Hip Hops: An Oktoberfest three-way, plus recollections of East German beer
My friend and much-decorated homebrewer Shane Caple conjured an old-school Märzen for Oktoberfest, and the result is shown above. Compare it with the appearance of Weihenstephaner's new-school Festbier, pictured below.
They're both Oktoberfest lagers. Märzen...
Hip Hops: Be thankful for what you got, because …
Each year at Thanksgiving, I give a listen to William DeVaughn's 1974 hit "Be Thankful for What You Got," and spend a few minutes contemplating the stodgy durability of my 2009 Ford Fusion.
Verily, I...
Hip Hops: TEN20 Craft Brewery is open, and Gravely Brewing wins GABF medals
As it pertains to beer news, it doesn't get any better than when a new brewery opens, and TEN20 Craft Brewery (1020 East Washington Street) launched last week in Butchertown.
TEN20 Craft Brewery originally was...
Hip Hops: On good beer books, an old novel, Papa’s lager judgment and timeless...
Portions of the following have been deployed previously in this space.
Last evening I promised a colleague that quite soon I'd recall the name and author of a must-read book about beer in America—and before...
Hip Hops: Only in Wisconsin — or an adulatory journey to New Glarus Brewing...
According to Trip Advisor, the New Glarus Brewing Company lands squarely at #1 among 17 things to do in the town of New Glarus, Wisconsin (population 2,266), which was founded in 1845 by people...
Mile Wide Beer’s Hops on the Hill festival is this Saturday (8/3)
Craft Beer Nation continues to grow, with too many new breweries to count, but recently the maturing industry’s challenges are getting as much coverage as its previously triumphant march forward. Mergers and acquisitions, shrinking shelf...
Hip Hops: Proletarian delights at the late, lamented Automat Koruna in Prague
It has been 33 years since my first visit to the country then known as Czechoslovakia. There were many more stays to follow, and a consistent theme dominates the narrative.
Yes, it's beer.
Škodas have their...
Hip Hops: Goodwood’s on a roll, invading both Indy and Owensboro
All three national chain brewpubs are gone now, but Alcatraz (1995-2011), Rock Bottom (1996-2020) and Ram (2000-2020) each played a demonstrable part in the reformatting of downtown Indianapolis into a convention and sports hub.
I...
Hip Hops: A few instructive beers in Ostrava in 1989
For me, drinking beer is not a performative exercise, even if cameos are allowed. Rather, my enjoyment of the brewer’s art tends to the contemplative. It's an ongoing conversation, as well as an extension...
Hip Hops: BBC’s 30th; Louisville Beer Week; and a new SoIN beer festival for...
Turning to F&D's Department of Beer Festivals Past, Present and Future...
I. The Past: BBC turns 30.
While I concede that this event is not a "fest" as such, I attended a great many beer bashes...
