beervana

Molson Coors recently purchased a small Chicago brewpub called Cruz Blanca. This is a little counter-intuitive, since they have been getting out of the craft beer market. But to understand the move, look at a (domestic) Spanish lager killing it in Britain.

Yesterday, Fintech and the National Beer Wholesalers Association presented numbers of beer’s sales performance for 2024 to date, and things were actually not terrible. Here is an overview, along with the key findings.

Two recent news items point to a phenomenon that will reshape the beer industry over the next decade. Call it the reset, when the perceived value of breweries comes in line with their actual sales.

They start filling up before five and buzz with the chatter of conversation, the clack of cue balls, and the clink of glassware until long after my bed time. Brewery taprooms are struggling, but my local dive bars are flourishing. Why is this?

The magazine for which I write, Craft Beer & Brewing, has an annual round-up of writers discussing the best beers and experiences they had that year. I didn’t submit one to the mag, which means you can only find it here.

Did you know that there’s an American Oktoberfest, distinct from the kinds of beers you find at Munich’s famous fest? Did you further know that it’s a more characterful and interesting beer? Well, it is, and here’s why.

I was recently sipping a cask Bachelor Bitter at Deschutes Brewery and I started reflecting on its excellence and influence. I hope it becomes one of those grand old breweries future generations enjoy and celebrate. 

I am compiling a database of breweries in Oregon for a website that will launch soon. It needs to be up-to-date and comprehensive, which means I’ve been poring through websites and social media accounts to find out which breweries still exist. The result? A lot fewer than I expected.

No top ten breweries list this year. But I can’t leave you entirely in the lurch, so here’s Portland’s brewery of the year. As a fun factoid, it has never appeared on one of my top-ten lists, either. Who says beer isn’t exciting anymore?

A rivalry is developing in the world of fresh hop beer. Proponent of one team believe the best character comes from use on the cold side, others on the hot side. It's time to get to the bottom of the debate.

For hundreds of years, brewers have ranked hops based on their quality. This has led to a sense of nobility among a select class of landrace hops brewers prize the most. But are they noble because they’re old and tested, or because they taste and smell so good?

While I was in Europe, Carlsberg announced it would finally stop using the antiquate Burton Union system used to make Marston’s Pedigree in Burton, England. The news was sad, but it came far later than I ever expected. A eulogy for a technology that was once state of the art.

You are no doubt aware of how listicles and other clickbait articles degrade the internet. But you might not be aware of services that generate these stories AND sneak paid advertising into them. A cautionary tale.

The magazine for which I write, Craft Beer & Brewing, has an annual round-up of writers discussing the best beers and experiences they had that year. I didn’t submit one to the mag, which means you can only find it here.

One of the most interesting historical figures in all of brewing history is Antoine Joseph Santerre, a Parisian brewer in the latter decades of the 18th century. He came from a line of brewers, married a brewer’s daughter, and bought a brewery with his brother. He is far more famous for his politics, however.

The beer world is full of characters, including many who lived long ago. Imagine being able to sit down with ten of them for a few hours over a beer. Whom from among these vivid characters would you select?