I really wish I had discovered this list of the 25 best breweries of the past decade through my own exploration of all things beer. Unfortunately I must extend credit to OrangeCoat for posting it on their blog and thus alerting me (and it is worth noting that the OC credits @davidburn with the initial discovery.  I don’t know this individual but good for him and his find).

So the question is, “Why bother posting a link to this list if others already have?”  Well because isn’t that the whole point of this crazy interconnected communicating tool we like to call the Internet?  And honestly, Paste Magazine (one of my favorite publications, which I had no clue was located not too far away in Georgia) has done a superb job with the list.  As far as I can tell every one of the breweries that they mention deserve the credit which they have received.

I have had the great fortune of drinking beers brewed by almost every one of those breweries on the list.  The few which I have not had the opportunity to try will definitely be added to my “must drink” list of beers.  Ironically (at least I think it is), the only brewery on the list which I have visited is Brewery Ommegang from Cooperstown, NY.  The irony of this is that when I visited it I was much too young to be drinking and thus have not actually had any of their beer (we stopped in when my family was on a trip to visit the Baseball Hall of Fame). 

Anyway, there is something great about reading the phrase “the U.S. is now the greatest nation on earth when it comes to beer.”  Sure it is a patriotic sentiment, but I have to think that it is fucking true.  Sure a lot of other good beer is produced all over the world, but it seems that only in the U.S. (and only in the past couple of decades) has the sheer variety of beer styles and flavors been whole heartedly pursued.  As a beer lover myself, this makes living in the U.S. a very enjoyable thing.

For those of you out there who might not be much into beer, or have maintained yourself predominantly on only the domestic side of beer, I strongly suggest looking into some of the brews produced by the breweries on the list.  And I have to agree with Bear, that there are “legitimate arguments that breweries are being left out.”  So go get yourself a cold one and enjoy the delight that is American Brewing.

Aside: While I am on the topic of beer, I feel that it is only appropriate to extend a warm congratulation to my friend and brewing buddy Brian Cendrowski, of Untamed Beer, for his inaugural blog post on RateBeer’s HopPress blog.  Brian will be a regular guest blogger on the HopPress, with pieces going up on Thursdays.  And while he humbles himself in saying that he is “more of a beer idiot than a connoisseur,” I will stick up for the dude in saying that there are few (if any) people whom I put more faith in to provide honest and insightful opinions and ideas when it comes to beer and brewing.  The guy is prolific, and he brews some amazing beers (see here and here for two of our Big Brew Days).  I should also extend an apology to Brian again, for having to leave him to his own devices for having to find his own way back from the Brewtopians meeting on Saturday.  Hope it didn’t give you any trouble buddy.

Damn, nothing better than a good beer post to start the week.  It’s only the morning and I could already go for a frosty brew.

I am one of the event organizers for the Food & Drink Fest…the Festival with Taste, which takes places annually in the spring.   This year we moved to the larger space of Copps Coliseum, Hamilton because the festival is expanding so quickly.  Boasting over 50 of the Hamilton-Halton & Niagara Regions’ top independent restaurants, over 35 local & international wineries, 25 craft breweries and dozens of spirits, liqueurs, bakeries and gourmet foods; the Food & Drink Fest is Southern Ontario’s Meca of all things gourmet food and drink.  My Dirty Little Secret: Despite being in the driver’s seat of the region’s largest culinary event, I can’t cook to save my life.

Up until this point, I really could care less if I could cook.  Throughout university I lived on coffee, veggies, chocolate, peanut butter and more coffee, so cooking wasn’t a necessity.  However; once I started working fulltime at Beau Monde Productions (the company that produces Food & Drink Fest), my foodie boss introduced me to the wonderful world of actual food and suddenly peanut butter just wasn’t cutting it anymore (unless of course it is used in a Chicken Stir-fry with peanut sauce over wild rice. Yum!). Even when my taste buds began to crave all things hot, spicy, Indian, Mexican, Japanese, German (you get the picture, I basically didn’t meet a calorie I didn’t like); I still didn’t feel a great desire to learn how to cook.

The Tipping Point

After a really long, busy week, my boyfriend and I voted on a quiet Friday Movie Night.  On Friday afternoon, an unfamiliar and slightly disturbing urge came over me; I wanted to surprise him and cook dinner! I pushed aside the domestic unease and took up the cooking challenge.  My dinner choice was a hardy, home-cooked meal of pasta and spicy Italian sausage in a red sauce with bruschetta and salad to start.  I raced around after work; going to the market to get the food and cleaning the apartment. By the time my boyfriend got home; I had dinner cooked and a beer freshly uncapped and ready for him.  He was really surprised and appreciative….until he took his first bite.  His first and last bite, I might add.  It turns out I excel at burning, over cooking and under spicing….and thats about it.  So after all of my hard work, we ended up ordering a pizza and the only “A” I got was for effort.  I decided that night to learn to cook, because even though my first attempt ended up in the green bin, the process of planning, shopping for the fresh ingredients and the creation of the actual meal was fun and incredibly rewarding.  On top of that, I now had the motivation to prove I actually can cook.

So with the help of my boyfriend (who is an excellent cook), advice from the office foodies, Jay & Stacey, and endlessly searching the internet for recipes; I have embarked on my cooking journey.  I’ll be sure to update on all of the tips and tricks I pick up along the way.  More importantly, I’ll be sure to fill everyone in on all of the fabulous restaurants I have to frequent after I experience one culinary casualty after another at home!

When you think of October, you think of Oktoberfest and traditional German celebrations with plenty of great beer. This year, in Cleveland, there’s a new reason to think of beer when you think of October: the first-ever Cleveland Beer Week, October 16-24. If you love great food and great beer, you will not want to miss this!

Cleveland Beer Week is a not-for-profit collaborative celebration to raise awareness of and education for the strong American and imported craft brew industry while promoting patronage at local establishments. Bars, taverns, restaurants, grocers, specialty beverage stores, and other retail and purchase locations throughout the region are celebrating with musical entertainment, leisure activities, ale tastings, and brewmaster meet-and-greets offering unique specials to raise awareness of craft brews. It will all culminate in BREWzilla, a grand reception on Saturday, October 24, at The Arcade in downtown Cleveland. BREWzilla will feature more than 80 tasting stations, appetizers and other culinary delights that pair well with craft brews, as well as entertainment and guest appearances by renowned brewers. All proceeds will be donated to the Malone Scholarship Fund, managed by the Cleveland Scholarship Program, Northeast Ohio’s only nonprofit resource that promotes educational awareness and community enrichment by preparing the workforce of tomorrow.

Bistro 185 is proud to be part of the Cleveland Beer Week celebrations, and you can be part of them with us starting tonight! From 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. this evening, we’ll be hosting the Great Draft Beer Tasting, an event at which you’ll be able to choose any six beers and receive a 6 oz. sample of each one, accompanied by sausage, smoked meat, fruit, and cheese. Our featured beers will be Guinness, Magic Hat Summer Wacko, Labatt Blue Light, Great Lakes Grass Roots, Moosehead Lager, Ithaca Apricot Wheat, Great Divide Belgica, Sam Adams Summer Ale, Stella Artois, Breckinridge Avalanche Ale, and Triple Karmeliet. Cost is $35 per person.

On Thursday, October 22, starting at 5 p.m., we’ll host a Great Divide Keg Tapping, a special tapping from Great Divide Brewing of Denver, Colorado, featuring $4 pints of Great Divide 15th Anniversary Oak Aged India Pale Ale. Stop by to enjoy a fine product from this award-winning Western microbrewery.

For more information about Cleveland Beer Week, visit the Web site. For more on our Beer Week events, call us at 216.481.9635.

Gazette file photo

If you’re looking for something to do next weekend in Eastern Iowa, Granite City (Cedar Rapids, Clive & Davenport) and Millstream Brewing Co. (Amana) are offering tours as a part of American Craft Beer week. Other breweries across the state will be offering tours and deals on their wares. Here is the release directly from the Iowa Brewer’s Guild:

American Craft Beer Week Events in Iowa

Granite City – Cedar Rapids, Clive, Davenport
All locations will give brewery tours on Saturday, May 16 from 2-5pm and feature the new seasonal beer, Blueberry Ale. The Davenport location is offering free mug club memberships during the brewery tours.

Millstream Brewing Co. – Amana
Brewery tours will be held on Saturday, May 16 from 1-4 pm.

Olde Main Brewing Co.– Ames
On Thursday, May 14 from 5-8pm take a tour of the brewery, participate in the tapping of a firkin, taste more than 8 beers on tap, and take home a growler or six-pack.

Raccoon River Brewing Company– Des Moines
Tours will be given of the brew house on Saturday, May 16 from 1-4pm. Also take advantage of $6 paddle racks to sample each of Raccoon River’s brews and try the chef’s special appetizers.

Rock Bottom – West Des Moines
An open house will be held on May 16 from 11am-4pm. Patrons can enjoy 13 different beers on tap and sign the Declaration of Beer Independence. All week there will be a toast to craft beer during each happy hour. Enjoy new beers Stand Up Ale (California Pale Ale) and Pink Ribbon Ale (proceeds benefit Breast Cancer Awareness).

About the Iowa Brewer’s Guild
The Iowa Brewer’s Guild was formed to foster communication between the state’s brewers, showcase and improve the quality of beer brewed in Iowa, advocate for the promotion of the local brewing community, and lobby for progressive changes in Iowa laws (such as Lifting the Limit) to benefit the craft brewing industry in the state.

To coincide with American Craft Beer Week, the Iowa Brewers Guild will launch their Web site IowaBeer.org. The site will feature all the breweries in Iowa, as well as a blog, event calendar, beer education, and a forum to discuss everything about Iowa beer. The Iowa Brewer’s Guild will also a launch an Iowa Beer Facebook page and Twitter account.

A quick post as I write after almost 12 hours of travel from Toronto to Chicago to San Diego.  I’m here until Wednesday and glad to have my feet on the ground.

It’s an exciting trip for me – a conference that I am thrilled about attending in addition to receiving a wonderful honour (thanks to my team at work for that one!) and I am having a tour and dinner at Stone Brewery tonight!  Stone are the people behind I am a Craft Brewer (I maintain it’s the most inspirational 4 minutes on the Internet for beer fiends and some foodies), Vertical Epic (the beer you collect for 11 years before drinking in a single night) and Stone World Bistro & Gardens.  They are consistently named as one of the best (if not the best) brewers in the world and certainly in North America.

In short, these guys are the superheroes of beer.

I offered to take a few samples of Canadian craft brews to them without thinking.  Once I realized that opening my mouth to offer a taste of our local product to some of the best in the world I realized the enormity of the task.  I also struggled with the 100ml limit of liquids in your baggage.  A few phone calls confirmed it was worth a shot and I packed with a lot of garbage bags – Im thrilled that all 8 made it in tact!

Here is what I brought – picked on interest as much as anything else:

 Neustadt Springs 10W30 Malty Grain Premium Dark Ale 473 ml can.  5.5%
Possibly the ugliest website in the world (even “better” with sound): http://www.neustadtsprings.com/
Claim to be the oldest brewery “building” in Canada.  This beer is based on engine oil.  The draft handle (which was rarely in pubs/bars) was shaped like an oil can for a long time.  Big flavour and dark as sin.

 Great Lakes Brewery Devil’s Pale Ale – 666 – 473 ml can.  6%
www.greatlakesbrewing.com
They seemed to put every 6 they could in this one.  6 malts. 666 kilograms of malt.  6.66 kilos of hops.  66.6 minutes of boiling.  You get the idea.  They also claim they came up with the idea on June 6, 2006.  So it’s my shoutout to the Vertical Epic…

 St Ambroise Vintage Ale 2009 – 20^th Anniversary Edition – 341 ml bottle.  9.8%
http://www.mcauslan.com/
From Quebec (the French region of Canada) this is a special batch of their Vintageline which they package once per year.  This can be cellared or drank immediately.  Should age well.

 The rest come from a single brewery – Mill Street Brewery out of Toronto. 
I think you’d get along with these guys – the brew master knows I was bringing these to you and I’ll pass on his contact if you’d like.  They have a public brewery in a fantastic area of Toronto and a decent pub to match with it.  Canadian Brewer of the year in 2007 and 2008 and multiple winners for their beers…  Mill Street is in the heart of Toronto in 150+ year old brownstone district of Toronto.
www.millstreetbrewery.com

Tankhouse Ale – 341 ml bottle.  5.2%
Peoples Choice Winner 2009 Ontario Brewing Awards
Gold Canadian Brewery Awards – North America Style Pale Ale or Bitter 

Belgian Wit – 341 ml bottle (2 of them).  5%
Gold Medal 2009 Ontario Brewing Awards.

Coffee Porter – 341 ml bottle (2 of them).  5.5%
Gold Canadian Brewery Awards – Porter.
Proof that beer is a breakfast food again.

Note to self: go to SLC, drink beers (not bears, as I originally wrote). Especially the excellently named Polygamy Porter, with the equally excellent tagline, “Why have just one?”

Ah the joys of winter…frosty weather, impending holidays, and seasonal beers to soothe all our wordly woes.  I am oh so happy to say that Boundary Bay Brewery’s winter warmer, Cabin Fever, will FINALLY be on tap at the brewery this Tuesday, November 18th.  With an original gravity of 1.072, this big beer is deceptively strong.  We use Mt. Hood, Warrior, and Crystal hops along with Pale 2-Row, Munich, Caraston, Dark Crystal, Chocolate Malts, and Oats.  Specially brewed and bottled for the Pacific Northwest winters, this winter warmer’s dark red-brown color and rich malty flavor will complement any rich, hardy meal as well as your favorite spicy dish.  However, with it’s cold conditioned, smooth, dry-hopped flavor, Cabin Fever is very satisfying all by itself.  Come in from the cold and grab a taste of this beer that won a Silver at the World Beer Cup in 2008, a Bronze at the World Beer Cup in 2006, a Gold at the 2004 North American Beer Awards, a Bronze in the 2002 Great American Beer Festival, and a Silver at the Great American Beer Festival in 1999.  Don’t go crazy this winter…get your Cabin Fever now!  And don’t forget, next Tuesday, you can grab yourself some 22 oz bottles of Cabin Fever since we’ll be bottling all day Monday.  This year, be the favorite guest at the Thanksgiving table…bring enough Cabin Fever for everyone!

I’ve been a subscriber to Pub Crawlin’s rss feed for quite awhile now and really enjoy reading about the beer experiences that are had around the country.  Todays post from that wonderful beer blog hit a key with me as it was all about the Vermont Craft Brews I had to say goodbye to when I moved down to Greenville a year ago.  On the upside my favorite all time beer brewer, Magic Hat, has begun to appear in Greenville (albeit only #9 so far) but some of the others like, Long Trail, Otter Creek, Rock Art, and Vermont Pub & Brewery are not accessible in South Carolina. being a born and raised Vermonter, having a lot of pride in my home state, and also an avid beer lover, I tended to drink a considerable amount of all these beers when back in New England.  My first legal beer purchase was  a 12 beer mix pack of Otter Creek (of which my favorites are the Copper Ale and The Stovepipe Porter).  When I was home for Christmas this year some high school friends and I made a necessary visit to the Vermont Pub & Brewery (not only do they have awesome beer but good food too — not all that different an atmosphere from Blue Ridge Brewery).

Oh, and by the way Evan, the American Flat Bread/Zero Gravity Brewing, mentioned in the Pub Crawlin’ post, is where my parents and I experienced the delicious Gruit Ale (further American Flat Bread very well make the most amazing artisan pizzas in the world, I am so certain in this statement that I am willing to fight anybody who disagrees with me).