As the craft beer industry continues to grow, consumers find themselves faced with a seemingly endless amount of specialty beer. From the pine flavor of a hearty IPA to the light floral notes of a Belgian Pale Ale, beer connoisseurs have many options from which to choose. But perhaps the tartest, refreshing style of beer is the sour beer. Perfect for perking up bored taste buds, an excellent quality sour beer can change the way you see craft beer.

But with over a hundred different brands of sour beer to choose from, picking the right one can be a lengthy and tedious challenge. Ordering beer blindly can end in a dissatisfactory experience and wasted money. Walk into the world of sour beer with your head held high, using this handy list of the top ten best sour beers.

Sour Beer FAQs

We want to answer any questions you may have. You may be wondering:

1. What is sour beer?
2. What flavors of sour beer are available?
3. Where can you buy sour beer?
4. How much does sour beer cost?

What is Sour Beer?

Tart, tangy, and often fruity, sour beer makes your mouth tingle, and your lips pucker. People have been brewing it for more than two thousand years, and it’s no surprise why. Sour beers tend to be more complicated than traditional brews, and they come in a slew of different styles.

Chemically speaking, sour beer is sour due to the evolution of organic acids during its fermentation process. A typical lager is brewed in sterilized conditions with distinct strains of yeast, but a sour beer uses wild yeast and two types of bacteria to become the multilayered, refreshing beverage we all know and admire.

Lactobacillus, the bacteria which gives yogurt it’s slightly sour taste, is one of the main properties of sour beer. It couples with Pediococcus, another strain of bacteria, to intensify the souring process. Both types of bacteria produce lactic acid, which is what creates that tongue-tingling tanginess in sour beers.

What Are the Different Styles of Sour Beer?

Sour beer comes in many various styles, depending on the method of fermentation. Here are a few examples:

• Gose. A pale, sour beer that originates from Germany. Accented with salt.
• Lambic. A Belgian beer often mixed with cherries. Light and tart.
• Flanders. Brownish coloration, rich fruity tastes like wine.
• American Wild Ale. Strong and funky, typically a high ABV.
• Berliner Weisse. A lemony wheat beer with low ABV.

Though there are many styles, all of the best sour beers are tangy and bright. Because there’s such a variety, there are more flavors catered to your tastes.

What Flavors of Sour Beer Are Available?

Most sour beers are predominantly fruity, but they also offer multiple layers of flavor that may include notes of chocolate, coffee, or cream. Cherry, lemon, grapefruit, and blackberry, you can choose from the gamut of fruit flavors when deciding on a sour beer.

The most important thing to consider is your palette. After all, if you’re not a fan of coconut, you’re unlikely to enjoy a coconut-flavored ale, no matter the quality of the beer or overwhelming positivity of the reviews.

Sour beer is available for purchase nearly everywhere. You can order it online, or you can find it in your local liquor store or supermarket. The near absolute availability of sour beer truly speaks to its quality and continued popularity.

How Much Does Sour Beer Cost?

The cost of sour beer is approximately $2 – $6 per 12oz, averaging out to $4 per 12oz. This statistic is on-par with the average cost of all beer in most major US cities, which is also about $4 per 12oz. This means that sour beer isn’t likely to break your bank account. It’s as affordable as any other quality beer, so you can explore the sour beer style without wondering if you’ve made a wise investment.

How We Created This List

We put our readers first when researching beer for this list. Not only did we discover what makes sour beer so sour, but we also compared dozens of brands to find the highest quality, best tasting, most affordable, and beautifully crafted and the sour beers available on the market today.

To accurately rate and rank the beers we researched, we gave them a cumulative rating based on price, quality, and availability. The beers with the best overall scores made it onto the list, and many fine-quality candidates fell just short of qualifying. It would be nice to play favorites, but it is also entirely unethical, so judging was done blindly, with brand names removed during the ranking process to ensure absolute fairness.

Sour Beer Price Range

The price of sour beer depends on the quantity and quality of beer that you’re purchasing. A typical 12oz sour beer costs about $4, but higher quality beers cost about $6 per 12oz. Prices do not tend to get higher than that, making sour beer a budget-friendly choice.

The Top Ten Sour Beers

1.) Sierra Nevada Otra Vez Cactus and Grapefruit

Origin

Sierra Nevada has breweries in California and North Carolina. Founded in 1980, they are most known for their Pale Ale and Torpedo Extra IPA.

Experience

The Otra Vez Cactus and Grapefruit is a light gold Gose-style beer with a lemony scent that makes your nose tingle. The first sip is slightly salty then immediately tart with lime. There’s a sharp but exhilarating bite with every sip, and a clean, minty aftertaste. The Otra Vez is an excellent choice for a hot summer’s day, as it is wholly refreshing. Should you decided to enjoy this beer with a meal, the best meal pairing would be a Thai noodle dish or a snack of goat cheese and bread.

ABV

4.5%.

Price

$8.99 per six-pack, averaging at about $1.50 per 12oz beer.

Where to Buy

This beer is available nationwide.

2.) Uinta Ready Set Gose

Origin

Uinta was founded in 1993, in Salt Lake City, Utah. It was the first business in Utah to transition to 100% wind power.

Experience

The can opens with a crisp pop, and the dark yellow beer pours nicely to form a thick head. The second Gose-style sour beer on our list, the first sip is malty with a strong hint of citrus. Then comes a rush of lemon and wheat, before the final bite of a salty aftertaste. Light and foamy, this sour beer will leave your tongue tingling with lemony bliss.

ABV

4%

Price

About $2.50 per 12oz can.

Where to Buy

Total Wine & More distributes Uinta beer.

3.) Cascade Brewing Kriek Ale

Origin

Cascade Brewing has been creating high-quality beverages since 1998. Founded in Portland, Oregon, Cascade specializes in sour brews. They have won dozens of awards, with the New York Times voting their Kriek Ale the “Best Sour Beer in America” in 2011.

Experience

Pouring out leathery reddish-brown, Kriek forms a quickly vanishing pinkish head. A Flanders Red Ale, Kriek is far more like a wine than a yeasty beer. The scent of oak, cherries, pomegranate, and earth is unstoppable. Light yet creamy, it is well-aged, funky, and layered. There is nothing one-note about Cascade Brewing’s Kriek, and it only gets better with age. Unfortunately, it is one of the most expensive beers on our list.

ABV

7.4%

Price

Approximately $15 per 12oz. Sold in in 750ml glass bottles.

Where to Buy

Cascade distributes to most states, except Alaska, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, South Carolina, and Wyoming.

4.) Goose Island Lolita

Origin

Goose Island has been a Chicago institution since its opening in 1988. They became so popular that Anheuser-Busch bought them in 2011. While some craft beer enthusiasts shake their heads in disappointment at this buy-out, many other rejoice in the fact that Goose Island is now available across the nation.

Experience

Reddish-amber with a weak, quickly dissipating head. Lolita is a soft, sweet mistress, subduing you with heavy notes of raspberry. It contains a wine-like earthiness and a lightly carbonated and smooth taste. Gently tart and refreshingly delicious, Lolita is well-balanced and elegant in addition to being less expensive than the similarly built Cascade Brewery Kriek Ale.

ABV

7%

Price

Approximately $9 per 12oz. Sold in in 765ml glass bottles.

Where to Buy

Goose Island is available nationwide.

5.) Brouwerij Lindemans Gueuze Cuvée René

Origin

This Lambic sour beer originates from the Lindemans Brewery in Belgium. The oldest brewery mentioned on this list, the Lindemans have been brewing excellent Belgian beer since 1822. Their popular beverages are the result of several generations of continued tradition and skill.  

Experience

The first Lambic beer on our list, Lindemans Gueuze Cuvée René is clear gold, with a small yellowish head. It releases an aroma of crisp citrus, sour apples with a hint of vinegar. Actively carbonated, this beer would be an excellent substitute for champagne, and with a light, bitter-sweet aftertaste, it’s sure to have you coming back for another glass. Also, the price is decent when you consider the importation costs and quality of the beer.

ABV

5.5%

Price

Approximately $6.50 per 12oz. Sold in in 750ml glass bottles.

Where to Buy

Available for purchase online and sold worldwide.

6.) Lagunitas Aunt Sally

Origin

Founded in 1993, in Northern California, Lagunitas Brewing Company seems like it never lost its sense of self or style during its rise to international distribution. The staff is active within the local social and music communities, to a fault. There is rarely a more pleasant or fun group brewing beer.

Experience

Initially, cloudy amber, settling to a bright gold with a quick white head. An initially sweet scent, akin to citrus or apricot. Unlike every other Gose-style sour beer on this list, the next flavor note is not salt. Instead, you get a mouthful of lightly carbonated lemon, grass, and pineapple notes. Refreshing, fizzy sweetness. It’s not a quality you would immediately expect from a beer with an ABV of almost 6%. And yet somehow, Lagunitas achieves this, and at a very affordable price. Aunt Sally is a sweet, light, beer perfect for a warm spring afternoon spent out in the yard.

ABV

5.7%

Price

Approximately $1.60 per 12oz bottle.

Where to Buy

Lagunita distributes nationwide.

7.) Anderson Valley Briney Melon Gose

Origin

Back in 1987, Anderson Valley Brewing Company was one of only twenty craft breweries in the country. From that point onward, the small Californian brewery has succeeded in creating some unique and flavorful beers on the West Coast while also being one of the most environmentally conscious companies in the nation.

Experience

Another Gose on our list! It pours out in a beautiful golden shimmer, with a swift smack of melon. And it produces a thick white head. It feels like creamy and salty on your tongue, with a tangy burst of lemon and watermelon. If you take a sip and close your eyes, you could imagine you were standing on the beach of a tropical island, taking in the sand and the surf. It also has the highest ABV for the lowest price of any of the beers on this list.

ABV

7.4%

Price

Approximately $1.8 per 12oz can.

Where to Buy

Distributed nationwide from most major liquor vendors.

8.) Evil Twin Nomader Weisse

Origin

Evil Twin Brewing has locations in New York and Denmark. Part of their branding is their anonymity.

Experience

The apt name is the first pleasant point to make about the Nomader Weisse. It is also the first and only Berliner Weisse sour beer on our list. Light gold with a creamy white head, the Nomader Weisse has a very wheat-like, yeasty smell and taste to it. And yet it still has lemony tones and a clean finish. For those who prefer sour beer with a strong hoppy flavor, Evil Twin has you covered no matter what.

ABV

5%

Price

Approximately $1.75 per 12oz can.

Where to Buy

Available in the state New York as well as online.

9.) The Lost Abbey Red Poppy Ale

Origin

Port Brewing has been producing Belgian-inspired beers since 2006. They’ve won multiple awards and have stood their ground in the increasingly crowded California craft beer industry.

Experience

The Lost Abbey Red Poppy Ale is a Flanders-style beer, like Cascade Brewing’s Kriek Ale. A dark red, nearly brown beer, the prominent aroma is cherries. The sweetness and tartness of cherries will enthrall you. There is also a hint of wood. The Red Poppy Ale is aged in wooden caskets. The aftertaste is clean, slightly lemony, and the experience is perfectly tart.

ABV

6.5%

Price

Approximately $15 per 12oz. Sold in in 375ml glass bottles.

Where to Buy

Currently available in Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Michigan, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Washington. It is also available for purchase from online retailers.

10.) New Holland Blue Sunday Sour

Origin

Founded in 1997 in Grand Rapids, Michigan, New Holland Brewing Company produces both beer and spirits. Featuring bright and unique flavors, they have a long road of success ahead of them.

Experience

The groovy label is well-designed, and the blue coloring is enticing. The beer is dark brown, with a light head. It has a fruity scent, with a tinge of wood. The taste is an onslaught of flavors: cherry, plum, caramel, vanilla, bourbon, blueberries. It somehow maintains these various flavors while also remaining crisp and light. You can hardly taste the alcohol.

ABV

7%

Price

Approximately $7 per 12oz. Sold in 750ml glass bottles.

Where to Buy

Available nationwide at all major alcoholic beverage retailers.

Comparison

Sierra Nevada Otra Vez Cactus and Grapefruit

ABV: 4.5%

Price: $1.50 per 12oz, $8.99 per six-pack.

Availability: Nationwide at major retailers (ABCFWS, Total Wine & More)

Style: Gose

Flavor Notes: Grapefruit and prickly pear.

Best Food Pairing: Thai noodles, goat cheese, grapefruit sorbet.

Uinta Ready Set Gose

ABV: 4%

Price: About $2.50 per 12oz can.

Availability: Available online and from most major retailers.

Style: Gose.

Flavor Notes: Lemon and salt.

Best Food Pairing: Grilled tuna or chicken, chocolate.

Cascade Brewing Kriek Ale

ABV: 7.4%

Price: Approximately $15 per 12oz.

Availability: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin.

Style: Flanders Red Ale.

Notes: Cherry, oak, malt.

Best Food Pairing: Lamb, carrot, and potato.

Goose Island Lolita

ABV: 7%

Price: Approximately $9 per 12oz.

Availability: Goose Island is available nationwide at major retailers.

Style: American Wild Ale.

Flavor Notes: Raspberry and wild yeast.

Best Food Pairing: Cheesecake.

Brouwerij Lindemans Gueuze Cuvée René

ABV: 5.5%

Price: Approximately $6.50 per 12oz.

Availability: Available for purchase online and sold worldwide.

Style: Lambic.

Flavor Notes: Citrus and hay.

Best Food Pairing: Sausage or pork chops.

Lagunitas Aunt Sally

ABV: 5.7%

Price: Approximately $1.60 per 12oz bottle.

Availability: Lagunita distributes nationwide and at most major retailers.

Style: Gose.

Flavor Notes: Peach and pear candy.

Best Food Pairing: Shellfish.

Anderson Valley Briney Melon Gose

ABV: 7.4%

Price: Approximately $1.8 per 12oz can.

Availability: Distributed nationwide from most major liquor vendors.

Style: Gose.

Flavor Notes: Watermelon and sea salt.

Best Food Pairing: Grilled chicken or fish.

Evil Twin Nomader Weisse

ABV: 5%

Price: Approximately $1.75 per 12oz can.

Availability: Available in the state of New York as well as online.

Style: Berliner Weissbier.

Flavor Notes: White grape, lemon, and mango.

Best Food Pairing: Risotto.

The Lost Abbey Red Poppy Ale

ABV: 6.5%

Price: Approximately $15 per 12oz. Sold in in 375ml glass bottles.

Availability: Currently available in Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Michigan, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Washington. It is also available for purchase from online retailers.

Style: Flanders Red Ale.

Flavor Notes: Cherry, chocolate, fig, and oak.

Best Food Pairing: Beef short-rib, milk chocolate.

New Holland Blue Sunday Sour

ABV: 7%

Price: Approximately $7 per 12oz. Sold in in 750ml glass bottles.

Availability: Available nationwide at all major alcoholic beverage retailers.

Style: American Wild Ale.

Flavor Notes: Malt and tart red wine.

Best Food Pairing: Pork shoulder.

The Final Verdict

After intense and in-depth research and quite a lot of consideration, one of these sour beers stands out among the rest. With an impressive ABV, a smooth and sweet taste, and an affordable price tag, the best sour beer on our best sour beers list is Goose Island Lolita.

At an ABV level of 7%, its stronger than half of the beers on this list, and at only about $9 per 12oz, it’s also less expensive than the other higher ABV beers presented here. With a lovely, light flavor profile of tart raspberry and wild wheat, Lolita is a Wild American Ale that “can’t be beat.” After diving into its rosy depth, we’ve decided we don’t ever want to leave.

In this article will take a look at what beer gets made of as well as all of the essential components in your favorite beer choices. We’ll also take a look at the brewing process and what different companies like to do to create their signature taste blends. 

The History Of Beer

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There has been in our culture, as well as in other cultures, for a very long time. So long that it’s evolved as we have throughout thousands of years. The Egyptians were the first the document their Brewing process on papyrus scrolls that got found in ancient Pharaoh tombs that describe beer being used for religious purposes and made out of things like dates and pomegranates.

History has taught us that the first people who made beer as close to how we brew it today were the Mesopotamians who we’re making beer from 10,000 B.C. The Middle Ages was likely the first an earliest time frame where we feel that beer got initiated in the more modern fashion and it was from these times that we learned how to perfect the recipe into what we drink today. 

WHAT IS BEER MADE OF?

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While the brewing process itself is a complicated ordeal that usually is maintained and monitored by high-efficiency machines and larger breweries, Beer itself gets made out of four different and essential ingredients. These ingredients are:

• Malted barley
• Water
• Hops
• Yeast

While the ingredients themselves are a straightforward combination and easy to acquire even for at home brewing; there’s a lot that goes into making beer that you may not be aware. When you consider that most people aren’t aware of what each ingredient does to make your beer taste specific ways.

Different Malted Grains

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Barley is what starts off your brewing process, and it’s the foundation to a good beer brew. Malted barley is a processed form of barley that undergoes two different processes to provide breweries the perfect result that starts them out for their signature beers. 

The reason that a lot of brewers use barley above other grains is that barley can retain its husk through harvesting, handling, and milling.

Why is husk important? The shell is essential because it regulates the water intake during the malting process and it slows it’s sprouting during molting as well. It also keeps the shape of the grain which is essential when you’re filtering out your brew later on. 

So because it’s durable, barley is kept from being gummy and sticky and that prevents it from ruining the Machinery later on.

On that note, you can make malt out of the following grains:

• Rye
• Rice
• Wheat
• Oat
• Chit

When it comes to wheat malts, many people find that it can be challenging to work with, especially if you don’t like cleaning out the mash tun too frequently. However, people who do successfully brew beer with a wheat malt will find that they will be able to enjoy a longer lasting foam and a bready flavor to their beer.

Rye is a little bit spicier, and it may be challenging to lauter because it doesn’t contain a husk.  Individuals who work with Rye malts usually incorporate a bolder flavored hop to complement its taste. Oat gives your beer a balanced flavor and a silky aftertaste. If you like Smooth patches, then it would be a high grain to malt.

Chit is technically a type of barley malt, but instead of the ideal mulch used in beer, this one relies on a short germination period, and it doesn’t do a lot for your beer as a whole. It’s also more expensive, so if you can avoid using it, it probably is for the best. 

[amazon bestseller=”beer brewing kit” items=”5″]

YOUR BARLEY DETERMINES YOUR TASTE

via Giphy

Malting is the concept of adding water to your grain Weatherby barley or one of the others posted above and letting it partially germinate before removing it and roasting the kernels to the perfect temperature. When you allow your grain to grow, it unlocks the sugars and starches that are inside of the colonel.

 You want the sugars and starches available so that when you add your yeast later on in production, you can feed the fermentation and thus create the alcohol. The trying is necessary right after your initial germination to stop germination and keep it from sprouting into a plant.

Once the grain itself gets malted, a brewer may choose to roast their malts to bring out different flavors depending on the grain itself as well as the type of grain used. The type of barley that you use also determines what your brew is going to taste like.

There are three distinct shapes of barley, and each of these has its potential to create its unique flavor profile. The six-row is a stock that has six rows of barley heads in which it produces the grain. The crowded green kernels mean that the kernel’s themselves are smaller which has higher concentrations of protein and bear coloring potential.

The two-rows is barley from a more traditional European barley, and it produces a larger green yield. These kernels also provide a higher malt extract release, and it’s the plant that’s responsible for Brewing American light lagers.

And finally, we have the winter two-rows and the winter six-rows which were the barley varieties that were able to survive and germinate even in Winter conditions. Barley is notorious for being intolerant of colder temperatures. These specific varieties are bred to become more robust, and they help farmers prepare their fields for the new spring.

Currently, there are over 148 varieties of barley that can get utilized for brewing beer, and each of them provides their flavor profile. For those who are interested in Brewing at home, it might not be a bad idea to check out some of the varieties available.

HOW IS BEER MADE?

Now that you have the basics of what starts off a good beer will have to go over the process in which beer is made from The barley kernel to the bottle in the refrigerator. 

The Mill

The mail is the first step in the beer-making process. If you’re looking into a larger Brewery, most of the time they will malt their barley before they mill it, but smaller breweries purchase it already melted and ready to go. In the mail, the malted barley grains will go through a cracking process in which releases the starch that got stuck within the grain.

The Mash Mixer

The mash mixer is the next step in the process. Hot water is poured in with cracked barley, and the hot water turns the starches back into sugar which then dissolves into the water itself. 

The Lauter Tun

The Lauter tun works as a type of colander where the mash gets transferred into it, and A clear sugary liquid called wort gets strained from the pulp. The Brewer will then add hot water to the paste to dilute it down before being taken to the next step 

The Brew Kettle

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The Brew kettle is similar to a pressure cooker especially and how it has to work. The word is strained into this Brew Kettle and brought to a gentle boil. It’s at the stage that your hops will be added in to add the flavor to the mixture. Most of the time, hops get compressed into pellets, and they’ll dissolve into the liquid once introduced. 

The Fermenter

Once your mixture cools down enough, it’s then transferred over to the fermenter Where the alcohol itself gets produced. Yeast will get introduced while it’s cold where it will start to consume the sugars that are in the water and create alcohol and carbon dioxide as a by-product. Usually, it takes about five to ten days to convert enough sugars into alcohol ultimately. 

The Aging Tank

An aging tank is a place where your beer will then be placed for another four days to complete a more purified form of fermenting. 

The Finishing Tank

This stage is where your beer gets finalized. The beer will undergo a carbonization process before it’s transferred to empty kegs or beer bottles. Once the beer is packaged up, companies often place their product in cold storage until they’re shipped out and ready for sale.

IN CONCLUSION

They were some of the main components in brewing techniques needed to make the beer that you love and drink regularly. As you can see, the ingredients may be simple, but there’s a lot of complexity involved to create the perfect beer. 

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You’ve probably tasted various brands of beers, each with a distinct flavor. While you may opt for drinks from major brewers like Bud and Miller, you may want to try Blue Moon. You may have come across Blue Moon Beer at a local bar, restaurant, or a supermarket.

However, if you’ve never read a Blue Moon beer review, you may be curious about what sets this beer apart. Below is a detailed Blue Moon beer review, and a look at what makes it unique.

WHAT ARE WIT BEERS?

Wit beers, or witbier, have a deep golden to pale straw color. They have a 4-5% alcohol by volume. The unfiltered beers combine flavored wheat beer with flavorings from coriander, Curacao orange peels, and other spices.

The style has its origins in Belgium. Lately, more and more companies in the U.S. have started to manufacturer beers as a summer seasonal.

WHAT IS BLUE MOON?

Blue Moon is a Belgian-style white beer by the Molson Coors Brewing Company. Keith Villa first introduced the beer in 1995. Back in the day, Blue Moon Beer was Bellyside Belgian White. Although the beer is an example of a Belgian beer, Molson Coors makes it in the United States.

The Blue Moon Belgian White is a type of Belgian witbier style, unfiltered, packaged, and with a coriander and orange peel flavor. By 2009, Blue Moon has become the largest craft beer brand in the United States. It was the first company to introduce consumers to different Belgian styles of beer

Although there were four beers namely Honey Blonde, Belgian White, Pumpkin Ale, and Nut Brown, these were discontinued to concentrate on Blue Moon Belgian White, which is the company’s best seller.

The name, Blue Moon came into existence from the assumption that excellent-tasting beers only happen once in a blue moon.

The beer has 5.4% alcohol volume, and it’s available in kegs, bottles, and cans. Blue Moon grains include white wheat, malted barley, oats, coriander, and orange peel. The company brews blue moon in Golden, Colorado and Eden, North Carolina.

The phrase Belgian White refers to the cloudy white beer brewed in Belgium for over 300 years. The ale uses oats and malt wheat in the brewing process. With the process being unfiltered, the yeast and protein are suspended in the beer to create a cloudy appearance. The cloudiness also contributes to beer smoothness.

BLUE MOON SPECIFICATIONS

• Manufacturer: Blue Moon Brewing Co (Miller Coors)
• Packaging: Bottle
• ABV: 5.4%
• Style: Witbier

PRICE OF THE BLUE MOON

A six-pack of blue moon costs roughly $13.

HOW BLUE MOON COMPARES TO OTHER WHEAT BEERS

Below is how Blue Moon performs when compared to different beers on the market.

ALLAGASH WHITE

Rob Tod, the founder of Allagash White, came up with this beer in 1994. Its long slender glasses and witbier are ubiquitous in the New England Market. The beer, like Blue moon, mixes wheat spiced with Curacao orange peel and coriander. However, the founder admits that consistent brewing using this recipe can be difficult.

Allagash White has a 5.10% alcohol by volume. It’s been a favorite getaway beer for many. Blue Moon and White shares similarities in their aroma and lightness of body, but Allagash White has a subtle clove aroma and lemony brightness that makes it inviting and fresh.

You’ll notice the flavor goes right down the Belgian witbier road with a restrained orange peel and a squeeze of lemon up the sip. In spite of these flavors, once you’ve swallowed, you’re left with a touch of citrus.

Allagash White is available in most states like Connecticut, Philadelphia, Washington D.C, North Caroline, Georgia, Virginia, etc.

• Manufacturer: Allagash Brewing Company
• Packaging: Bottle
• ABV: 5.10%
• Style: Witbier

HARPOON BREWERY UFO WHITE

UFO Whi​​te is another excellent choice for a night out with friends, a summer barbeque, or those times you need to taste something different. Like Blue Moon, UFO White has an orange flavor coupled with raw, grainy wheat. It’s woody, piney, and flowery blend makes it unique.

Harpoon Brewery first introduced UFO in 2009, unlike Blue Moon which was in 1995. A six-pack costs $8.99.

However, unlike Blue Moon that maintains its body, UFO White has low carbonation, and the body quickly drops. Moreover, it’s somewhat thin and dry, something that Blue Moon wins in. The unfiltered version has a natural appearance and taste.

It has 4.8% alcohol by volume. You’ll love the texture, and the fact that it’s content balance is natural on the palate. Although UFO White may not be extraordinary, its style is worth checking it out.

• Manufacturer: Harpoon Brewing Company
• Packaging: Bottle
• ABV: 4.8%
• Style: Witbier

HOEGAARDEN

Hoegaarden beer is a natural cloudy white beer that is light bodied. Like Blue Moon, it comes seasoned with Curacao orange peel and coriander. It has a spicy dry finish, a fruity sweetness, and a Belgium yeast aroma.

The difference between the two comes in their production. Blue Moon is brewed in Colorado, while Hoegaarden is a Belgium product. Belgium is a pro and the pioneer of the craft beer style.

Also, some people find Hoegaarden watered down, and prefer Blue Moon which is flavorful and tasty. Nonetheless, a few people find Hoegaarden lightness perfect for all night drinking, unlike Blue Moon.

With the first sip, you’ll notice each of the above flavors and hints of tart and zesty lemon. While the scent is present in the taste, it’s subdued resulting in medium carbonation and light body. Remember that you need to take the beer with a meal that won’t overpower it. A pre-meal salad would be an excellent choice.

• Manufacturer: Hoegaarden Brewing Company
• Packaging: Bottle
• ABV: 4.9%
• Style: Witbier

SHOCK TOP

Shock Top is another Belgian-style wheat beer that is a top competitor to Blue Moon. The beer by Anheuser-Busch InBev has been in operation since 2006, features distinct coriander, and orange peel flavor.

Unlike Blue Moon, Shock Top adds lime and lemon to the concoction. The award-winning Belgian beer is unfiltered; this results in a naturally cloudy brew with a smooth and light golden color. Some users thought that the beer would be better with a residual sweetness and crispiness.

• Manufacturer: Anheuser-Busch InBev
• Packaging: Bottle
• ABV: 5.4%
• Style: Witbier

Oberon Ale

Oberon Ale features a spicy year and lemony citrus aroma. Most people find its zingy finish and a touch of sweetness refreshing. You’ll notice that each sip gives you a soft, yet smooth texture as it sits in the glass.

While Blue Moon has a 5.4% alcohol by volume, Oberon Ale has a 5.8% ABV. Its complex flavor and alluring color make it an excellent summer beer. You’ll love the citrus character and smooth finish that is perfect with grilled fish or a hotdog when relaxing.

However, it’s a decent amount of carbonation make the Blue Moon a top contender in craft beers. Oberon Ale retails at $10 for a six-pack, which is slightly less expensive compared to Blue Moon which retails at $13 for a six-pack.

Nonetheless, Oberon Ale is exceptionally well-crafted and drinkable, making ideal for summer.

• Manufacturer: Bell’s Brewery
• Packaging: Bottle
• ABV: 5.8%
• Style: American Pale Wheat Ale

Pros and Cons of Blue Moon Beer

Some of the advantages of Blue Moon include:

• Unique Taste- Blue Moon taste is unmatched when compared to other craft beers in the market. Some people find different wheat beers watery, unlike Blue Moon which has a delicious, flavorful, and spicy flavor. Its frosty orange color makes it refreshing and unique.
• Versatile and Diverse-although there are overlaps in craft brews styles, you can easily pick out blue moon because of its quality and flavor. Take an experienced beer drinker to any bar, blindfold him, and he’ll be quick to point out Blue Moon due to its distinct taste.

Some of the disadvantages of the Blue Moon include:

• The Cost-Blue Moon is a bit expensive compared to other craft beers in a six-pack. Blue Moon retails at about $13 for a six-pack. However, the cost of Blue Moon is a replica of its quality. You can be sure you’re getting value for the extra buck.
• Availability- Sometimes you may find it challenging to get a Blue Moon on an impromptu beer run. Also, the distribution networks may not be as vast as those living close to the brewery may. However, the company is working on improving its distribution channels to fill these gaps.

CONCLUSION

We hope that the Blue Moon beer review has offered you an overview of what the beer contains, and why it’s a favorite with most beer lovers. The Blue Moon beer from Coors has been in the market for over 20 years and remains to be a great style of beer.

With its distribution in over 25 countries, you can be sure to grab your favorite beer at your local bar or restraint. Its unique orange peel and coriander flavor make it a top Belgian-style craft beer in the market.

WHERE IS SHORT’S BREWERY?

Located in Bellaire, Michigan, a small village near Lake Michigan in the northwest portion of the state, Short’s Brewery looks unassuming on the exterior. The sleepy town comes alive with vacationers visiting the lakes in the summer, ski resorts in the winter, and the brewery year-round. The village isn’t far from Lake Michigan, Torch Lake and other pristine waterfronts.

You can find Short’s beers bottled and distributed all across the state of Michigan. While the company began selling only in Michigan, it has since expanded to selling nationwide. Find Short’s classics, like Local’s Light and Bellaire Brown, or look for more unique bottled beers as well.

A SHORT HISTORY

True to its innovative and young person style, Short’s Brewing Company was founded by a 22-year-old Bellaire, Michigan resident, Joe Short. It has expanded into not only a staple of the small town in Michigan, but is also popular all throughout the state.

In 2017,  Lagunitas Brewing Company, the owner of more internationally recognized beers like Heineken beer, acquired  19.9% of Short’s Brewery. Despite the takeover, it still keeps a small-town vibe with a passion for creating unique, seasonal beer. You can now find Short’s beers around the nation, particularly in craft beer or specialty beer stores and pubss.

SHORT’S BEER

When you try a Short’s beer, you’re likely to come across beers like Key Lime Pie, Bloody Beer or Melt My Brain. The artwork, flavor and names of its beers are unique and quirky, but oddly satisfying. Short’s specializes in experimental beers, so don’t be surprised if you see ingredients as varied as tomatoes, raspberries or coriander. While you may need a master brewer to decipher the ingredient list, the flavor of each beer is a good balance of familiar and new. You can still find some craft beer staples, like a blonde ale, IPA and a brown ale, known as Local’s Light, Huma Lupa Licious and Bellaire Brown, respectively.

The brewpub has 20 taps on hand, but there are always new choices available. Fill a growler, grab a pint or sample from flight of five tastings of your choice at Short’s Brewery. If the list of 20 tap beers has you feeling lost, your server or bartender should be able to help you understand the finer points of each offering. The menu also provides an extensive list of ingredients and flavor profiles.

STARCUT CIDERS

If beer isn’t your scene, try Starcut Ciders by the bottle or on tap at Short’s Brewery. Made from northern Michigan apples, these ciders follow the Short’s trend and offer artistic labels, names and flavor profiles. Sample popular ciders, like Squishy, which uses both Michigan apples and Balaton cherries to create a great cider named after the jellyfish artwork. There aren’t as many options for great ciders, but the list is expanding each year. This new adventure for Short’s Brewing Company started in 2014, with distribution beginning in 2015. Keep an eye out for more unique ciders as the Starcut Ciders line continues to expand.

PRODUCTION FACILITY

If you love getting behind the scenes, schedule a tour of the production facility in nearby Elk Rapids, Michigan. All the bottling and much of the brewing happens in this large factory setting. There’s a small storefront, beers on tap and a rotating local food truck on site. It’s a short drive from the brewpub, but worth the trip.

MERCHANDISE

Attached to the brewpub in Bellaire, Short’s Mart is a small storefront that offers plenty of merchandise and bottled Short’s beer. Enjoy some of the artwork, T-shirts, bumper stickers or other items while you wait for your next round of beer at the brewpub. You’ll also find a few local offerings for sale, like Higher Grounds coffee from Traverse City.

SHORT’S BREWERY RATINGS AND REVIEWS

The excellent beer selection, quality brewpub fare and great, if informal, service has given Short’s Brewery excellent ratings and reviews. Short’s has received a Certificate of Excellence from TripAdvisor and is rated highly with any rating platform. Take a look at each section to get a better sense of the reviews of Short’s Brewery.

Short’s Brewery has an overall 4.5 rating on both TripAdvisor and Yelp. The beer selection is generally considered extensive and satisfying. Most customers love the food and service. However, some customers have experienced poor service, food quality or disliked the atmosphere. As with any restaurant or brewpub, there is a range of reviews and ratings, but overall, Short’s Brewery is a highly recommended dining and drinking experience.

BEER AND CIDER

Untappd, the online beer rating service, gives Short’s beer selection an overall 3.66 out of 5 stars. Short’s has earned a 3.8 out of 5 rating on BeerAdvocate. Some of the most popular varieties of beer are the Huma Lupa Licious, an American IPA, and the unique Soft Parade, which is a fruit beer that uses a range of fruits, including blueberries and strawberries, to create a wine-like beer that is sweet and drinkable.

Short’s Brewery has won several awards for different beers throughout the years. From the Great American Beer Festival to Draft Magazine’s Top 25 Beers of the Year, Short’s Brewery has a range of award-winning beers. Notable beers include the Key Lime Pie, which won the gold medal for experimental beers at the Great American Beer Festival in 2014. The Melt My Brain won the silver medal the following year under the same category.

Starcut Ciders at Short’s Brewery have yet to win any awards, but its offerings are very popular among cider-loving customers.

FOOD

Short’s Brewery offers a small menu of pub fare, like nachos, buffalo chicken dip, pizzas and sandwiches. The sandwiches are all served with Great Lakes Potato Chips kettle chips from nearby Traverse City, Michigan. The food is fresh to order and pairs well with beer. Most customers love the selection of food, especially the appetizers. The spinach and artichoke dip is a particular favorite among many customers.

Some customers, however, have had quality issues with the pizzas and sandwiches, particularly during busy weekends. The variety of food options is more limited than many restaurants and larger brewpubs, so you may want to check out the menu first to see if there is anything that suits your tastes.

The menu items at Short’s Brewery all feature quirky names, just like the beer. Order an Old Man Thunder braised beef on a hoagie bun, or the Loop De Loop handmade pretzels. Few items change on the menu, but Short’s offers a soup of the day and a Mac ‘N Cheese of the day. Be sure to ask about gluten-free options as well. The menu is conspicuously missing any burger option, which is usually common in a brewpub setting.

SERVICE AND ATMOSPHERE

Informal, friendly and helpful, the service at Short’s Brewery is typical of a small town. The young staff of beer-knowledgeable servers and bartenders are all dressed casually in Short’s merchandise. Add the wood tables, steampunk decor and Short’s artwork on the walls, and you get a sense of the eclectic atmosphere that greets you there.

The brewpub is bustling in the summer, so reservations are wise. Because of the small town its located in, it’s also a family-friendly location, as long as the loud folk music doesn’t bother you. Short’s Brewery frequently hosts local bands to play on the small stage in the main seating area. Many customers feel this makes the experience less enjoyable, due to the loud echoes in the building. Other customers love the ambiance and local feel of this brewery. Come during the fall or winter on a weekday, and you’ll easily find a table or a place at one of the several bars in the brewpub.

Like most restaurants, there are a few customers who received poor service. A few customers felt their server was inattentive and slow to take their orders. Most complaints were about the crowded feel and loud atmosphere of the brewpub, rather than the service.

CONCLUSION

Craft beer drinkers, cider lovers and pub fare enthusiasts will love a visit at Short’s Brewery. The brewing company fits in nicely with the local town and offers an excellent stop if you are touring northern Michigan. While the service can be slow and informal, the wide selection of experimental beers and the modest selection of excellent pub food will have you wishing you spent every summer in northern Michigan.

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Though Heineken may be the more well-known Dutch beer brand name, the Grolsch beer company offers a product that competes with the lager on multiple levels — from taste to presentation. In this review, we will take an in-depth look at the beer company, its history, and its products.

 We will then taste the beer and review using pros and cons and parallel system. If you want to to know whether or not this Dutch beer is worth a few extra dollars, then keep reading our Grolsch beer review. Let us get started by first exploring the history of the beer and the product line they offer.

WHAT IS GROLSCH BEER?

Grolsch beer is a brewing company founded in the Netherlands in 1615. It gets its name from the town; it started the brewery in Groenlo. At the time the city was known as Grolle, so the name translated to ‘of Grolle.’ Besides Heineken, Grolsch is the second largest distributor in the Netherlands. 

As you can probably guess, the company contains strongly tied to the rich Dutch drinking tradition. The beer brand name changed ownership three times: from SABMiller to Anheuser Busch to the Japanese company Asahi Breweries, where it currently resides. 

While the Grolsch company is mainly known for its popular international pilsner, the manufacturer produces lots of different types and variations. However, it is known for its bold flavored pale lagers — beer with a bright yellow color and crisp, but bitter, taste.  

The four most popular types of beer they offer are the Grolsch Premium Pilsner, Grolsch Premium Blond, Grolsch Premium Light and Grolsch Premium Weizen. However, the list does not end there. Grolsch also includes many specialty brews available in limited supply or at select tastes. They include:

• Grolsch Premium Lentebok
• Grolsch Premium Herfstbok
• Grolsch Premium Malt
• Grolsch Oud Bruin
• Grolsch Het Kanon 
• Grolsch Premium 2.5
• Grolsch Lemon 2.5
• Grolsch Cranberry Rosé 
• Grolsch Radler

The Grolsch company also owns and brews the Amsterdam brand lagers. Though these beers taste very similar, they are more popular on the European, Singapore and Australian markets. They include the following beers:

• Amsterdam Maximator 
• Amsterdam Navigator 
• Amsterdam Explorator 
• Amsterdam Mariner
• Amsterdam Liberator

However, despite the wide variety available, from this point forward we will only cover the Grolsch Premium Pilsner since it is by and far the most popular beer available and what most people think of when they think of a Grolsch. 

GROLSCH BEER SPECIFICATIONS

We do not think everyone will like Grolsch Premium Pilsner. Like many European beers, it features hops that give the product a distinctly bitter taste. But if you do not mind the taste of dry beers, then we think you’ll love this one. Think Heineken, but with a lot more flavor elements. 

You will probably also pick up a lot of elements of floral hops, wheat taste, and malt if you refine your pallet enough. Unlike some European lagers, it even does not come with a pungent smell. However, it does come with a distinct odor that is reminiscent of certain types of American beers. 

They typically either store their beer by keg or in an attractive green bottle with a distinct flip top. This feature gives the beer a slightly more sophisticated feel. In terms of alcohol percentage, the beer features a five percent ABV. Like most pilsners, it comes in a bold gold coloring and a thick white pour-foam.

Type of Beer: Pilsner

Alcohol Percentage: 5% ABV

Bottle Capacity: 15.9 ounces 

Flavor Profile: Bitter with notes of floral hops

Color: Vivid bright gold color with white foam

Carrying Vessel: Distinct green glass with a flip top closing device

​HOW MUCH DOES GROLSCH BEER USUALLY COST?

Typically you can find Grolsch beer in your local Total Wine, or any place that carries a wide variety of international beers and ciders. Currently, a four pack of sixteen-ounce bottles costs ten dollars, which averages out to around two dollars and fifty cents per beers.

The cost of the beer differs depending on the place you buy it. If you visit the Netherlands, then the drink will be much cheaper since it is a domestic product there. This product costs a little more when compared to Heineken. A six pack of Heineken costs around ten dollars — which means you get roughly two more bottles. 

​HOW DOES GROLSCH COMPARE WITH OTHER TYPES OF BEER?

In this section, we will compare the Grolsch Premium Pilsner to two of its top competitors: Heineken and Stella Artois. By making this comparison, we hope to point out some areas in which the beers overlap, as well as some areas in which they differ. 

Heineken is another Dutch brewing company that produces a favorite pale lager. It also comes in an attractive green bottle. However, the similarities between the two beers essentially stop there. In terms of flavor Heineken is a much milder beer. 

It lacks a lot of the bitterness that makes the Grolsch Premium Pilsner more of an acquired taste. As such, this beer would work better for someone who prefers a smoother drinking experience. It also contains slightly more carbonation than the Grolsch Premium Pilsner.

Another popular point of comparison with Grolsch beer is the Belgian pilsner Stella Artois. However, like Heneiken, Stella Artois also differs quite a bit from the Grolsch Premium Pilsner. This difference comes through mainly in the flavor. You can expect a lot less bitterness from a Stella Artois.

However, some people say this smoothness associated with a Stella Artois is boring. In some cases, it feel kind of like eating a big buttered roll — decadent, but not very flavorful. It also comes with less alcohol percentage than the Grolsch Premium Pilsner — four percent altogether. 

Still, we recommend going with what you prefer. Heneiken and Stella Artois fall on the more easy drinking side of the list. But, if you like a little complexity in your lager, then you cannot go wrong with the Grolsch Premium Pilsner.

​GROLSCH PROS AND CONS LIST

In this section, we will list some of the things we like about the product and some things we think could use improvement. First off we love the bitter flavor that comes with the beer. It contains immediate hints of wheat and hoppy floral goodness that makes us come back for more and more.

Another pro for us is the mouthfeel the drink produces. The medium and light-bodied nature the product makes it a very sippable drink. Like most beers, it also tastes better off the tap. But, because it is a pilsner, it provides extra foam and pressure that brings the flavors to a head. 

Plus, the product comes in a fresh bottle with a flip top. Who does not like that? Unfortunately, there are some drawbacks associated with the beer that we need to list as well. Our biggest problem with the Grolsch Premium Pilsner is that the flavor hits your mouth and then it is gone just like that. 

While the initial taste itself is excellent, you get for barely a second before it becomes replaced by a bitter aftertaste. Also compared to full body beers like IPA and stouts, these beer feel a bit dull. While it is incredibly drinkable and enjoyable, it is quickly forgettable. You would need to drink a few to remember.  

Also, as we mentioned, the drink comes very bitterly. While some people will probably like this feature, many will not. If you prefer sweet and fruity beers, then look elsewhere. We also would prefer it if the Grolsch Premium Pilsner came in six packs instead of four packs. 

PROS

• Great initial flavor
• Comes in a cool bottle
• Good mouthfeel
• Better in draft form

CONS

• Flavor went too quickly
• Slightly dull compared to other beers
• Some may not like bitterness
• Only four-bottle packs

​GROLSCH BEER REVIEW: CONCLUSION

In conclusion of this Grolsch Beer review, we enjoyed the Grolsch Premium Pilsner, and we think it will appeal to drinkers who enjoy a diverse body of malty, floral and bitter flavors. AS such we give it a rating of four out of five stars. 

If you hate these qualities, then we recommend you stay away. However, we do believe that like most things, you can acquire specific tastes. As such, try bringing a four pack of Grolsch Premium Pilsner to your next party. After you get over the initial bitterness, you might be surprised what lies under the hood. 

We hope this Grolsch beer review helped you decide whether or not the product is right for you. Make sure if you choose to enjoy a Grolsch Premium Pilsner, that you find a safe ride home. Have fun, and get tasting!

Enjoying a chilled beer on a warm evening after a long day at work is a perfect experience. Whether you are with coworkers, friends, or family, sharing a six-pack makes for a fun and relaxing time. To entertain yourself and your guests, share our list of the top twelve beer quotes! Some are funny, some are educational, but they all have to do with beer. 

Twelve of the best beer-related quotes ever!

Image by ELEVATE via Pexels

​​​​​​​​​​​​“When I die, I want to decompose in a barrel of porter and have it served in all the pubs in Dublin. I wonder, would they know it was me?”

An Irish-American novelist and playwright, JP Donleavy wrote at least 26 different plays and novels. As is stereotypically Irish, he was a massive fan of beer and loved it up until the very end. It is unclear as to whether his wish came true, but what beer fan wouldn’t want to be commemorated in a vat of their favorite drink?

​​​​​​​​​​​“I drink, and I know things.”

This boozy quote is attributed to Tyrion Lannister, otherwise known as  “The Imp” in Game of Thrones.  This is his best-known quote from the entire series, including both the books and television series on HBO. The context behind it is that he is explaining to a group of men what he is best at: drinking and being wise.

As Tyrion is known as one of the smartest and well-educated characters in the entire story, this quote has inspired much merchandise from the series. The characters in Game of Thrones mostly drink beer or wine, and this particular quote surely resonates with any adult who enjoys wetting their whistle with a drink. 

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​​​​​​​​​​“Beer is made by men, wine by God.”

The father of the Reformation, Martin Luther, said this back in the 1500s. While Luther is best known for fathering Lutheranism and breaking from the Roman Catholic Church, he was also a lover of beer. His wife, a former nun, Katharina von Bora, was famous in their village for her beer recipe. 

You can thank Martin Luther and his wife for two things: One, inspiring the separation of Church and State, and two, for understanding the importance of beer in everyday life. 

​​​​​​​​Martin Luther also said,

“Whoever drinks beer, he is quick to sleep; whoever sleeps long, does not sin; whoever does not sin, enters Heaven! Thus, let us drink beer!”

Luther was known for having some radical ideas, including the concept that the devil was real and involved in human lives. When he would hear noises around his house in the middle of the night, he would tell his wife, “the devil is around!”

This quote is poignant because of the logic behind his beer-drinking. It is quite hilarious to think of such a renowned and educated individual such as Martin Luther encouraging and indulging in the consumption of alcohol. But is he wrong with this one? We think not!

Image by Francesco Paggiaro via Pexels

​​​​​​​“Somehow, despite all the science homebrewing requires, I’d become irrationally superstitious.”

American author Lucy Burningham wrote this in her book My Beer Year: Adventures with Hop Farmers, Craft Brewers, Chefs, Beer Sommeliers, and Fanatical Drinkers as a Beer Master in Training. An ode to beer through an exploration of its history and the manufacturing of it, this book is a must-read for any beer fanatic. You may even find yourself interested in trying to brew beer yourself!

It is a scientific process that requires a certain level of patience. Homebrewers all have their own secrets and superstitions on what makes their beer perfect. Did you know? You can actually purchase an at-home beer brewing kit online. One would make a fantastic gift for the beer fanatic in your life!

​​​​​​Humorist and writer Dave Barry said,

“Without question, the greatest invention in the history of humankind is beer. Oh, I grant you that the wheel was also a fine invention, but the wheel does not go nearly as well with pizza.”

Pizza and beer are undeniably a match made in heaven. The crispness of the cold beer pairs so well with the hot, oozy pizza. The possible flavor pairings there is indeed an untapped market. Everyone thinks wine and cheese pairings are the ultimate culinary experience – move over! Let’s let beer shine!

Good pizza and good beer go together. It is just a fact of life. (Gluten-free beers and pizza are available too.)

Image by ELEVATE via Pexels

​​​​​“I am drinking ale today.”

Poet Edgar Allen Poe once wrote a poem about beer.

“Fill with mingled cream and amber,I will drain that glass again.

Such hilarious visions clamberThrough the chambers of my brain.

Quaintest thoughts — queerest fancies,Come to life and fade away:

What care I how time advances?I am drinking ale today.”

This poem sounds a bit like what the Mad Hatter from Alice in Wonderland might say after a pint. Beer can make people do funny things, so please enjoy responsibly. 

​​​​“God is great, beer is good, and people are crazy.”

American country singer and songwriter Billy Currington wrote a song called “People are Crazy.” The refrain is above. The song is about meeting a stranger and bonding over the shared enjoyment of a cold one. This song resonates with those of us who love beer because it’s true!

FYI this song is perfect for dancing in your backyard after a beer or two, as the sun goes down on a Friday night. 

Image by Amanda Klamrowski Follow via Pexels

​​​Canadian Hugh Hood once said:

“Nothing ever tasted better than a cold beer on a beautiful afternoon with nothing to look forward to than more of the same.”

The late professor and novelist Hood captured the feeling of having a beer on a lovely day better than we ever could. Beer is a drink anyone can enjoy. It is simple, refreshing, and tasty. Drinking beer is a social activity; you can enjoy it with strangers or friends alike.: 

​​William Shakespeare wrote in one of his many plays: “A quart of ale is a dish for a king.”

We all know good old Will Shakespeare, right? He’s the English guy who wrote all those tragic plays we read back in high school! He is still famous today because his plays and poems still resonate with us. Shakespeare also wrote a lot of comedic and historical plays. He lived in England in the 1500s during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. Back then, it was often safer to drink beer than water, especially in the cities. 

Water, in the form of lakes and rivers and streams, was used for much more than drinking. Water was used for washing and cleaning, cooking, even going to the bathroom! You could never guarantee the cleanliness of the water you were using. Therefore, beer, or ale, was brewed at home as an attempt to provide a refreshing beverage alternative. 

Back then, beer was not considered an alcoholic beverage. Everyone drank beer; people of all ages consumed beer with dinner. Yes, some people abused it, but drinking beer during the day was far more commonplace because you knew it was safe to drink, unlike water.

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​American icon Benjamin Franklin once said,

“Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.”

Ben Franklin is famous for many, many things. He was a politician and inventor, a writer, one of the Founding Fathers of the brand new United States of America, and a lover of beer. This particular quote from him is probably why he is on the one hundred dollar bill!

Our last beer quote comes from American writer Stephen King:

“I work until beer o’clock.”

King has written a plethora of books that have been turned into films, most of which fall into the “horror” genre. But is it a surprise to anyone that he too enjoys a beer after a hard days work inventing terrifying characters such as It? This quote wraps up our list in part because we can all relate to it. Most of us finish work around five p.m. at which time we are free to go home and crack open a cold one.

The term “beer o’clock” is certainly a relatable one, which you can find immortalized on many a kitschy item in a tourist shop. You have probably been reading this article during beer o’clock, and we hope that you have enjoyed our compilation of the twelve best beer quotes!  Humans have been brewing and enjoying beer (or ale or mead) for millennia.

The oldest recipe known in the entire history of humankind is one for beer! If that isn’t proof that we should be drinking beer than we don’t know what is.  Please drink responsibly. 

Featured image by Pixabay via Pexels.

Breweries are becoming more popular in different major cities due to an increase in demand for alcohol. As a beer lover, you can convert your passion for beer and build a profession out of it by starting your brewery. However, building a brewery need significant time and patience. 

Starting any business is a hard thing no matter how small the company is. Likewise, starting a brewery is a highly capital-intensive business that comes with additional permitting and legal requirements, purchasing of supplies and equipment. 

The article takes you through steps on how to start a brewery of your own and live out your passion for beer.

KEY LEGAL STEPS TO START YOUR BREWERY

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For a long time, you have been enjoying your favorite drink in different breweries, but the passion of owning your brewery have overwhelmed you to the point of starting your own. Before you open that brewery, you have to go through a lot of legal issues since the beer industry has strict regulations.

Failing to follow the right planning and advice from professionals, your business may end up falling as fast as it commenced. To avoid starting your brewery business on shaky grounds, there are key steps you can apply to start your brewing business on a solid legal foundation.

SELECT A NAME 

Before your business documents go through filing in a government office, you must first determine whether the name that you intend to use for your brewery is available. You can face hefty additional charges to change a name that is similar and conflicting with a current brewery. The extra costs can vary from reprinting business cards, letterhead, or dealing with a desist need from a different brewery’s attorney. 

To avoid such inconveniences and unplanned fees, check your state secretary of state website to confirm whether there are businesses entities or assumed names that are registered similarly to the name of your choice. A comprehensive search can conclusively tell whether you can go ahead with the beer and brewery name of choice.

APPLY FOR STATE AND LOCAL LICENSES

Before you start a new brewery, you need to apply for a state wholesaler’s license and any other required by the municipality in which your brewery will operate from. If your brewery intends to build and operate a place where customers can buy nips of beer at the brewery, you will be expected to have a taproom license that is issued by the local municipality. 

FILE TRADEMARKS FOR YOUR BEER NAME.

New breweries are often launched any other time making the beer names competition get stiff. After coming up with the names and design logos, also file a trademark for the same.

FORM AN ENTITY

Forming an entity during the initial stages of opening your brewery is very vital. A business entity serves two significant purposes in a matter concerning your business such that your assets are protected from the liabilities of your new venture. The entity also prevents and minimize disputes upon the business having multiple owners. It clears unambiguous agreements amongst the brewery owners when it reaches a time that a partner wishes to leave the company. With the entity, it’s clear to know who owns what, and what rights each owner has.

FILE A TRADEMARK FOR YOUR BREWERY NAME

A trademark is defined as any person or combination of words, designs, symbols, and phrases that distinguishes or identifies the source of goods from one party to another. Trademarks protect the goodwill that business owners create to identify products and services.

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HAVE YOUR BREWERS AND OTHER EMPLOYEES SIGN AN EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENT

If you have an integral employee in your brewery who is key to your business growth, such an employee should have a written employment agreement that provides a fixed term of employment. It is essential to have a covenant with such an employee to prevent him or her from leaving and start working for a competitor.

A well-drafted employment agreement is essential for your lead brewer who knows and understands well the brewery’s formulas from damaging your business by working with your competitors. The leading brewer agreement should include a covenant not to compete and that the beer formula is trade secrets and hence a brewery property.

However, an oath not to compete must be considerate and balance both the employer and the employee interests. The covenant not to compete for must

• Protect the legitimate business interests of the employer
• The contract protects the employee from being exploited by the employer for his or her gains
• The bond of the agreement must be considerate upon signing in the sense that it should be approved before the commencement of employment for it to be valid.

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APPLY FOR YOUR BREWER’S NOTICE WITH THE TTB

The process by which you obtain a license for your brewery from the Alcohol and Tobacco and Trade and Tax Bureau is one of the most essential but time-consuming procedures of owning your brewery. If you plan to craft beer for other than your family or personal consumption, TTB must approve your recipe, operations, and beer labels. The approvals must be effected before you start making the beer.

Before the issuance of your brewer’s notice, TTB is likely to initiate an inspection on the site proposed for the premises and operations. The process that can typically take six to twelve months includes the background check on significant owners, directors, and officers.

SELECT YOUR DISTRIBUTORS CAREFULLY

Distribution is one of the most vital components in the success and operation of a brewery. A self-distribution option has the advantages of hands-on and personal selling the beer suppliers fail to provide to the rest. However, self-distribution is very resourceful and time intensive.

When choosing for a distributor, choose one that only fits your current needs. Always obtain a price sheet from each wholesaler for you to know which distributor carry the various brands in the market before letting the distributor promote your beer.

GET READY FOR A BIG INVESTMENT

The beer industry is one of the heavily taxed and regulated sectors meaning that you will have to pay an extra amount than location and brewing equipment. Depending with the laws of the area you intend to open your brewery laws, you may dig deeper into your pocket for more to support large tanks, extra structural reinforcement, and distribution.

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LOCATION AND CONSTRUCTION

Indeed, your brewery will need a place to sit on. The ultimate cost of rent depends on the site and size of the building the brewery stands on. You may need to come up with the first month rent and security deposit upon signing a lease with your landlord. Other than that, you may also need to do additional constructions on the building to make it suitable for the brewery.

As you construct, you need to consider electric needs, plumbing, tearing apart existing concrete slabs for proper water drainage if the ceiling is high. Construction is, and in most cases, the cost is equivalent to almost double the cost of equipment. Though the tricky part when starting a brewery is determining the right capacity and size, it is essential to consider for future growth to avoid getting stuck and lack enough space to expand as your business grows.

CREATING A BUSINESS PLAN

Once you are through researching your business, the next thing that you should do is coming up with a business plan. Building a business plan helps in doing away with any startup challenge. Ensure your plan include the cost of producing beer, what prices to sell your beer, and where you are going to sell the beer.

A well-researched and detailed business plan is a vital tool that you can use to secure a start-up capital. Every potential investor and banks would wish to have a look at your business plan. A good business plan should

Include your operating budget, your location, your long term plans for expansion, and your plan for making your first-year profit.

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Your business plan should include your unique selling point. What will your brewery offer that no other competitors offer in the area such as unique beer flavors and brewing methods? Your plan must indicate how you will fund the business. For example, have a clear policy on what amount you will contribute from your money, whether to apply for business loans or to get money from friends and family.

Once you are through with drafting a business plan, present it to your family and friends who know your passion for brewing. However, be aware that correcting money from family and friends can strain your relationship if you fail to handle their investment responsibly and make the business fall.

Apart from getting starting capital from your savings and grants from friends and relatives, there are other methods of coming up with enough resources to use when starting your business that include

USE A HOME EQUITY LOAN TO FINANCE YOUR BREWERY

The home equity loan is the difference between the current price of your home in the market and the amount you still owe on the mortgage. In case you have significant equity on your home, you can use it to finance your brewery.

Before you take your first loan, compare repayment plans and interest rates from different banks, mortgage companies, and credit unions. Using home equity should be the last decision that you should opt for due to its high risks. Always keep in mind that if you fail to pay the loan back as per your lender’s terms and conditions, you risk being forced to sell your house to offset the credits.

EQUIPMENT NEEDED TO START A BREWERY

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The total cost of equipment needed for your brewery plant can vary depending on several factors like the volume of beer you wish to brew, and whether you need to purchase used or new equipment. Some of the vital tools that you may need include

BREWHOUSE

A brewhouse consists of all the components and vessels a craft brewery need in its initial stages of operation such as a whirlpool, hot liquor tank, boil kettle, lauter tun, mash mixture, and a holding kettle while a two-vessel brewhouse is made up of a combination of all the components. However, a more significant and more advance five-vessel system separates all the elements.

The kettle is used to boil hops and other ingredients together with the liquid extracted from smashed malt and other grains. The step helps in producing the color, flavor, and aroma of your beer.

FERMENTATION AND BRITE TANKS 

A fermentation and Brite tank is a piece of essential equipment for any individual who intends to start a brewery. One of the best tanks is a cone-shaped bottom tank that allows the yeast to be easily captured and removed for later use. The stainless-steel vats are one of the most significant tools in a brewery and are mostly displayed behind bars at the brewpub.

After the completion of brewing, the beer goes through filtration and goes into a secondary tank that is similar to the fermentation tank. Inside the Brite tank, the beer carbonate, mature, and clarify before it is either canned, bottled, or kegged. The beer can also be served for consumption directly from the Brite tank.

KEGS AND KEGS WASHERS

Kegs are vital equipment for storing, selling and serving the final product. A keg can be in your brewpub or sold to restaurants and bars for counter sales to consumers. It is paramount to keep your keg clean to prevent poor tasting beer or spoiled beer.

Investing in an automated keg washer speeds up your brewing process, gives impressive cleaning efficiencies as well as lowering your labor costs, and maximize your profits. Other important brewery equipment includes

• Beer Filters
• Boiler
• Distribution Tanks
• Electric Cabinet with controls
• Fermenters
• Lauter Tuns
• Tuns & Kettles
• Physical heat exchangers
• PLC touch type process controller
• Refrigeration machine
• Serving System

INVEST IN HIRING THE BEST WORKING TEAM

When building any business from the ground to grow it up, finding and hiring the right people can make or break your business. The growth of your business will only get strong depending on how the employee who is making the distribution of your product is active. Take time to recruit and vet applicants to ensure they are the correct choice of your brewery.

Like any other food and beverage industry, the initial stages of a brewery require long hours and dedication; therefore, you need a strong team to work with you. As you interview the applicants, find those who are willing to invest their energy and time to build a successful brewing plant. 

DO A DEMOGRAPHIC SEARCH 

Before you open your business, it is essential to do a market analysis for your customers. By doing so, you will be able to know your target market in case your alcohol sale is targeted to people of a certain age. The research will help you in establishing the legal drinking age of specific places and know what percentage makes up the age bracket.

Research the customer’s trends around your working area to understand what demographics, gender, and age group are most likely to purchase your beer. If out of your research you realized that most customers do not live geographically close to where you make your beer, include promotions and marketing strategies in your budget for your exposure in markets that are far from you.

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BREWING BUSINESS LICENSES

When starting a brewing business, you must apply for several permissions and licenses though it varies from one state or locality to another. In most cases, before you start your operations in your brewery for commercial use, you must have a national government license and a separate bar license too. Other additional licenses that you have to obtain are

• Certificate of water quality analysis from the control labs.
• Wastewater disposal certificate from the pollution control board
• Quality Control (QC). Permitted QC labs, on casual inspection basis.
• Land registration/ Lease sanction
• Fabricated equipment quality certificate from third party inspection.
• Company registration
• Business water line- city/underground water
• Commercial Electricity line
• Operation of a Brewery Business

The daily operations of business require serious foundations to be in place for smooth running. The operation needs evaluation on a regular basis even if the company is still young. Apart from technical, physical kits, you need to consider specific business packages such as network connectivity and insurance. Some of the essential services that can help in keeping your brewing business run smoothly, legally, and cost-effective include

SECURITY 

Security monitoring offers additional ways of protecting your brewing industry. Theft, attack on your staff, vandalism are the most likely risks to happen in your business. Investing in a security system is an essential way of protecting your good, workers, and the entire industry. The security systems help to catch thieves and intruders as well as preventing them from stealing or entering in the first place.

If you decide to use the services of a professional security company, they may also give monitoring services like checking your alarms and camera and then report to you. A security camera can offer a way of monitoring your operational floor, and alarms can alert you if a theft has occurred.

WASTE COLLECTION AND DISPOSAL

Disposing of business waste is a paramount element of your daily operation. Commercial waste is any waste product from commercial activities. If you run your small brewery from your home, you are obligated to register for a commercial waste bin. Apart from a waste bin, there are other additional factors to consider for your business waste disposal options

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• An industrial waste management or a municipal company needs to collect waste from businesses
• It’s difficult to move trash from your business to be collected with your home waste as this violates your duty of care
• You can’t use local waste sites or the council’s bins to  dispose of waste from your business
• Any residue from the part of your home that you use for your business must be disposed of as commercial waste

INSURANCE 

Running any business comes with inherent risks. A natural disaster could destroy your properties, an employee could get injuries, or a client could file a suit alleging a breach of contract. For you to avoid such reasons, it is essential to have an insurance cover to protect both your personal and business assets.

In a brewery, insurance can cover risks that range from liquor liability and leakage, spoilage of perishable ingredients, premises liability, and equipment breakdown amongst others.

BREWERY PHONE LINES

Telecommunication is a vital tool in any business. It helps the company to communicate effectively with clients to deliver high standards of customer service. Communicating using phones is a crucial element of teamwork since employees can corroborate easily from different locations.

By using call management techniques in your brewery, it will be easy to handle incoming calls faster even when the lines are busy. In the new technology of mobile phones, it will be easier for your technical, sales, and service teams who usually spend their working days visiting clients, or working from home to maintain essential contact with the head office. With a smartphone, your employers can use the same communication gadget to access data, receive, and send emails from any location.

CONCLUSION

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Beer makes people happy, so it is fun working in a business where the result makes people happy. As you plan to turn your passion for beer into an income generating activity through starting your brewery, make sure that your love is something that meets a demand in the market. As a new brewery owner, you should be prepared to channel back to your business a lot of money because as demand increases and the company grows, the need for more equipment and additional staff arises.

While most people love enjoying a beer on a hot day, not many people know about how people make the product. Believe it or not, humankind has been making beer for over seven thousand years. A lot changed, but the necessary steps remain the same, making it permanently tied to human history. 

Plus, when you consider the biological process that occurs during the brewing process, it becomes an even more remarkable beverage. When you drink a beer, you consume a beverage that is very much alive. But how can that be? Let us take a look at the process. 

Brewers typically use four things when making beer: barley, yeast, hops, and water. Without going into much detail, people make beer by using the fermentation process in which the enzyme converts the sugars from the grain into alcohol and CO2 — which gives us the signature strong beverage with bubbles.

But what are the specific stages that all beer goes through during this manufacturing process? How is beer made? In total there are five stages that all beer must go through before you can finally enjoy it at the end of the process. During each of these steps, the beer becomes altered chemically in a fascinating way. Let us check them all out!

RECOMENDED READ: BEGINNERS GUIDE TO HOMEBREWING

First Step: Malting the Grains

So, how is beer made? The first thing you start with when making a beer is the grains you will use during the brewing process. The most popular type of grain is barely, but it can also include things like wheat, rye, and other types. Unfortunately, these grains usually feature a protected outer membrane that thinly surrounds the grain. 

If we tried mixing the grains with the outer membranes still on, then the enzymes inside would not be exposed to the chemical process of fertilization. Thus the brewer must malt the grains before they proceed onto the next step. Malting is the process of heating the grains until they turn dry and brittle. 

Then, the grains are cracked open which exposes all the good stuff the yeast will need to feed on during the brewing process. Now that we malted the grain, it is time to mash them. 

Second Step: Mash or Steep the Malted Grains

Once grains go through the malting process they need to steep in water for around one hour — much like tea does. This process of soaking the grains in hot, but not boiling, water activates the enzymes that became exposed when they cracked during the first step. 

Once they come in contact with the water they make the grain release all the sugar they contain. After one hour passes, then you drain the sugary liquid from the product leaving a pulpy mash. This sweet liquid known as wort is what you want for the next step of the process. 

In the beer making process wort works like a dough — it provides the canvas which you can start playing on with flavors. We add these flavors in the next step of the brewing process when we boil everything down into a consistent liquid. 

Third Step: Boil the Wort Made for Mashing

Now that we have the sugary and stick wort substance, we need to boil it again for another hour. During this process the brewers will add hops, as well as other types of spices, to give the alcoholic beverage the taste we all know and love. But what are hops? And why are they essential in beer?

Hops are a type of flower found on the vine of the Humulus lupulus plant. Though hops are bitter by their nature, it allows them to counterbalance the sweetness of the wort liquid. They also give certain types of beer notes of floral, citrus and fruity flavors.

Hops are an incredibly important part of brewing beer. Think of hops as the grapes used when making wine. In some regions, the grapes taste sweet, while in others they may taste bitter. This diversity in grape type gives the wine its dry or fruity flavor. Hops operate in a very similar capacity. 

For example, the hops grown in California carry a beautiful citrus flavor with their bitterness which makes them ideal for IPA’s. In contrast, malt increased in Ireland produce much sweeter notes which provides a much less bitter beer since the cold weather does not allow access to fresh hops.

Other cool things that hops do besides add needed flavor is they make the beer last longer. Hops, when mixed with the wort, begin working as a natural preservative. For many years people tried using every combination of spices and ingredients for increasing the life of the beer. 

But, in the end, hops by and far win out. The hops come with lots of antimicrobial properties, so they help keep harmful bacteria in the liquid at bay. No artificial additives for your beer!

Fourth Step: Allow the Fermentation Process to Occur

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After the brewer finishes boiling the product for one hour, then it is time for the product to come alive (literally!). Next, you take a cooked product and filter out any of the remaining large chunks of wort. Then, you transfer the liquid into a fermentation vessel and add yeast to the beer. 

When you add yeast to this sticky and flavorful mixture, you are essentially adding a microorganism to the drink. This microorganism loves eating sugar and converting it into alcohol and carbon dioxide, which makes it ideal for the brewing process. 

Think of it in the same manner as plants that absorb carbon dioxide and spit out oxygen — it is the same types of process, just with different microorganisms. Once you add the yeast, you will need to store the product for some time. 

The specific time and storing temperatures depend on the types of beer you brew. For example, brewers need to save ales for a couple of weeks at room temperature during the fermentation process. In contrast, lagers require months of fermenting in cold temperatures. It all depends on the type of beer. 

Fifth Step: Store the Product and Allow it to Age

Once the beer finishes the fermentation process, it is ready to be stored for carbonation. You can save beer in a variety of types of containers like bottles, kegs, and cans. Unfortunately, it is still just a flat beverage with no disappointment.

 It still needs more time in the pressurized area with little oxygen before it will get the bubbles and foam associated with cracking open a cold one. 

What Are the Different Types of Beer and How Do They Differ from Each Other?

Now that we know the primary manufacturing process that goes behind making beer let us take a closer look at some of the popular types of beer. We will also briefly explain how they differ from each other in terms of flavor, ingredients or production.

Lager

Lagers like Bud Light and Coors use a low fermenting type of yeast which gives them a light taste without much flavor. This lack of character is not necessarily a bad thing — it makes them great sipping beers, or ideal for people who do not like bitter beers or bold flavors.

IPA (Indian Pale Ale)

IPA’s took over the craft beer world in the early 2000s since they pack a big punch in terms of flavor. People typically characterize these types of beers by increased attention to the hops and spices which gives them citrus and floral notes. They also come with a distinct bitterness and a high alcohol percentage.

Pale Ale

Simply put, pale ales are milder versions of IPA’s. In addition to being a little easier for sipping on, they also come with a lower alcohol percentage. As such, they are a good stepping stone for working your way up to an IPA if you are trying them.

Stout

Stouts are known for their dark, nearly black color. The most famous type of stout is undoubtedly Guinness located in Dublin, Ireland. If you do not like bitter beers like IPA’s, then you will probably love stouts. These beers taste much sweeter since they use a yeast that leaves unfermented sugar behind.

While the dark color might seem intimidating, you should give them a try! They bring up notes of coffee and espresso flavor. 

Pilsner

While pilsner beers do technically fall under the broader category, they come with a much sharper taste than beers like Budweiser. This type of beer begins with a dark color and a slightly bitter after taste due to the kind of yeast used. 

Porter

Porters are similar to stouts in many respects. They both use common ingredients like the dark-colored malt which gives them their black color. But where stouts come with more of a coffee flavor, porters carry far more hints of chocolate sweetness. 

Wheat Beer

Instead of using barley or malt during the first process, wheat beers use wheat which gives them a light color and low alcohol percentage. As such, it makes a great summer beer since it feels like it is not dehydrating you. 

Many of these beers also utilize fruit and herb flavors since the wheat provides such a unique canvas for presenting taste to the drinker.

What Are the Different Types of Fermentation Methods?

There are three main types of fermentation: hot fermentation, cold fermentation, and spontaneous fermentation. As its name suggests, warm fermentation takes place in a warm environment with a temperature somewhere between fifty-nine and sixty-eight degrees Fahrenheit. 

Generally, ales usually fall under this warm method. Lagers, on the other hand, thrive from a cold fermentation period. These types of beers must sit longer at around fifty degrees. The final method, spontaneous fermentation, actually never adds the yeast directly to the final drinking product.

Instead, yeast and bacteria strains enter the product naturally through the wooden barrels they store the beer inside. The central advent of this method is that beers can be brewed almost anywhere if you own the right equipment. Unfortunately, it takes a much longer time — nearly two years altogether. 

We hope this article helped you answer the question ‘how is a beer made?’. While there is no denying that making beer is a complex and involved process, that does not mean you need to leave it the big corporations to create. 

Anyone can make beer if they have the right necessary equipment. And with the advent of online shopping, any person who wants to can make a beer. So, get brewing!

That event is (as you probably guessed from the title of this article) the Great American Beer Festival. So, if you love beer more than most things in this world, then you should definitely make the trip to this fest at least once in your lifetime. But before you book your tickets, here’s a quick run-down of everything and anything you want to know about the festival.

WHAT IS THE GREAT AMERICAN BEER FESTIVAL?

The Great American Beer Festival is, well, a beer festival that first began in 1982 in Boulder, Colorado. The very first festival hosted 24 breweries, 47 beers and 800 guests.

Now, the festival is a three-day annual event hosted by the Brewer’s Association in Denver, Colorado that brings visitors from around the world to sample the very best of American craft brews. In fact, the festival website boasts that there were around 4,000 beers available for sampling during the 2018 festival, from 800 different craft breweries across the United States. And the total attendance came to 62,000 people.

The event typically happens in late September or early October at the Colorado Convention Center, right around the time when the temperatures start to drop and you want nothing more than to sit around a fire with the perfect pint of ale. (For those of you planning ahead, it looks like the 2019 festival will be October 3-5, and the 2020 festival will be held September 24-26.) And this festival will give you the chance to figure out which beers you want to stock up on for the coming year.

TICKETS TO THE FESTIVAL

To gain access to the festival, you must buy individual session tickets. Unfortunately, there does not seem to be a “Three-day Pass” or anything like that. There is one general session for tasting each day of the festival, and on Saturday there is also a member’s only session earlier in the day. You must be a member of either the American Homebrewers Association or the Brewers Association. Tickets for the “members only” session are $75 each. (Oh, and members also get access to ticket pre-sale with a unique code sent via the member e-mail newsletter.)

Tickets for the general session for the 2018 festival were $85 per session, though this price may change in the future – just so you are aware. And remember, the cost is per session. So if you want to go all three days, you would pay a total of $255. But, your tickets get you a festival program, a commemorative tasting cup, and unlimited one-ounce samples of more than 4,000 beers. There is also a special “Designated Driver” ticket for the Thursday session that costs only $30.

You also have the option of purchasing PAIRED®+GABF tickets for Thursday or Friday. These cost $160 each and get you access to the general sessions plus a PAIRED Beer and Food Tasting. At PAIRED, you are served exclusive beers alongside expertly prepared appetizers from renowned chefs.

So, you can really make this festival fit your budget – or you can go all out and buy tickets for everything. Just keep in mind that there is a six-ticket limit per person for the general sessions and a two-ticket limit for the member session.

THE GABF PAVILIONS & HANGOUT SPOTS

The GABF is a place to drink beer. But it’s also a place where you can relax and also learn about the impact of craft beer on our lives and on American culture. The various pavilions at the festival offer you a place to take a breather and hear what some of the most talented beer makers in the U.S. have to say about their craft.

For example, the Beer and Food Pavilion illustrates how beer can be perfectly paired with the food we eat (and you of course can grab a snack while you’re there). And the Protect Craft Guilds Pavilion offers excellent beers for you to enjoy from participating state brewers’ guilds while learning about the guilds’ initiatives and cultures.

There is also the Brewers Studio Pavilion where you can learn about the creative processes behind beers directly from the innovators, and two different CraftBeer.com Pavilions. These pavilions may change from year-to-year, but they will all without a doubt offer you a unique learning experience to enhance your beer drinking.

The festival also has introduced “Hangout Spots” where you can enjoy entertainment, beers not found elsewhere at the festival, and a chance to sit around and – of course – hang out.

THE COMPETITION

Now, the festival is also a competition. Hundreds of judges from both the United States and abroad evaluate thousands of beers from hundreds of breweries, and festival attendees can sample the beers entered in the competition during the tasting sessions.

The goal of the competition is for the Professional Judge Panel to identify the three best beers to represent each beer-style category as described and adopted by the festival – and there are a ton of different categories.

The beer competition is blind, meaning that the beer experts on the panels do not know the brand of the beers they taste. Judges are assigned beers to evaluate in their areas of expertise, and they never judge their own product or any product with which they have an affiliation.

They then award gold, silver and bronze medals for beers in the various categories. These awards are some of the most coveted in the world, so winning breweries do not tend to shy away from flaunting the awards. At the end of it all, the GABF awards its Brewery of the Year and Brewer of the Year awards to the most deserving competitors.

There are also specific competitions like the Pro-Am Competition and the Collaboration Competition. The Pro-Am competition allows professional brewers to team up with home brewers for top honors. So, basically, a member of the Brewers Association teams up with a member of the American Homebrewers Association and they collaborate on a beer to enter into the festival.

The Collaboration competition, on the other hand, offers an opportunity for two-member breweries of the Brewers Association to join forces on a new brew to then enter into the festival. These two competitions are separate from the general festival competition, so awards in these two contests do not count towards GABF Brewery and Brewer of the Year awards.

THE BORING – BUT IMPORTANT – LOGISTICAL STUFF

So, we know it’s not as exciting as the beer itself, but it’s important to keep the travel and hotel logistics in mind when you attend the festival.

The GABF attracts an enormous crowd from all over the world, so the city of Denver gets a bit crowded. That’s why it’s very important to book your hotel accommodations well in advance, and to make a plan of attack for transportation to and from the convention center. (Like we said, the total attendance for 2018 was 62,000 people, so this is no small gathering of beer lovers – and they all want places to stay and park their cars.)

You can book a hotel reservation directly through the GABF website (there’s a link under the “Info” tab that takes you to a reservations site). There are a number of hotels that participate in booking for the festival, so you have a number of options for places to sleep.

Of course, the hotels still book up rather quickly so you may want to consider booking an AirBnb, a VRBO, or something similar. These will still likely be competitive, but you may have better luck than booking with a hotel close to the convention center.

As for parking and transportation, the organizers of the fest say that RTD buses and the Denver light rail are the best ways to get to the convention center. Not only are the fares very inexpensive, but you also avoid any parking garage nightmares.

You can also take an Uber to the festival, and as the company is a sponsor of the festival, the company offered attendees $5 off two rides during the 2018 GABF with a special promo code.

The Colorado Convention Center does have parking, of course, and the garage can fit 1,000 cars. So, yes, you can drive and park your car. But if there are only 1,000 parking spaces and over 60,000 attendees… well, you do the math.

So, if you are going to park, make sure you arrive VERY early. You may also be able to find parking at garages in the surrounding city blocks, but they are not affiliated with the festival and rates may vary.

Our advice to you if you plan to attend is to opt for public transportation. Not only is it cheaper and (probably) faster than entering and leaving a parking garage, but we also don’t recommend anyone driving after spending an entire day drinking beer.

ENJOY YOUR BEER-FILLED WEEKEND

The very last thing you need to know is simple: enjoy the beer! This festival is a wonderful way to indulge your infatuation with beers of all styles, and discover new brews you can’t try in your hometown. But not only is the Great American Beer Festival an opportunity to work on your beer belly, it’s also an amazing gathering of the craft beer community. So, make some new friends, drink beer and be merry!

Whether you belong to the beer club or prefer wine, you might be drinking the wrong beer or wine. Most people get attached to a favorite beer or wine, and they never explore the other options available to them. The chances are high that you may be missing out on a better tasting beer or wine. 

Don’t forget that some wines compliment specific foods while others may ruin the meal. The same might get said about beer, but it’s more likely that beer goes with just about any food especially anything grilled or fried. That said, you know what you like, and we aren’t here to change your mind, but we urge you to branch out a little and explore some new flavors.

The Basics of Beer

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Beer is any beverage made by fermenting grain. Barley is the grain most often used to brew beer. The barley is malted which merely means the seed gets roasted when it begins to germinate. The roasted barley is milled to crack the husk and boiled in water to get the flavor out of the grain. Brewers call this process the “mashing.” The result is a mildly sweet liquid called wort. 

The final wort gets moved to a new kettle, and the brewer adds it to the mix and boils the mixture. Adding this ingredient is an art and personal choice for most brewers. You need it to give the beer a little bitterness and aroma, but overdoing the hops leaves you with a bitter brew that tastes like you might be chewing on a pine tree air freshener.

That said, some people like beer with abundant hops and added bitterness which is why it comes down the brewer’s preferences and beer recipe. An extra “hoppy” beer usually gets labeled as an India Pale Ale or IPA beer. Oddly, India Pale Ale originated in England, but no one can agree on the time period. The term “India Pale Ale” got used for the first time in an Australian newspaper ad in 1829.

Back on topic, once the wort and hops get finished boiling, the mixture is cooled down, and yeast gets added to the kettle. The yeast eats the sugar in the wort and turns it into alcohol and carbon dioxide. This part marks the beginning of the fermentation process, and it ends when the yeast runs out of food. When the yeast gets finished, the aging process begins which may last a few days or weeks.

Beer comes in five types although the differences between a stout and porter beer are negligible. Beer types define the beer and how the brewer creates it. Beer styles do little more than add color or artificial flavors to the mix. When choosing a beer, pick a type of beer and experiment with the styles that beer offers. The five types of beer are:

• ​Malts: these beers tend to be darker and sweeter than other beer types.
• ​Stouts and porters: these types of beer may be darker than most malt beers, and they may not appeal to everyone’s taste buds.
• ​Ales: roughly a third of all beer consumed in the US and Canada is an ale. Ales tend to look moderately dark or reddish, and they may seem bitter to some taste buds.
• ​Lagers: this type of beer is usually aged for a few months and kept just above freezing during the process. They tend to look lighter in color than most beer and may be sweet or bitter.

The Basics of Wine

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Wine comes from fermenting the juices of wine grapes. Wine grapes are different from the ones you see at the grocery store. Wine grapes contain more sugar than regular table grapes which are also much larger than wine grapes. The high sugar content and juicy pulp of wine grapes are part of the reason we use them to make wine.

Don’t get the idea that eating wine grapes might be a good idea. These sweet, juicy grapes sound tasty but eating one leaves you with a mouth full of tiny seeds and chewy grape skin. Avoid the urge to eat wine grapes and stick with the ones your grocer provides. Besides, the wine made from grapes is better than trying to eat one of those sweet seed pods. 

You can make wine from almost any fruit although tomato wine seems like it may leave you disappointed. Some wineries blend the juice from two or more of over 70 species of wine grapes to produce a wine unique to their winery. Winemakers may create a specialty wine for the winery or region, but those wines are probably just a variant of one of the eight most common wines:

• ​Riesling: This wine pairs well with poultry and Asian foods from across the area. This white wine is sweet and tart at the same time with a hint of citrus and floral flavors.
• ​Pinot Gris: This wine goes well with mild cheeses, salads, and most baked or poached fish meals. The wine is a dry white with hints of several fruits from pears to limes.
• ​Sauvignon Blanc: This wine pairs well with pork, chicken, fish, and some spicy foods. The wine is a dry white and a little tart with subtle herbal hints in the flavor.
• ​Chardonnay: This wine goes well with seafood, pork, and medium to sharp cheeses. The wine is a dry white and may come with some slight hints of bourbon in the flavor if it gets aged in oak barrels. Chardonnay that doesn’t get aged in oak tastes lighter and comes with more apple and citrus flavors.
• ​Pinot Noir: This wine goes well with poultry, most mild to medium cheeses, and cured meats. The wine is a dry red with a smooth but often slightly acidic flavor.
• ​Zinfandel: This wine pairs well with a wide range of foods including chicken, cured meat, beef, and Asian or Chinese dishes. This red wine is fruity with hints of herbal flavors. Variations of this wine include white and rose Zinfandels made from blends or pink Zinfandel grapes.
• ​Syrah: This wine is best paired with lamb, smoked meat, and dishes from the Mediterranean along with most hard cheeses. You may find this wine labeled as Shiraz as well. This red wine comes with a unique flavor that may remind you of tobacco and plums.
• ​Cabernet Sauvignon: This wine goes well with lamb, beef, smoked meats, and some aged or hard cheeses. This red wine comes with hints of black cherries and baking spices. If aged in oak barrels, the wine may have traces of bourbon and cedar as well. It is arguably one of the most popular wines.

The Key Differences Between Wine and Beer

As you’ve probably noted, wine and beer are only similar because both beverages find their flavor through fermentation. They differ significantly at every other level. Beer uses wort which is made by cooking roasted grains like barley while wine is made using little or no heat and fruit juices. Both beverages may get aged, but wine benefits more from aging than beer. 

Once you get past the differences between wine and beer, you find that each type of beer or wine differs from all the other ones as well. Alcohol and fermentation are probably the only things beer and wine have in common with one another.

Is Drinking Wine or Beer Healthy?

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Wine and beer offer different health benefits and problems. You can safely ignore most of the myths you find online about beer or wine help you lose weight or make you live longer. Avoiding alcohol will help you lose more weight than drinking it, and it can damage your liver which may shorten your life. However, wine and beer come with health pros and cons.

The hops in beer has other uses including the treatment of some sleep disorders. If you compare the nutritional values of wine and beer, beer is more nutritious than wine. Based on the dietary values alone, beer is almost a food by itself while wine is mostly void of any nutritional value. Some studies suggest that hops might help keep you from gaining weight under specific circumstances. 

That said, beer, especially some craft beers, may increase your calorie intake by up to 300 per bottle. That means you’ll probably gain weight. Drinking several beers may cause you to get dehydrated, and it could damage your liver if you drink regularly. Health reasons aside, drinking too much beer always leads to some bad decisions as well, but that’s another story.

Wine offers a few benefits as well like adding extra potassium to your diet. The evidence is spotty, but some studies suggest that the resveratrol in red wine may increase heart health and lessen the effects of aging. Flavonoids, like those in herbal tea, found in some wines may help protect your skin from the Sun which further increases its anti-aging appeal. 

Wine shares most of the cons we listed about beer like dehydration and possible liver damage over time. White wine can damage the enamel on your teeth, and red wine might trigger a migraine in people prone to having them. Wine may raise your triglyceride levels which could lead to a host of medical problems including kidney disease, obesity, and heart disease.

Drinking alcoholic drinks occasionally probably won’t affect your health, and they offer a few benefits. Excessive alcohol use causes problems, and some of those issues may shorten your life. Both wine and beer consumption can lead to dependency. That said, if you avoid drinking heavily very often, you probably won’t experience any issues aside from dehydration and bad choices.

If you plan to drink wine or beer for their benefits, beer probably offers more benefits because it provides protein and a few vitamins. However, it doesn’t provide very much of either one. White wine has almost no benefits at all. The antioxidants and resveratrol come from drinking red wine. Like beer, the amount you get from a glass or two a day won’t improve your health. 

If we measure weight gain based on typical serving sizes, beer is more likely to cause weight gain compared to wine. A six ounce serving of wine contains fewer carbs and calories than a 14-ounce pint of beer. If you indulge, a bottle of wine contains about 750 calories while a six pack of beer holds 900 calories. The way we drink alcohol has more to do with weight gain than the beverage.

Some Final Notes

In the end, the real difference between beer and wine is which one do you prefer. Knowing all the facts and counting the calories has nothing to do with taste. Everyone tastes things a little differently, and alcohol affects each us in unique ways. If available, do a taste testing at your local winery or brewery to see what you like instead of relying on the opinions of others.

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