I was cruising the beer bloggosphere the other day when I came across a particularly vitriolic post by Val Stimpson of the Neustadt Brewing Company at the Ontario Craft Brewers website. (more…)

I picked up Barbara Holland’s latest after reading a positive review in the New York Times. The gist of it was that here, finally, was a book which unapologetically endorsed the pleasures of alcoholic beverages, with no mitigating talk of context or moderation or even limits. “The Joy of Drinking” is, according to the Times story, more than the book’s title, it’s also its hypothesis. (more…)

There’s been a bunch of “Top Ten Most Influential” list making going on in the beer blogging world of late, and I figured I might as well jump on the train before it gets too far from the station. So without further ado, I would like to present my list of… (more…)

The theme of July’s Session, the one day a month when we beer bloggers all write about a single style or attribute of beer, is “atmosphere.” (more…)

Last month, I wrote on my World of Beer website about the negative side of beer that is served too cold, as it so often is in the summer. Freezing temperatures, I noted, do nothing to enhance and everything to kill the flavour of an ale or lager. Cold pilsners are great, I said, but icy beer that freezes mouth, taste buds and throat is counter-productive. (more…)

Because I care…

Do drink cold lagers. Summer was made for `em!

Don’t chill your beer to ice-cold depths. It only kills the flavour. (more…)

“Nearly 30 years ago,” begins a report in Fortune Magazine, “Graham Mackay joined the South African Breweries – now called SABMiller since its acquisition of American brewer Miller in 2002.” (more…)

The theme for this edition of “The Session,” the one day of the month we beer bloggers all taste together, is Local Brews. It was chosen by Snekse, of the Gastronomic Fight Club , who also set out some general guidelines, as found here. Go ahead and read them; I’ll wait for you. (more…)

My thanks to that entertaining San Francisco scribe, Camper English, for bringing to my attention the new Guinness “Surger.” If ever there was a piece of utterly useless paraphernalia to be devised by the high foreheads at Diageo, this is it! (more…)

My friend Don Russell makes an interesting point today in his weekly Joe Sixpack column, questioning why it is that many dog owners have to wait until summer patio season in order to enjoy a beer with their pooch.

To begin with, Don observes that: (more…)