It's time for the 51st issue of The Beer Connoisseur Magazine!

First up is our sit-down with famed Unibroue Brewmaster Jerry Vietz. The bowler hat-wearing icon delves into a wide array of topics, including his collaboration with Megadeth lead singer Dave Mustaine, the incredible acclaim that his beers have received over the year, as well as what he gets up to in his (rare) spare time.

After that, Michael Maloney explores 10 influential U.S. craft beers and how these beers have changed the course of brewing history, and Owen Ogletree drops by with an in-depth look at the role of yeast in brewing, exploring a number of different avenues involving this fascinating and mercurial organism.

Then, Dean Brightman continues the education kick with a definition of a coolship in The Function of a Coolship in Brewing Wild Ales. By the end of the piece, you’ll be an expert on this “giant brownie baking pan” for brewing beer.

Seth Levy jumps in with a treatise on the role that whiskey plays in barrel-aged beer, and then Jessica Zimmer provides a list of 15 winter warmer beers for the holiday season.

We close up the issue with a collection of three easy dishes perfectly paired with beer by Michael Thacker, and then Jessica Zimmer returns with a tour of Salt Lake City’s Uinta Brewing.

Welcome, one and all, to the landmark 50^th edition of The Beer Connoisseur Magazine.

It’s been a long, strange trip full of delicious brews and engaging stories, so we thought we should lead off this issue by highlighting the highest-scoring beers from all 50 issues, as well as some of our favorite stories that have been featured in our pages. We hope you enjoy these trips down memory lane as much as we did.

Beyond our Top 50s, the issue leads off with Jim Dykstra giving you the skinny on how to host a successful whiskey tasting party that won’t leave your guests tottering home after overindulging.

After that, Josh Weikert tosses his hat in the ring on the topic of the ever-controversial Pumpkin Beer. In this piece, Josh provides the backstory and history of pumpkin beer in the U.S. while providing details on notable ingredients and other facts about this seasonal style.

Then, Michael Thacker aims to answer an important question for all beer drinkers: Is Beer Healthy? Michael provides a multitude of answers on a variety of topics revolving around this question, some of which may surprise you. Following that, continuing the health kick, Jason Johnson details the wide world of low-calorie beers with 23 of his favorites.

Welcome to the Summer 2020, Issue 49 of The Beer Connoisseur!

Beer has long been a popular drink, but just how long have some breweries existed? Jessie O’Brien answers that interesting question in The Oldest Breweries in the World.

COVID-19 remains the single biggest story on the minds of everyone around the world, so we had Dean Brightman, in his BC debut, check in on three California breweries of differing sizes to see how each of them has responded to this historic pandemic.

Kombucha is another category of beverages that has gained immense popularity over the past few years. But what actually is it? Seth Levy dishes on the varieties and recent history of this fermented beverage.

In another BC first, Marty Nachel, writer of Beer for Dummies, chimes in with an education story about the six-sided Brewer’s Star, which was once the universally recognized symbol of brewers worldwide. Why is it no longer the omnipresent symbol of beerdom? Marty has the answers!

What’s a summer without summer beers? Dionne Roberts, in her debut in our pages, offers up her list of 20 Great Summertime Brews, which features some classics as well as a few left-field choices that are sure to quench on a sunny day.

Welcome to the May/June 2020, Issue 48 of The Beer Connoisseur!

Seeing as the entire world is being impacted by it, our top story is a deep dive into how COVID-19 is affecting the beer industry by Jessica Zimmer. We hope this well-researched and highly sourced story answers any questions you might have about the virus situation in our industry.

We also have a wide variety of education pieces broaching multiple topics. First, Owen Ogletree takes us down to the Big Easy to outline The Rebirth of Dixie Beer, then Stephen Staples outlines the interesting theory of Lupulin Threshold Shift, which entails hoppy beers “rewriting” your taste buds in interesting and unusual ways.

Following that, Jim Dykstra explore the fun topic of The Bubbling Science of Beer Foam, then Michael Maloney provides us details on What DDH Beer Is.

We close out the issue by outlining the Top 44 Hazy New England IPAs and Double IPAs that our judges have ever reviewed followed by David Kriso, in his BC debut, showcasing the Top 15 Places to Drink Beer in the Steel City: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. 

Lastly, we feature a new guest blog from Tavour detailing 10 Crushable Craft Pilsner Options to Replace Premium Lagers.

As always, no issue is complete without our Industry News, Official Review and Brewer Q&A segments, and Issue 48 is no exception.

This Spring 2020, Issue 47 of The Beer Connoisseur packs in plenty of powerful prose on your favorite topic: Beer! This issue is headlined by us naming who we believe to be the Best Brewery in the World: pFriem Family Brewers of Hood River, Oregon! We do not make this claim lightly, but pFriem’s sterling pedigree and 31 world-class and exceptional beer reviews in our Official Review made them our top choice for the honor.

Then, Stan Hieronymus delves into the sticky issue of What Are Noble Hops? Do the hops truly come from noble foliage? Or is this simply a trumped-up marketing term? Stan provides all the details and more in this engaging education piece.

Ryan Newhouse is up next with an interesting topic of the changing beer scene in the United Kingdom by looking at how Hazy, New England IPAs are affecting the country’s craft beer landscape.

Hard seltzers are all the rage, so we asked Jonathan Ingram to pose – and answer – 10 key questions about them to help shine some light on this meteorically rising beverage. How is it brewed? Is it here to stay? Jonathan has the answers.

In an eminently competitive industry such as craft brewing, breweries sometimes have to think outside the box to attract customers. Jessie O’Brien details 12 breweries with fascinating experiential taprooms in order to help keep customers engaged.

Atlanta, GA (Feb. 25, 2020) The Beer Connoisseur® is excited to announce a new and exclusive beer buying campaign in partnership with Tavour, a mobile App platform that allows online purchasing of hard-to-find and rare beers from breweries around the world.

For the first time ever, The Beer Connoisseur readers of age 21 and older that reside in select zip codes in the 24 states listed below may stock their fridge with beer rated World Class (100 - 96) and Exceptional (95 - 91) in the publication’s Official Review. Other hard-to-find and rare beers from the magazine’s acclaimed breweries will also be selected for these buying events.

Readers in select zip codes in the following states may participate: CA, CO, DC, FL, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, MI, MN, MO, NE, NV, NH, NJ, NM, NY, OH, OR, PA, TX, WA and WI.

Welcome to the 46th edition of The Beer Connoisseur magazine. Last year provided plenty of intrigue and great flavor in the world of beer, and, in this edition, we look ahead to the coming year and also harken back to the best beers, beer styles and breweries of 2019.

Seeing as this is our annual The Beer in Review winter edition, we keep you in the loop on how the wonderful world of beer continued to evolve and grow in 2019. Whether a brewer or beer fan, we believe this issue has something for everyone.

This issue is split into three sections. First, our Industry Outlook details the year that was for the beer industry in 2019 – while also keeping the future in mind – from the perspective of the consumer, the craft beer segment and restaurants. All three are in-depth explorations featuring statistics, research and interviews with industry insiders to offer the full picture of the craft beer business.

Of course, any beer magazine worth its weight in IBUs features an abundance of beer reviews, and this edition of The Beer Connoisseur lives up to that. Our most robust section features the Top 100 Beers of 2019 as featured in our Official Review. With a wide range of styles from fruit lambics to chocolate peanut butter stouts, our Top 100 Beers has it all. Beyond that, our Best Beers by Style Category outlines the finest beers in a wide range of different styles, and we award our Best Breweries of 2019.

Japanese Artisanship Meets Craft Beer

Even though it plays a leading role in cutting-edge technological developments, Japan is also a country that proudly preserves its traditional crafts and occupations, resulting in a wealth of artisanal heritage. It will come as no surprise, then, that when Japan was first introduced to the concept of beer by Dutch merchants in the 17^th century, the art of beer brewing was adopted and cultivated with the same level of care and pride used in all other forms of craftsmanship in the country. Inseparable from the cultivation of craft beer in Japan is the art of sake brewing, and just as this process requires intricate attention to detail, so do artisans of Japanese craft beer develop their creations with a singular devotion to precision and care.

An Archipelago of Flavors

It is not only skilled craftsmanship that makes Japanese craft beer stand out; the type of ingredients and flavors found in each new creation speak to the idiosyncratic geography of the country.

In this issue, we offer up a multitude of stories on a broad range of topics, kicking off with beers that might wet Santa’s whistle on Christmas Eve. Then, Jessica Zimmer continues her excellently researched work with an in-depth profile of Flying Saucer Draught Emporium, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary.

After that, Michael Maloney makes his debut in our pages with a continuation of our ongoing travel series by highlighting the Top 20 Places to Drink Beer in Brussels, which is not short on world-class beer establishments.

Kristen Kuchar dons her doctor’s smock (with a beer in pocket) to deliver the prognosis on the Best Foods to Promote Liver Health, so your body can stay healthy enough to keep on enjoying delicious brews for a long time.

Jessie O’Brien uncovers the secrets of past life regression therapy and how it is has impacted Barry Bialik of Thirsty Monk in Asheville, North Carolina with The Past Lives of Thirsty Monk’s Barry Bialik

Shirley Moskow also makes her debut in our magazine with A Beer Tour of San Antonio, Texas, which is made up of far more than just The Alamo and the Riverwalk. With plenty of terrific restaurants, breweries and bars, this Lone Star State city is a must-visit for beer lovers.

Our Fall 2019, Issue 44 features all the brew that’s fit to drink with a variety of stories on myriad topics that should wet your whistle, starting with Jessica Zimmer covering The World’s Strongest Beers.

Then, Kristen Kuchar explores the importance of facial hair to the brewing community with Big Beards in Beer, which features multiple interviews with some of the men behind the best beards in the brewing business.

Following that is the next entry in our series of “Top Places to Drink” in multiple landmark locations. In this issue, Chris Guest wrote about his recent trip to London, England – which led to a plethora of tremendous places to imbibe a brew.

After that, Owen Ogletree gives readers An Introduction to Mead, while Pat Evans sits down with 3 Impactful Beer Social Media Influencers to discuss what they do and how it affects the industry.

Then, Jonathan Ingram explores the possibility of another craft beer bubble forming under our very noses, while Jim Dykstra offers up the Editor’s Pick: European Beer Tour Companies.

Lastly, David Nilsen closes us out with a brewery tour of Urban Artifact, which is housed in the former St. Aloysius Catholic Church – a striking location that serves as a venerable spot to enjoy a finely crafted ale.

- - - -