An Open Letter To Birmingham’s Restaurants

We need to talk about beer, and how you treat it. More and more Americans are waking up to the world of beer beyond domestic lagers, and we want you to give beer as much respect as you give wine. I’m

Hopped Up

Beer of the week: Corsendonk Christmas Ale

By Danner Kline

Brace yourself for a flurry of winter seasonal reviews over the next few weeks. As as I said last week, I will be buying little else for a while. Though I’ll be sure to break it up with some non-seaso

Hopped Up

Beer of the week: Sweetwater Festive Ale

At 8.6% ABV, Sweetwater Festive Ale is in the sweet spot for winter warmers.

By Danner Kline

We are entering my favorite time of year, for many reasons. The cool temperatures, college football, the falling leaves, the holidays and the wonderful memories they evoke — these all play a part. But

Hopped Up

Free the Hops' 2010 legislative agenda

Thinking drinking: In 2010, FTH plans to introduce a bill designed to reform restrictions placed on Alabama breweries.

By Danner Kline

I’m a little bit odd. Most people would dread the thought of reading through the Alabama Code. It has no plot, no character development and no suspense. It is, to put it bluntly, dry and tedious. But

Hopped Up

Beer of the week: Flying Dog Dogtoberfest

Among Oktoberfest-style beers, Flying Dog Dogtoberfest is a hoppy standout.

By Danner Kline

Just as I couldn’t bear to let the month of October slip past without bringing a pumpkin ale to your attention, I must also highlight an Oktoberfest/Märzen style beer before the clock strikes midnight

Hopped Up

Beer of the week: Anchor Old Foghorn

Anchor Brewing Company's Old Foghorn helped define "American barley wine" as a distinct style.

By Danner Kline

Anchor Brewing Co. is the godfather of the American craft brewing movement. When Fritz Maytag saved the brewery by purchasing a majority stake in 1965, Anchor Steam was America’s only surviving indige

Hopped Up

Beer of the week: Post Road Pumpkin Ale

What could be more fitting than carving your jack-o-lantern while sipping on a brew made from the guts of the gourd you're slicing up?

By Danner Kline

I should note up front that I am not much of a fan of pumpkin beers... any of them. But that's akin to someone telling you he doenn't like shrimp: some people may not like shrimp, but it's actually a

Hopped Up

Great Divide Yeti

By Danner Kline

Usually, when a brewer decides to brew a beer, one of the most fundamental decisions he makes is whether to focus on malt or hops. A few examples of malt-focused beers are brown ales, porters, bocks,

Hopped Up

Beer of the week: Terrapin Gamma Ray

With a massive 10.8% ABV, this delicious wheat wine is a slow sipper and will cellar well.

By Danner Kline

Terrapin Gamma Ray combines two of my favorite things: Southern beer and seasonal beer. The guys at Terrapin traveled a long road to open their brewery in Athens, Ga. For most of the years I’ve bee

Hopped Up

Brew review: American Beer

As a beer drinker living in the United States of America, you are lucky enough to live in the best country in the world for variety and creativity in brewing.

By Danner Kline

I would like to interrupt our regularly scheduled “Brew of the Week” programming to take a big-picture look at beer in the U.S. America was once the butt of beer jokes. A favorite among Europeans: “Wh