The Right Glass for your Next Home Brew

The right glass can add quality to any beer

It’s true, most people reading this would drink a craft beer or homebrew out of a paper cup and be perfectly satisfied.  But beer has been around a long time, and over that time brew masters, scientists, and engineers have designed, tested, tweaked, and redesigned glasses that are made to perfectly complement a particular beer style.  For example, snifters allow barleywines to be swirled and oxygenated while wheat beer glasses have a wide base to trap yeast; so it would be a shame to allow years of research and fine tuning to go to waste, plus having the right glass for your homebrew could add some quality, not to mention it will look like you know what you’re doing.  Check out the list below to educate yourself on which glasses go with which beers.

Deschutes Brewery Clone Recipes

If you’re familiar with the ever expanding, high quality beer from one of the Northwest’s largest craft breweries, Deschutes Brewery, then you may be as thrilled as we were to discover the homebrew page on their website.  Deschutes is famous for its Black Butte Porter, Mirror Pond Pale Ale, and Inversion IPA.  They have won many Great American Beer Festival (GABF) awards for their high quality and unique brews.  Venture over to the Deschutes website and delight in the fact that you can find the recipes for almost all of their offerings.  Deschutes won’t tell you the brewing schedules or volumes, but experimentation is part of the fun of homebrewing.  As they say: “Temps, times and weights are the challenge. Happy Brewing!”  We agree. Brew On!

Brewing in Baltimore by Maureen O’Prey

Part of the Images of America series, Brewing in Baltimore ($21.99) is a brief 128 page history of how beer played a pivotal role in the city’s history and shaped the city into what it is today.  For a synopsis of the book, check out this article on City Paper; and if you’re lucky enough to be near Heavy Seas Brewery on Dec. 17 from 11 A.M.-5 P.M, Maureen O’Prey will be there to sign your copy.

“Throughout its rich and vibrant history, Baltimore has been known by a variety of names: Mobtown, the Land of Pleasant Living, or Charm City to name just a few. Perhaps “Beer Town” would have been more appropriate. Several pivotal events in Maryland’s history involved the brewing industry. Baltimore brewers were vital to building the fledgling town into the bustling city it is today. These brewers established some of the earliest churches in Baltimore. Eagle Brewery’s Harry Von der Horst helped build the Orioles into a pennant-winning team in the 1890s. Mary Pickersgill sewed the stars upon the Star Spangled Banner on the floor of Brown’s Brewery during the War of 1812.”

Happy 15th to Six Craft Breweries

2011 saw the 15th anniversary of six craft breweries that have made game-changing contributions to the industry.  Stone, Shmaltz, Arcadia, Firestone-Walker, Three Floyds and Bear Republic have all made a name for themselves by making great beer; but not every brew could be a Sublimely Self-Righteous.  For a great read by Draft Magazine on these six brew houses with questions like “What is the worst beer you’ve ever brewed?” and “Where do you see yourself in 15 more years?” posed to each respective brew master, follow the link below.  Also, for a look at how far they’ve come you can find the original Stone Brewery website created in 1997 here.

http://draftmag.com/features/sweet-15/

Bud Enters the Home Draft Market

Anheuser-Busch is entering the home draft market.    Seeming to follow suit from Heineken, with their Draughtkeg and Krups Beertender and from Coors and Miller’s pig keg offerings, the Draftmark is making it’s debut in select St. Louis stores this week with Budweiser, Shock Top Belgian White, and Bass Pale Ale on offer.  It will be interesting to see how successful the BIG brewery will be with their home draft system.  The Draftmark fits on a shelf inside your refrigerator, has a rechargeable battery and a “permanent pouring system”. Draftmark owners will be able to buy refills for their system and Bud is claiming freshness for 30 days.

If Bud expands their refill offerings to some of their more exciting brews, like Bodingtons Pub Ale or Stella Artois, they may have a real winner. We here at Brewing and Beer aren’t always kind to the big 3, but we’re always interested in new ways to enjoy beer.  We have only two questions so far: When is the Draftmark going national, and why in the world of beer does it require a battery?

Learn More: www.anheuser-busch.com/s/index.php/anheuser-busch-brings-premium-draft-beer-experience-home-with-draftmark/

Homebrew for the Holidays

Gift giving season is among us.  All homebrewers have to start somewhere, and many companies have created great starter kits that make it easy to begin brewing great beer at home.  If you have someone special in your lives this season that has an affinity for beer, consider giving a gift that will keep giving…Great Beer!

We’ve compiled a list of starter kits from around the web.  We’ve tried to select kits that include everything needed to start brewing great extract beer in your kitchen at home .  There are many more options out there, but we hope this helps at least one person discover a wonderful new hobby.  Brew On!

Jack’s Abby Kiwi Rising India Pale Lager

Could IPL be the next big craft beer style?  If other breweries start turning out big hoppy, full-flavored lagers like Jack’s Abby of Boston, it may just be a big hit.  This well-reviewed brew is an exciting example of the natural evolution of the craft beer industry and shows what can be accomplished with an imagination and good execution.  If you’re fortunate to live in the Boston area, keep an eye out for Jack’s Abby Kiwi Rising India Pale Lager for a refreshing twist on the most popular style in the craft beer world.

Beer Advent Calendar

…but instead of candy, it’s beer.  The Beer Advent Calendar is exactly what it sounds like, except each day includes a full write-up and review of its respective brew by the best bloggers in the business.  And if that weren’t enough, they’re extending their advent through the 31st, that’s 7 bonus beers!  Head on over to Seacoast Beverage Lab to see the full list of craft brews and reviews.  Don’t you just love the holidays?

The Sprocket Growler

Get your local craft beer in style with this simple yet very bad-ass growler from Portland Growler Company.  Made of kiln-fired stoneware, this 64-oz vessel is much sturdier than your typical glass growler and the ceramic will help keep that brew cold during your drive home.  The Sprocket Growler ($64)

The 10 Best Books on Brewing and Beer

The guys over at BeerBooks.com have put together a list of 10 of their favorite and most popular books on brewing and beer.  The list contains the obligatory and absolutely excellent Joy of Homebrewing and the Brewmaster’s Bible but there are some other less expected titles as well such as beer advertising memorabilia and a history/trivia book about beer through the ages.  If you’re looking for a great present for that homebrewer or beer drinker in your life, follow the links below to see the collection.