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The 24th annual Great American Beer Festival (GABF), the largest event yet for the Brewers Association, offered beer lovers an unparalleled sampling opportunity and contained a number of surprises for brewers as well. The awards ceremony itself took more than two hours to complete, a perhaps unwanted record for the... Read More

LARGELY THROUGH EXPOSURE TO NEW LUXURY TEQUILAS, innovative marketing programs and the overall popularity of spirits, consumers have developed discerning palates. Today, people bandy terms about like blanco, reposado and anejo. They look for 1OO% blue agave distinctions on labels and sip tequilas from martini glasses or swirl them in... Read More

Recent research has demonstrated that some of the polyphenols of wine appear to extend life span by mechanisms new to us. Maybe Ponce de Leon should have sought the fountain of youth in the vineyards of his native Spain instead of sloshing through the swamps of Florida. Be aware that,... Read More

Several of these breweries only recently entered the Massachusetts marketplace and each is striving to get its story out there. FOR THIS Six-pack of Local Breweries, I visit one-man operations, contract breweries, and some small craft breweries. Each of the breweries profiled here is distinctive, either for focusing on a... Read More

TO CELLAR OR NOT TO CELLAR, that is the question. There have been more than a couple beverage programs I have worked with that I’ve tried to encourage putting away a small percentage of wine to improve their list for the future. More often than not the response has been... Read More

First, let us revisit what is known of increased cancer risk associated with drinking. Alcohol (and its first breakdown product, acetaldehyde) is the only component of wine that may be inculpated, then almost exclusively when chronically abused. Spirits and beer appear to be associated with more risk than wine. It... Read More

For the first time in recent years, imported beers have been forced to take a back seat to craft beers in terms of production and sales gains. While craft beers receive much coverage in this column, in a counter-cultural spirit, it seems the right time to focus on four notable... Read More

Paper City Brewing Company Holyoke, MA If you visit Paper City during one of its popular Friday night tour and party sessions, you’ll usually see a man off to one side, quietly building and filling beer containers for his departing guests. With his prodigious work ethic, it’s no surprise the... Read More