The most popular BeerAdvocate stories in 2018 covered a fairly wide range of topics, from the polarizing subject of kids in brewery taprooms, to the best beer pairings for Nashville hot chicken, and a deconstruction of common myths about lager.
Whether you’re looking for something different to pair with beef brisket or need a companion for that slice of apple pie, make room for these cranberry beers and ciders at your holiday meal.
Gardening for the Homebrewer starts out with the basics, but what makes it great is chapters on growing other fermentables—from Gruit herbs, like yarrow and juniper, to cucurbits, the key to Cucumber Saisons and Pumpkin Ales.
Of the 836 new breweries that opened between 2010 and 2013, approximately 350 will close by 2016. It’s a shocking number that makes sense after asking the people behind recently shuttered breweries about the challenges they faced.
As with beer, craft cider is aiming for people with more sophisticated palates. And one of the first things modern cider makers have done is dry the palate out. To lure beer drinkers, cider makers in the Pacific Northwest started adding hops.
The trick to a good apple beer is finding the balance between apple juice’s simple-sugar dryness and the meaty notes of malt—all while trying to retain a noticeable apple character that doesn’t taste like a poorly executed fermentation or a cesspool of apple extract.
For craft beer drinkers occasionally interested in looking beyond the IPA horizon, cider and gluten-free beers offer a refreshing chance to experience both new and growing beverage categories.
In a Rusty Apricot, the bitterness of an IPA is cut by the sweetness of cider, making for an excellent morning refreshment, or a gateway to hoppy beer for the non-indoctrinated.
AB-InBev and MillerCoors want a piece of the apple cider pie; CAMRA Vancouver FUSS-ing over standardized pours; Belgium celebrates Trappist breweries; Oglala Sioux tribe suing brewers, wholesalers, retailers; and Virginia, Mississippi attempting to pass brew-friendly laws.
As holiday gatherings with friends and family abound, ’tis the season for entertaining—and that means cooking. These three desserts can all be made ahead of time, present well, and will be talked about as favorites for years.
Looking back, we survey a country where beer was once the agitator of rebellion and omnipresent companion to social discourse. Behind us is the mass industrialization of beer, but also the craft explosion; ahead of us—possibilities.
These cocktails can take several forms. There are the droppers, in which shot glasses of various hard alcohols are physically dropped into pints of beer; the substitutions, in which beer is swapped in for the traditional spirit; and the original, unique concoctions.
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