Beowulf, Bede, Aelfric’s Colloquy – in Anglo-Saxon, there are four words for fermented beverages, and lots and lots of descriptions of what happens when one drinks too much. The four [..]
The Book of Taliesin is a late Middle Welsh version of the ales of Gwion Bach and Taliesin, mostly around the court of Maelgyn Gynedd. It was written in the 1550s, the same [..]
Wines are about where they come from. There is a critical piece of info on a wine label I’ve been overlooking. When the label on a bottle of wine says [..]
Drinks labels featuring hobbits, dwarves, let’s see what I can find…the answer? Much less than I expected. I bet there are a lot of beers and ciders on tap with [..]
If you want to make really good hard cider, you need to use vintage apples. But where do you find these superb cider-making apples? I live smack in the middle [..]
The inestimable Brother Adam, standard-setting meadmaker, preferred Montpellier Lalvin d-21 yeast, and was unhappy when it became unavailable in smaller-than-commercial lots for a while. I’ve never used D-21, and wondered [..]
Curling up with a mug of steaming mulled cider is a lovely thing this chilly, dank time of year, but I beg you, don’t get those silly, frilly, expensive little [..]
This is my first cut on a list of winter warmers – spiced beer, cider, mead, or wine, commercially made and bottled for you. There are 22 meads, 20 hard [..]
So you’re about to walk into a wine tasting room. Maybe you’ve never been, maybe you’ve done this before but never been quite sure how it’s supposed to go: do [..]
Every now and then, serious academic study trips over sheer delight. Thus it was I found the Beer Haiku website: a daily haiku submitted by readers. As near as I [..]
I will not lie: every time I see a reference to Michael Jackson, I think of the King of Pop. This is ridiculous. Michael Jackson – journalist, book author, holder [..]
New beverages are pouring out of the woodwork to help you celebrate whatever aspect of the holidays you like. Back at Hallowe’en, I put together a list of all the [..]