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Microbrews and Craft Beer

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Craft Beer - Because Life is Too Short For Bad Beer

This lens is for connoisseurs who prefer a fine, hand-crafted style beer to its mass-produced counterparts. There are currently more than 1,700 regional craft breweries, microbreweries, and brewpubs currently operating in the US. The choices, quality, and availability of fine, artisan style beers are extensive. The craft beer industry now accounts for $6 billion in annual sales, which is more than 6% of total US beer sales. If you include the hand-crafted beer produced by home brewers, the numbers are even greater. With so many outstanding beers to be tried, and so little time to try them...Life is too short for bad beer.

Generally speaking, beer is not intended to be aged. However, some beers do require a bit of aging to reach peak flavor. If you have a beer that would benefit from some age, or if you just have too much stock to drink in a short period of time, there are some basic instructions that will keep your beer in optimal condition.

First of all, store your beer upright. Unlike a fine wine, you do not want to store your beer on its side. Secondly, when storing beer, do not allow it to be exposed to heat or light. Beer that has been exposed to light (including artificial light sources, such as fluorescent bulbs) can become "light struck", which gives beer a "skunky" taste. Brown bottles provide much more protection from light damage than green and clear bottles, which is why most good beer is sold in brown bottles. However, beer in brown bottles still needs to be protected from light. Exposure to heat sources can cause oxidation in your beer, which will give it a "cardboard" taste. Store your beer between 35°F and 60°F. Keep in mind that if you store at the higher end of this temperature range, the yeast will remain active and accelerate any aging effects. If you live in a cooler climate, you can store your beer in a cellar, but for warmer climates, you will probably need refrigeration to keep your beer safe.

Most larger scale breweries pasteurize their beer, which kills the yeast and allows for longer storage life. However, most microbrews and hand crafted beers are not pasteurized. If you have a fine beer on hand, drink it. If you can't drink it right away, at least take care to insure it's stored properly.

Craft Beer Links of Interest

Craft Beer and Microbrews: A site built by craft beer lovers, for craft beer lovers.
How to Brew Your Own Beer Videos: Instead of spending a couple of weeks reading a 400 page book on how to brew beer, this is an 8 part step-by-step video series that will have you started brewing the same day. Learn everything you need to get started brewing right away!
All About Beer: The beer lover's premier magazine.
Beer of the Month Club Gift: Join now to have some of America's finest craft beer delivered right to your door.
Beer Books and Beer Guides: The library for beer lovers.

Boulevard Brewing Double-Wide IPA

Craft Beer Review

Hop lovers rejoice! Boulevard Brewing Company (Kansas City, MO) has brewed a beer just for you. The Double-Wide IPA, from Boulevard's limited production "Smoke Stack Series", is an aggressively hopped beer. Boulevard uses five varietals of hops, over several hopping regimens throughout Double-Wide's brewing process.

The beer pours a hazy amber and caramel color with a hearty three finger head. The head has large bubbles and leaves clumps of lacing behind. Double-Wide's aroma is very fruity with citrus scents of orange, lemon, and grapefruit. The taste is heavy with the citrus hop flavors, but there is a nice base of toasted caramel malts. The beer feels creamier and smoother than most IPAs, especially among those with 8.5% abv. It finishes crisp, dry, and quite drinkable.

Double-Wide is sold in 750ml champagne style bottles with cork and wire. While $8 retail for a little more than a pint and a half of beer is a bit pricey, Double-Wide IPA is worth every penny! We recommend enjoying a bottle of this hop monster along with spicy food, such as Kansas City BBQ.

Note: Boulevard has just released a full production Single-Wide IPA.

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Crapp-Beer Wedding Reception

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Sierra Nevada Brewery

Brewery Profile

Sierra Nevada Brewery (Chico, CA) was co-founded in 1979 by home brewer, Ken Grossman, and his partner, Paul Camusi. Grossman and Camusi were able to acquire enough second-hand brewing and bottling equipment to begin producing beer by November of 1980. While their equipment was less than optimal, the ingredients they used in their beer were nothing but the best.

The first beer Sierra Nevada produced was their Pale Ale, which is still their flagship beer today. Demand for Sierra Nevada Pale Ale grew quickly, and in an effort to keep up, they moved into their current Chico, CA location in 1989. Before long, it was necessary to expand again. In 1997, Sierra Nevada expanded their production capabilities to their current level of nearly 800,000 barrels per year.

Over the years, Sierra Nevada has stayed true to their roots of time-honored brewing techniques and using the finest ingredients. However, they have taken a very modern approach to environmental stewardship. Sierra Nevada's environmental conservation initiatives include one of the country's largest private solar installations, four 250kw co-generation fuel cell power units, a vapor condenser to capture waste steam, a CO2 recovery system. They've also utilized energy efficiency initiatives, water conservation, emissions reduction, and byproduct recycling. Each of these initiatives add up to Sierra Nevada being one of the greenest businesses in the United States.

Sierra Nevada has four flagship beers, which are sold year-round. Those four include their Pale Ale, which is their most popular brew, a Porter, a Wheat, and a Stout. They also have four seasonal beers. Their winter beer is the Celebration Ale, followed by the ESB in the the spring. Their Summerfest beer is a Pilsner style Lager, and finally, their Anniversary Ale is an American IPA that is released in the fall in correspondence to Sierra Nevada's anniversary. Finally, they have some limited selections, which include Bigfoot, a barleywine style ale, and their Harvest Series. The Harvest Series includes Chico Estate Harvest Ale, which is brewed using hops grown on Sierra Nevada's estate, Harvest Ale, and Southern Hemisphere, which is brewed using hops grown in the Southern Hemisphere.

We believe Sierra Nevada to be one of the top breweries in the United States. If you like high quality beers, especially those of the hop heavy variety, make sure you try some of Sierra Nevada's collection.