Allentown Brew Works Blueberry Belch won 1st place, Best Summer Beer, at the Summer Ale Fest in Philly last night!!!! Come in and try the beer everyone is talking about this Summer! Join Craft Beer bus on our Lehigh Tour in September and taste this award winning beer and many others!

Philadelphia's largest brewery is now using wind power to create it's delicious libation.
Read all about it here!

Philly's at #17, no Ashville, NC, no Indianapolis, IN.  I believe this list is biased towards cities who advertise on this magazine.  Or maybe the readers who voted only drink junk beer!?!
It's still worth checking out just in case you are traveling to any of these places.  You can create your own Best Beer Cities list!
AMERICA'S BEST BEER CITIES?

Sly Fox made it official today by announcing the sale of their Royersford restaurant and the shifting of its brewing facility to Pottstown, PA.
READ ALL ABOUT IT HERE!

OMG, IT'S ABOUT TIME!

Check out these commercials by Breckenridge Brewery. It's about time a craft beer producer called the big boys on their "clever" ways to get people to buy their crappy beer.
Enjoy!

"If you touch it and it's cold, then it's cold."
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oeJPJDpq3-Y 

"Gravity activated pouring"
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tks1RxUJbUo 

"Sevendruple-Hopped"
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O097fapVL-4 

"At least 3 hops" "Cold is not a flavor." "Swirly" (omnibus)
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOAicNK5Lkw

The process is similar between brewing facilities and even home brewing set ups.
I hope you find the process description enlightening!
MILLING: Grains are chosen based on the style of beer being made.  The grains are milled into a hopper or otherwise lightly ground up to allow the brewer to extract ingredients.
MASHING: The grains are then moved into a mash tun, hot water is added to create a mash.  This is where the grains are converted to sugars.
LAVTERING: Hot water is passed over the crushed grains to remove all the sugars. This solution is now called a "wort". The wort is extracted from the mash tun and moved to a boil kettle.
BOILING: The wort is brought to a full boil, hops are added for bitterness and aroma which gives a beer its unique flavor profile.
COOLING: The hot wort goes through a cooling unit, something that will exchange heat like a cooling coil, and it is cooled to the appropriate temperature for the yeast to ferment.
FERMENTATION: Now the wort is moved to a fermentation vessel and the yeast is added.  Here the yeast is allowed to ferment, to convert the sugars to alcohol and CO2.  The best description I have heard is that the living organisms, the yeast cells, begin to eat the sugars causing them to pee alcohol and fart CO2.  Hey, it is what it is!
The length of the fermentation is dependent on the type of beer but the process usually takes 14 to 30 days.
FILTERING/SECONDARY: After the beer is conditioned in the fermentor it is sent either through a filter or moved into a secondary vessel to remove or let settle all or most of the traces of yeast.
BOTTLING/KEGGING: Now it is time to place the beer into bottles or into a keg to be further conditioned/carbonated using either excising CO2 or CO2 that is added to the keg.
DRINKING: YUMMY!  I think we all understand this part of the process.........

 Is a double IPA twice as hoppy as a regular IPA?  What the heck is a black IPA?  Is a barley wine a wine or a beer?
If you struggle with questions like these then you've come to the right place.  Here in the CBB Wort Workshop we'll explain what the differences are between styles of beer and answer other beer questions that perplex our pint seeking pallets.  Let's get started.........
What is a beer style? To put it simply, a beer style is a tag or label given to a beer that helps describe its character and, a lot of times, its origin.  These tags have been developed over many centuries of brewing.   Beer styles are constantly evolving.  For instances, the BJCP, the body who provides the beer style guidelines for international competition, added a new styles this year and changed the name of another.
We'll stick with the main styles and tell you a little about the new ones to keep it less involved and easy to understand. 

ALES
Ale yeasts flocculate (to gather) at the top of the fermentation tank and thrive at temperatures between 60 to 72 degress Fahrenheit.

American Ales
American Amber / Red Ale
American Barleywine
American Black Ale
American Blonde Ale
American Brown Ale
American Dark Wheat Ale
American Double / Imperial IPA
American Double / Imperial Stout
American IPA
American Pale Ale (APA)
American Pale Wheat Ale
American Porter
American Stout
American Strong Ale
American Wild Ale
Black & Tan
Chile Beer
Cream Ale
Pumpkin Ale
Rye Beer
Wheatwine

Belgian / French Ales
Belgian Dark Ale
Belgian IPA
Belgian Pale Ale
Belgian Strong Dark Ale
Belgian Strong Pale Ale
Bière de Champagne / Bière Brut
Bière de Garde
Dubbel
Faro
Flanders Oud Bruin
Flanders Red Ale
Gueuze
Lambic - Fruit
Lambic - Unblended
Quadrupel (Quad)
Saison / Farmhouse Ale
Tripel
Witbier

English Ales
Baltic Porter
Braggot
English Barleywine
English Bitter
English Brown Ale
English Dark Mild Ale
English India Pale Ale (IPA)
English Pale Ale
English Pale Mild Ale
English Porter
English Stout
English Strong Ale
Extra Special / Strong Bitter (ESB)
Foreign / Export Stout
Milk / Sweet Stout
Oatmeal Stout
Old Ale
Russian Imperial Stout
Winter Warmer

Finnish Ales
Sahti

German Ales
Altbier
Berliner Weissbier
Dunkelweizen
Gose
Hefeweizen
Kölsch
Kristalweizen
Roggenbier
Weizenbock

Irish Ales
Irish Dry Stout
Irish Red Ale

Russian Ales
Kvass

Scottish Ales
Scotch Ale / Wee Heavy
Scottish Ale
Scottish Gruit / Ancient Herbed Ales


LAGERS
Lager yeasts prefer lower temperatures, between 46 to 55 degrees Fahrenheit and flocculate closer to the bottom of the fermentation tank.  Lager yeasts tend to ferment more aggressively, leaving behind less residual sweetness and flavor compared to ales.

American Lagers
American Adjunct Lager
American Amber / Red Lager
American Double / Imperial Pilsner
American Malt Liquor
American Pale Lager
California Common / Steam Beer
Light Lager
Low Alcohol Beer

Czech Lagers
Czech Pilsener

European Lagers
Euro Dark Lager
Euro Pale Lager
Euro Strong Lager

German Lagers
Bock
Doppelbock
Dortmunder / Export Lager
Eisbock
German Pilsener
Keller Bier / Zwickel Bier
Maibock / Helles Bock
Märzen / Oktoberfest
Munich Dunkel Lager
Munich Helles Lager
Rauchbier
Schwarzbier
Vienna Lager

Japanese Lagers
Happoshu
Japanese Rice Lager

Hybrid Styles  
Fruit / Vegetable Beer
Herbed / Spiced Beer
Smoked Beer

New
American-style Brett Ale is now a recognized ale style.


Changed
American-style Black Ale is the new name for American-style India Black Ale.