With “quality” applied to something as subjective as beer, you have to be very careful how you define it. Are sales enough? Some would point to the mass brands as evidence that popularity does not equal quality. What about consistency? More consistency is better, sure. But the most consistent brands are, again, the mass brands.…

It’s all well and good saying that you always drink locally when you are at home, but what about when you are away on vacation? It’s really not difficult now that there is ready access to the internet pretty much wherever you are. It’s especially easy in a lot of European cities, like Edinburgh, which…

The subject of session beer is hotting up in the USA, so I am providing this handy guide to people on both sides of the Pond as to why “session beer” is critical to define. But before we go any further… Note for U.S. beer nerds British Session Beers pack an awesome punch of flavor…

I am laying out a bold thesis here: that we are at the end of the golden age of national craft beer brands. I’m not saying that we will never again see the likes of Anchor et al, but that we will see their likes much more rarely going forward. National craft beer brands are,…

This is a comment that happens way too often. “Why do you drink that frou-frou stuff? Why can’t you drink normal beer?”  Well, because I don’t like the taste of corn in my beer for a start. Historically beer contained 3 ingredients: water, malt, hops. It was very simple, and naturally fermented. Now we add…