Acetio | Blogma

A user on reddit submitted a poster he created of "Periodic Table of Beer Styles" that displays 65 different styles of beer in a format similar to Mendeleev's periodic table of elements.

In the beeriodic table, ales are on the left and lagers on the right, with lighter beers at the top. Instead of atomic weight, valence, etc. the table lists: Gravity (density), SRM (color), ABV (alcohol % by volume) and IBU (international bitterness units, essentially hoppiness)

I don't know if I agree entirely with the layout, but it's fun - and a handy way to visualize how similar or different any two styles are.

Magic Hat is one of my preferred breweries (others are Victory, Stone and of course, Dogfish Head) partly because they're in one of my favorite small cities (Burlington, Vermont) but also because they experiment so much with different recipes.

Their new winter seasonal is called Howl and is a "black lager". If you drink craft beer, you'll know how rare lagers are, since it's a lot easier for beginners to make ales. One exception is Victory's Prima Pils, which is my favorite pilsner-style.

Howl is not very high in alcohol, but has a heavier taste than, for example, Guiness, but without the shapness that stouts can have.

It's good.

I will never abandon Dogfish Head's 90-minute, but super-hoppy ales can only take me so far, particularly in this intense summer heat I'm experiencing in Georgia. I still want a full-flavored beer, but not one as cloying as the high-ABV beers tend to be.

I've been enjoying porters and stouts more lately, but those can be too heavy as well
- meaning I feel physically full after one or two.

So here comes New Belgium (best-known for their Fat Tire) with something that is like a stout or porter but not as heavy - and similar to Guiness but much more flavor.

I have not heard of "Black Ale" as a distinction before. Saranac makes a Black Forest Ale that is somewhat similar (and also quite good) but that is the only other example I know of.

info on the New Belgium site

Beer Advocate gives them a B+
ratebeer.com gives them an 87%
(but what do those jerks know?!)

I used to look down on porters because of a story I heard long ago about the pubs in Olde England: Whenever a keg got down below 1/4-full, the barkeep would dump the remains in a common cask, glasses of which were sold for half-price. This beer tended to be flatter and tended to be a very average ale - not light or dark or sweet or hoppy - but also unpredictable, and likely starting to go a little sour. The porters, who were the equivalent of all our FedEx and UPS and DHL and USPS delivery men (and some women) would stop in a few times per day to fill up, but only had enough for the cheapest ale, and tended to drink from the common cask as it was cheaper. Hence the tradition of calling the common-cask ale "Porter's Ale".

I don't know of that's true, but from my knowledge of couriers and FedEx delivery guys in New York, they smoke a joint every two hours, and/or pick up their "lunch" from the corner liquor store. Given that they are our modern-day porters, naming a beer after a group known for having a low-cost and perpetual buzz on makes sense.

"Porter" nowadays seems to mean an ale somewhere between a "red" and a stout, often with distinctive smokiness. The good ones are very good.

As of today (November 18 2008), Belgian InBev has completed its takeover of Anheuser-Busch (A-B), one of the oldest and most iconic American brands, becoming the largest brewer and fifth-largest "consumer-products" company on the world.

This has resulted in a windfall for Senator John McCain's wife, Cindy.