"We humans are very sensory-driven and start making assumptions as soon as we see something. The beer business is closer to being in the entertainment business." Josh Pfriem, describing the newly-designed cans that replace the brewery’s 500 ml bottles.
Read MoreTrying to describe hop aromas, dizzying in their diversity, has long bedeviled writers and brewers. Global hops company BarthHaas has been developing a tool that may finally help solve the problem.
Read MoreUkrainian writer Lana Svitankova recently brought a Ukrainian specialty to the world’s attention: a strong, sweet golden ale that has become popular in recent years. She’s hoping it will receive international recognition—and it should!—but it really doesn’t need it so long as locals drink up.
Read MoreThis is the second part of a Sightglass article in appreciation of Hair of the Dog. Founder Alan Sprints recently announced he was retiring, and in this part we hear from others about what Alan and his beers meant to them.
Read MoreWe expect the sun to rise in the east and our car to be parked where we left it and our favorite pub to be open when we arrive after work. Two years ago, the Covid-19 pandemic arrived, and forced us to confront a world that didn’t match our expectations.
Read MoreAfter 29 years, Alan Sprints is shutting down Hair of the Dog and settling into a well-deserved retirement. For the first Sightglass post of 2022, I met with Alan to discuss his life, his legacy, and what what comes next.
Read MoreAuction number one brought in $150 for Ukraine. Today I launch auction number two, with a five year old Bourbon County Stout and two eleven-year-old beers: Deschutes Abyss and Hair of the Dog Fred.
Read MoreWith one exception, Portland has long been one of the best places in the world for any type of beer you’d happen to fancy. The lacuna has always been cask ale, somewhat curious given that the craft era began with British styles. Now, after forty years, something has changed—cask is surging.
Read MoreAn international effort to raise money to help Ukrainians during the Russian invasion. One component is an auction—including a hardcover, signed Beer Bible. Click through to bid!
Read MoreMany American breweries make sixty beers a year. Rochefort hasn’t offered a single new release in sixty years. Because monks don’t do anything without considering the long view, the abbey also built a new brewery to handle the increased production.
Read MoreA Lviv brewery shifted production from beer to Molotov cocktails over the weekend, as columns of Russian soldiers marched toward Ukraine’s cities. War, in an instant, changes everything.
Read MoreA chance discovery of an old homebrew book takes me back to 1971. Man, things were bleak.
Read MorePortland’s Von Ebert pulled off the singular trick of winning gold at both the GABF and Oregon Beer Awards for Volatile Substance, their IPA. A year earlier, their IPA Nothing Noble took bronze at GABF. It was high time I spent some time at the brewery to figure out their secrets.
Read MoreA few hours apart, longtime stalwart Hair of the Dog and relative newcomer Modern Times announced they would close the respective breweries that sat a quarter mile apart in industrial Southeast Portland.
Read MoreIn the 1990s, American brewers discovered Belgian beer and developed a new consciousness around yeast. A similar process went into overdrive a decade later with hops. Malts remain sadly under the radar. But with dozens of small malthouses popping up, are we due for an era of malt consciousness?
Read MoreBud Clark died last week. He was one of Portland's most popular mayors, and sneakily famous for his “Expose Yourself to Art” fundraiser. In a city famous for beer, however, the old publican was also the city's most iconic figure.
Read MoreCulture is often something observed in small gestures or when no one is looking. Here are a few observation from my visit to Dublin in 2016.
Read MoreSeltzer is made with buckets of highly processed “natural” flavor, which doesn’t seem very crafted. But that same flavor is used in some beer—does that mean it’s not crafted, either?
Read MoreThe Hop Growers of America have issued their final, official report on the 2021 harvest, and it contains a number of intriguing details.
Read MoreHere are two beer reviews, one written by a human at BeerAdvocate and one by AI software. Can you tell the difference? Whether you can or not, this is an unnerving demonstration for those of us who write for a living.
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