Tales of ales from the heart of Ohio to the ends of the Earth
While brewing the morning coffee my phone gave a familiar ping. It was a text message from my old friend Rick Armon. His message reminded me that the Great American Beer Festival had announced its 2021 winners last night: So the real Ohio story out of the GABF? This year was the first year Fat... Continue Reading →
One can make a good argument that the sour beers of Belgium—Flanders reds, oud bruins, lambics—are the most sophisticated expressions of what can be accomplished by fermenting grains. While Flanders reds and oud bruins lack the romantic allure of spontaneous fermentation used to produce lambics, they make up for it with a more substantial malt character and a curious combination of sweet and sour.
Awards were given out at the 2020 Great American Beer Festival last night. Given the dumpster fire that is 2020 you can be forgiven if you didn’t realize that the GABF was being held this year. I must admit I didn’t realize awards were being given this year myself until the award show was wrapping... Continue Reading →
Given the unfortunate cancellation of 2020 Oktoberfest, we invited fellow beer lovers Jamie Gentry and Chris Davison of Wolf’s Ridge Brewing to join us for a celebration of the glorious German beers of fall—märzen and festbier. We go deep on the history and characteristics of these beers, and Chris shares a cornucopia of tips for... Continue Reading →
Life over the last month is like nothing I’ve experienced. As I write this, the sun is shining, flowers are coming into bloom, and crimson red cardinals fill the air with song in hopes of attracting a mate. Hardly the stuff of a Hollywood pandemic movie. In some ways the world seems normal, but in... 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 →
Two of my favorite Columbus breweries are celebrating anniversaries with blow out parties today (Saturday 9/28/18), Land Grant (noon to midnight) and Wolf’s Ridge (10 am to midnight). To celebrate I’m reviewing a beer featured in the massive bottle release at Wolf’s Ridge, Terre du Sauvage Gold. Not quite ready for the release is an... Continue Reading →
As I was scrolling through my social media accounts this morning I saw that Wolf's Ridge Brewing scored a gold medal at the Festival of Barrel Aged Beers (FoBAB) yesterday in Chicago. My first instinct was to tweet to Chris Davison congratulating him and everyone else at Wolf's Ridge, but when I scrolled through the... Continue Reading →
Many great beer styles are associated with a region—pilsners with the Czech Republic, lambics with Brussels, goses with Leipzig, saisons with Wallonia, steam beer with San Francisco, and so on. While most styles originated in Europe long ago, America has made important contributions in my lifetime. American-style pale ales and IPAs originated in the Pacific... Continue Reading →
These days it seems that just about every weekend there are multiple beer events going down in Central Ohio, from anniversary parties, to beer releases, to tastings, to events with less obvious connections to beer like board game marathons or bicycle races. It's a lot to keep up with even for the avid beer fan,... Continue Reading →
I’ve been a proponent of Wolf’s Ridge Brewing for some time, especially since Chris Davison came on board as head brewer last fall. So I was excited when news came out earlier this week that they are going to have their first bottle release later this month. Not just any beer mind you, but one... Continue Reading →
This is the second installment in my three part series featuring Central Ohio brewers talking about hops. In part 1 of this series we looked at the supply and demand angle. In this post I asked the brewers one simple question, what is your favorite aroma hop? If IPAs were rock bands, malts and bittering hops would be... Continue Reading →
Of the basic ingredients in beer no component is changing faster than hops. Hop breeders are continually pushing the envelope to develop new strains of hops that express exotic aromas and flavors that range from tropical fruits to blueberries to cat shelters in pine forests. It's hard to get noticed sticking to the grapefruit and pine... Continue Reading →
Fourteen months after initially breaking ground the taproom at Wolf's Ridge, a topic of several posts on this blog, finally opened to the public last night. I was fortunate enough to be invited to a sneak peek of the taproom on Thursday night. So Mark Richards, who does most of the photography for the brewery... Continue Reading →
As many people know the folks at Wolf's Ridge (215 N. 4th Street) have been working on a taproom for just about as long as it takes Founders to make a batch of KBS. Lest you think I'm exaggerating check out this story by Columbus Underground from last February announcing the taproom and it's expected... Continue Reading →
Have you ever felt overshadowed by the success of a sibling, a teammate, a predecessor? What would it be like to walk a mile in the shoes of Scottie Pippen, Kenny Guiton, Ron Wood, or the new CEO of Apple, whatever his name is? In a small way that must be what it feels like... Continue Reading →
As announced last week on this blog I’m participating in a collaboration with five other beer bloggers to identify the best Ohio-brewed IPA, and bestow the crown King of Ohio IPAs. Each blogger is tasked with identifying three beers to represent their part of the state in a showdown that will be held on November 1... Continue Reading →
This past week my blog turned one year old. In the short period of time five Columbus breweries have either come into existence or opened public taprooms—Actual, Sideswipe, Wolf’s Ridge, Zauber and Zaftig. Three more breweries, Land Grant, Pigskin and Temperance Row, are on the verge of opening, and Columbus is still in the running... Continue Reading →
While no one is going to mistake Columbus for Portland, San Diego or Brussels, the list of breweries in Ohio’s capital city is a rapidly expanding list. Columbus is home to at fifteen different breweries (plus a Gordon Biersch and a Budweiser plant). This guide contains all that you need to know to start your Columbus beer journey.... Continue Reading →
Pat's Pints 