About

The Site

Collected notes, rambles, and general ideas related to beer and the intersection of brewing and science. Beer proudly stands on the shoulders of tradition, and finds rejuvenation in both innovation, and convenient failings of memory. The beverage is too easy a canvas for marketers, and yet well suited for artisans. I am fascinated by the tension between business, creative, and technological forces.

The Author

When Ben's not writing, researching, or otherwise experimenting with beer, Ben works as an engineer in the biopharmaceutical industry. His position offers some opportunity to travel to lands with diverse brewing traditions.
e-mail: ben@beerthoughts.com
Follow @Ben_Mcl

A few previously published pieces are included, and are so noted.

Greatest Hits

Nostalgia and New Ideas: Craft Beer Luminaries Find Ways To Stay Relevant

I'm not envious of the youngsters starting out in an era when good beer is available on every street corner. Yes, things have never been more exciting in US Micro brewing but I feel the grip of nostalgia. New breweries are opening almost weekly. New taprooms draw crowds to taste new, photogenic beers. Novelty, at times, seems to surpass quality in importance to today's promiscuous drinkers. Which isn't to say that we didn't get around in my day. It's just that we didn't make such an effort to make an obvious trail, or tally our conquests. Which were, admittedly, somewhat smaller in number. Might today's craft drinkers missing some great beers from great breweries, in a quest for the next big thing, and a desire to avoid drinking one of dad's many microbrews? The good news is that many are doing cool things to stay interesting, and remain in conversation. So many brewing luminaries of my youth are now ancient. Gr...

Beer Destinations: Prague

Beneath a fairy tale skyline of spires, domes, and towers, a modern city of industry and commerce sits upon cobblestone streets and ancient bridges. Prague is a maddening riddle. Brilliant minds like Franz Kafka and Bohumil Hrabal relied upon surrealistic visions to make sense of it. Despite the city’s complex and frankly tumultuous history, there’s a millennia of brilliantly preserved architecture, miraculously spared the devastation of fire, war, and tasteless modernizations that have continuously reshaped many European cities. Located between the noble hop fields of Žatec (Saaz in German) and Moravia’s cascading barley fields, Prague is within easy reach of the ingredients to needed to sustain a vital brewing scene. However, the city was not spared the 20 th century’s assault on local beer culture. In the early 1990s, international breweries monopolized the city’s tap handles. Brewpubs were mostly forgotten, a novelty for tourists, a...

Avengers: Infinity Beer - Pairing Brews with Heros

Marvel's great cinematic event Avengers: Infinity War is upon us. Let us not puzzle over where the coveted infinity stones are hiding, or even wonder who will survive this (or more definitively the next installment). Let us consider our heroes in their last hours of peace. What would the Avengers, Guardians of the Galaxy, and other heroes enjoy when they crack open a beer? Perhaps their last. What would they choose? Thor - Pilsner Urquel The go d of thunder demonstrated his love of drink in a scene so good, we got to see it twice. Naming the lager Dr. Strange conjures into the mug of endless refills would tell us more about the good doctor than Thor. The latter I'd say may be a bit indiscriminate in his tastes, with a preference for volume and a mythological willingness to steal brew kettles from giants to ensure uninterrupted supply for his follow gods and himself. Thor would want a beer that tastes great, yet is still enjoyab...

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