American Amber Ale

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Let’s look at a classic American style, Amber Ale, aka Red Ale. And by classic, I mean the craft beer awakening of the 1990’s, not the historic styles of the 1800’s. In the mid-90s you could count on nearly every brewpub and “microbrewery” to have Amber or Red ale on tap. Amber ales are not … Read more

Friends Don’t Let Friends Drink Green Beer

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Saint Patrick’s Day is one of my favorite holidays. The Irish people are passionate, proud, and some would say, a bit stubborn. I’m grateful to have Irish blood flowing through my veins. But everyone is a little bit Irish on St. Pat’s. Spring is in the air, the Earth is getting greener and it’s a great time … Read more

Kristallweizen, AKA filtered Hefe

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We recently took a look at Dunkelweizen, a dark German wheat ale (weissbier) with traditional weizen (wheat) yeast flavors. There’s another weissbier with similar flavors at the other end of the color scale, Kristallweizen. You don’t have to be a German language expert to guess that Kristall mean a lighter colored beer, but it’s more … Read more

Quick Trip to Denver

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I’m in Denver for a conference, but was able to sneak in a few days of exploration before work. It was my first try at AirBNB and I got a cozy little room with a friendly little cat for cheap in the 5 Points area. If you haven’t traveled using AirBNB, do it! Friday I … Read more

Pilsner, the Czech Original

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After discussing German Pilsners last week, it makes sense to turn south towards the Czech Republic and look at Bohemian Pilsners. Bohemian Pilsners are the original, first developed in Plzen, Czech in 1842. The story goes that a German Lager Yeast was smuggled from Germany, and combined with Plzen’s soft water, pale malts and Saaz … Read more