(Italian grape ales at Oenobeers Liberati; photos care of the brewery) People everywhere tend to think about beer in diametrical opposition to wine. Wine is perceived as a classy drink that goes with food while beer is the blue-collar draught. This assumption persists, too: she wants wine, he wants beer. Wine and olive oil in…

Have you heard about the upcoming new release from wine estate Chateau Margaux? After its usual period of aging in French oak, they moved some of their legendary Premier Grand Cru into once-used American bourbon casks, where it rested for a further six months on a combination of vanilla beans, cocoa nibs, and hand-roasted kopi…

In the seven years I’ve been writing this column, it has focused on classic beer styles and emerging craft favorites, but with this spring’s sweeping changes in Japan’s alcohol tax laws, I feel compelled to address the bubbly, alcoholic elephant in the room. Happoshu is no style at all in the usual sense. Most drinks…

The craft beer movement, particularly in the United States, has long positioned itself as the antidote to the fizzy yellow lagers that were nearly all you could find prior to the recent boom in mainly top-fermented craft beer. Many brewers thought it unnecessary to bother with craft lagers, and many young craft beer drinkers seem…

What’s with all the “sour” beers all of a sudden? Lambic and Oud Bruin have been around forever, but lately all kinds of fruited or spiced sour beers are on tap at craft beer bars everywhere. They are simpler than the Belgian classics, yet tart, refreshing, and often low in alcohol, making them great summer…