Blog Archives
Madrid: City of cañas, cask-aged lagers and culinary adventures
How could I have forgotten about the caña?
The first time I visited Spain, way back in 2004 (on my honeymoon), my wife and I would always make an early-evening beeline to the bars serving tapas along with the house selection of beers, wines and spirits. The evening typically would begin with una cerveza, frequently costing little more than a euro or two. But the bars really weren’t losing money on the pours, as they were served in these small, 20-cl (roughly 6.7-ounce) glasses, which, I later learned, were called cañas (they hold a volume similar to that of the Kölsch stange glass, just a different shape). If you saw anything even remotely like those in U.S. bars and restaurants, they’d be filled with orange juice. And that’s a real shame because it truly is the perfect-size glass, especially for happy hours and bar crawls. (As anyone who’s had a beer with me will tell you, I’m notorious for leaving unfinished pints). Read the rest of this entry
Merchant du Vin to import Zundert Trappist Ale to U.S. this summer
Seattle-based specialty beer importer Merchant du Vin will add to its already impressive portfolio of monk-brewed ales when it brings De Kievit Trappist Brewery’s Zundert brand to the U.S. this summer. 
Abbey Toevlucht, home to De Kievit, was established in the 1900 in the quiet Netherlands countryside outside the village of Zundert, near the Belgian border. The brewery, built in one of the abbey’s historical farm buildings, began selling beer in 2013. The lapwing weathervane on the roof inspired the name of the brewery, and remains in place still: Brouwerij De Kievit—”The Lapwing Brewery”—also uses the crested northern lapwing in its logo. Read the rest of this entry
I’ll talk your ear off!
Hey, looking for a booze expert for a lecture, guided tasting/dinner or any related drink-related speaking opportunity? Hit me up!
I’m for hire. I’m also a Certified Sake Sommelier and Certified Shochu Adviser, if those strike your fancy. But I my expertise extends to a wide spectrum of distilled spirits and fermented beverages (including beer!)
Drop me a line at jeff@drinkableglobe.com
Virginia Distillery Co. to release 1st batch of whiskey from craft beer collaboration
Virginia Distillery Company plans to release the first batch of its Brewers Batch Virginia-Highland Whisky this week. Batch #1 was done in collaboration with Three Notch’d Brewing Company, a Central Virginia brewery. Release parties at both the distillery’s Visitors Center as well as the brewery will take place on February 10, 2018.
Three Notch’d Brewing created a Wee Heavy style beer especially for batch #1 called “Stage Road”. The brewery used Virginia Distillery Company’s whisky casks to age the beer for a number of months and Virginia Distillery Company took the barrels back for finishing this inaugural release of Brewers Batch. The whisky finished in these casks for 12 months. Read the rest of this entry
Bon Beer Voyage scores major award from World Food Travel Association
My friend, Ruth Berman, just sent me this press release about her company Bon Beer Voyage. Major congratulations on winning a FoodTrekking Award from the World Food Travel Association!
Brewers Association releases annual Top 50 Breweries list
The Brewers Association (BA) has just released its annual rankings of the Top 50 Craft Breweries and Top 50 Overall Breweries in the U.S. Of the Top 50 Overall Breweries, 40 meet the BA’s definition of “craft brewer.” Not a ton of surprises this year, other than the fact that Duvel Moortgat USA has shot up to No. 6 on the craft brewers list from No. 15 in 2015. But that’s not really a surprise because the jump is primarily due to the fact that Duvel Moortgat acquired 2015’s No. 13 brewery, Firestone Walker. See the graphics below for the complete lists.
