"craft beer" news and stories

All the Royal Wedding food-related hoopla is just about at its boiling point (though props to the Papa John's employee that created this "beauty"), but finally, something...more stimulating. The folks at craft beer company BrewDog, known for other beer-related stunts such as the world's strongest beer and beer served in taxidermed animals, have created a limited edition "Royal Virility Performance" beer with "Viagra, chocolate, Horny Goat Weed and 'a healthy dose of sarcasm'." Only 1,000 bottles will be made, and the beer will ship on April 28, the day before the Royal Wedding. BrewDog explains:

With this beer we want to take the wheels off the royal wedding bandwagon being jumped on by dozens of breweries; The Royal Virility Performance is the perfect antidote to all the hype. A beer should be brewed with a purpose, not just because some toffs are getting married, so we created something at our brewery that will undermine those special edition beers and other assorted seaside tat, whilst at the same time actually give the happy couple something extra on their big day...There is more to brewing and tasting beer than putting a royal wedding label on it, so we're showing everyone just how ludicrous it is.

BrewDog claims they have sent Prince William a complimentary bottle.

American craft beers keep upping the hops content, making them more and more bitter. But, reports Lizzie Buchen, in New Scientist magazine, humans have a universal dislike for bitter flavors. "Many bitter substances are at best nutritionally useless and at worst downright toxic," Buchen writes, "so we have evolved ways to protect ourselves. Placing a bitter foodstuff on the tongue will trigger a reflex reaction that encourages us to spit it out, or increase saliva flow to wash the taste away. A harmless bitter substance inserted directly into a person's stomach will generally induce nausea."

So why are we running after bitter beers with names like HopSlam?

Psychologists, chemists, neuroscientists and brewers offer Buchen a complex web of reasons, ranging from our craving to be considered connoisseurs to a basic love of carbs ("bitter, hoppy beers often have a higher content of sugar-releasing malts, making for a more intense carbohydrate fix"). And, of course, there's the old "benign masochism" that University of Pennsylvania psychologist Paul Rozin speaks about: pure and simple thrill-seeking, pushing ourselves to the limits of pain, for pure pleasure.

Read the full story at New Scientist (Note that you have to register with the site for access, but it's worth it: This is one of the best science mags on the market.)

And for our resident beer expert Joshua Bernstein's take on a high-hops brew see his post "Hoppin' Frog B.O.R.I.S. the Crusher Oatmeal-Imperial Stout.

Does your beer only contain water, hops, barley and yeast? Boring. Driven by creative impulses -- and aided by an arsenal of spices to rival a restaurant kitchen -- craft brewers today are creating beers that are as unorthodox as they are exquisite. Here are 10 flavorful weirdos.

Short's Key Lime Pie
Michigan-based Short's makes countless kooky brews (for instance, Bloody Beer features tomatoes and Bloody Mary seasonings), but I like Key Lime Pie. It's made with marshmallows, graham crackers and lime, expertly evoking the dessert.

Mama Mia! Pizza Beer
This beer doesn't just taste like pizza -- it's made with pizza. An entire whole-wheat pizza margherita is used in the brewing process, complete with basil, oregano and garlic. Thankfully, the beer is strained before it's bottled.

A weekly look at the draft selections in beer-friendly bars across the country.

New Orleans is a city that is known for its parties and its drinking. But for a place that loves alcoholic beverages, craft beer has been conspicuously underrepresented in their landscape of libations.

Polly Watts, owner of New Orleans' The Avenue Pub, pointed to people's preference for other drinks. "Louisiana is a big liquor consumer," she explains. "Lots of vodka and rum." It makes sense: Bourbon Street is more than just a catchy name. And The Big Easy's penchant for fine dining plays a role as well. "We're a really big wine state too," she told us.

Not to say that beer didn't exist. It just wasn't always the drink of choice. And it was rarely ever craft. "For decades, the only beer you'd see was generic macrobrews," said Watts, before adding, "maybe an occasional Abita," referencing one of Louisiana's few well-known craft breweries.

A weekly look at the draft selections in beer-friendly bars across the country.

For almost two years now, Charlotte, N.C.'s Revolution Pizza & Ale House has had a mission: offer up the largest selection of North Carolina draft beer anywhere in the country.

For Revolution, that typically means dedicating around 15 of their 44 draft lines to beers from in-state, providing a one-stop shop for patrons to try local brewers that can be tough to hunt down elsewhere -- names like Catawba Valley, Duck-Rabbit, Foothills and Pisgah. Basically, breweries that sound like they are from North Carolina.

That's why, as bar manager Christine Ferguson points out, her bar is especially popular with out-of-towners: "A lot of people from out of state will come and say, 'What is your favorite North Carolina beer?'" Luckily, she has a system that makes answering that question especially easy: she stocks what she likes.

Read more about Revolution Pizza & Ale House and find the most recent draft list, after the jump...