This week is American Craft Beer Week across the country, and many places are holding special events and tastings with various beers. Often rare beers are released around this time; around here Saint Arnold just released Bishop’s Barrel #3 to bars and restaurants, while Karbach released another batch of its Bourbon Barrel Hellfighter. One thing I’ve learned is that craft beer is an adventure, and sometimes a beer you don’t expect much from is outstanding. Other times, you get burned.  [ Read More ]

Remember when we wrote articles about beer at Walt Disney World? Those were the days, right? Actually, I’ve been holding off since I’ll be there in June. However, I recently came into some Guinness Foreign Extra Stout. Yes, that’s right, I recently came into some Guinness Foreign Extra Stout. As the story goes, my wife asks if I’ve ever had this beer at random one day. I respond that I haven’t, and she tells me that our friend “bought the  [ Read More ]

Sasquatch is on the loose! One of the beers in Sierra Nevada’s High Altitude series, Bigfoot Barleywine-Style Ale was born the same year I was. Each year in the winter, Bigfoot comes out of hiding and onto store shelves. Each year’s batch is clearly dated and beer fans enjoy collecting each edition and aging them. Vertical tastings often occur around this beer; several years’ bottles in a row are sampled to taste the differences. This is the first year I’ve  [ Read More ]

Here’s another one of Jester King’s unique brews; El Cedro is described by Jester King as a hoppy cedar-aged ale with Brettanomyces. As far as I know, this is the first time Brettanomyces have been specifically mentioned on here so let’s dive in a little bit. Commonly referred to as Brett, Brettanomyces are a genus of yeast. In many beer styles, Brett is considered to be a contaminent as it is a wild yeast that can ruin a batch. However,  [ Read More ]

WTF? Wilco Tango Foxtrot isn’t the proper way to spell WTF in the military alphabet. Well, according to Lagunitas the word “whiskey” isn’t allowed on a beer label; therefore, the name of this beer had to use something other than whiskey. Lag started brewing this one in 2010 and calls it “a malty, robusty jobless recovery ale”. It was named this because in 2010 the economy was supposed to be recovering, but it wasn’t really recovering. Jobs weren’t being created  [ Read More ]

Over the past few weeks the 64 beers entered in our Disney Beer Tournament have been narrowed down to two finalists! This one is for all the marbles, the whole enchilada, and any other idiom you might want to put here. The final vote awaits! The poll will close Sunday, April 7, 2013 at 3:00 pm Central; vote or forever hold your peace! And now, the two finalists! First, in this corner, weighing in at 6.6% ABV, the maibock of  [ Read More ]

After four tight battles in the last round, the final four beers have been chosen by you, the Beers and Ears readers! Voting for the two places in the championship starts now and will end Wednesday, April 3 at 5:00 pm Central time. Let’s see who made it! Presenting the Mickey region champion! That’s right, Rogue Dead Guy Ale came up and narrowly defeated the number one overall seed Altenmünster Oktoberfest late in the fourth round to win the Mickey  [ Read More ]

Brother Thelonious is named after Thelonious Monk, one of the greatest jazz pianists; let’s set the mood appropriately. North Coast Brewing Company, from Fort Bragg, CA, brews Brother Thelonious as part of their American Artisan series. And holy crap, what a beer to brew in honor of a great jazz pianist. Furthermore, a donation to the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz is made for each bottle of Brother Thelonious sold. To me, a lover of jazz and musician, that’s pretty  [ Read More ]

Back in July, Saint Arnold’s Divine Reserve #12 came out and I picked up a six pack. Divine Reserve #12 is an old ale David Rogers, a homebrewer, entered into the 16th annual Big Batch Brew Bash and won the contest. Saint Arnold then used the recipe to brew its 12th entry in the Divine Reserve series. This video interviews Aaron, one of the brewers at Saint Arnold, about the beer: When I bought this six pack I took notes  [ Read More ]

On George Orwell’s Animal Farm, Boxer was a strong work horse who was eventually killed after being overworked. The name for this Jester King beer, Boxer’s Revenge, suggests an alternate ending to Boxer’s story. Boxer worked himself nearly to death for the pigs and was repaid by being sent off to the glue factory. But what if Boxer escaped from the glue truck, got back to that farm and said, “It’s payback time!” (We imagine a Rambo-esque bloodbath of vigilante justice  [ Read More ]