Menuism Beer Blog

Photo by Dave Jensen

Over the past year or two, you may have noticed a style of beer called gose starting to appear with more regularity at your favorite beer bars, bottle shops, and breweries. Gose is pronounced gohz-uh, and is an old German style of beer experiencing a resurgence in the modern craft beer market.

What exactly is a gose beer?

First, to clear up any confusion over the name, gose is not gueuze, which is a Belgian-style sour made from aged and fresh lambic. Instead, gose is a German-style sour beer that is tart, fruity, and quite refreshing. The primary ingredients in gose beers are wheat, barley, coriander, and salt. Gose is fermented with top fermenting ale yeast as well as lactobacillus, which makes the beer sour. More than half of the gose beers on the market also have fruit, which works perfectly with the sour and salt flavors. The refreshing and tart qualities of a gose is one reason why this beer is so popular, especially as a summer seasonal. (more…)

Photo by prdcrman

by Brian Stechschulte, Executive Director, San Francisco Brewers Guild

If you’re thirsty for a beer tonight, satisfying that urge is pretty simple. Your corner store, watering hole, or even better yet, local brewery, should offer a range of great choices. Unfortunately, depending on where you live, that’s not always the case. The creation, delivery, and your access to beer is highly regulated. Many laws serve an important purpose, while others stifle economic growth and limit choices for beer fans. The groups confronting these issues around the country are brewers’ guilds, and the benefits of their collaboration extend far beyond the legal landscape. (more…)

Photo by bartek.koplin

by John Verive, Beer of Tomorrow

As craft beer gains popularity, tap lists grow longer, and beers become more creative and extreme it sometimes seems that a craft beer fan can have too many options. It may be a wonderful problem to face, but if you’d rather not struggle deciding what beer to try there’s a simple solution. If you just want a satisfying and restorative beer, try a pilsner. The classic golden lager makes for an excellent start to a session, is great before a meal, and pilsners pair wonderfully with many foods. It’s an easy call; try one and see why the pilsner is considered by many brewers to be “the brewer’s beer.” (more…)

Photo by defekto

by John Verive, Beer of Tomorrow

We all know beer is delicious. But what you may not know is this wonderful beverage is inexorably tied to the human experience. The history of beer is long, and its earliest records are as fascinating as the changes that are happening in the beer world today.

Beer Is Linked to the Development of Human Civilization

The history of fermented beverages is a riveting, if fragmented, tale. The earliest recorded recipe was a hymn to the Sumerian goddess of brewing dated to 3000 B.C. The hymn lyrically explained how to brew a beer known as kas, which means “what the mouth desires.” Sounds about right. (more…)

Photo by Nick Olejniczak

by John Verive, Beer of Tomorrow

Today’s beer drinkers demand more than the thin, yellow lagers from the giant multi-national breweries. They are better informed and have a more developed palate than ever before, and the craft beer industry has been happy to grow along with the surging ranks of beer fans. However, there are many pervasive myths and misconceptions about every aspect of beer that refuse to go away. Let’s take a look at some of the most heinous falsities and set the record straight on dark beers, proper serving and storage temperature, and the damage done by years of beer advertisements. (more…)

Photo by David Jensen

Thank Oskar Blues of Lyons, Colorado, for serving Dale’s Pale Ale in a can back in 2002. Ten years later, there are dozens of craft breweries making their beer available in cans.

But why cans? Doesn’t it ruin the taste of the beer? Actually, just the opposite is true. Modern cans, unlike cans from more than 20 years ago, have a water-based polymer lining that prevent the beer from touching any metal while in the can. Canned beer has a better seal than bottles, locking out oxygen that can damage the beer. No light can get inside, which means a canned beer will never be light struck, or skunked. Environmentally, cans are more easily and more often recycled than glass, and because cans are lighter, they take less energy to ship. Finally, cans are much more portable and can go many places where glass cannot. (more…)