba and the United States. With the possibilities of an embargo being lifted with new business coming in, I asked our guides if they were worried about new cars on the road, more people, the threat of traffic on Havana’s roads.

“I worry if I’ll be able to put food on the table tomorrow,” one of our guides said in a plain tone. “I can’t worry about traffic two years from now.”

There it was. You hear jokes about First World problems and my perspective (thinking about these classic cars on the road and how the streets were crowded but certainly not jammed and oh!—the inconvenience residents would face) showed in an instant how little my perceived problems actually are. I muttered an apology, took a sip from my glass of Cristal lager, and we continued on.

A few days after returning, Devils Backbone Brewing Co. of Virginia sold to Anheuser-Busch InBev. Within minutes, readers on social media were howling, throwing insults, shaking their fist at sellouts and corporate greed. It was a similar scene when the brewing giant purchased Italy’s Birra del Borgo.

Beer is personal for many, and it certainly is for me. But shouldn’t we worry about more in life? Aren’t these complaints a First World problem? What if we, the consumers, took half the energy we put into debates about brewery ownership, beer definitions, trademarks and all the silly stuff that cause us to beat fists against the bar top with no results, and focused on something real?

In our May issue, I talked about enjoying the moment, and this is a continuation on that theme. Rather than criticism or temporary hand-wringing, why not focus on helping our neighbors, our community? Why worry about problems out of our control? Let’s make sure the people we know, that we interact with, are taken care of. Surely that’s a better use of time.

Raising a glass with one of the Cuban brewers we met, he offered this toast: “For when our worst moment is this one.” That’s a good perspective.

The post A New Perspective first appeared on All About Beer.

The date was not going well, at least not for the woman. That was the observation from my table at Cellar 3, the blending facility run by the Green Flash Brewing Co. in San Diego. With every new sip or sample, the man at the bar would check in the beer on his phone and then loudly talk about the virtual toasts his choice was getting. He was excited about the action inside his phone. His date was eyeing the physical exit.

While a tavern is still a gathering place in the electronic age, much of its charms have been lost. Conversations still take place in person, with a beer in one hand, phone in the other, to accommodate the rest of the world. People hunch over devices rather than soak in the ambiance and take time to be present in the moment. So much of our beer experience is personal, but so many are eager to immediately share, brag or solicit opinion that the immediate sensations are lost to pixels, likes and emojis.

When we slow down—and I include myself in this category—and allow an experience to happen naturally, organically, without worrying about the next social media moment, amazing things can happen. A deeper appreciation can blossom, happy memories can be aroused, new thoughts can develop.

I was reminded of this on a recent visit to the Cascade Brewing blending facility near Portland, Oregon. It was supposed to be a quick tour, but when head brewer Ron Gansberg greeted us, Jeff Alworth (you can read his story on how American brewers are evolving the IPA on Page 32), my companion for the day, smiled and happily muttered, “Oh, this will be fun.” Five hours later when we walked out filled with all manners of aged sours, there was no disagreeing with Alworth’s prediction.

Beer needs time in barrels. Yeast can work slowly and deliberately. Fresh fruit used to imbue, matures and reveals depth of flavor. When walking among the thousand-plus barrels in a largely silent space, it’s hard not to reflect and slow down. So, we did (it also helps that there’s absolutely zero cellular service in the warehouse). Gansberg, with each nail pulled from a barrel, talked lovingly of process, aging and inspiration. He talked of his career and soon opened his bottle cellar, inviting us to taste the brewery’s history. He called his co-workers over, and, for several hours on an ordinary Monday afternoon, with each new pop of a cork, he spoke happily, if not solemnly, of tradition, his eventual retirement and the mantle the younger brewers would one day take on.

“In five or six years, the beers we’re making now are going to taste this good or better,” he said, holding a glass of Cascade blackberry ale, poured from the last bottle of the first batch the brewery made in 2007. It was a thrilling moment to witness, and the staff was enthralled. “This, glorious beginning of why we do this,” he said. “I charge you to carry this on. Make it better and … and celebrate it always.”

In our previous issue, I talked about the need to take care of the body. For me the progress is continuing slowly, and I’m also trying to expand my mind as well. Less time in front of a screen in social settings, trying to be like yeast and absorb all around me.

We don’t always have to hit refresh and see what other people are doing. We should savor the personal and together moments, the ones we will long remember.

Cheers,

John Holl

The post Appreciate the People, and the Moments first appeared on All About Beer.