How to taste beer

Do you know how to taste beer? Before you accuse me of smoking something illicit, I’m not asking if you know how to drink beer. Anyone with a mouth can drink beer but do you know how to taste beer? I guess a better question might be do you know how to evaluate the taste [...]

Remote control beer cooler and beer buggy

More beer gear of questionable usefulness but undeniable coolness: remote control beer cooler and beer buggy. This amusing remote-controlled cooler can travel across a patio, rug, or kitchen floor to deliver a well-timed beverage [beer] to parched party guests. With room for 12 cans or bottles and ice, the cooler rolls on four sturdy underside [...]

Lego bot pours beer on Pownce command

This beer pouring Lego bot responds to a Pownce post. While not very practical, it is very cool! The video is more watchable if you mute it. The night before Barcamp Nashville ’08 I tested the Inebriator for the fam. A little too much head (no jokes please) so I tuned it a little afterwards. [...]

Beer Trek – the drinking game

Drinking games aren’t the kind of thing we normally cover on Beer Utopia but since one of my favorite beer writers, Jay Brooks, mentioned it on his Beer Bulletin blog, I say it’s fair game. Beer Trek is, of course, a drinking game. It’s hosted by Planet of the Geeks and bills itself as “The [...]

Drinking Early!

Oktoberfestival 08 – NJ Beer Goes Here!

It was a beautiful, very easy-going day. The temperature was just right for this time of the year. Doing beer tastings events in the cold has a different effect on me; next year I have to pace myself differently. But all in all, Das Erste! OktoberFestival. The First Annual Oktoberfest for the Garden State Crafts [...]

FBAG!Replay of our live event at GABF Ep#021

Recorded live at the Flying Dog party FBAG during the GABF in Denver. This is replay part 1 of 2 of our 2 hour live stream

Biologists working on cancer-fighting beer

A team of biology students at Rice University are working on genetically modifying a strain of beer yeast to produce resveratrol during fermentation. Resveratrol is “a chemical in wine that’s been shown to reduce cancer and heart disease in lab animals.” While this is infinitely better than Jessica Simpson’s “vitamin beer,” I have my doubts [...]

How (and why) to age beer

Just about everyone is familiar with the concept of a wine cellar: a cool, dark place where wine is stored as it ages. But have you ever heard of a beer cellar? Cellaring or aging beer is not a something that the average craft beer drinker, much less the average beer drinker, has thought about. [...]

Simple beer pairing guide

Beer pairing dinners seem to be all the rage lately. More and more people are beginning to realize that the complex flavors of beer can compliment more than backyard barbecue fare. If you’ve ever been to a beer pairing event, you know that the chef likes to describe how the thus-and-such flavor of the beer [...]