Intellectual Ferment of a Different Kind
~Antwerp Through the Ages~ Like so many cities and towns in Belgium, Antwerp is but an hour and change by train from Brussels. If you’re like me and your trips to Belgium never amount to more than about five days at a time, …
I headed out to Stone Brewing’s Berlin outpost in Mariendorf with less than great expectations. Stone’s arrival in Berlin had, after all, been anything but auspicious. During a press conference in 2014, co-owner Greg Koch presided over the destruction of a pallet of main-stream European …
American-style IPA, that beloved child of the craft beer renaissance, has left the building. In recent years, IPA has become detached from its local context on the West Coast of the United States to emerge as a globalized signifier of everything exciting and novel about …
The holiday season is in full swing, and if you’re like me, you’ve woken up and realized that this whole gift thing is going to go down at the last minute. Again. Plus ça change. No worries, though. You’ll find something quite easily, given the …
“A pocketful of money, and a cellar full of beer / We wish you merrie and a happy new year.” “Enter Wassel, like a neat sempeter and songster, her page bearing a brown bowl, dressed with ribbons and rosemary, before her” (Ben Jonson). …
~Some of Prague’s Best Beer Spots~ Prague is justly famous for its Old Town Square, its Castle District dominated by St. Vitus Cathedral, and the Charles Bridge, majestic despite the throngs of tourists. Beyond that, Prague is famous for the Defenestration of Prague. (Defenestration: …
You’ve just arrived in Prague and have had a look at “Beer in Prague: A List to Get You Started” during your train ride. You’re thirsty after that long journey and need to fortify yourself before you brave the crowds of the Castle District, Charles …
Prague. Beer. Two words that go well together. Welcome to my series on Prague. In contrast to other series I’ve compiled or other city/regional spotlights I’ve written, I’m going to start at the end, as it were, with a rough-and-ready list of beers that you …
It’s late 2008, about a month after I had arrived in Berlin to conduct research on Germany’s recent efforts to commemorate the Second World War. Another leaden gray winter afternoon, mist hanging low enough to obscure the landmark TV Tower on Alexanderplatz, leafless trees shivering …
It’s been said that residents of Munich know only three beer gardens: the one around the corner from where they live, the one down the street from their best friend, and the one near where they work or study. In a city with just shy …