Joe Sixpack
- The criminality of 'small beer'
- By Joe Sixpack/For the Appeal-Democrat
- "I will make it felony to drink small beer." — "Henry IV, Part 2."
If he had his way, Shakespeare — or at least his memorable character, Jack Cade, who declared his contempt for weak beer — would be filing criminal charges on the f... Full story
- Filtering produces different body
- By Joe Sixpack/For the Appeal-Democrat
- Kristall weiss: A filtered version of hefeweizen.
If that definition doesn't just make your skin crawl, well, you are a cold, heartless turtle. Why would anyone intentionally take one of the world's most-treasured beer styles — a variety whose... Full story
- Beer runners gone bad
- By Joe Sixpack/For the Appeal-Democrat
- In most of America, "beer run" means one thing: darting out to buy beer for the night. It is a common term understood by pretty much everyone.
Except in the Southwest.
In the Southwest, "beer run" means heading to the 7-11 or the nearest convenienc... Full story
- Are you drinking in a real Irish pub?
- By Joe Sixpack/For the Appeal-Democrat
- On St. Patrick's Day, nearly every bar pours Guinness and cloaks itself in shamrocks. But is that enough to be an Irish pub?
This is no matter for idle pondering while the foam drops from your stout. In fact, it was the central theme of the first Am... Full story
- The therapeutic value of beer
- By Joe Sixpack/For the Appeal-Democrat
- Every few months, another article hits the news columns proclaiming the health benefits of beer.
Personally, I've always figured this was just the Republicans' idea of healthcare reform: Who needs a single-payer system when you've got a sixpack in t... Full story
- Resurrecting Russian Imperial Stout
- By Joe Sixpack/For the Appeal-Democrat
- Where would lovers of the world's strongest, darkest beers be without a thin, pale German teenager named Sophia Augusta Frederica?
Without her, one of the great chapters of brewing history might not exist. There'd be no stouts named Old Rasputin or ... Full story
- 16 things to know about foam
- By Joe Sixpack/For the Appeal-Democrat
- We don't pay much attention to bubbles in our beer, unless they're foaming over the coffee table.
When it comes to beer pleasure, though, bubbles are right up there with color, aroma, flavor, body and buzz. So, with the help of Roger Barth, Ph.D., a... Full story
- Nothing 'light' about Platinum Bud
- By Joe Sixpack/For the Appeal-Democrat
- Bud Light Platinum is either completely deceptive advertising or evidence that the beer industry is now presided over by postmodern literalists of the Orwellian order.
I'll grant that there's some actual Bud in this bottle, though its sweet, fizzy f... Full story
- 2012 brings fresh new crop of IPAs
- By Joe Sixpack/For the Appeal-Democrat
- Black IPAs are so 2011.
Last year's hot new style — which exploded in popularity before beer gurus could even settle on a proper name (Cascadian Dark Ale? American Black Ale?) — is already getting shoved to the side by a new crop of Indi... Full story
- Products go all-in for the big game
- By Joe Sixpack/For the Appeal-Democrat
- When did the Super Bowl become an excuse to sell junk to beer drinkers?
I'm not talking about beer itself, for it goes without saying that plenty of cold suds are a necessary lubricant for the 12 or so hours you'll be spending in front of the widesc... Full story
- Recalling the legendary Swedish Bikini Team
- By Joe Sixpack/For the Appeal-Democrat
- Twenty years ago this month, America lost what might've been the greatest beer commercial of all time.
It was a sly, funny advertising campaign that, despite running for just seven months, generated a ton of publicity and became an instant icon of A... Full story
- Malt liquor an iconic American classic
- By Joe Sixpack/For the Appeal-Democrat
- "Minimal taste profile, minimal hopping, lacking in hop bouquet and threshold hop levels ..." — Fred Eckhardt, The Essentials of Beer Style, 1989, describing the style characteristics of malt liquor.
"Get your girl in the mood quicker, get you... Full story
- Get ready for a great year in beer
- By Joe Sixpack/For the Appeal-Democrat
- Your new year's resolutions better include a promise to clean out the fridge, because you'll need to make room for a lot of new beer. Get ready for some exciting new flavors in 2012, from one-of-a-kind collaborations to the first-time domestic appear... Full story
- The year Miller saw the light
- By Joe Sixpack/For the Appeal-Democrat
- Two thousand eleven will go down as the year that Miller Brewing finally repented.
Here is a company whose top seller, Miller Lite, forever stands with McDonald's and "American Idol" as the archetypes of dumbed-down American culture, whose pursuit o... Full story
- Hair-of-the-dog remedies for the morning after
- By Joe Sixpack/For the Appeal-Democrat
- When you load up the cooler this week for your New Year's Eve soaking, take a moment to think about what you're going to drink on the morning after.
Ah, yes, the hair of the dog that bit you.
Hard-earned experience has taught us that the best hango... Full story
- Shmaltz brews are so much more than shtick
- By Joe Sixpack/For the Appeal-Democrat
- "Don't Pass Out, Passover."
When Shmaltz Brewing launched in 1996 with that slogan, you'd be excused if you assumed it was just another gimmick, like Billy Beer of the 1970s or J.R. Ewing Beer of the '80s. Its He'Brew Messiah Bold and Genesis Ale ("... Full story
- Something for every beer lover on your list
- By Joe Sixpack/For the Appeal-Democrat
- How to tell your Aunt Sarah you don't need another knitted sweater this holiday season? Clip out this all-purpose gift list and slip it into her handbag — maybe she'll get the hint.
For the DIY-er: "The Complete Homebrew Beer Book" by George H... Full story
- Coming soon: The World's Greatest Beer
- By Joe Sixpack/For the Appeal-Democrat
- Coming to America in 2012: The World's Greatest Beer.
It's Westvleteren 12, a Belgian rarity brewed at the tiny St. Sixtus Trappist monastery by a brotherhood of notoriously secretive monks.
Packaged in a plain brown bottle with no label, Westvlete... Full story
- Raise your stein daily 'til Christmas
- By Joe Sixpack/For the Appeal-Democrat
- You better watch out, you better not cry: Christmas beer is coming to town. Here's an advent calendar for the holidays.
1. Try something new. Debuts for 2011 include New Belgium Snow Day, a hoppy black ale and Mikeller Happy Lovin' Christmas, flavor... Full story
- Don't believe the Pilgrims' beer myth
- By Joe Sixpack/For the Appeal-Democrat
- "We could not now take time for further search or consideration; our victuals being much spent, especially our beer." – Mayflower diary, 1620.
It is one of the grand chapters of America's storied beer history: Having survived more than two bru... Full story
- Rule-breaking produces new brew
- By Joe Sixpack/For the Appeal-Democrat
- Inspiration finds its way into the brew kettle in many a way. Sometimes through the grain bill, sometimes during the boil. And sometimes through the idle conversation of two home brewers happily working on their latest creation, as was the case in 20... Full story
- Journalist reviews boost beer industry
- By Joe Sixpack/For the Appeal-Democrat
- Before there was Yelp! and RateBeer.com and a million blogs to tell us who's No. 1, there was the great newspaper taste test.
It was the 1970s, and American breweries were dying left and right. There were barely 100 of them nationwide, and most prod... Full story
- One man's pee is another man's pleasure
- By Joe Sixpack/For the Appeal-Democrat
- You know those Belgian lambics that are all the rage these days? Beer fans rhapsodize about their complex character, their funky aroma, their tart flavor produced through the vagaries of spontaneous fermentation. The brewers who make them are worship... Full story
- Breweries not just a man's realm anymore
- By Joe Sixpack/For the Appeal-Democrat
- It wasn't so long ago that the only women you saw in breweries were either wearing bikinis on TV or posing nekkid in pinups on the walk-in box at your local beer distributor.
The pinups are probably still there, but lately I've noticed a big jump in... Full story
- Beer: A cure for what ails you
- By Joe Sixpack/For the Appeal-Democrat
- Every couple of months, another medical journal publishes groundbreaking research into the benefits of drinking beer. It's good for your heart, it prevents cancer, it prolongs your life; the latest study says it may prevent the onset of Parkinson's d... Full story
- Guinness brews a yellow lager that's black
- By Joe Sixpack/For the Appeal-Democrat
- Let's say you own the color black. You make a lot of money selling black stuff. Whenever anyone thinks about black, they think of your name. Your brand, your logo, your corporation are intrinsically linked to the color black.
But now you want to div... Full story
- Raise a glass in memory of the departed
- By Joe Sixpack/For the Appeal-Democrat
- "Please do not send flowers," said the newspaper death notice, "the deceased has allergies. In lieu thereof, buy yourself a beer and enjoy!"
And with that, Ward J. Childs of Philadelphia, devoted husband of 50 years and father of two, departed our c... Full story
- Saloons blamed for the Prohibition
- By Joe Sixpack/For the Appeal-Democrat
- Sure, that cup of bathtub gin might be laced with deadly wood alcohol. But bouts of blindness, leg amputation and sudden death notwithstanding, boozing during the Prohibition – at least as depicted in the new Ken Burns three-part docu-film airi... Full story
- Harvest beer brings 'Sukkot in a glass'
- By Joe Sixpack/For the Appeal-Democrat
- The harvest season typically brings beer lovers classic German-style Oktoberfestbier, newfangled American pumpkin brews and ale made with freshly picked hops. In one small corner of the world, though, harvest time means etrog beer.
Or, as David Cohe... Full story
- This Bud's for you, pot heads
- By Joe Sixpack/For the Appeal-Democrat
- Yo, pot heads — this Bud's for you!
That's right — I'm talking about marijuana beer. Stoner suds. Ganja brew. Miller Really High Life.
It's commercially unavailable, obviously, due to federal drug and alcohol laws. But now that several ... Full story
