January 28, 2016  Post 0010.   We’re using Thursday posts for a while to chronicle first rate beer destinations in our metaphorical back yard.  There isn’t a section of the country that doesn’t sport breweries similar to the ones we celebrate here; we’ll hop farther afield as we’re able.   Today, we visit Fredericksburg, Virginia, home to several breweries, a fine beer bar, and a scenic old town to savor.   The breweries epitomize the new generation of start-ups, with a delightful range of experiences.
[Read More …]

January 25, 2016  #009  We’re old enough to remember when all but a handful of breweries in the world waged constant and unrelenting war against Brettanomyces, a yeast that can impart a sharp acidic accent to the beer it ferments.  We’re amused, and often grateful, to have lived long enough to see the maligned yeast become a microbiological rock star. 
[Read More …]

January 21, 2016 Every real ale drinker in England has a “local”—a Cheers-like home away from home. The beer only has to be good enough – it’s the welcome and the sense of belonging that’s the big draw.  Michael Jackson’s was the Ardmore Arms—certainly not the most elegant bar in London nor the one with the widest selection.  But a dependable, well-kept pint of Fuller’s was good enough for the greatest beer hunter of all time, and, truthfully, we think the pint of DC Brau or Port City that is increasingly easy to find today is better than that. 
[Read More …]

January 18, 2016.  BrewDog’s new American brewery shouldn’t, we suppose, be a surprise.  BrewDog has been one of several truly avant garde brewers for the last several years.  But BrewDog has managed successfully to maintain an “in yer face” adventure in brewing with a remarkably successful empire of pub outlets.  Our first – and still one of the best—BrewDog was their outlet on Argyll Street in Glasgow’s West End. 
[Read More …]