Should You Let AI Recommend Beer?

Craft beer drinkers have long relied on friends, brewery staff and trusted sites like BeerAdvocate for beer advice, but the recent buzz around AI raises questions. Should you ditch old habits and let AI recommend beer? Is the technology good enough to trust with your hard-earned dollars and discerning palate? Spoiler alert—I would wouldn’t scrap my Untappd app just yet. Read More

Apocalypse Brew Works | Atomic Amber

Apocalypse Brew Works, located in Louisville, KY, is known for brewing no-frills (well, maybe a few frills) traditional ales. Atomic Amber, a crisp, clean American Amber Ale, is no exception.

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Oconee Brewing Co. | Bacon & Kegs Bacon-Infused Red Ale

Since the holiday chaos and rush has slowed down, it’s a good time for some reflection. We wrapped up some of our favorite beers and the biggest beer stories across our regions to end 2020. One story that caused a greasy splash was the collaboration between Waffle House and Georgia’s own Oconee Brewing Company for an official beer.

Now, a few weeks later, we’re wiping down the table and diving into the bacon-infused Red Ale that is Bacon & Kegs.

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Waffle House Has A Beer | Oconee Brewing Waffle House Bacon & Kegs

You’ve been there. I’ve most certainly been there. Many nights after work, a night out or after a day’s worth of brewery visits. Where, you might ask? Only to the greatest after-hours breakfast place of all time: Waffle House.

It’s a terrific place for nights to come to an end over good conversation, hashbrowns and cups of coffee. Except now, you can sub the coffee for a beer, well, kind of. Oconee Brewing Company, located in Greensboro, Georgia, can make that happen next month with their new beer: Waffle House Bacon & Kegs. Grab a booth, pass the syrup and discover how this all came to be.

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Marz Community Brewing Co. | Duchess De Bridgeport

duch·ess
/ˈdəCHəs/
Noun
a woman holding a rank equivalent to a duke in her own right.

If you’ve ever spent time in the Bridgeport neighborhood of Chicago, you’ve probably ventured into Maria’s Packaged Goods and Community Bar. Taken over by Maria Marszewski in 1987, the combination liquor store/bar has become a staple for the area and thus, the neighborhood dubbed her the Duchess of Bridgeport. Keeping it in the family, her son Ed Marszewski started Marz Community Brewing Company in 2013. Today, Marz pays homage to Maria with their take on a Flanders Red Ale, named for her likeliness, with Duchess De Bridgeport.

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Bonneville Brewery | Redline Irish Style Red Ale

Thirty-five miles west of Salt Lake sits Bonneville Brewery. The brewery sometimes gets lost in Utah craft beer conversations because it’s outside the capital city and it’s been brewing award-winning beers going on eight years now, which often means it’s excluded from the new-school–cool-kids-club.

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Rhinegeist Brewery | Dad

To all the hard-working dads out there just waiting for their opportunity to crack open a cold one after a long day of doing dad stuff, Happy (early) Father’s Day! I wanted to showcase the perfect beer for such an occasion that just so happens to hold a very special place in my liver. Dad is a malty, heavy Red Ale that comes out of Rhinegeist Brewery in Cincinnati, Ohio. Yes, I know it’s June and this is a technically a Winter Ale, but hear me out. A good friend of mine who lives outside of Cincinnati sent me a couple six packs a few weeks ago as a way to celebrate my introduction to fatherhood. My wife and I are expecting a baby boy in July, and this was a wonderful and very fitting way to welcome me into my new role.

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Crow Hop Brewing | Rado’s Red Sweet Cherry Sour

The Colorado brewery scene is one with its ups and downs, ebbs and flows. Some breweries see their star shine brightly, then quickly fizzle out and shut their doors nearly as soon as they opened. Others, like Crow Hop Brewing in Loveland, CO, find increased success year after year and eventually need to move locations to accommodate the greater fanfare.

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Alvarado Street Brewing | Local Shred Red

Living in the Bay Area has some huge perks if you are into craft beer, which let’s be honest – if you are reading this you probably are. I live in San Leandro, and a ton of amazing breweries are anywhere from 10 minutes (I am crazy close to Drake’s Brewing & Cleophus Quealy Beer Co) to a few hours away, like Alvarado Street Brewery out of Monterey, California. Grab your board and prepare to shred, brah.

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Funky Buddha Brewery | Fire in the Hole

While preparing for Hurricane Irma, I opened the fridge to find this interesting treat by Funky Buddha Brewery and realized it was the perfect beer for a time like this. An explosive beer, this rotates yearly in the Little Buddha Small Batch series. Fire in the Hole takes on a whole new level of spice. This red ale brewed with raspberries and habanero is too intriguing of a combination to pass up. Fire in the Hole was a drinkable distraction from all of the hurricane preparation. It is available throughout Florida in bottles and on tap for a limited time.

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Avery Brewing | Hog Heaven, Tequilana and Beer Camp

One thing for which no one can accuse Avery Brewing is resting on its laurels or being behind the times. From altering its own portfolio and removing some fan favorites to changing the name of its own beer (read on), Avery refuses to stand still and risk the craft-beer world passing it by. Avery is reintroducing its red ale to the world in a new way, and in new cans; it’s throwing some beer in tequila barrels; and Avery is going to have a little fun at Beer Camp, too.

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3 Daughters Brewing | Rod Bender Red Ale

ABV: 5.9% | IBU: 23

I’ve found myself frequenting the booming brewing scene of Tampa Bay in recent months, and as an avid beer logger I usually find myself with flight-size pours and rarely more for any particular flavor or style, let alone a specific beer. If I buy a six pack, I’m usually picking it up to share with a few friends that don’t have regular access to it. So I must admit that it caught me by surprise when I found 3 Daughters Brewing‘s Rod Bender Red Ale to replace my typical wheel of flavors on a given football Sunday! Read More

Mackinaw Brewing Co. | Red 8 Ale

ABV: 5.2%

What I know about tailors is from the “here’s what they won’t tell you about tailors” had-to-be-there stories from friends I’ve never seen in fitted suits. I leave work late in the evening to drive to Traverse City, Michigan, expecting early the next day to stand bare-assed in front of a five-sided mirror and a woolen man with circular glasses and pins in his teeth. He’ll shift my inner thighs someplace more manageable, while muttering, “No, no, this won’t do.” Read More

21st Amendment | Toaster Pastry

ABV: 7.6% | IBU: 74

Happy Days are Beer again!  The 21st Amendment of the United States Constitution was ratified on December 5, 1933, ending prohibition. Fast forward to the year 2000 and this famous Amendment inspired a new brewery in San Francisco. 21st Amendment Brewery was founded by Nico Freccio and Shaun O’Sullivan and they opened the doors to their brewpub in the famous South Park neighborhood, a few blocks from the San Francisco Giants ballpark. Some of the fan favorites include: Brew Free or Die IPA, Hell or High Watermelon, Back in Black, Fireside Chat. The fan favorites need to watch their back because there is a new kid on the block and their name is Toaster Pastry.

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Literary Beer Collection | Halloween Edition

I am excited to bring you a second edition of the Literary Beers series. Can we call it a series now that there is more than one? Meh, who is counting… I lost count long ago.

This edition of Literary Beers will focus on stories/brews that are centered around Halloween.  I have scoured retail shelves and library catalogs to find you the most intriguing and haunting of literary brewing collaborations. So, light a candle and grab a pumpkin ale because this is about to get real!

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Beer Cocktails | April Red Beer

Today I am sharing a recipe that will help you add a zest to your typical red beer or Bloody Mary. This recipe is super simple and can also act as a major hangover reliever. This is also a fun and easy cocktail to serve at brunch or even for lunch. I had this cocktail today for lunch and it was quite addition to my detox salad. This Red Ale comes from Silver City Brewery out of Silverdale, Washington and has been up and running since 1996. The Red Ale is a very approachable and versatility beer that compliments most food items and is the prefect candidate for a beer cocktail.

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Wicked Weed | Oblivion

ABV: 8.7% | IBU: negligible

We use a lot of colors when we talk about beer. This beer is amber. That beer is black. This one is straw. That one is brown. These are all quite common. Yet, for all of my beer-drinking life, I have only infrequently come across the color red. Maybe it’s my geography. Some of the world’s best-known and most highly acclaimed beers come out of Belgium, among them a variety of reds. Rodenbach’s Grand Cru, Duchesse de Bourgogne from Brewery Verhaeghe, and New Belgium’s La Folie are just a few examples.

In spite of (and thanks to) my geography, I’ve been fortunate enough to come across a delectable sour red ale from one of North Carolina’s finest breweries, the Asheville-based Wicked Weed Brewing Company. They call it Oblivion, and they give it a little story. Read More

Black Shirt Brewing Co., Denver, CO

Can you name another brewery that specializes only in red ales? I can’t. Black Shirt Brewing Co. is doing what you wouldn’t expect, focusing solely on creating red ales for the reason that they want to do one thing and do it right.

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Stone Brewery Co. – Levitation Ale

Levitation Ale – Stone Brewery Co., Escondido, CA ABV: 4.4% IBU: 45

For the past couple of years, I have found that almost all the beers I have had at … Read More

Unibroue Brewery | Maudite

ABV: 8% | IBU: 22

Unibroue beers are juxtaposed with history and mythology. In an important way, the juxtaposition is quite literal; the bottom refermentation process that most of its French Canadian beers undergo produces a look and style that defies modernity. These unfiltered beers are a refreshing alternative to both the sterility and uninteresting nature of your local Safeway favorites, and one note style-box beers. Maudite is no different. It’s murky look and yeasty odor inspires curiosity. Part of it, I’ll admit, is bias. Its compatriot, La Fin du Monde, is one of my personal go-tos. And with a name that translates literally as “the Damned,” there are plenty of reasons why this beer deserves a pour. Read More