That one post every year when I silence myself and let the pictures do the talking. With these amazing little cameras we keep in our pockets, even a hack like me can make the world look beautiful.
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As the year comes to a close, I have an update on the health of the Beervana blog, including what the most popular posts tell us about the year. I even meditate briefly on the state of beer writing more broadly in this confusing post-Covid period.
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We can’t help looking back at the end of a year, and 2023 was definitely a challenging one for beer. But there was a lot of latent good news if you know where to look—along with a return to the untroubled fun beer offered before the pandemic.
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This blog looks like a one-man job. It’s not; far from it. It’s true that I am the one who writes it, but I couldn’t do what I do without support, and I wouldn’t do it without the folks who come here to read and engage. Please accept these thanks to a bunch of wonderful people
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‘Tis the season, which means time for gifts! I have some excellent suggestions.
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Next month, the Central Europe Brewers Conference kicks off in Budapest. I’ll be giving the keynote speech, and I’m encouraging breweries in the region to register and join me.
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It seemed like such an unlikely, almost perverse idea—right there at ground zero of the biggest craze in the 21st century, where people were spending hours in lines to buy thick, very sweet, intense ales, here was a brewery making elegant, clear, crisp lagers.
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It’s only looking back that we realize lives hinge on the smallest decisions.
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There aren’t too many bright spots in the beer industry right now, but I discovered two projects in Chicago that have the capacity to expand the market for craft beer. They involve unusual business models and entrepreneurs targeting communities who haven’t yet discovered good, locally-brewed beer.
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A lawsuit filed last week against Tree House Brewing suggests some pretty dubious behavior. Meanwhile, one of the most interesting breweries in the world is hanging on by a thread.
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On this Thanksgiving week I mention what fills me with gratitude. (Are your ears burning?)
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In the spring, Dan and others from the brewery head off to a forest just west of town. The trees must be a certain height to harvest, and they can’t pick too much of the new growth. “We bring a load of grain bags out with us—it’s beautiful,” he said. “I love it.” It takes more than one visit to collect 200 pounds of tips.
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If you are an average human—I was, it turned out—you will stop dead in your tracks and goggle at the massive abstract harp sculpture that floats over the central bar. It has churchy swoops and rises, recalling a pipe organ, and, like a cathedral, draws the eyes up.
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About six weeks ago, Guinness launched their second brewery/pub, this time in Chicago. This continues a pub- and pint-first approach that other large breweries haven’t adopted. More than that, it acts as a lens on the larger beer world, and how much things have changed since they launched their first American brewery.
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John Harris posted a note this evening announcing he had sold the Ecliptic brand and that the brewery would close in ten days.
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It was barely more than a decade ago that craft beer finally made it to Chicago in a real way, so it’s time to ask some penetrating questions about where it stands today. This one is all you, hive mind.
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Craft beer isn’t only about beer. Leave the brewery and you can find people crafting malt-adjacent objects like the prints Dave Selden makes at 33 Books. I visited his workshop to see our collaborative beer-glasses print go through a 1908 letterpress and was charmed by his steampunk operation.
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Are hazy IPAs the most transformational style in the craft era? A comment on Bluesky—yes Bluesky!—got me thinking, and whether the answer is yes or no, the choices for the title are few.
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I distinctly remember saying the words “people like what they like” and feeling something click. At the time, it was more in resignation: “People like what they like, so what can you do?” But having said it out loud, it became a challenge and then an affirmation. “People like what they like, and isn’t that fascinating?”
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Don’t fear the pumpkin. Find a local brewery making something that looks interesting and give it a try. Celebrate the season. Enjoy yourself.
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