Beyond the light and dark: Beer in Berlin
Cotton wool beers at Marcus Brau Beer in Berlin: the consensus in the (English speaking) beer-o-sphere is that it’s a bit of a limbo; there’s nothing much going on.  I arrived armed with Ron Pattinson’s pub guide and an open mind.  In many bars I went to they just ask you if you want a light or dark beer, and that’s it.  Dunkel or pils, basically.  Maybe they were just simplifying things for the tourist, but I doubt it.

Mo Town
Sure, a beer can say it's handsome, but without a mustache, how can it prove it? It’s Movember, that time of year when every sensible soul capable of doing so grows some facial hair to raise donations to fight prostate cancer.  I love Movember– I love mustaches.  And I love a savvy charity that knows just how to get younger guys to start thinking about prostate health early and talking about it. (The campaign is silly,

Poppy Appeal
A field of California Poppy by Tianna9 on flickr BrewDog’s Dogma has some intense flavors, ever shifting. In the label’s words it’s a “conspiracy of transcontinental ingredients” which includes guarana, California poppy, kola nut and Scottish heather honey. The first time I had this beer i

Why Porters Served in Highballs? I Speculate No More.
Antique Children's Mug...the perfect glassware? Why joys so scantily disburse, Why Paradise defer, Why floods are served to us in bowls, – I speculate no more. –Emily Dickinson There has been some discussion amongst beer bloggers about glassware, especially as it per

Ich gehe nach Berlin
I'll be drinking to the fall of the wall, 20 years on. November 9th marks the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. I will be going.  I will be drinking to it and to my own Cold War childhood.  The fall of the Berlin wall had profound meaning to me as a uber-politicized teen who raged through the Reagan