The Brew Siteand reflects on the crafty transformation of the beer business From a beer lover’s perspective, the last 20 years have been like “manna from heaven.” Pike was founded in 1989, only a decade after the first “micro” brewery in this century opened in the U.S. For the first time in … Continue reading
21st Amendment Brewing out of San Francisco—they of the (formerly) Watermelon Wheat fame that is always a hit at the Oregon Brewers Festival—began canning two of their beers just under a year ago, and it was fairly recently that they started distributing in Oregon. I found them both at The … Continue reading
Earlier this month canned beer received some prominence when it was featured in a story by NPR: Craft Beer In A Can? A Gutsy Move Is Paying Off. It focuses primarily on Alaska but also touches on Oskar Blues Brewing (who has become the defacto poster child for canned craft … Continue reading
Full Sail Brewing Company is proud to announce the release of their latest Brewmaster Reserve Beer, Vesuvius Belgian Golden Ale. First brewed four years ago on August 24th, the beer was named after Mount Vesuvius that erupted that same day, in 79 A.D. According to Full Sail Brewmaster John Harris, … Continue reading
During last year’s Canned Beer Week, I spent some time focusing on Oskar Blues Grill & Brewery as they were the first microbrewer to can their beer beginning in 2002. In addition to informally interviewing Marty Jones, their Marketing Director, I also did (post-Week) reviews of three of their beers: … Continue reading
It’s the third Monday of the month, and The Brew Site is back with a Theme Week after a summer hiatus. This time around it’s a topic revisited: Canned Beer Week 2. Back in February ’08, I first devoted a week to exploring beer that comes in cans—not the American … Continue reading
Fun link for the evening: Cool Material has a roundup of 15 beautiful beer bottle labels. As with any list, it’s pretty subjective; they do have some outstanding labels featured, and others make me wonder why they’re even considered. Of course, I’m a big fan of Deschutes‘ labels (big surprise)—particularly … Continue reading
UPS arrived today with a box from Deschutes Brewery. Since I’d just received Jubelale less than a month ago, I wasn’t sure what to expect. But I suppose it’s obvious in retrospect. Yes, it’s fresh hop season and Deschutes just brewed Hop Trip some three weeks ago; this is possibly … Continue reading
Shipyard Brewing‘s Smashed Pumpkin is the latest in their “Pugsley’s Signature Series” line of beers, wherein Alan Pugsley, their Master Brewer, gets to go a little crazy, flex his brewing chops, and produce some big interesting beers. I received this bottle of Smashed Pumpkin last week, and this beer definitely … Continue reading
Karl Strauss Oktoberfest recently hit shelves and taps throughout Southern California. This beer is brewed true to the Bavarian style that will soon be savored in Munich. “We wanted to brew an Oktoberfest that had a lot of rich flavors but was still easy to drink, especially since this beer … Continue reading