Think you have it in you to make great beer? Here’s your chance. This Saturday, November 7, is the sixth annual Learn to Homebrew Day, sponsored by the American Homebrewer’s Association (AHA). We got into the game a couple of years ago when our friend Jeff agreed to show us the ropes and, since then, have made three batches of delicious beer. Not exactly a commercial pace of production, but a welcome addition to our refrigerator.

Our experience reflects a national trend. It’s been legal to brew your own beer since 1978, and that change in U.S. law has been responsible for the “Craft Beer Revolution” we’ve seen in this country over the last 30 years. These first homebrewers in the late 70’s moved from their garages to starting the first wave of microbreweries in the early 80’s, and then many like Sierra Nevada founder Ken Grossman developed their operations into today’s craft beer giants.

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We consider ourselves humble students of beer, always looking for a good new book or website, and frequently checking the ones we have grown to trust. Yesterday during a panel at the Women Chef and Restaurateurs National Conference, Tammy and several other regional beeries were asked for some good sources on beer.

It got us thinking: out of the non-blog resources out there about beer, what bubbles to the top? Below are our top five, in no particular order (and probably no surprise, since we mention these often). We’d love to hear what yours are, so cite those references in the comments section…APA format optional.

1. Anything by Michael Jackson, the end all, be all beer guru, is a must. Ask someone you consider to be a beer expert what they have read and MJ’s books are on their list. We guarantee it.

2. Beertown.org is the Brewers’ Association website and has a great beer info and education page, as well as tons of nitty-gritty info about homebrewing and the craft beer industry.

3. Beer Advocate has a very thorough set of Beer 101 pages in their education section and tons of descriptions and ratings for almost every beer known to man by regular old joes and janes just like you.

4. All About Beer magazine doesn’t have the sexiest or most up-to-date website, but we look forward to getting the actual magazine every two months. It’s always full of good stuff…all about beer (duh).

5. The Naked Pint came out earlier this year and is a very informative, witty, and thorough book by Hallie Beaune and queen of the popular blog Beer for Chicks, Christina Perozzi. Tammy’s reading the book now and we’re going to have the chance to meet the L.A. women beer expert authors later this month. (Sorry folks-it’s a media-only event, but we’ll write about meeting them and plenty more about the book soon.) The Lagerheads have Sam Chapple-Sokol of Humble Gourmand and Inkwell fame to thank for turning us on to it. We’ll get your copy back to you unscathed, buddy!

Quick note here about a couple of exciting beers we found recently, both Scottish imports aged in–what else?–Scotch whiskey barrels. If you have a taste for such things, get thee to Connecticut Avenue Wine & Spirits (1529 Connecticut Avenue, NW), a block north of Dupont Circle and a few doors up from Kramerbooks. Ask for Al, the store’s friendly and well-informed beer guy, and have him talk to you about Dark Island Reserve and Fraoch 20th Anniversary Ale. Both are limited edition artisanal beers and, yes, cost a pretty penny–in excess of $20 for a 750ml bottle. One caveat: beers like these tend to age exceptionally well, so we have yet to try them. So buy them on faith. If nothing else, it’ll be an adventure. Last we checked there were about four bottles of each on Al’s shelves.

Beer vs. Wine | A Brief History from Redtail Media on Vimeo.

It’s official: beer is better than wine. Okay, maybe that’s going a bit far, but it certainly can hold its own as a food pairing. Just ask the judges of a three-part “Beer vs. Wine” competition that pitted Stone Brewing Company against Napa Valley’s Trinchero Family Estates. Leading into last week’s third and final challenge, the score was split, beer having taken the first event in 2007; wine the second in 2008. This year, in a ritzy dinner hosted at Rancho Bernardo Inn’s El Bizcocho restaurant in San Diego on October 16, beer edged out wine by a single vote. Not the landslide we may have hoped for, but, hey, we’ll take it. Stone Brewing’s Greg Koch gloats over the victory here.

The Marshall Plan. NATO. David Hasselhoff. Collaboration between Germany and the United States is not new. But rarely has it spilled over into the world of beer–the glue that, almost as much as the Bundesrat, holds Germany together. After all, what could German brewers possibly have to learn from their German brethren?

Over the summer, Atlantic beer writer Clay Risen taunted Berlin’s beer-drinking public–basically everybody–in his critique in der Tagesspiegel of German beer culture. (Disclosure: Risen’s a friend and trusted drinking pal of ours.) He argued that American beers are every bit as good…and, ahem, more innovative… than their German counterparts. This is not to say that they’re better; just different. Benign stuff, right? A simple acknowledgment of what’s been happening with American beer for several decades. Well, the Germans didn’t see it that way, and the article caused quite a fuss.

Read More “Germans Getting Into American Craft Beer?” »

Late October has proven to be a great time to be a beer lover in DC. Yesterday was a big day, with a beer dinner at Belga Cafe, one at Rock Bottom Arlington, and the glorious opening of Birch & Barley/ChurchKey (whose taps start running at 4pm today).

There’s plenty more beer to drink and fun to be had over the next week. Check out our DC Beer Events Calendar below the list for details on each event.

SATURDAY & SUNDAY, OCTOBER 24 & 25

• Northern Virginia BrewFest at Bull Run Park in Centreville

MONDAY, OCTOBER 26

• Smuttynose Dinner with Lead Brewer Dan Schubert at Birreria Paradiso
• Octoberfest Dinner at Rock Bottom Brewery in Arlington

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 27

• Garrett Oliver Brooklyn Beer Dinner at Brasserie Beck [Sold Out]
• WHY IS THERE BEER? Panel & Tasting at the Brickskeller
• Beer Class & Straffe Hendrik Launch Party at Belga Cafe

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 28

• All-American Harvest Celebration at Granville Moore’s
• Great Pumpkin Beer & Food Tasting at the Black Squirrel

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 30

• Night of the Living Zoo (from the Cauldrons of Magic Hat) at the National Zoo [Sold Out]

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 31

• Sam Adams/Washington City Paper Halloween Bash at RFD

Read More “A Big Week for Beer in DC” »

We can’t all be gourmands every hour of every day. Sometimes less really is more. That’s why when the Lagerheads shared a bottle of Jolly Pumpkin’s Oro de Calabaza with friends at a party this weekend, we experimented with some pairings that would make most self-respecting foodies squirm.

We are sure food-and-beer pairing guru Garrett Oliver, who will be gracing DC with his presence at Brasserie Beck this Tuesday, would not approve. But after trying the beer with chips and salsa, frosted cookies, cheese and crackers, and candy corn, we found a clear winner…of the triangular, orange, and waxy variety.

In this guilty pleasure pairing, the Lagerheads declare Oro de Calabaza and candy corn a winning combination. Since the beer is on the funky side (beer geek translation: horse blanket), we decided to try it with candy. Just like sour ales are often subdued with sugary fruit syrups, we thought the corn syrup and honey in the candy corn might cut the funkiness of the beer, which is caused by wild Belgian yeast.

We were right, but we are certain that Ron Jeffries, the renowned “creator of beers of outstanding art and grace, philosopher of things beery, and outspoken advocate of the slower, finer life,” would be appauled to find out that we paired junk food with his award-winning Biere de Garde, but we’re sticking to our guns and encourage you to give it a try.  (Note: Bottles of Oro de Calabaza were on sale at DeVine’s in Columbia Heights earlier this month.)

Have you had some fancy-pants beer pairings lately, or made any lowbrow discoveries like ours? We’d like to hear about it.

Early this summer when the weather was ripe for it, several of you joined in our plea for a local outdoor space to grab steins of German beer and enjoy brats in the open air. Temperatures are now cooling off, but it seems that our prayers will be answered soon.

Russia House co-owner Aaron McGovern is heading up a project on H Street that could help fill DC’s beer garden void. According to last month’s Capital Community News, Biergarten Haus, a 5,000-square-foot German restaurant, will occupy the two store fronts adjacent to Rock N’ Roll Hotel (where NorthEast Salon and DC Sanctuary used to be).

McGovern is planning a menu full of traditional German fare for his new restaurant, and an outdoor beer garden that we hope will satisfy the nostalgia of all those lucky enough to have been to a real Bavarian biergarten in Germany. As you can see from the Weltenburger Kloster photo above, that means long wooden tables under the shade of trees, space for plenty of people longing for some gemutlichkeit, an occasional oom-pah band, and most importantly, lots of great German beer. We’re not sure how well the location will allow McGovern to deliver on all these stipulations, but there will be twelve taps, and that’s a good start. We’ll see about the polka. More details and our outdoor drinking spot picks below.

Read More “DC Finally Getting a German Beer Garden? The Lagerheads Share their Outdoor Picks in the Meantime” »

The Black Squirrel is rapidly becoming one of our favorite spots. It’s not only a great neighborhood hang, it’s also a rising power on the DC beer scene. Most exciting is the news that the bar has plans to become a brew pub, adding a selection of original concoctions to its already impressive list of imported and domestic craft brews. Like many other bars, The Black Squirrel already has a few house beers on tap, but these are merely rebranded versions of other beers, usually of the fizzy yellow variety. An experimental batch of real house beer has already been kegged, but word is that the owners are refining their potions and looking to begin production on a larger scale in the near future. Earlier this summer, they even sent an employee to beer school in the UK. We look forward to sampling the results.

In the meantime, there’s yet another excuse to go over there and pepper them with questions about their future plans, which we have heard may also include a live music venue and a cocktail bar. The Great Pumpkin Beer and Food Tasting, an event co-sponsored by DCBeer.com, will feature an array of pumpkin beers and food on Wednesday, October 28th. Between 7:30pm and 10:30pm, you’ll be able to try things like Smuttynose Pumpkin Ale or Weyerbacher Imperial Pumpkin (which both scored high on Capital Spice’s pumpkin beer tasting) and see how they go with seasonal delicacies like Butternut Squash Soup and Corn and Pumpkin Cupcakes. We tried a Cape Ann Fisherman’s Pumpkin Stout there last week and it was killer. Tickets are $45. Dress for Halloween, and you’ll have the chance to win a $125 door prize for best costume. Space is limited, so you’ll want to buy tickets in advance. For information on how to do that, click here.

The National Zoo’s first adult (not to be confused with adult-themed) Halloween bash has already proven to be as popular as the zoo’s kiddy nights are each year. Night of the Living Zoo, an adults-only night presented by Magic Hat on October 30, sold out over two weeks ahead of time. At $25 a ticket, the event looks like it will be a lot of fun and raise quite a bit of money for a good cause.

According to Bob Lamb, Executive Director of Friends of the National Zoo (FONZ), zoo events are as much about raising awareness and appreciation of the zoo as they are about raising money for zoo programs. The Lagerheads chatted with him at Brew at the Zoo in August, where we got to sample a dozen beers from over 40 breweries represented at our city’s annual beer festival. Lamb said that FONZ plans their events to help bring DC residents out to enjoy the zoo in different seasons, and to appeal to young adults and young professionals as well as long-time supporters of the National Zoo.

The folks at FONZ and Magic Hat are really excited about the event, which invites anyone 21-and-over to come out in costume to enjoy a night of decked-out animal houses, palm readers, fire eaters, illusionists, live music, and dancing. Food and Magic Hat beer will also be available…for purchase. Magic Hat “elixirs” featured at the event include their standard #9 “Not Quite Pale Ale” as well as three seasonal releases: Lucky Kat, an American IPA, Howl, a Black Winter Lager, and the Winter ‘09 Odd Notion, an American-Style Sour Ale this time around.

Read More “Night of the Living Zoo Sells Out Weeks in Advance” »