In a marked departure from its traditional dark stout, the Guinness brand is introducing Guinness Blonde in September. Made with the 125-year-old Guinness yeast, the taste, structure and appearance of the lager underscore a major effort by the long established brand born in Ireland to expand its horizons.  

To be sold in the U.S. and brewed in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, Guinness Blonde has a burnished gold appearance, a floral aroma from American hops and a complex flavor profile. While ales, porters and stouts have enjoyed an increasingly larger market share in the past two decades thanks to the craft beer movement, the choice of a lager by Guinness reflects the lager style’s ongoing dominance in the American market.

The idea was to create a “fusion beer,” using American techniques combined with the Guinness yeast. Because of the use of an ale yeast to brew a lager, it’s difficult to categorize the Guinness Blonde in a traditional style. “Brewers are not concerned with style choices as much as brewing the beer itself,” said Doug Campbell, the brand manager for Guinness. Campbell said the fusion process is more about creating an American lager unlike anything else in the marketplace.

At every turn, Mark Thompson, the colorful, award-winning brewmaster and owner of Starr Hill Brewery plays life with deft ease.

Thompson merges his love for music and science into the Starr Hill golden elixirs he brews in Crozet, Virginia, where he and his wife, Kristin Dolan, developed their Music Lifestyle brand of beer.

“Historically, I came into craft when craft got started,” said Thompson, who has an interesting story to tell and doesn’t mind sharing it.

As a Grateful Dead head, he followed music acts through long, lazy summers in the late 80s, where he formed a friendship with a guy named Coran Capshaw. Capshaw would eventually become the guru of Red Light Management, aligning gigs for the likes of the Dave Matthews Band, Tim McGraw and Pfish. His notoriety at large music venues opened doors for Thompson’s Starr Hill beer. Capshaw partnered with him early on after Thompson moved into the defunct Blue Ridge Brewpub, shuttered by former owners Bok and Paul Summers, grandsons of William Faulkner of The Sound and the Fury fame.

As the co-founder of an early craft brewery and a current member of the board of directors at the Beer Institute, which represents big beer, Steve Hindy has been in the right position to tell the story of the sea changes in American beer-making that are now influencing the rest of the world.

The key element to his book and insider account is right in the subtitle. It states that craft is transforming the world of beer, an interesting present tense angle to a book that is part memoir and part history.

For those concerned the book might turn out to be a back-patting session for the key players who were in on the ground floor of American craft brewing – and survived to tell the tale – rest easy. Hindy, the co-founder of Brooklyn Beer, doesn’t pull punches on the conflicts inherent in the competition among the brewers themselves nor does he ignore the difficulties and failures. On a personal scale, although he’s circumspect in his characterizations of a who’s who list of participants in the beer industry, he has a deft touch for accurate personality portrayals without being offensive or obsequious.

Beer, one of the oldest and most cherished beverages in human history, has inspired countless words of wisdom full of humor and reflection over the generations it has existed. From ancient philosophers to modern-day brewmasters, beer has been celebrated not just as a drink but as a source of camaraderie, relaxation and creativity. Here, we've gathered over 235 beer quotes that capture the essence of this beloved beverage that has a definite role as a cog in the wheel of most important beverages in human history.

Whether you're a casual sipper, a homebrewing enthusiast or a connoisseur of craft ales, these quotes are sure to ignite your thirst and deepen your appreciation for the rich culture surrounding beer. So, pour yourself a cold one and enjoy these timeless reflections on the joys of beer.

Many of the quotes found within this article (except when given an explicit source) have been developed and altered heavily over the years through usage at bars, breweries and pubs and cannot accurately be attributed. So, to whomever came up with these brilliant pearls of beery wisdom... cheers to you!

A German native who often vacationed in the states, Stefan Gastager admired the “positive take on life” Americans had. But he noticed something America lacked, even in replica-rich Las Vegas, where Paris is a stone’s throw from Giza. A real taste of Bavaria was missing. 

There were schnitzel stands and decent wurst peddlers, but Gastager would only settle for the best of authentic German food and drink. 

He dreamed of replicating the iconic Munich Hofbräuhaus in Vegas, a feat that would require great ambition and rigorous attention to detail. 

“There were replicas of the Eiffel Tower, the Grand Canal and the Empire State Building, but no authentic German restaurant,” Gastager recalled. “So why not recreate a true copy of the Hofbräuhaus in Munich and bring a piece of Bavarian culture and tradition to Las Vegas,” Gastager said.

Gastager’s work began in 1999, when he pitched his dream to the owners of Munich’s Hofbräuhaus along with the help of his brother Klaus. Their point of contact was the German finance minister, since the Hofbräuhaus is owned by the German government. The minister must have been impressed, as he awarded the first-ever licensing agreement for the venerable institution.

“There were other requests for licenses in the past, but none of the other applicants were willing to go abroad themselves,” said Gastager.

Leaving Germany wasn’t too much of a problem for Gastager, because he planned on taking it with him.