Hip Hops: On old books, new beer labels and timeless bung-starters
A fractious month of January calmed somewhat near the end, providing a relatively peaceful space to finish reading the year's opening novel: The Island of Second Sight by Albert Vigoleis Thelen (1903-1989), who was...
Hip Hops: Pilsners, Trappists and Monnik
Beer headings and a few pithy comments on a rainy Monday morning ...
• Kentucky brewers want legislation to allow them to sell directly to bars and restaurants(Lane Report)
In the main, alcoholic beverage laws in...
Hip Hops: Flagship February celebrates “the beers that got us here”
Flagship February originated in 2019 as an effort spearheaded by beer writers Stephen Beaumont and Jay Brooks, who corralled a few of their friends and set about to espouse the value of flagship beers.
Increasingly,...
Hip Hops: Learning about cask-conditioned “real” ale
Even in the best of times, Great Britain’s traditional pub culture is the subject of fervent, impassioned debate. Will the nation's glorious pubs survive changing tastes, injurious taxation and licensing regimes and the encroaching death...
Hip Hops: Two regional beer writers you should know
Rather than waste precious shoe leather during a pandemic, I fetched a growler of Fuller’s London Pride from my “other” workplace and devoted last week’s column to a rumination on a theme of personal...
Hip Hops: The search for the perfect “comfort” pint should last a lifetime
As regards drink, I can only say that in Dublin during the Depression when I was growing up, drunkenness was not regarded as a social disgrace. To get enough to eat was regarded as...
Hip Hops: Schlenkerla’s unique smoky place in the beer cosmos
Preserving tradition means to keep the fire burning, not to conserve the ashes.
– German proverb
Smoked beer (or “Rauchbier” in German) has been an obsession of mine since the very first time I tasted it...
Hip Hops: Christmas beers, real or imagined, then and now
“My goodness”, muttered Claus, recalling his visit to the Institute, “the restrictive outerwear, the padded room-even padded Christmas tree ornaments. Horrifying! Yet the little chap seems happier than he’s ever been” Claus took a...
Hip Hops: Mile Wide Beer Co.’s 4th anniversary is this week
Mile Wide Beer Co. celebrates its 4th anniversary this Thursday (10 December), and while Kentucky's current COVID restrictions preclude the sort of gala gathering the brewery deserves, there'll be two beer releases to mark...
Hip Hops: Welcome my son, welcome to The Machine (at TEN20 Craft Brewery)
TEN20 Craft Brewery chose November 27 (or Black Friday, if you insist) as the occasion to release its first bottled, limited edition ale: The Machine Russian Imperial Stout.
(Those of you familiar with the career...
