Source: SeriousSeats In the past two weeks, two well-respected national beer writers have penned articles foretelling the demise of craft brewing. Neither predicted its death based on competition with big beer or on ingredient shortages or other economic factors, though. Rather, they bemoaned the surging popularity of two different styles, sounding the alarms bells and wringing their hands over the future of beer in America. The first article, “ Boom in Sugary Pastry Stouts Shows Craft Industry Forgetting What Beer Tastes Like ,” by  Chicago Tribune  reporter and author Josh Noel (who is writing a book about Goose Island Beer Company selling out to AB InBev) called out so-called pastry stouts based on the prevalence of these sweet, often barrel-aged beers at a recent festival. “After six hours wandering the aisles of the Festival of Wood and Barrel-Aged Beer last weekend, I have concluded that craft beer is betraying itself,” Noel wrote. “It is forgetting what beer ...

Thanksgiving has creeped up on us, shockingly  being only  2 days away.  I'm sure we'll all have to stop by the grocery store for last minute necessitates to make a killer turkey day - just make sure you don't get trampled by the hundreds of other people scrambling through Stop and Shop. This is the one day of the year where it's okay to go overboard with side dishes, some of my favorites being: mashed potatoes, yams, cranberry sauce, stuffing, rolls, gravy, and of course the famous pumpkin pie . Of course not forgetting the star of the dinner, turkey. Forget the wine, I'm here to give you your Thanksgiving beer guide . Even for the ham fans out there, we've got you covered. Traditional turkey : Saison  -  The light body and fruitiness of a Saison will contrast and complement the meats earthiness. Fried turkey : American IPA -  The flavors (specifically in a tropical IPA) help cut the richness of your deep-fried turkey. Ham :   Weizen...

Took a pit stop while driving on a Sunday afternoon and found this gem hidden in the small town of Maynard, MA . Many of you might of heard of this brew house, but this was a first for me. I was eager to order a beer once I read they were brewed in house, and to say the least I was not disappointed. The drink I choose was the Midnight Rider Porter (yes, I did order it for the name). The beer was described to have "wisps of campfire smoke and coffeehouse aromatics" as well as "a touch of molasses and a hearty amount of flaked maize". The flavor was rich and dark with hints of espresso, making it a coffee lovers dream. Not to mention the southern style BBQ was killer, and a perfect combo for any craft beer (considering they have 9 in house brewed beer to offer , there's an option for everyone). Maynard's a bit away from Boston, but Battle Road is worth the day trip for beer enthusiasts. A list of their beer menu:  https://m.opentable.com/restaurant...

A old Austrian brewery - Starkenberger , built the world's first-ever  beer swimming pools in their  brewing castle . There's Seven 13-foot pools of warm beer,  each containing 42,000 pints to soak up and relax in. The pools have been running since 2005, their old fermentation cellar of the 700-year-old castle became obsolete, hence the beer pools were born.  Now you're probably thinking about how gross this would be, however  beer is actually chalk full of vitamins and calcium, as well as notably recognized to help heal open wounds   (Cleopatra herself was famously known to bathe in beer for this reason).  Knowing this, I think we can all disregard the sticky  residue the bath will leave us with. Taking a dip will cost you a pretty penny though: $ 298   a pool - with an additional  $6.50 per person swimming . (And that's only for 2 hours!) But hey, it's a once and a life time experience for beer lovers - you can l...