Grillin’ season is one of my favorites. Whether you use a good old charcoal Weber or a top of the line stainless steel beast, barbecue smells and tastes like summer. And what goes better with smoky barbecue and stunning sunshine than a fresh poured beer? Nothing! So with a quick run to the Strip for some treats and a look in the husband’s beer fridge, a gluttonous Sunday Beer-B-Q meal became a thing. My neighbors probably love and hate me for making them smell my experiments on the grill all summer long. The menu: a pale ale and herb-brined organic chicken, and the side dishes I made were …

The pilsner style of beer is a clash of mainstream “Lite” America and traditional Czech recipes. Obnoxious, macho marketing versus a quiet, simple history. At least it was. Much maligned with the rise of Budweiser, Miller and Coors, the pilsner was seemingly forgotten by many American craft brewers. While the “Big Three” products may share the light golden color with true pilsners, the similarities halt there. We needed our craft brewmasters to defend the pilsner on our behalf. Fortunately, they’ve answered the call with a recent surge in the creation of craft beer pilsners. But what made the…

As the (former) Executive Chef for the Sharp Edge Restaurants, I have been cooking with beer for years and find it to be more challenging and more delicious than when working with wine or liqueurs. The flavors and nuances from a Belgian beer, the astringent tropical fruit nose of a dry hopped IPA, or even the dark richness of a stout or porter can bring brightness and depth to many different foods. Some helpful tips from a pro: *  Taste it!   Taste any beer before you add it to your food. The flavors present when you drink it are the ones that will be amplified when it is cooked with food. If…

Before craft beer, there were wine coolers. Not in the historical sense, mind you, but in my chronicle of alcoholic introductions. Save your condescending glances for another column, sir. Bartles & Jaymes always signified my start to summer as well as a loving toast to the warm temperatures that typically accompany May through August. Even today, at the first sign of patio weather, I have the urge to purchase a four-pack of those fruity malted beverages. But thankfully, it’s no longer to get “drunk” before my mom finds the bottles. Let’s just leave it at … nostalgia. I can’t say that I segued…

Are the times really changing? Is Pennsylvania finally beginning to emerge from the dark ages? One of any Pennsylvanian’s biggest gripes has been in regard to the state’s archaic liquor code, created just after the abolition of Prohibition, and rarely amended since. House Bill 242—the biggest alteration in modern history to the state’s liquor code—was to change this. After being passed by both the House and Senate, then signed off on by Governor Corbett, HB 242 addressed certain concerns regarding what some saw as pointless limitations on state liquor laws. Breweries within the state are now …

Our beer and brewing scene here in Pittsburgh is exploding. It seems as though a new brewery, quality beer bar, or homebrew-oriented establishment springs up almost on a monthly basis. Our distributors and bottle shops are boasting unprecedentedly comprehensive lists of selections. Pittsburgh is hosting first round judging for the National Homebrewers Conference. The inaugural installment of Pittsburgh Craft Beer Week is here. When you look back into the not-so-distant past at Pittsburgh’s numerous pockets of ethnically-diverse neighborhoods, as well as our aforementioned industrial roots, it…