Last week I had the privilege of attending a debut dinner for Sam Adams Utopias, the most alcoholic beer in the world. Held at Quality Meats in Midtown Manhattan, myself and a handful of others were treated to a three-course dinner with passed hors d'oeuvres, all paired with Sam Adams beers.

For a 5:30 dinner, I was the first to show up at 5:00. After grabbing a few beers at the bar and listening to a cute red-headed waitress tell me everything she knew about folding napkins, people started to shuffle in. I was flying solo on this mission and, keeping an eye out for people my age, I joined a conversation that looked promising. A host led us upstairs to the private dining room and after talking to Sam Adams founder Jim Koch about his famed Utopias, dinner began.  Keep Reading »

While BM-ing the other day, I was reading Men's Journal's 25 Best Beers in America in their latest issue. Ommegang's Three Philosophers topped the list of best dark beers and after drinking a bottle the other night, I can see why.

I've reviewed an Ommegang beer here before and loved it; plus the brewery is in Cooperstown, home of the Baseball Hall of Fame and it being World Series week and all, I figured, why not.  Keep Reading »

Editor's Note: Every week our food and beer guru Chef Evan reviews a new beer worth checking out. Click here for the full archive.

O.K., I'm not a big fan of Bud Light. I don't often drink it or buy it. I actually go out of the way to avoid buying Anheuser Busch or MillerCoors products partially because I like to support smaller breweries, partially because most of their beer tastes like it has already been drunk, pissed out, and then re-bottled.

When asked to do a review of the brand new Bud Light Golden Wheat, I reluctantly bought my 12-pack, drank all of them at once, did a little researching, and discovered some interesting facts.

Bud Light Golden Wheat bought out all the commercials on "Saturday Night Live" last weekend. The Anheuser Busch sponsorship was the first of its kind on SNL probably because all the people who would be watching TV at midnight on Saturday are out drinking better beer.  Keep Reading »

I bought this beer purely for how fucking big the can was. Look at this thing! Harkens back to the days I drank Steel Reserve and Mad Dog; back when my drinking motto was, "Whatever gets the job done." Over a liter of beer is a lot to have to drink before it gets cold. Let me put that in perspective. A pint is usually what people order (2 cups, culinarily speaking). A quart is two pints. A liter is almost two quarts, or, a half gallon. So this one huge, Viking-size Faxe beer is like drinking almost four beers. And you have to drink it fast so it doesn't get warm.  Keep Reading »

Okay, it's autumn. It's getting chilly outside and I just bought a new hoodie. I also just bought a new beer, Scarecrow Golden Pale Ale, with a fall-ish looking name and label to drink with some of my famous chili.

Wychwood Brewery from Oxforshire, England, wants to help you carve the best pumpkin you can and celebrate All Hallow's Eve with a line of Halloween-y beers to get you as drunk as possible while wearing a silly costume. With names like Hobgoblin and Black Wych, Wychwood Brewery pulls no punches on the Halloween themes. They also make all of their beer from organic ingredients, if you're into that sort of thing.

The Scarecrow I had was nicely dark golden in color and had a rich grassy aroma with a small, quickly fading head. Nice carbonation and the good fall flavors of a strong pale ale were a welcomed departure from the piss-water I had just drank on a five day Busch Light bender. Nicely balanced and a slightly sweet aftertaste.

Since all of us can't make it to Munich for Oktoberfest this year we've got our own stateside German heritage celebration with bars, brats, and, of course, beers. In Part One we'll be discussing two Oktoberfest specialty brews from the Empire State.

When Crown Prince Ludwig of Bavaria was married in 1810 he threw a kick-ass rager with horse racing and lots of beer. The resulting brew and festival were dubbed Oktoberfest and have been celebrated as a 16 day all-you-can-drink festival of beer and everything Deutschland. The Oktoberfest Marzen style of beer uses German malt and hops, but some of its best examples are from right in my neck of the woods, New York.

Interesting Fact: Brooklyn Brewery hired Milton Glaser, an iconic graphic designer, to create the logo for the brewery. Glaser, co-founder of New York Magazine, is responsible for creating another iconic New York logo: the I Love New York slogan you see on T-shirts everywhere.

Brooklyn Brewery Oktoberfest

NYC's premiere brewery, Brooklyn Brewery supplies bars not just throughout the five boroughs but all over the country. Famous for its Brooklyn Lager, the Williamsburg brewery puts out an Oktoberfest style to keep New Yorkers drunk throughout the whole two-week festival.  Keep Reading »

The signs of changing seasons are all around us: cooler weather, football on TV, the kids back at school, and autumn seasonal beers on store shelves. While leaf peeping or picking apples are some ways of ringing in the fall, the rest of us men drink beer. Fall seasonal beers are my favorite. Heavier and more bitter than light summer ales and not as spiced and fruity as winter lagers, beers released in the fall are always rich in flavor, dark, and strong enough to get the job done. Enjoy both these beers while watching football on a chilly Sunday afternoon.

Smuttynose Pumpkin Ale

Based in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, Smuttynose Brewery has been supplying a line of flavorful beers to the New England area since 1994. David Yarrington, the executive brewer, is a graduate of UC Davis' Master Brewers Program and has earned his hop chops at breweries across the country.  Keep Reading »

I've gone on record here about how I feel about Samuel Adams and the Boston Beer Company but I'll say it again anyway.

They make good beer. Tim Koch has carved out a little niche between the humongous but bland MillerCoors/Anheuser-Busch empire and delicious regional craft beers made with care and respect for the beer drinker. Sam Adams makes kick ass brew that everybody across the entire country can enjoy. I always look forward to trying new Sam Adams flavors and jumped at the chance recently to sample three beers for the price of one sixer. The variety pack consists of Irish Red, Black Lager, and the 2008 Beer Lover's Choice Blackberry Witbier.  Keep Reading »

I confess to know nothing of Jewish Kosher dietary laws nor do I care to learn. I like cheeseburgers, lobster, oysters, clams, mussels, bacon, pork chops, and porchetta (recipe coming soon) too much to read or learn about the plight of the people who choose not to have them for whatever reason. Nevertheless, Kosher foods and beers are not to be overlooked. Companies that produce Kosher foods are no doubt at a disadvantage but that makes their accomplishments all the better, kind of like the one girl a semester your fat friend sleeps with.

He'Brew, a Kosher derivative of Shmaltz Brewing Company born in San Francisco and based in New York, makes Kosher beers including a Jewbelation Bar Mitzvah beer commemorating their 13th anniversary with 13 different malts, 13 different hops, and an alcohol content of, you guessed it, 13% abv. But we'll save that for a more momentous occasion. The Chosen Beer's Origin Pomegranate Ale struck my fancy at a recent shopping trip. Based on Torah passages touting the pomegranate as a symbol of origin and righteousness, Origin Pomegranate Ale is an Imperial Amber Ale brewed with pomegranate juice for a luscious, decadent beer.  Keep Reading »

This week I've left New York to travel back to my home state of Texas for some much needed meditation, beer drinking, barbecue, and Tex-Mex. My final entry is another notable beer: Bombshell Blonde Pale Ale from Southern Star Brewery in Conroe, Texas. Just north of Houston, Conroe's previous claim to fame was that it housed the first Super Wal-Mart in the Houston Metro area. Southern Star Brewery was just opened last year and they are already taking Texas' bars and beer stores by storm with - get this - beer in a can.

Canned beer is normally looked down upon. Relegated to ice-chests at tailgates or shot-gunning at parties, most beer in a can is flavorless piss water praised by undergrads for its chug-ability and not its flavor. Bombshell Blonde is not most beer.  Keep Reading »

As I've said before, I love barbecue. Smoke adds a depth of flavor and roundness to meat and vegetables that is unmatched. Smoke is versatile and is used by many cultures for many different preparations. Earlier this summer I attended the Taste of Tribeca food festival in New York, where I saw Leah Cohen from last season's "Top Chef" use smoked yogurt in a lamb recipe. I've tasted smoked cheeses, chocolates, candy, fruit, vegetables, nuts, and yes, yogurt. Now I can add smoked beer to the list.

Spoetzl Brewery, a little brewery in Shiner, Texas, serves up Shiner Smokehaus with Mesquite-smoked pale malts. This Helles-style beer is light bodied and pairs well with barbecue of any kind or anything grilled. The flavor of the beer is pure Texas. Smoky and refreshing, it's ideal for a post-lawn mowing drink while the barbecue is heating up for tonight's dinner. The Spoetzl Brewer produces my favorite beer of all time, Shiner Bock, and they know how to make beer for Texans.  Keep Reading »

Some would disagree, but I think I've had some of my best ideas while drunk or drinking. One would argue that the impaired judgment that alcohol provides would lead me to make mistakes or to bad ideas, but quite a few sheets to the wind, I both met my girlfriend of a year and a half at a bar, and once got into that bar fight, and won. To all you naysayers I offer the inspiring majesty of Ommegang Abbey Ale.

After tasting this beer last night I decided that I would like to drink beer for a living. This top-fermented, bottle-conditioned brew simultaneously put my vision out of -- and my life into -- focus. A pipe dream to some, drinking beer and getting paid for it is not entirely out of reach. I could open a brewery, become a beer sommelier, or just continue to do what I do already and write about it.  Keep Reading »

For many reasons, beer is my favorite thing in the world. I can go from acting gentlemanly and waxing poetic about hops in the nose and the body that carbonation adds to the palate to wreck-shop belligerent singing "Piano Man" in the course of just a few pints. Beer allows me to simultaneously be a man (cause I'm drinkin' beer damnit!) and a gentleman (cause I'm drinkin' nice beer damnit!). Not only does it taste great and get you drunk, beer also makes food taste better.

Wine is largely considered to be the preferred table drink (wine and dine, wine and cheese, the wine list), but beer holds just as much of a place on the white tablecloth as does that old grape juice. The carbonation unlocks flavors that lay dormant in some wines and while some spit out the wine they taste, beer has bitter flavors that are only unlocked when you swallow and the brew washes over your bitter taste receptors at the back of your tongue. Some restaurants, like Caf D'Alsace on the Upper East Side of New York City, have even instituted a beer sommelier.  Keep Reading »

Not only does Samuel Adams make delicious beer, but here's an example of founder Jim Koch doing great things for the Boston community and the brewing community.

Samuel Adams has recently released a beer brewed specially for the people of Boston. Boston Brick Red is already on taps across the Boston area, but exclusivity is only part of the intrigue of this new brew. Founder Jim Koch knows what it's like to have big dreams and no money. He started the Boston Beer Company on a shoestring budget and sold a product he believed in door to door until his excitement caught on and Samuel Adams nestled in the clutch spot between small craft microbreweries and enormous Anheuser-Busch-scale operations. Every pint of Boston Brick Red sold contributes to Samuel Adams' Brewing the American Dream charity, which assists under-funded entrepreneurs in the food and beverage industry. Koch and his Boston Brick Red have already helped over 20 companies and created almost 200 jobs in the greater Boston area.  Keep Reading »

I've been in the mood for really high-alcohol beers lately, barley wines in particular. Maybe it's the rich, malted caramel flavor I'm drawn to. Maybe it's the intense hop characteristics that I've been known to seek out, or maybe, I just like the idea of getting hammered off of just two pints. This week I stopped by the Beer Wall at my local grocery and chose the highest alcohol content beer they had to write about, and I am happy to report that Lagunitas Olde Gnarly Wine Style Ale is more than just the quickest road to getting drunk on beer.

Barley wine is beer with generally 8 to 12% alcohol like wine, but made from grain instead of fruit, and therefore cannot be classified as such. Referred to as "barley wine style ales," barley wines are characterized by a bitterness offset by a strong hops flavor. Though not the only high-alcohol beers on the market, barley wines make up for the majority of the over 8% alcohol beers sold in the world. Others include old ales, or "winter warmers," that have a strong flavor due to cask fermentation. In the past few years, Samuel Adams has release a Utopias brand of over 20% alcohol beers. More like a brandy or a port, these also range amongst the most expensive beers in the world at about $100 a bottle.  Keep Reading »