Q: Ask a Pro: Do the kinds of hops in beer really matter? A: Yes, hops totally matter! They matter on a fundamental level: beer can’t be called beer without hops and they’re part of the structure of the beer. The level of bitterness plays a very important role as well (see my post on IBU) […]
Winemaking begins in the vineyard with healthy quality grapes. Yet, wine doesn’t make itself and it is the winemaker’s role to oversee the transformation of grape juice into wine. Winemakers today have lots of choices available to them for fermentation and maturation vessels: stainless steel tanks, wooden barrels of various sizes, ages and types, concrete, […]
Italy is a colourful country of contradictions; it is at once steeped in tradition and seemingly unchanging yet also very modern and progressive on many fronts. We see this in the country’s renewed interest in native grape varietals and a return to more traditional winemaking techniques that highlight terroir all while not shying away from […]
Italy is a colourful country of contradictions; it is at once steeped in tradition and seemingly unchanging yet also very modern and progressive on many fronts. We see this in the country’s renewed interest in native grape varietals and a return to more traditional winemaking techniques that highlight terroir all while not shying away from […]
In the beer world, there are two overarching families: ales and lagers. Ales have been around much longer, but Lagers dominate the modern world. Let’s take a look at the differences between the two. Yeasts The core factor that separates these two families is the yeast used to ferment them. After all, beer without yeast […]
I always thought wine connoisseurs where very posh people; until I went to my first wine appreciation class. If you want to taste like a pro, you have to forget everything your parents taught you about table manners. Go ahead give that wine a good slurp and if you are feeling really brave, try your […]
You know that little number you sometimes see on the back of a can of IPA? In short, it stands for International Bitterness Units and IBUs are one of the ways that the brewing world quantifies the level of bitterness in a beer. The backstory: Beer needs a couple basic components to taste like… beer. There […]
The Jura is a tiny area in eastern France, nestled between Burgundy and Switzerland. The region is hilly, with a continental climate that experiences wetter weather than Burgundy, which is only an hour’s drive away! Pre-phylloxera, the Jura had over 20,000 ha under vine. Today, there is barely 2000 ha, although the region has recently […]
