Joris Pattyn, a Belgian beer expert and champion of Belgian beers, recently gave Budweiser a whirl. Pattyn tried out InBev’s newest “flagship” beer and didn’t exactly give rave reviews. Among other things Pattyn had to say, he commented that Budweiswer was “a beer for students getting drunk…it will take hours but eventually it will happen.”
Hmm, wasn’t that Bud’s slogan?
You can see what else Pattyn had to say here:

So, today I arrived in Germany – and promptly decided to go to France! More correctly, I decided to take a quick day trip to the Alsace region of France to see what’s left of the once proud brewing heritage of this past pawn in the power struggles between Germany and France
Now, I had a serious language barrier, as I speak very little French. Since it was a last minute sort of decision, I had also done absolutely no research on the city or its beer scene whatsoever, adding to the challenge. Fortunately, I did stumble across a small brewpub …read more

As my wife and co-blogger mentioned, we went out for dinner the other night without kids! For those too young to know, that’s a very exciting thing to us parental types.
In any event, I was pleased to note that the restaurant, already discussed in this post, had a number of beers from the Belgian farmhouse brewery Dupont, including the highly regarded Saison and the relatively rare Blond ale. In one of those rare moments of luck, I ordered the Saison Dupont, which was quite tasty, and my wife ordered the Foret Blond, which she preferred (and which I didn’t find …read more

Naming conventions for beer are a little peculiar to say the least. The Märzen, or March beer, is brewed in March but drunk in fall of the next year. The Maibock, or May bock, is a strong, malty lager beer which is also brewed in March (or earlier these days) but drunk in May. Michael Jackson’s beerhunter site has more on the origin of that particular tradition here.
Lighter than the Lenten Doppelbocks (known as Starkbier in the south), the Maibock still has some kick at 6 plus percent alcohol. It’s nice beer to welcome in spring. The traditional Maibock …read more

This past Sunday was not the warmest of days, but after a long walk in the local arboretum with my three small children I was hankering for a beer on the porch and some moments of relative peace. My beer of choice? Gaffel Kölsch, and for whatever reason it was just the right thing. As you can see from the picture above, Kölsch is served in a tiny, straight-walled glass, which makes it devilishly difficult to keep track of how many you’ve had.
I’ve long associated Kölsch with the warm, summer days which accompanied my first trip to that city. A …read more

In had a few beers the other night, but the one I remember enjoying most is the Nugget Nectar from Tröegs. It’s a very tasty beer, with a very slight sweetness – almost as though there’s a tiny hint of honey in it. Now, I’m not much for overly sweet beers, this was a very tasty beer. The folks at Tröegs label it an Imperial Amber Ale, other sites simply refer to it as an IPA, but it’s definitely not your standard IPA.
The beers from Tröegs are consistently good, so we’ll be planning a trip to the Harrisburg PA area …read more

A while ago a friend of mine went to Australia, which inspired me to seek out a few Australian beers to try out. I’ve had enough Foster’s in my life to know better, so I searched a little harder and found a couple of beers from Coopers, a relatively large brewery which has a number of higher-quality brews.
The first is the vintage ale, which to be honest has a vintage taste about it. It’s not overly hoppy, and has very little head, but it was a tasty enough brew.

The second was the stout, which was quite good for a non-pub …read more

I mentioned it in an earlier post, but if you’re looking for something to do this weekend check out Philly Beer Week, a ten day celebration of beer in a city with quite a beer legacy of its own. There will be over 175 events across the city, including tastings, tours, and meals paired with beer.
Now, last time I checked 10 days is actually more than a week, which is good for me since I’ll be out of town. Beer week starts on March 7 and ends March 16, so check it out.

I went to the Philadelphia Craft Beer Festival over the weekend, and I enjoyed it. First, the good bits.
- There are a lot of good breweries there, showcasing a host of different brews.
- Although the shows routinely sell out, you’re still only one or two people away from a beer at any time.
- Most breweries have a decent variety of beers, so you can try different styles
Now, the not as good bits
- It is crowded, which means a wait to get in and a wait to use the restroom
- You shouldn’t drive – ever – as four hours of prepaid …read more

Some time ago a few friends and I did a head-to-head comparison of a number of lovely Munich Starkbiers in honor of the end of Lent, and the winner was – Korbinian!
I’ll write a little more about Starkbier later, but you should know that the traditional Munich Starkbiers are all named with names which end in -ator. Korbinian is an exception to this rule, and it isn’t even the beer its brewer, Weihenstephan, mentions with respect to the season known as the “fifth season.” For those of us who tasted it, the winner was clear.
My ranking of the beers we …read more