If you read our posts you know we have a soft spot in our livers for a handful of things, and Dogfish Head Brewery founder Sam Calagione and collaboration beers are two of them. Now that Dogfish Head and Sierra Nevada are producing what will be each brewery’s the latter’s first collaborative effort, Life & Limb (and companion beer Limb & Life), we seem to have hit the blog jackpot.

The supportive atmosphere and camaraderie among American craft brewers is often commented on,  so it should be no surprise that brewery founders  Sam Calagione and Ken Grossman decided to make a beer together over a couple of cold ones at last year’s Craft Brewer’s Conference in Boston. In early September, just months after Grossman initiated the idea, the two met to brew at Sierra Nevada’s pristine facilities in Chico, California.

The beers were designed to show the personalities of each brewery and the men behind them. We think they have done just that. According to the Life & Limb website:

Read More “Dogfish Head & Sierra Nevada’s Collaboration Ale, Life & Limb, Coming Soon” »

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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As a follow up to our very own Beerspotter’s conversation about top five desert island beers, we offer this account of what some craft-beer stars consider to be the finest beers on the planet. During this year’s Lupulin Reunulin at RFD, a glorious night of drinking and mayhem where a handful of the most innovative American brewers bring out their best, the panelists were asked what they would choose as their last beer on Earth. Here’s what they said.

Vinnie Cilurzo of Russian River in California was the first to respond. Emphatically, he said his last beer would be an Orval, on draft at the brewery in Belgium.

Tomme Arthur of Port / Lost Abbey in California, after confirming that he would have a whole ten minutes left to live to enjoy the beer, said that he would choose one from Alpine Beer Company. He settled on Alpine’s Pure Hoppiness.

Read More “Your Last Beer on Earth: What Do the Pros Say?” »