Craft beers are all the rage in the states. Beers that are meant to be savored, enjoyed, maybe even stored in the cellar for a while. This new phenominon may be due to diminishing beer sales, or maybe it’s just a new niche market to exploit. Either way, craft beers have surfaced which offer a new sophistication to the beer lover… as well as a much larger price tag. Some examples:

• Michelob brews “Celebrate” which goes for $10 per bottle and comes in at 10% alcohol by volume.
• The “Stone Imperial Russian Stout” from Stone Brewing is $9 per bottle at 10.8% alcohol by volume.
• Dogfish Head makes “Fort” for $16 per bottle which contains 18.5% alcohol by volume.

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The law that many college students live by: “Liquor before beer never fear; beer before liquor, never sicker.” The scientific community has investigaed the legitimacy of this “law”, and proved it false. There are articles about congeners, touting the advantages of drinking clear liquor over dark ones. There is evidence that alcohol in carbonated beverages is absorbed more quickly by the body.

This isn’t a science website, it’s a Drinking website. So let’s cut to the chase. The only science needed is that 1.5 ounces of liquor is absorbed much more quickly than 12 ounces of beer, and they contain the same amount of alcohol. Oh, and the more alcohol you drink, the sicker you will be. Let’s examine both possible scenarios.

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Everyone is looking for a reason to drink beer. Right? It turns out that a lot of people are. So here are 10 great reasons to drink more beer. Not only that, but they’re all true. Beer really is good for your health, so drink up!

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It seems like there is always that guy in the bar that has a crazy story about the beer he’s drinking. The worst part, sometimes its believable, so you tell someone, then they tell someone, and thats a beer myth. Here are ten of the more outrageous myths about beer and what you need to know to set that guy in the bar straight.

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There are two primary types of beer, Ales and Lagers. The primary distinction is the temperature at which the beer is fermented. Ales are fermented at higher temperatures 65-75°F, and Lagers are fermented much colder at about 46-55°F.

The second distinction is the type of yeast that is used in the fermentation process. Ales generally use top fermenting yeast. This means that the yeast floats on the surface for the first few days and then settles on the bottom. Lagers use bottom fermenting yeast, which does not float to the surface before settling.

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I’ll pick up right where I left off. This is the continuation from Belgian Beers Part 1. In case you missed it, Belgium is where you want to visit if you love beer since they make more of it than anyone else. Here are some more of the types of beer from Belgium:

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Belgium is the beer lover’s paradise. There are 125 breweries in the country. The largest brewery in the world, Inbev, calls belgium home. In total, there are over a thousand types of Belgium beers. With so many beers its a good thing Belgium also has literally thousands of pubs, or “cafes”, as they are called in Belgium.

      So the numbers are pretty staggering. It makes me thirsty just thinking about it. What is just as amazing is the diversity of all the beers. From Pils to Lambics, I’ll introduce you to the beauty of all the Belgian Beers.

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Beer is broadly defined as a fermented malt beverage. The word beer comes from the Latin word ‘bibere’ meaning ‘to drink’. The Greek goddess of agriculture, Ceres, is the root of the Spanish word for beer, cerveza. One of the first great works of world literature, the Gilgamesh Epic, references the importance of beer. Beer has played an important role in the lives of many cultures throughout history, however it’s impact on these societies is not widely known. High Schools don’t teach “Beer History” classes. This is niche of history that while largely untaught is very interesting to people today, history buff or not. This is because roughly the same beverage that the Samarians brewed 6000 years ago still has an influential place in our society. I won’t try to give the entire history of beer, the internet has given us encyclopedic references for that (see references), however I will give an outline for those not willing to read that much.

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Learning to taste beer is something you may have developed without instruction. It’s only a matter of getting the most flavor out of the beer. Learning to taste beer can help you appreciate, and enjoy beer to its fullest. So it is worth doing. While evaluating the taste of a beer is most certainly an art, there are some simple steps you can take. The following techniques will help you take your love for beer to a method of evaluation.

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