Portland Beer Week is upon us (November 4-10), billed as “a series of events celebrating the craft beer industry in Maine.” With nearly 100 events, there are no shortage of opportunities to bypass the “celebrating” and end up stumbling drunk, issuing a stream of single-hopped grisette from y…
This November, vote as if your life depends on it. If that's not enough — vote as if your BEER depends on it. This isn't a tongue-in-cheek effort to make voting as “cool” as drinking beer. We depend upon our elected officials to express our will through the legislative process. This dynamic …
It's deep autumn, and the brilliant leaves have me in the mood to sip something in unorthodox colors. What fits the chromatic bill better than beers made with actual oranges? The combination of oranges and beer isn't as incongruous as it might appear. In fact, some beers just naturally have…
Almost without exception, breweries don’t start big. In most cases the men and women creating these companies are not rich, and aren’t getting into the business to become so. The dream, then, is to arrive at a scale where achieving a type of financial success doesn’t forsake hands-on guidanc…
(Interior – Food Science Laboratory) A white-coated mad scientist holds aloft a beaker filled with an orange liquid. Toxic vapors cascade from the top of the beaker, condensing and burning holes in the lab bench. Lightning sizzles outside as the scientist cracks a lopsided grin, breaking int…
Introduce me to a beer writer who likes Oktoberfest, and I'll challenge them to a stein-holding competition. I'll get the last laugh, though, because I won't show up. They'll be left hefting a warming flagon of pisswasser, feebly smiling.
There are so many intersections between art and alcohol that an attempt to depict them visually would be an artistic endeavor in and of itself. Words and flavors are my medium, not oils, so this week we'll explore the nexus of art and beer. I'll sample beers from several breweries that are …
Something worth doing is worth overdoing, loyal reader. That's why I'm pushing into uncharted territory with an unprecedented third tasting of hopped sour beers. I'm blaming the unseasonably hot, humid weather for sending my palate into a swampy torpor, for which a hopped sour is the only cu…
It's been a long, hot summer of tasting beers with added fruits and berries. Now, as we're staring at the inevitable arrival of fall, I'm giving my palate a break. This week, I'll be tasting a selection of beers from New England that combine two trends taking the industry by storm: dry hoppi…
Fear not, loyal reader! We've got plenty of fruited, berried and spiced beers yet to sip this summer. But for the next few weeks, I'm giving giving my palate a change. We'll venture into a little-known variation on an increasingly common genre — hopped sour beers. A sour beer includes ingred…
Continuing this summer's theme of tasting beers with added fruits, berries and spices, this week we turn to the tropics, where lazy breezes stir the steamy air. What could be more tropical than the coconut? The mild nutty flavor of the seed of the coconut palm flavors desserts and adds a coo…
Earlier this summer, I sampled beers with added fruit and berry flavors. Now, during the dog days of summer, I'm sipping beers with added lime flavors. I've always found lime to be the cleanest and most refreshing of all the fruit flavors. Perhaps it's because the flavor of lime is such a mi…
It's stinking hot, and nothing makes this beer writer gag right now more than the mere mention of an imperial stout. I'm all about seeking refreshment, and I'm not ashamed. This summer, we're experimenting with beers with added fruits and other unique ingredients, and I've saved some of most…
We're hitting the height of summer, loyal reader, and in honor of the hot weather, we're sampling beers with fruits and berries. Sometimes one variety of berry just isn't enough. No, instead of taking a dainty nibble of a single raspberry, sometimes the only way to truly celebrate and embrac…
Paradoxically, the innocent, unassuming raspberry inspires brewers to acts of furious sadism. I've been drinking for a long time, loyal reader, and I can assure you there are few “Imperial Strawberry” or “Triple Cranberry” beers out there. Why raspberries turn brewers into maniacal bootlegge…
I'm dedicating these sweltering days to sipping beers infused with fruits and berries. Last week, we sampled some raspberry beers, and this week, we're moving on to something more closely associated with Maine. Vaccinium sect. Cyanococcus, known as the American Blueberry, is the berry most c…