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The Hop Growing Process Behind the Perfect Pint of BeerIt can be easy to get lost in the labyrinthine trails of Nopalito Farm and Hopyard in northeast San Diego County. Hop farms are strangely evocative of oceanic kelp forests: fields filled with gently waving, upward-reaching verdant plants that can tower so high, they blot out the sun. But unlike the unsustainable and sometimes-violent mechanized kelp-dredging process, hop harvests are done delicately and by hand on small farms to ensure their perennial return.
July 12, 2019N
Rising to the Top — How Nitro Transformed Beer and CoffeeOn a recent trip into the Good Beer Hunting archives, I came across a quote that resonated with me. In his article on Brettanomyces Trois, my colleague Evan Rail wrote: “Set your time machine for five years and you’ll find yourself in a vastly different beer world.” As I read that, I thought, “Dammit—we’re exactly the same.”
July 12, 2019N
The Best [Beer] Coast: A Coastal Beer Tour from San Francisco to PortlandBreathtaking views, long stretches of winding road, and too many food, beer and wine destinations to count; the Pacific Coast Highway has it all. According to stats from a travel survey AAA recently conducted, roughly 53 percent of the U.S. families taking vacation this year will be heading out on some kind of road trip. One of the best roads to be found anywhere in this wide country lies along the Pacific Coast.
July 12, 2019N
How Homebrewers Built New YorkFour years ago, John Holl invited me to speak at the now-defunct beer festival hosted by now-defunct All About Beer Magazine. One of the speakers was Mary Izett, who was touring in support of her just-released homebrew book Speed Brewing. She was there with her husband, Chris Cuzme, and I got to spend some nice time with them. (Those who know the two—and many people do!—know how engaging and interesting they are and you can always bring a glow to someone’s face by mentioning them.) In the months and years that followed, I watched Mary on Facebook as they slowly turned their passionate homebrewing into Fifth Hammer Brewing in Long Island City.
July 12, 2019N
The Impact of Skimming Kräusen During FermentationOf the many esoteric brewing practices, one of the least approachable to homebrewers is top cropping, which involves skimming kräusen from the top of the fermenting beer. Primarily practiced by some traditional German and English breweries, the main reason for top cropping is to harvest fresh, viable, and vital yeast for reuse in subsequent batches. However, another benefit proposed by some has to do with the actual removal of the kräusen from the beer, as some claim it can impart harsh or astringent flavors to the finished beer.
July 12, 2019