Fulton Beer | Specter

“It’s there and then it’s not.”

Suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the United States, according to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP). An alarming public health crisis, the death-by-suicide rate for Americans has grown 30 percent in the last two decades. In 2017 alone, more than 47,000 Americans died by suicide. The tragedy of the suicide epidemic in the last 20 years seems to have touched all of our lives at some point. Three years ago, it touched the family of Minneapolis’ Fulton Beer.

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Saint Arnold Brewing Company | Art Car IPA

The phenomenon of the art car has intrigued me for some time. Have you ever seen these things? Cars covered from bumper to bumper with colorful paint jobs and anything from mosaic tile to plastic figurines. Sure, some look like a hoarder hoarked on a hooptie, but there are certainly some examples that truly are mobile art. The layers of detail and creativity are impressive, and it’s that creative spirit that inspired Saint Arnold’s Art Car IPA.

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Summit Brewing Company | Slugfest Juicy IPA

Bombasota. The Land of 10,000 rakes. These represent a couple of examples to describe what’s taking place on the baseball field this season in Minnesota.

The nicknames are warranted. The Minnesota Twins are mashing the baseball this season, hitting home runs at a historic pace. At the beginning of the month, the Twins set a new MLB record hitting their 269th home run of the season. Yes, they broke the record with a full month of games to go.

And they’re not slowing down. The Twins keep slugging with currently 289 home runs as I’m typing. But that’s not all. While building on their record-setting season, the Twins broke another MLB milestone. They became the first team in league history with five players to hit at least 30 long balls in a season.

It’s safe to say it’s been a slugfest in Minnesota this summer.

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Melvin Brewing | Jenny Lake Pilsner

Located at the base of the Teton mountains in Jackson Hole, WY, Melvin Brewing has gained a reputation – and numerous awards – for serving up high-quality, hops-forward brews. After a day of strenuous adventures in the outdoor paradise of Grand Teton National Park, Melvin’s Jenny Lake Pilsner provides a satisfying shot of liquid refreshment. Read More

Mystic Rye | Toltec Brewing Co.

An Albuquerque, New Mexico, native, Kaylynn Krosche still recalls the scent of hops hitting the boiling kettle as her father homebrewed. Her passion for beer and brewing developed early. And it has evolved into her life-long pursuit. Krosche is now the founding brewmaster of Toltec Brewing Co. in Albuquerque. Her presence is well recognized through her active involvement in the community and through medals and awards.

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Preview | Burns Family Artisan Ales Celebrates One-Year Anniversary

A lot can happen in a year. Whether we adopt the  “new year, new me” mentality every January, or simply opt for a new order at the coffee shop, it’s … Read More

New Glarus Brewing | Dancing Man Wheat

As summer comes to an end, I would like to look back on some of the fond memories of 2019. While the birth of my son, Alexander, has to rank as one of the top moments of my summer, a close second has to be my discovery of my new summer beer, Dancing Man Wheat–a Hefeweizen from New Glarus Brewery out of New Glarus, Wisconsin.

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Fiction Beer Company | Electrum Bronze

Last year, the Brewers Association introduced Juicy or Hazy Pale Ale category at the 2018 Great American Beer Festival, becoming the first national competition to recognize the category. It was one of the highest entered categories of 2018, with 132 entries from across the United States. Only three breweries won medals, Fiction Beer Company in Denver, Colorado was among the winners, earning a Bronze Medal for Madame Psychosis.

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Lickinghole Creek Craft Brewery | Coconut Quad

Compared to every other season, autumn always conjures up particular styles of beer. Pumpkin beers, Märzens, and Ambers match drinkers’ palates like the changing shades of leaves. As the summer winds down during peaks of sweltering humidity, you wouldn’t think there could be a beer over 10% fitting for the season. Thankfully, us Virginians have access to a beer that perfectly represents the twilight of summer with Lickinghole Creek’s Coconut Quad.

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Boiler Brewing Co. | Koo Koo for Coconut

The Old Federal Building (now known as The Grand Manse) is an impressive building that sits in downtown Lincoln, NE. Inside, there is beautiful woodwork and even a stately courtroom with the original judge’s bench. But you want to go straight down to the basement, the belly of the building, to the former boiler room.

Founded in 2015, Boiler Brewing Company has turned this space into a cozy and relaxing taproom that focuses on small-batch brews with a tap list that is anything but “small.” With pours starting at 4 oz, you can try a whole slew of beers that pique your interest. One beer you should try is Koo Koo for Coconut, an oatmeal milk stout they starting brewing back in April of 2016. Read More

Brewery Vivant | Pumpkin Tart

Buckle up for spooky season. Ghosts and ghouls, sweaters and chai, crunchy leaves under your feet. You know the drill.

For the beer world, this time of year bears one of the industry’s most polarizing styles: Pumpkin Ale. To some, they’re as comforting and scrumptious as a slice of pie. To the rest, they taste like a scarecrow farted in their snifter. It seems the trick to making a successful pumpkin beer is using the gourd in pure form or in conjunction with other styles/ingredients. With Pumpkin Tart, a blended Farmhouse Ale brewed with real pumpkin and spices, Brewery Vivant checks both these boxes.

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Modern Times Beer | Blanc On Blanc On Blanc On Blanc

In a craft beer market that’s ever-growing and becoming harder and harder to stand out from the competition, Modern Times continues to find ways to push the envelope and garner massive interest. It definitely helps attract customers when you have creative, out-of-the-ordinary beer names and one-of-a-kind label/can art. Modern Times isn’t the only brewery out there that can come up with clever names and awesome art; however, not all of those breweries can back up those aspects with a high quality beer—over and over again. One of their beers that checks the box on all of those categories is Blanc On Blanc On Blanc On Blanc. Read More

West Side Brewing | Porter

The crisp fall air will be here before we know it and many will begin to indulge in the great seasonal beers of fall. This typically means Oktoberfest and pumpkin beers but there’s a style that may be even more fitting for fall – the porter.

While it may not be bursting with fall spices or be the official beer of a German festival, the porter fits into just about any situation you can imagine. It complements meals of any kind just as well as it would pair with dessert. Then consider drinking it while grilling out or around a bonfire. It is a style that is flavorful, approachable and ties into the fall season as well as any beer style. And just in time for the change in season, the West Side Brewing Porter gets its annual release.

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Tommyknocker Brewery | Drift Blonde Ale

Any avid mountain-trekker will tell you that there are few things as satisfying as a post-hike beer. Some seasoned veterans even stow a cold one in their pack to crack open on the summit in celebration of a job well done. But if that isn’t for you, fear not! A good beer is never far in Colorado, even if you do find yourself perched on top of a Mount Bierstadt.

Tommyknocker Brewery & Pub, which sits just off the highway in Idaho Springs, Colorado, is a well-known (and well-loved) craft beer haven, and it’s the perfect rest-stop for anyone with sore feet and a big thirst. Its collection of brews ranges from rich, nutty Stouts to tropical IPA’s and ciders. But after a long day on the trails, the thought of drinking something too heavy or hoppy will have your stomach turning real quick. Instead, you’ll want to start with something as easy-drinking and refreshing as Tommyknocker’s Drift Blonde Ale. Read More

New Glory Craft Brewery | Hopaway Beach

There are not many breweries in the Sacramento, CA area that have a better track record of brewing IPAs than New Glory Craft Brewery. When you check the “about us” section of their website, the first sentence reads: “We reject the mainstream concept of ‘flagship’ or core beers.” A quick look at their current tap list includes 24 beers; 15 of them are either a Pale Ale, IPA, Double IPA or Milkshake IPA. I’m not sure how many different IPAs and hop-forward beers they’ve turned out since 2014, but it’s safe to say they’ve worked every angle of the style.

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Prost Brewing | Helles Lager

It’s a sunny day in Denver, and it’s hot—like, record-breaking hot. The raging misters on the patio of Prost Brewing are creating a fog that veils the normal view of the Mile High City’s skyline, obscuring one of the main perks of this taproom location but providing a necessary reprieve in this unprecedented September heat.

It’s this heatwave draping much of the American West this summer that has created a conundrum of sorts for craft beer drinkers in this part of the country. This month on the calendar denotes not just the early days of autumn, but a perhaps more important, even more special, time of year for craft connoisseurs: Oktoberfest season.

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Burning Barrel Brewing Co. | Oater Boat IPA with Strawberry

Burning Barrel Brewing Company has just recently celebrated their 1-year anniversary in the crowded Sacramento craft beer scene…and business is booming. Located in the Sacramento suburb of Rancho Cordova, just a quick drive from downtown Sacramento, Burning Barrel has made a name for themselves as specializing in fruit-forward sours and hoppy IPAs. It only made sense for them to eventually start adding fruit to some of their IPAs, and the results were terrific.

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Mikerphone Brewing | Ging and Juice

Over the past few years Mikerphone Brewing, out of Elk Grove Village, Illinois has become one of Chicagoland’s most popular and sought-after breweries. From their impressive list of hazy IPAs, to Stouts, to even beer slushies (yes, please!!), they have proven time and again that they can make any style.

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Karl Strauss Brewing Co. | Aurora Hoppyalis

Once in a while, some news story comes out talking about how the Northern Lights are visible from not-too-far away. This excites us sky geeks. For most of us in the U.S., unfortunately, the caveats are extreme (e.g. hiking three miles into un-mapped forest in the hopes that the sky is clear enough during the five-minute window when the Aurora Borealis can actually be seen). Finding a good location that’s dim enough to see this spectacle of nature is a challenge if you live in the lower 48.

On the other hand, if you live in a hot craft beer city like San Diego, it’s real easy to find quality beer. So save the skywatching for your bucket list vacation to Iceland, or if you have to lay low for a while and need to move to Alaska. We’re not here to judge; what you do in the privacy of your own back-alley gambling hall is your own business. Beer though…that’s our business. And business is booming, dammit.

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Boulevard Brewing Company | The Sixth Glass

They say you can’t go home again. I beg to differ, at least when it comes to beer. 

A big part of my introduction to craft beer, as I’m sure is the case for many of you, was sampling as many different beers from as many different styles as I could, within reason (and sometimes without). I didn’t realize this at the time, but these were my formative craft beer years: a time spent feeling out boundaries and developing personal standards and learning what I like and why. One of the most outstanding examples in my mind is The Sixth Glass, a Belgian-style Quadrupel from Kansas City’s Boulevard Brewing Co.  Read More