Asheville, NC is known as a hotbed for all things artisan, in addition to being named Beer City USA 2010 by a recent poll. Its beauty and charm has long been known by many of this country’s elites as well, which is why George Washington Vanderbilt II chose to build Biltmore Estate, the nation’s largest [...]
I recently read an article in Men’s Journal magazine naming the Top 25 Beers in America for 2009. One of them, an ale from Flying Fish in New Jersey, was voted the Best Belgian Style beer. Being an former resident of the Garden State, and having friends who know the owners of this brewery, I [...]
St. Bernardus is truly one of the world’s greatest breweries. Every beer that I have had from them has been nothing less than excellent. It’s amazing to think that I haven’t even drank even just an average or good ale from them, let alone one that was mediocre! And the latest offering that I had [...]
Another year, another Best Beers list. I decided to do a new slant on this year’s All-Time Favorites post, and create my dream case. The criteria is as follows: a. Retired beers have been omitted. Ales such as DuClaw Repent, Blue Point No Apologies Imperial IPA, and Thomas Hardy’s Ale were among my favorites, but [...]
There were plenty of bowl games this past holiday weekend, and I stopped by World of Beer on New Year’s Day. Penn State was playing LSU in the Capital One Bowl, and the Nittany Lions (11-2) beat the Tigers (9-4) 19-17 on a field goal in the final minute of play. It was a very [...]
My friend Kristine Nickel is a woman of many accomplishments. Among them is an expertise for all things culinary. She has maintained a freelance writing career since the early 1980s, wrote a wire-distributed weekly column for the Chicago Tribune for 7 years, and has covered food, wine, and travel for publications such as Sarasota Herald-Tribune, [...]
I remember the first time I walked into Mr. Beery’s with a couple of friends a little less than two years ago. Owner Mark Tuchman was on hand, and we all hit it off immediately. Before the end of the night, Mark was breaking open complimentary bottles of Ken Schmidt Maui Stone Coffee Macadamia Coconut [...]
Stopped by The Shamrock yesterday afternoon and was pleased to learn from James that a porter I have wanted to try was on tap. Described by Ommegang as a “Belgian Love Affair”, I was quite eager to try this latest offering from the Cooperstown brewery. Ommegang Seduction (Brewery Ommegang; Cooperstown, NY; Porter; ABV: 6.8) is [...]
I received a couple of sample bottles from Newcastle of an ale that’s part of their Limited Edition series. As I’d enjoyed their Newcastle Winter IPA from a previous sampling, I was looking forward to trying this latest offering. Newcastle Founders’ Ale (Caledonian Brewery; Edinburgh, Scotland (UK); English Pale Ale; ABV: 4.8) is a fine [...]