Hop Chatter

The winter is upon us, and with every snowfall comes a new winter season beer for you to enjoy. Here are some great winter inspired beers to warm yourself up with during the most wonderful time of the year here in the Capital Region.

Many people pride themselves on how they take their coffee, but however you decide to drink it will not matter. This brand new coffee beer embodies everyone’s favorite tastes of coffee, caramel, espresso and chocolate.

It's Friday night, and instead of putting your go-to vodka soda on a pedestal, you decide to venture out into the wilderness and drink beer. You go to the local grocery store and are straightaway bored as you walk by the uninspiring Budweiser selection.

Halloween is my favorite time of year because, what is better than having the excuse to eat all the candy you want? Well, I think I know one thing: eating all the Halloween candy you want while drinking some of your favorite beers! Here is a list of my favorite Halloween candies paired with some great New York State craft beers.

Previously in "Ode to An Old Friend" I talked about my first true love, Ithaca Flower Power. That post was wax poetic, exemplifying how much I loved that beer and how it molded me into the craft beer drinker I am today. Initially, I almost exclusively drank IPAs and wouldn't touch a dark beer. They were too mysterious.

What's more baseball than freshly cut grass, the roar of the crowd, the crack of the bat, and the seventh inning stretch? The sound of someone yelling "cold beer here." Baseball and beer have had a tight-knit marriage since the early days of the American brewery boom. Historically, breweries had some of the first sponsorships in the sport. Baseball teams were onced owned by breweries, like the St. Louis Cardinals and Anheuser-Busch and Toronto Blue Jays and Labatt Blue. The Milwaukee Brewers were named to honor the city's huge beer industry. Even baseball stadiums like Coors Field and Busch Stadium have been named after the beer giants.

It's finally that time of the year – the sun is hot, the grill is ready, and the beer is ice cold. Nothing screams "hello summer" like Memorial Day weekend. Whether you spend your weekend at a backyard BBQ, camping in the Adirondacks or boating along the lake, most of your weekends will have a common theme – BBQ and beer. Here are some food and beer pairings for your Memorial Day weekend.

When tasting beer, we often enjoy the intricacies of different styles and variations. We consider this evaluating beer. There are five steps to evaluating beer, which are Appearance, Aroma, Taste, Mouthfeel, and Finish.