It's Craft Beer Week!
I'm ashamed of myself. It's Craft Beer Week, and I didn't even know it. But I didn't completely screw up. There are still three days of quaffing left in the celebratory week (sobriety returns on May 23rd). If you're looking for an article with lots of great information about the craft beer phenomenon, check out this piece at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. It's geared toward western PA, but it contains information that should interest beer-drinkers throughout the nation, like this helpful explanation:
What is 'craft beer'
You might call them "microbrews," but size has less to do with it than spirit. As the Brewers Association defines them, craft brewers tend to be small, but BA rules allow them to make up to 6 million barrels of beer a year. The trade group requires that craft brewers be independent -- that is, less than a quarter owned or controlled by another entity. The group also says craft brewers are traditional, having either a flagship beer that is all malt and no adjuncts such as corn, or has at least half of its volume in either all-malt beers or in beers that use adjuncts to enhance rather than lighten flavor.
The article also contains a link to the above picture, which describes each beer pictured.
