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Taking that First Beer Step

In my latest Beer 101 (which you can read here), I give away some of my trade secrets. Okay, they aren’t secrets, per se, but they still do qualify as tips into how I do my job. I am not talking about writing (which, frankly, just takes years of working at it) or drinking beer [...]

A Little Pick-Me-Up With Your Beer

Photo courtesy of Vue Weekly

For most of the readers of this website, the notion of coffee in beer is old hat. You are well aware of the effect of adding some coffee to a dark porter or stout (or even the occasional IPA, right Mikkel?). The sharp roast and dark burnt character can [...]

How Old is Your Beer?

Photo Credit: Planet S Magazine

My column in the current issue of Planet S Magazine revisits a longstanding beef of mine – date codes. I have never understood why breweries feel the need to mask the production/best before date in a jumble of letters and numbers. Telling the consumer how old their beer is [...]

Nothing Super About the Budweiser Bowl

So, this is a day late and a few dollars short, but this morning CBC posted my most recent column online. In honour of Super Bowl weekend, I humbly offered an alternative to the oceans of Bud and Bud Light that flood north American bars in early February every year. Of course the game is [...]

Bueno Birra

The current issue of Vue Weekly is running my review of Bruton Bianca (sorry, no link yet – you will have to go analog and pick up a paper copy). As I have mentioned earlier, it is a nice interpretation of a Witbier, a bit too spicy and could be a bit softer, but I [...]

Adding to the Adjunct Debate

A few months back  here at onbeer.org, during some discussion around what defines craft (found here and here), there was some debate about whether the use of adjuncts is an important aspect of differentiating brewers. Some felt that adjuncts – the addition of non-malt to a beer pre-fermentation – divided craft brewers and non-craft. In [...]

What Beer Goes With Minus 30?

So after a disturbingly warm season to date, Alberta was smacked with full frontal winter last week. Some complain, but I see it as just part of the price of living in the ungodly north. Bundle up and you are fine. My dogs didn’t even skip their daily walk (albeit we shortened it). I usually [...]

Hoppy Happiness: One Box, Four IPAs

After missing an issue due to a lack of space (January can be lean times for alt weeklies), Vue Weekly has finally run a piece this week that was originally slated for late December. Most of you know that Victoria’s Phillip’s Brewing entered the Alberta market in the fall, which is a nice thing. As [...]

Exploring the World of Italian Beer

For the past couple of months, my CBC columns have not been posted on their website. This is due mostly to RadioActive being a bit shorthanded. It is a bit of a shame, as the rest of my beer personality series got lost as a result. Alas! What can a humble beer columnist do?

However, [...]

Beer Year in Review / Happy New Beer

As we (or at least those of us who doggedly stick to analog date keepers) poise to toss our old calendar in the recycling bin and replace it with a new collection of 12 wildlife scenes / political posters / car photos /  half-naked women to adorn our wall, it is the natural time for [...]