Who’s feeling festive? We are! The Beer Connoisseur is returning for its 39^th edition just in time for the holiday season.

The holidays can be a stressful time for anyone, so why not stop, relax and take a break with your favorite beer magazine? We’ve got plenty of engaging and interesting stories to whet your whistle in advance of the holiday season, so sit back and sup a superlative brew surrounded by friends and family – you’ve earned it.

A sumptuous feast of beery content awaits you in this issue of The Beer Connoisseur. We aim to educate and inspire on the subject of beer and brewing, and some of our top stories typify this approach.

Owen Ogletree, an expert on the subject of cask ale and real ale, gives readers a sterling definition of one of the U.K.’s most important beer exports in What is Real Ale?

After that Jessica Zimmer, making her writing debut for The Beer Connoisseur, provides the definition of the wondrous world of gypsy and contract brewing in Gypsy Brewing and Contract Brewing Defined.

Then Jim Dykstra straps on the lupulin goggles and outlines the most interesting and popular hops to look out for in 2019 with The Hop Report: Trending Hops in 2019.

There is always something newsworthy taking place in the beer industry. That's why we dedicate Monday of each week to publishing the top stories from the previous week in our Industry News e-newsletter. Here you'll find a compilation of all the news we've covered since the last issue, with links to the full stories.

We saddled up with the masterminds behind the highest rated brews and asked them about the inspiration behind the recipes. Follow the links below to the individual Q & A's, or you may access Q & A's from all editions here.

Judging Process
Our reviews are conducted in a single-blind tasting format. This method provides the best opportunity to rely on facts and to avoid favoritism, ensuring a level playing field for all brewers. It serves both the industry and the consumer to have unbiased and objective scores from qualified experts. To best implement this approach, the Judges Review is open to those with established experience as a Master Cicerone® from the Cicerone® Certification Program or as a judge that has accomplished the rank of National or higher from the Beer Judge Certification Program. In the single-blind tasting format, judges are presented with a chilled, properly poured beer and given its style category. Scoring is then done on the following basis using a 100-point scale:

Score Breakdown:
100 to 96: World Class – You need this beer in your life.
95 to 91: Exceptional – Don’t hesitate.
90 to 86: Very Good – A brew to savor.
85 to 75: Average – Somewhat unimpressive.
74 and below: Not Recommended – Just walk away.
 

Planters Peanuts has announced its first-ever foray into craft beer with a Peanut IPA collaboration with Noon Whistle Brewing out of Lombard, Illinois.

The beer, called Mr. IPA-Nut, will release October 27 only in select locations throughout Illinois, and the beer is also available at Noon Whistle's Lombard location.

The full release from Planters and Noon Whistle is below.

PITTSBURGH and CHICAGO — Today, Planters announces that the peanut company is launching a beer, Mr. IPA-Nut, marking the iconic brand’s first entry into the craft beer market.

Nothing goes better with beer than nuts, in fact, 64% of guys agree nuts are the best salty snack to pair with their beer1. “Mr. Peanut doesn’t want beer drinkers to be without the perfect salty snack, which is why he brought the iconic taste of Planters to an IPA,” said Ashley Tople, Marketing Director for Planters, “Mr. IPA-Nut has a unique citrus aroma with a hint of honey-roasted peanuts followed by a slightly salty finish.”

“It would have been easy to make a great Stout or Porter with nuts, but Planters wanted to prove that nuts go great with any style beer,” said Michael Condon, Owner at Noon Whistle Brewing. “Therefore, we took their Honey Roasted Peanuts and made a great IPA that highlights both hops and peanuts.”

Stone Brewing Co. in Escondido, California has announced the release of Tropic of Thunder Lager, the brewery's first-ever solo foray into canned lagers after a collaboration beer with punk band NOFX earlier this year.

Of course, the Stone "stamp" is firmly on this beer as it features a juicy, tropical flavor profile that is very much Stone-like. The beer will be available wherever Stone beers are sold starting next week.

The full release from Stone is below, including a video from Stone Innovation Team member Jeremy Moynier: