Jeff Alworth
@beervana.bsky.social
Director of Paragraph Operations, Beervana Worldwide Industries. (Also: the Beer Bible, Secrets of Master Brewers, etc.)
www.beervanablog.com
www.beervanablog.com
Reposted by Jeff Alworth
Rogue Ales, the iconic 37-year-old brewery, shuttered the doors to all its locations today. While the news is still coming in, it may be the end of the line for Newport’s finest.
Rogue Ales Has Apparently Closed — Beervana
Rogue Ales, the iconic 37-year-old brewery, shuttered the doors to all its locations today. While the news is still coming in, it may be the end of the line for Newport’s finest.
www.beervanablog.com
November 14, 2025 at 10:24 PM
Rogue Ales, the iconic 37-year-old brewery, shuttered the doors to all its locations today. While the news is still coming in, it may be the end of the line for Newport’s finest.
Rogue Ales, the iconic 37-year-old brewery, shuttered the doors to all its locations today. While the news is still coming in, it may be the end of the line for Newport’s finest.
Rogue Ales Has Apparently Closed — Beervana
Rogue Ales, the iconic 37-year-old brewery, shuttered the doors to all its locations today. While the news is still coming in, it may be the end of the line for Newport’s finest.
www.beervanablog.com
November 14, 2025 at 10:24 PM
Rogue Ales, the iconic 37-year-old brewery, shuttered the doors to all its locations today. While the news is still coming in, it may be the end of the line for Newport’s finest.
Reposted by Jeff Alworth
Have I really been so carelessly provocative? 😲 There's only one way to find out. Sign up here: www.willhawkes.net/london-beer-...
November 14, 2025 at 4:22 PM
Have I really been so carelessly provocative? 😲 There's only one way to find out. Sign up here: www.willhawkes.net/london-beer-...
One more! @willhawkes.bsky.social offers this aside: “Having ordered…the only cask beer available, it is served in a dimpled handled jug - the worst drinking vessel on earth. The jug of shame!”
1, counterpoint, it’s the *best* vessel, and 2, this is the hottest hip mug in the U.S. culture is weird!
1, counterpoint, it’s the *best* vessel, and 2, this is the hottest hip mug in the U.S. culture is weird!
There is, incredibly, a new @londonbeercity.bsky.social tomorrow. It features Guinness' belated arrival in Covent Garden, London pubs owned by London breweries, the new venue for LCBF, The Lady magazine and lots more. Sign up here: www.willhawkes.net/london-beer-...
November 14, 2025 at 3:51 PM
One more! @willhawkes.bsky.social offers this aside: “Having ordered…the only cask beer available, it is served in a dimpled handled jug - the worst drinking vessel on earth. The jug of shame!”
1, counterpoint, it’s the *best* vessel, and 2, this is the hottest hip mug in the U.S. culture is weird!
1, counterpoint, it’s the *best* vessel, and 2, this is the hottest hip mug in the U.S. culture is weird!
Re: @willhawkes.bsky.social’s newsletter linked below, a comment on Will’s note here: “In some (v important) ways Guinness is more British than Irish, more London than Dublin.”
Wasn’t there some historic disagreement about the question of Ireland’s Britishness? Tickles some distant memory…
Wasn’t there some historic disagreement about the question of Ireland’s Britishness? Tickles some distant memory…
There is, incredibly, a new @londonbeercity.bsky.social tomorrow. It features Guinness' belated arrival in Covent Garden, London pubs owned by London breweries, the new venue for LCBF, The Lady magazine and lots more. Sign up here: www.willhawkes.net/london-beer-...
November 14, 2025 at 3:44 PM
Re: @willhawkes.bsky.social’s newsletter linked below, a comment on Will’s note here: “In some (v important) ways Guinness is more British than Irish, more London than Dublin.”
Wasn’t there some historic disagreement about the question of Ireland’s Britishness? Tickles some distant memory…
Wasn’t there some historic disagreement about the question of Ireland’s Britishness? Tickles some distant memory…
Reposted by Jeff Alworth
Breweries are lowering prices on N/A beer even thought it’s an expanding segment and the only one really exciting people in the industry. To me, that looks like an important tell.
Where is N/A Beer Headed? — Beervana
Breweries are lowering prices on N/A beer even thought it’s an expanding segment and the only one really exciting people in the industry. To me, that looks like an important tell.
www.beervanablog.com
November 11, 2025 at 5:26 PM
Breweries are lowering prices on N/A beer even thought it’s an expanding segment and the only one really exciting people in the industry. To me, that looks like an important tell.
Breweries are lowering prices on N/A beer even thought it’s an expanding segment and the only one really exciting people in the industry. To me, that looks like an important tell.
Where is N/A Beer Headed? — Beervana
Breweries are lowering prices on N/A beer even thought it’s an expanding segment and the only one really exciting people in the industry. To me, that looks like an important tell.
www.beervanablog.com
November 11, 2025 at 5:26 PM
Breweries are lowering prices on N/A beer even thought it’s an expanding segment and the only one really exciting people in the industry. To me, that looks like an important tell.
This is a lovely deep-dive on the English hop harvest and a handful of green hop (aka fresh hop) beers made with them. The surprise twist is that one of the beers uses Bullion, a very old variety I thought was extinct. I guess not!
From Bine to Glass: A behind-the-scenes look at the 2025 hop harvest, following fresh green hops from Hukins Hops in Kent to breweries like Five Points and Beak as they brew with them within hours of picking. www.seanislegend.com/green-hop-beer
November 11, 2025 at 2:50 PM
This is a lovely deep-dive on the English hop harvest and a handful of green hop (aka fresh hop) beers made with them. The surprise twist is that one of the beers uses Bullion, a very old variety I thought was extinct. I guess not!
Politics for those who indulge.
The news last night that a faction of Democrats in the Senate had agreed to end the shutdown was a gut punch, but it underscores a point I’ve been considering for the past few weeks: for totally different reasons, I don’t think either party is going to survive the second Trump administration intact.
The Parties’ Terminal Fissures
The Trump administration poses an existential challenge for both parties, but for very different reasons. And neither one is likely to survive it.
jeffalworth.substack.com
November 10, 2025 at 4:59 PM
Politics for those who indulge.
Some wonderful sleuthing here by B&B about a minor style that enjoyed a bit of a life in the 20th century before fading from memory.
BLOG POST: What was Rustic Ale? Why have we never heard of it before? And what meaning did the words ‘rustic ale’ convey to drinkers? 🍺🍻
boakandbailey.com/2025/11/mann...
boakandbailey.com/2025/11/mann...
Mann’s Rustic Ale and ideas of authenticity in beer
London brewer Mann’s, best known for its brown ale, also had a product called ‘Rustic Ale’. What meaning were those two words supposed to convey?
boakandbailey.com
November 9, 2025 at 3:52 PM
Some wonderful sleuthing here by B&B about a minor style that enjoyed a bit of a life in the 20th century before fading from memory.
This Pellicle post on pub etiquette has gotten a ton of attention. Since pub mores are dictated by local custom, I have no great opinions on their takes. The long list of rules is itself strange to this American—it seems very English—I like pubs for their laissez-faire attitude toward rules.
The Pellicle Essential Guide to Pub Ettiquette!
Already noted as curmudgeonly by @boakandbailey.bsky.social, we prefer "righteously bothered."
Table rezzies, bogey-filled tissues in empty glasses, rounds and more, all documented for posterity.
www.pelliclemag.com/home/2025/10...
Already noted as curmudgeonly by @boakandbailey.bsky.social, we prefer "righteously bothered."
Table rezzies, bogey-filled tissues in empty glasses, rounds and more, all documented for posterity.
www.pelliclemag.com/home/2025/10...
The Essential Guide to Pub Etiquette — Pellicle
It was the writer and politician Hilaire Belloc (1870–1953) who famously said, “ Change your hearts or you will lose your inns and you will deserve to have lost them. But when you have lost your inns ...
www.pelliclemag.com
November 8, 2025 at 2:54 PM
This Pellicle post on pub etiquette has gotten a ton of attention. Since pub mores are dictated by local custom, I have no great opinions on their takes. The long list of rules is itself strange to this American—it seems very English—I like pubs for their laissez-faire attitude toward rules.
In today’s digest, Alan has lots of good stuff, but I want to point to an item down the post a ways—the price of non-alcoholic beer. This is going to be an idiosyncratic little rant and I’m not confident enough to put it on the blog, but Bluesky? Sure.
A 🧵…
A 🧵…
Thursday. And seven weeks to Christmas Day. And there’s still tomatoes being picked. How odd. Speaking of odd, it’s beery news notes morning. Monopolistic tendencies. Tax evasion. Junketeers. And a bulky man…
The Beery News Notes For The November Lull Marking The Five-Sixths Mark of 2025 – A Good Beer Blog
abetterbeerblog427.com
November 6, 2025 at 2:59 PM
In today’s digest, Alan has lots of good stuff, but I want to point to an item down the post a ways—the price of non-alcoholic beer. This is going to be an idiosyncratic little rant and I’m not confident enough to put it on the blog, but Bluesky? Sure.
A 🧵…
A 🧵…
Politics for those who indulge.
Last night, Democrats crushed the GOP in a way that can only be seen as a rebuke of Trump’s lawless overreach. Excellent news! But it also makes the next year even more dangerous for democracy.
That Was Fun, But…
Last night, Democrats crushed the GOP in a way that can only be seen as a rebuke of Trump’s lawless overreach. Excellent news! But it also makes the next year even more dangerous for democracy.
jeffalworth.substack.com
November 5, 2025 at 4:27 PM
Politics for those who indulge.
Reposted by Jeff Alworth
“Czechs have certain considerations about what makes a good beer. It should have some meat on its bones, some hop bite in the finish. It should be crystal clear. Above all, it should encourage another sip, and another half-liter. Diacetyl is just not one of the things it must have or must exclude.”
A Matter of Taste — Beervana
Beer is a potion of flavor and aroma compounds, and humans are creatures of opinion. In one culture, people favor some and eschew others, while elsewhere they may favor the other and eschew some. This...
www.beervanablog.com
November 4, 2025 at 8:34 PM
“Czechs have certain considerations about what makes a good beer. It should have some meat on its bones, some hop bite in the finish. It should be crystal clear. Above all, it should encourage another sip, and another half-liter. Diacetyl is just not one of the things it must have or must exclude.”
Reposted by Jeff Alworth
Amen.
“Czechs have certain considerations about what makes a good beer. It should have some meat on its bones, some hop bite in the finish. It should be crystal clear. Above all, it should encourage another sip, and another half-liter. Diacetyl is just not one of the things it must have or must exclude.”
A Matter of Taste — Beervana
Beer is a potion of flavor and aroma compounds, and humans are creatures of opinion. In one culture, people favor some and eschew others, while elsewhere they may favor the other and eschew some. This...
www.beervanablog.com
November 4, 2025 at 9:15 PM
Amen.
“Czechs have certain considerations about what makes a good beer. It should have some meat on its bones, some hop bite in the finish. It should be crystal clear. Above all, it should encourage another sip, and another half-liter. Diacetyl is just not one of the things it must have or must exclude.”
A Matter of Taste — Beervana
Beer is a potion of flavor and aroma compounds, and humans are creatures of opinion. In one culture, people favor some and eschew others, while elsewhere they may favor the other and eschew some. This...
www.beervanablog.com
November 4, 2025 at 8:34 PM
“Czechs have certain considerations about what makes a good beer. It should have some meat on its bones, some hop bite in the finish. It should be crystal clear. Above all, it should encourage another sip, and another half-liter. Diacetyl is just not one of the things it must have or must exclude.”
Beer is a potion of flavor and aroma compounds, and humans are creatures of opinion. In one culture, people favor some and eschew others, while elsewhere they may favor the other and eschew some. This is both inexplicable and universal. (Shout out to @evanrail.bsky.social)
A Matter of Taste — Beervana
Beer is a potion of flavor and aroma compounds, and humans are creatures of opinion. In one culture, people favor some and eschew others, while elsewhere they may favor the other and eschew some. This...
www.beervanablog.com
November 4, 2025 at 5:51 PM
Beer is a potion of flavor and aroma compounds, and humans are creatures of opinion. In one culture, people favor some and eschew others, while elsewhere they may favor the other and eschew some. This is both inexplicable and universal. (Shout out to @evanrail.bsky.social)
Reposted by Jeff Alworth
Good read!
Thirty years ago—not 33–Goose Island conducted an experiment that still resonates today. It reminded brewers that wood-aging has an important role to play in beer, and created one of the most American of American beers. Here’s the story of Bourbon County Stout.
The Making of a Classic: Goose Island Bourbon County Stout — Beervana
Thirty years ago—not 33–Goose Island conducted an experiment that still resonates today. It reminded brewers that wood-aging has an important role to play in beer, and created one of the most American...
www.beervanablog.com
November 3, 2025 at 9:07 PM
Good read!
It’s Monday morning, so let’s whinge! Reading VinePair’s list, I am convinced that none of these are remotely correlated with beer quality—they’re just big preferences. (Best quote, from Lisa Allen on Mason jar glassware: “I’m not at some bespoke wedding in a barn.”)
My strongly-held prefs below.
My strongly-held prefs below.
We Asked 10 Brewers: What’s the Biggest Red Flag at a Brewery Taproom? (2025)
A good brewery taproom sets the scene for a great drinking experience. Ideally, a brewery curates an ambiance that’s chill and unpretentious, providing the backdrop for communities to gather, appreciate the art behind a carefully crafted brew, and enjoy the company of friends and fellow beer enthusiasts. In this atmosphere, an IPA, lager, or stout can somehow taste even better, even if it’s already outstanding. A bad brewery taproom has the exact opposite effect.
vinepair.com
November 3, 2025 at 4:03 PM
It’s Monday morning, so let’s whinge! Reading VinePair’s list, I am convinced that none of these are remotely correlated with beer quality—they’re just big preferences. (Best quote, from Lisa Allen on Mason jar glassware: “I’m not at some bespoke wedding in a barn.”)
My strongly-held prefs below.
My strongly-held prefs below.
Reposted by Jeff Alworth
November 1, 2025 at 7:02 PM
Politics for those who indulge. (This one is kind of important.)
Thanks to the federal government shutdown, 42 million hungry Americans will receive no or reduced SNAP benefits. This is not a funding crisis, though—it’s a political crisis.
The Politics of Hunger
Thanks to the federal government shutdown, 42 million hungry Americans will receive no or reduced SNAP benefits. This is not a funding crisis, though—it’s a political crisis.
jeffalworth.substack.com
November 1, 2025 at 5:14 PM
Politics for those who indulge. (This one is kind of important.)
Reposted by Jeff Alworth
The vast majority of Americans think of politics as an activity that happens over there. It’s as if it’s a sordid arena sport conducted by trashy people. Donald Trump, in spandex with a floppy red tie battling scrawny democrats who have to keep pushing their horn-rim glasses back up their noses.
Cartoon Villains and the Arena Effect
Thinking of politics as something that is contained, like a pro wrestling match, and happens over there, not here, has brought us to a place where 42 million people are about to go hungry.
jeffalworth.substack.com
October 31, 2025 at 4:54 PM
The vast majority of Americans think of politics as an activity that happens over there. It’s as if it’s a sordid arena sport conducted by trashy people. Donald Trump, in spandex with a floppy red tie battling scrawny democrats who have to keep pushing their horn-rim glasses back up their noses.
Reposted by Jeff Alworth
Thirty years ago—not 33–Goose Island conducted an experiment that still resonates today. It reminded brewers that wood-aging has an important role to play in beer, and created one of the most American of American beers. Here’s the story of Bourbon County Stout.
The Making of a Classic: Goose Island Bourbon County Stout — Beervana
Thirty years ago—not 33–Goose Island conducted an experiment that still resonates today. It reminded brewers that wood-aging has an important role to play in beer, and created one of the most American...
www.beervanablog.com
October 30, 2025 at 5:08 PM
Thirty years ago—not 33–Goose Island conducted an experiment that still resonates today. It reminded brewers that wood-aging has an important role to play in beer, and created one of the most American of American beers. Here’s the story of Bourbon County Stout.
Thirty years ago—not 33–Goose Island conducted an experiment that still resonates today. It reminded brewers that wood-aging has an important role to play in beer, and created one of the most American of American beers. Here’s the story of Bourbon County Stout.
The Making of a Classic: Goose Island Bourbon County Stout — Beervana
Thirty years ago—not 33–Goose Island conducted an experiment that still resonates today. It reminded brewers that wood-aging has an important role to play in beer, and created one of the most American...
www.beervanablog.com
October 30, 2025 at 5:08 PM
Thirty years ago—not 33–Goose Island conducted an experiment that still resonates today. It reminded brewers that wood-aging has an important role to play in beer, and created one of the most American of American beers. Here’s the story of Bourbon County Stout.