Water quality is very important to beer. After all, beer is mostly water. Historically, a correlation was observed between the liquor composition of an area and the type of beer that the region could best brew. The Pale Ales of Burton-on-Trent and Edinburgh, Porters of…
There are eleven active breweries in Alabama. Follow the links to each website. Avondale Brewing Company in Birmingham, Alabama http://www.avondalebrewing.com/ Back Forty Beer Company in Gadsden, Alabama http://backfortybeer.com/ Beer Engineers in Birmingham, Alabama http://beer-engineers.com/ Blue Pants Brewery in Madison, Alabama http://www.bluepantsbrew.com/ Cahaba Brewing Company in Birmingham, Alabama http://www.cahababrewing.com/ Fairhope Brewing Company in Fairhope, Alabama www.fairhopebrewing.com Good People…
Integrated with mythology and discovered independently by most ancient civilizations, the earliest records we do have tell us that beer has been heartily appreciated for as long as it’s been talked about and brewing it has been deemed a most serious and important job. Very…
You wouldn’t think that something as seemingly mundane as filtration could elicit such strong emotions among brewers and beer drinkers, but it does. Most mass-produced beers are filtered to give them a bright clarity. Most home brewers and many craft brewers do not filter their…
Have you met Weedy? He’s our bearded assistant brewer who’s a long time homebrewer and a big part of the big batch brewing with us. He’s been homebrewing for much longer than you’d expect (especially given his age) and does a damn fine job of…
In 1890, there were over 2,000 breweries in the United States. In 1933, after Prohibition ended with the 21st Amendment to the Constitution, only about 300 breweries renewed production. More than 800 breweries died during Prohibition. As the U.S. ramped up the commitment to freeing the…
Once upon a time, beer was sorry-looking stuff, cloudy and dark. Fortunately, our ancestors drank their brew from heavy ceramic vessels in ill-lit taverns, so it didn’t matter much that beer looked like old dishwater. But two technological innovations worked in synergy to change what…
Be tolerant. Tasting beer is a very personal thing. Don’t assume you know what another person is going to like or dislike. If you are asked to recommend a beer, it’s acceptable to talk about things you enjoy tasting or experiencing in a certain beer….
There was a time when the role of yeast in brewing was unknown. In the days of the Vikings, each family had their own brewing stick that they used for stirring the wort. These brewing sticks were regarded as family heirlooms because it was the…
Historically speaking, hops are a fairly recent innovation in the brewing world. Although evidence exists of their cultivation as early as 200 AD in Babylon and 700 AD in Germany, they were not widely used in brewing in Bavaria until the 11th century. They didn’t…
Beginners Homebrewing Class 
SMaSH Beer Night