(photo: Austria, home of beer poop) Gold miners in California in the 19th century were thirsty folks who drank quite a lot of steam beer. We’ve dug up so many news nuggets from around the world for this issue’s Roundup that we’re thirsty for a few liters ourselves. Have a seat here at our campfire…

“There must be some kind of way out of here,” said the joker to the thief, “There’s too much confusion, I can’t get no relief.” —Bob Dylan, All Along the Watchtower Do you ever feel… confused? Like you just can’t make sense of this world anymore? It’s not clear to us if beer exacerbates that…

(photo: a YOHO Beer celebration) For most of us 2020 was probably the worst year in recent memory. Then 2021 came along and here we go again–slow vaccine rollout in Japan, rising COVID cases, shutdowns, no tourism on the horizon to stimulate the economy, political leaders lacking, well, leadership… How could things get any worse…

Sayohhhhhnara, 2020. That year will probably go down as one of the strangest in most of our lives. Then again, all you have to do is look at beer news to realize that things are always a little strange in this world… especially in ‘Merica, that strangest of all countries. The legendary U.S. ‘breakfast’ chain…

Life is chaos contained by a thin, gossamer membrane of order. In a similar spirit this column shall be the thin line between meaning and cosmic absurdity. It’s a difficult task. It’s one that should be familiar to those of us who inhabit the world of beer. Brewers have long put weird things in beer…