Doppelbocks defy odds
When it comes to beer styles, doppelbocks would seem to have just about everything going against them. For those who enjoy easy-to-drink beers, like pale lagers or "sessionable" ales, doppelbocks...
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Botanical bounty
Long before there was Scotch whisky, Scots were distilling. That's despite the fact that before 1823, when the Excise Act was passed, producing booze wasn't even legal in Scotland. Before...
This bourbon is a survivor
On April 2, 2006, a tornado ripped through Frankfort, Ky., ripping nearly a third of the roof and north brick wall off the then-125-year-old Warehouse C belonging to Buffalo Trace...
Cheers, home-brewers
While it's been more than a quarter-century since Joe Formanek tried his hand at home-brewing beer, the memory remains fresh in his mind. As an undergraduate at the University of...
Crafty: Montreal’s craft beer scene
There's something about Montreal. Maybe it's the city's bilingualism. Maybe it's the multiculturalism. Maybe it's the infusion of youthful energy that stems from having the highest concentration of college students...
Big, bold breakfast stout
It took me three big, inelegant sniffs to take in the aroma of this year's iteration of Goose Island's Bourbon County Brand Coffee Stout. The first was intense. A flurry...
Elderberry delight
Elderberry shrubs flourish throughout much of North America, including along many of the North Shore's bike trails and forest preserves. Yet despite their pervasiveness, many, if not most, people have...
Taking whiskey beyond borders
The problem with the way most people think about whiskey (or whisky, as its spelled in Canada and the United Kingdom), is that they're too focused on where it's produced,...
Wheat ale for dog days (and nights) of summer
Is there a better beer for sitting on your porch on a warm summer night than with an American wheat ale? Probably not. That's why there's no shortage of people...
V is for vodka, with hints of vanilla
The marketers of top-selling vodka brands will tell you that their spirits are "clean," "smooth" or "pure." And, even though some brands will note that they're made from the very...