Beer of the week: Magic Hat #9

Vermont craft beer comes to Birmingham

It always brings a smile to my face to see new beers hitting Birmingham bars and retailers. I love variety. So last week I was happy to see Magic Hat beer come to Birmingham. In business since 1994

Hopped Up

Beer of the week: Urthel Hibernus Quentum

Hibernus Quentum pours up golden in color with a nice head

By Danner Kline

The Urthel brand is a bit outside the norm among Belgian beers. Most Belgian breweries that export to the U.S. have been around at least for decades and in some cases, for centuries. Belgium has a lon

Hopped Up

Bell's Hopslam: A special double IPA

Alas, It may already be gone from area stores

By Danner Kline

Generally speaking, one of my primary goals with Hopped Up is to highlight beers currently available in the Birmingham area so that—after you read this column—you can go search out the brew if it soun

Hopped Up

Good People Brewer's Reserve IPA

The creativity of Good People should make Birmingham proud.

By Danner Kline

Yes, last week we featured a Good People beer in this column (the Belgian Strong Dark). And here we are again, featuring another Good People brew, the Brewer's Reserve IPA. If you don't want to keep

Hopped Up

Good People Belgian Strong Dark

A winter seasonal beer from Birmingham's brewery

By Danner Kline

This week's featured beer is the current winter seasonal from Birmingham's own Good People Brewing Company, their Belgian Strong Dark (BSD). Before I dig into the specifics of the beer, it occurs to m

Hopped Up

Decade of Beer in Review

The aughts were a great decade... for beer.

By Danner Kline

It's that time of the decade, when everyone is doing retrospectives on what defined the last ten years of our lives. Time magazine called it the "Decade from Hell." Something to do with a terrorist a

Hopped Up

Beer of the week: Anchor Christmas

Anchor Our Special Ale

By Danner Kline

This is my last column before Christmas, and I have saved the best Christmas beer for last. Anchor Our Special Ale (commonly abbreviated OSA) was the first winter seasonal craft beer brewed in Americ

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Beer of the week: Moylan’s Hopsickle

Another positive ripple of the ABV bill: the Alabama debut of beers from Moylan's Brewery

By Danner Kline

Last Tuesday, beers from Moylan’s Brewery out of Novato, Calif. debuted in Alabama. Another positive ripple from the passage of Free The Hops’ ABV bill earlier this year, as most of Moylan’s beers are

Hopped Up

Beer of the week: Abita Christmas Ale

By Danner Kline

Another column on Christmas beer! But this one is a different kind of Christmas beer. While my previous columns on winter seasonals highlighted very dark, malty, and spicy “winter warmers,” now I’d

Hopped Up

A taste of IPA

A recent blind tasting proved anew that no two India pale ales are the same

By Danner Kline

This past Sunday evening, I was one of eight participants in a blind tasting of 12 different India Pale Ales (my favorite style of beer). In a blind tasting, the consumer does not know the name of the