If beer styles were celebrities Berliner Weisse might well be viewed in the same light as David Hasselhoff or Def Leppard, more popular abroad than in its native land. Yes, I know Napoleon dubbed it the champagne of the north when his armies occupied Berlin, but the 20th century was not a good one for... Continue Reading →
A Visit to Leipzig – Home of Gose
Last November work took me to Helsinki where I spent the weekend search for the elusive Finnish farmhouse ale, Sahti. Fast forward six months and I find myself in Europe once again in search of a beer style that not so long ago was perilously close to extinction—gose. Despite its German heritage gose thumbs its nose... Continue Reading →
Zauber Brewing – Bringing German beer into the 21st Century
Relatively speaking the United States is a newcomer to the worldwide brewing scene. Prohibition was a major blow to the brewing industry in this country, and in the decades that followed mergers and acquisitions consolidated the brewing capacity of our nation. By the 1970s all that was left was a handful of industrialized megabreweries intent... Continue Reading →