Tales of ales from the heart of Ohio to the ends of the Earth
Let’s start this story about Columbus Brewing Company (CBC) with some indisputable facts. Fact #1: Founded in 1988, CBC is Ohio’s second oldest craft brewery. Only Cleveland’s Great Lakes Brewing is more venerable, and not by much. Fact #2: CBC is Central Ohio’s second largest craft brewery (only trailing BrewDog), producing 26,840 bbl in 2019.... Continue Reading →
The annual Festival of Wood and Barrel Aged Beers (FoBAB) went down over the past two days in Chicago and no less than five Ohio breweries took home honors from the prestigious festival. For those not in the know FoBAB is dedicated to beers that have either been aged in a wooden barrel or have... Continue Reading →
This past Saturday medals were given out at the annual Great American Beer Festival (GABF) in Denver. This year’s competition featured 9,497 entries from 2,295 breweries representing all 50 states plus Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. Of those entries 318 medals were awarded, spread across 283 breweries. I'm pleased to report that... Continue Reading →
I’m always happy with blind tasting events when the beers that rise above the field are a mix of tried and true favorites and surprising newcomers. That’s exactly what happened a few weeks ago at the King of Ohio IPA competition. Fat Head’s Strange Magic took top honors, while Seventh Son’s Miracle finished in the... Continue Reading →
The 5th iteration of the King of Ohio contest is now in the books. The King of Ohio contest comes around once per year, and this year we chose the broadest, most American category you can imagine, IPAs. Close to 100 breweries entered, roughly 1/3 of the craft breweries in the Buckeye state. We divided... Continue Reading →
When I first visited Ill Mannered Brewing back in January 2016 the hours were limited because all four owners were still working day jobs, and the taproom seating capacity was slightly smaller than the waiting room at my dentist's office. Despite its diminutive footprint, I was won over by the tasty beer, warm hospitality, and passion... Continue Reading →
Despite the ubiquity of IPAs on the American craft beer market, craft lagers are ascendant in a way that would have seemed improbable a few years ago. In this episode, which contains previously unreleased material from the spring of 2018, Mark, Hans and I take you on a journey back to the source of all... Continue Reading →
The fifth iteration of the King of Ohio competition is just under a month away. Each year the competition, organized by Ohio-based beer bloggers and writers, focuses on a broad stylistically related family of beers and seeks to identify the best commercially brewed beer in the Buckeye state of that type. This year we return... Continue Reading →
In this episode we welcome back Canadian ex-pat Chris Mercerhill who does his best to educate the rest of the cast on beer from north of the border. Our meandering discussion touches on topics ranging from distribution laws to the Canadian music scene to motherhood while enjoying beers from from Ontario heavy hitters Flying Monkees,... Continue Reading →
In the 21st century a wealth of brewing tips, techniques, and recipes are accessible to anyone with access to the internet. Bohemian pilsner malts, New Zealand hops, Belgian yeast strains are available to brewers from Texas to Tokyo. Water chemistry can be bent to the brewers will. Geographic differences in beer styles that were once... Continue Reading →
Corvallis, Oregon is one of America’s quintessential college towns. It’s bounded by the Willamette River to the east and the highest peak in the Coastal Mountain range to the west. The Pacific Coast, the Cascade Mountains and Portland are all within two hours driving distance. It has the kind of natural beauty and geographic diversity... Continue Reading →
The taproom is a central focus of most craft breweries these days. The beer is fresher, the connections to the local community stronger, and perhaps most importantly the margins are higher. Ohio has nearly 300 breweries, but the number without a taproom is small enough to count on your fingers. The only two that call... Continue Reading →
These days mixed fermentation beers are all the rage, but the monks at Orval have been making a mixed fermentation Brett saison for 80+ years. In this episode Hans Gorsuch and Chris Mercerhill join Mark and I for an in-depth look at one of the world's truly iconic beers. Throw in some thoughts on home brewing... Continue Reading →
This past weekend I took my birthday as an excuse to head out to Licking County and visit a few breweries. It was great to see some old friends and share a few beers together. Here are a few thoughts on the experience. Nothing too deep but some food for thought if you are considering... Continue Reading →
A few weeks ago work took me to Colorado and Wyoming for the better part of my spring break. What follows are some notes from a Sunday exploration of the Mile High City, plus a few quick peaks at breweries further north on the Front Range. This is the third time I’ve written about Denver,... Continue Reading →
Tom Ayers, head brewer and co-owner of Ill Mannered Brewing, joins us on the podcast this month for a wide ranging discussion on the challenges and opportunities of running a neighborhood brewery. Ill Mannered opened in August 2015, starting in a tiny 1000 square foot space in a strip mall while all four owners did... Continue Reading →
A few weeks back I had a chance to attend the Columbus Winter Beer Festival downtown in the convention center. For me big beer festivals are at best a mixed bag. It’s a good chance to sample a wide variety of beers, but the flavors and memories inevitably run together into an indistinct blur. The... Continue Reading →
Long time homebrewer A.J. Zanyk knows a thing or two about Baltic Porters. He and co-host Mark Richards brewed a Baltic Porter named Motherbird that won best in show honors at the 2001 Ohio State Fair Homebrew competition. If that weren't enough A.J. took with top honors at the 2017 Barley's Homebrew competition with an... Continue Reading →
Last week I attended parts of the Ohio Craft Brewer’s conference, held at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Columbus. For me the most interesting aspect of the conference was Tom Shellhammer’s keynote address [1]. Shellhammer, the Norwester Professor of Fermentation Science at Oregon State University, is internationally recognized for his research on hop chemistry. His... Continue Reading →
About two weeks ago I wrote a post highlighting my favorite British breweries with the promise to follow up with similar posts from my forays into mainland Europe. In today's post we move across the English Channel to the Low Countries. Last April I spent 10 days with my wife and daughter visiting Belgium, The Netherlands... Continue Reading →
