When I drink some US IPAs I joke that they’ve brewed it by throwing a Christmas tree into the fermenting tanks. You know, because they taste super-piney. But pine trees have actually […]
P is for pine, fir and spruce tips
O is for Orval
Of all the beers from Trappist breweries, Orval is definitely my favourite. Firstly, how can you go past that lovely art deco-style bottle? Then there’s the beer itself, pale and with far […]
N is for near beer
While the idea of an almost totally alcohol-free beer-like substance is largely mocked, it saved a number of breweries during the dark days of Prohibition. Called “non-alcoholic beer” in Australia, near beer […]
M is for mash hopping
Now this is a technique I’m going to try in a homebrew at some stage in the future. Greatly simplified, the brewing process involves soaking grain in water to get the sugars […]
L is for light beer
I’ve always had a sneaking suspicion that light beer is nothing more than full-strength beer that’s been watered down. But I figured it couldn’t be that simple, they must actually do something […]
K is for kolsch
Kolsch is one of those beer styles that I just don’t care for very much. I think it’s because, compared to other flavoursome styles like pale ales, IPAs, stouts and the awesome […]
J is for Japan
Japan is home to the interesting happo-shu class of “not really a beer” beers, low-malt lagers brought about by the country’s unusual – and high – beer taxes. See, if happo-shu is […]
I is for imperial
There are a few beer adjectives that cause me some confusion. ‘‘Premium’’ is one of them, as in ‘‘premium lager’’. Firstly, it implies there has been some sort of special treatment given […]
H is for Hoegaarden
My wife has never been at the forefront of good beer – except where Hoegaarden is concerned. When we met, I knew next to nothing about good beer. How little did I know? […]
G is for global warming
I’ve got to say, when I think of global warming, I don’t think of beer. Maybe it’s because I figure that something that’s so much fun can’t really have any link to […]
BEER IS YOUR FRIEND 