Last week I did an overview of dark beers, but that was a break from a series I’ve been working on, covering key regions for American craft beer. First in the series was the Southeast, second was California and next up is Colorado. Colorado is second only to California in the quantity, quality and fame of its breweries.

I’m in the middle of a series of columns highlighting different regions of American craft beer, but I like to take a break from series like that. This time of year I hear a lot people insisting on drinking dark beer.

Last week I kicked off a series on the key regions of craft beer in America. I started close to home by covering the Southeast; now it’s time to shift focus to the golden goose of good beer in this country, California.

I devote a lot of real estate in this column to praising the virtues of American craft beer. There’s a good reason for that: American craft breweries make the best beer in the world.

I ended my column last week exhorting folks to be on the lookout for winter seasonal beers. It was a passing mention, and I’ve decided this week would be a good time to describe some of those beers in detail. Generally speaking, most winter beers fall into one of a few categories.

As Birmingham beer culture improves, from time to time there will be too much beer news for me to devote an entire column to every notable happening. So this week I am introducing a semiregular feature I’m dubbing “Beer News Around The Ham”, in which I highlight a variety of news bits that will be of interest to metro beer drinkers.

This past Sunday was a remarkable moment in the history of the beer industry in Alabama. Representatives from all six breweries and beer companies currently in operation in our state were all under one roof for the first time, along with a representative from Mississippi’s only brewery, Lazy Magnolia.

This column is focused on “craft” beer, as opposed to the big brands that still dominate beer sales worldwide. The terms “craft beer” and “micro-brew” are sometimes used interchangeably, but they are actually distinct from one another.

I think the most surprised reactions I’ve encountered when talking to people who aren’t very familiar with craft beer have come when I’ve mentioned aging certain beers for extended periods of time. The only beer commercials you see on TV zealously promote the importance of freshness with their products.

The typical question that usually gets posted on craft beer message boards goes something like this: “My buddy is a hardcore Miller Lite (or Bud Light, or Coors Light) drinker and he’s coming over for the game on Saturday, what should I give him to introduce him to craft beer?” The ensuing thread of replies is typically long and unwieldy.