Category: Beverages

It’s hard to believe that in 2009 there were only 1,600 craft breweries in the good ole US of A. When we fast forward just 12 years later to 2021 we’re now seeing over 9,000 operating craft breweries across the country. 

Craft beer is not only giving consumers a whole new tasting experience, but the culture of the craft brewery scene is highly sought-after. Craft breweries are places where couples, friends, and families can mingle, relax, and enjoy chill vibes, usually with good music and solid food as well.

To identify the 5 best American craft beers, we’ve leaned on BeerAdvocate. These guys have been the benchmark setter for beer reviews since 1996 and they are one of the oldest beer communities, so they know their stuff.  

As of today, the top 5 best American craft beers in terms of the average rating are as follows:

1. Kentucky Brunch Brand Stout

The Kentucky Brunch Brand Stout from Toppling Goliath Brewing Company in Iowa is currently ranked #1 with over 717 ratings and a whopping 4.83/5 average. 

This beer is sporting notes of “chocolate chip pancakes drenched with maple syrup served with espresso and a shot of bourbon, all in one sip.” When you have a dessert in a bottle coming in at 12% ABV, it’s no wonder this American Imperial Stout is popular.  

Americans love their pancakes and Goliath just made them in beer form.

2. Marshmallow Handjee

The Marshmallow Handjee from 3 Floyds Brewing Company in Indiana comes in at #2 with over 1,439 ratings and a 4.73/5 average. 

With one reviewer explaining their rating as “just because it can’t be perfect, I guess, but it’s damn close,” this Russian Imperial Stout has been aged in bourbon barrels with extra vanilla beans. This beer comes in at a whopping 15% ABV. When most beers across the board are around 4.5% ABV — woo!  

3. Abraxas – Barrel-Aged

The Abraxas – Barrel-Aged from Perennial Artisan Ales in Missouri takes the third spot with over 1,474 ratings and a 4.73/5 average. 

This Imperial Stout comes in with an 11% ABV and has been aged in Rittenhouse rye barrels for twelve months. Twelve months for a beer! It’s got notes of cacao nibs, vanilla beans, ancho chiles, and cinnamon sticks too! 

4. Vanilla Bean Assassin

The Vanilla Beach Assassin is another one from Toppling Goliath Brewing Company in Iowa making headlines. Two beers in the top five from the same brewery is quite impressive — go Iowa! Beer #4 has over 90 ratings with a 4.79/5 score. 

This is another Imperial Stout on the list, but this one is aged in whiskey barrels with extra vanilla beans. Coming in at 12.8% ABV, reviews for this beer compliment its thick mouthfeel and full-flavored body.   

5. Heady Topper

Rounding out the top five is Heady Topper from The Alchemist in Vermont. This beer has over 12,403 ratings with a 4.71/5 rating and is an American Double IPA coming in at 8% ABV. 

The Heady Topper reviews state that it’s “so drinkable, it’s scary.” With people highlighting that “sometimes I wish I could crawl right into the can.” That sounds like quite the endorsement!

You can’t say we Americans don’t like our flavor bombs! 

In this industry, new trends and flavors are happening all the time, so keep an eye out for the next popular thing!

Some of us like cocktails that might be best described as brutal. Others want a fun and refreshing experience that feels like sunbathing on a beach in Mexico. Well, this article is for the beach in Mexico crowd. Let’s talk about fruity goodness that goes down easy while celebrating in the balmy evening.

Bear in mind that these cocktails hardly taste like they have alcohol in them and go down very easily. It is always important to drink responsibly. Enjoy these fruity concoctions, and always make sure there is a designated driver.

Here are five cocktails anyone can appreciate.

Pina Colada

So it is the basis for one of the worst/greatest songs in history, but it is also a delicious drink. If you get caught in the rain, this is the drink of the tropics with a strong foundation in coconut and pineapple.

Take rum, pineapple juice, and coconut milk and enjoy this frosty, blended cocktail.

Sex on the Beach

Sure it sounds naughty, but it tastes oh so good. This refreshing summer cocktail tastes like you’re right by the beach, and it’s easy drinking.

A mixture of vodka, Peach Schnapps, orange juice, and cranberry juice is pure refreshment that is subtly sweet and fruity.

Strawberry Margaritas

A frosty concoction that tastes like, well, a frosty strawberry concoction? Sure. Perfect. This is a cocktail that you’d never know is a cocktail if someone didn’t tell you. And it is very easy to overdo it if you’re not cautious. Tasty things go down fast and easy and sometimes too easy.

Some tequila, triple sec, strawberry puree, and lime juice create this sweet concoction that was the basis for the famous song, Margaritaville.

Mimosa

Mimosas are all the rage and took off with the Sunday brunch tradition. Certainly, you’ve had a few friends who had a much too fun Sunday brunch. The thing about mimosas is that they aren’t intense or strong because they are a juice mixed with champagne, but they go down very quickly.

While the traditional mimosa is champagne and orange juice, innovation has come to the mimosa, and many mixtures are now available.

Fuzzy Navel

Someone got creative in the 80s and said, “Let’s take a basic screwdriver and make it better.” Thus was born the fuzzy navel. It is a party drink with delightful flavors covering vodka’s bitterness.

This drink is super easy to make as it is just orange juice and peach schnapps. The alcohol content isn’t high, but the fun factor might result in drinking too much. Be careful.

Are you thirsty yet? Each of these fruity and tasty concoctions is simply a delight to drink. They aren’t the potent whiskey cocktail or dirty martini with a definitive alcohol taste. Each is a fun drink that has little alcohol taste and a whole lot of refreshment.

Enjoy your pina colada and getting caught in the rain.

If you watch TV ads, you might assume that all beer comes from big breweries. For a long time that was true, but toward the end of the 20^th century, a new wave emerged. Beer enthusiasts decided they could do better. Some created small breweries, and others began preparing batches for themselves and friends at home.

With plenty of available expert advice along with inexpensive brewing equipment, DIY beer keeps getting easier to produce. Here are five reasons you should jump on the bandwagon and start brewing your own beer.

1. You Can Save Money

Sure, there’s a start-up cost, but it’s less than you might think. A beginner’s home brewing kit can be had for under $100. Buying the ingredients may make your first batch seem costly, but you get to keep using those ingredients for many iterations.

Once you’re up and running, the expense can be under 70 cents a beer. That’s less than the cost of name-brand beers and far less than the craft beers that are more comparable to a good homemade product.

Most enthusiasts, though, don’t brew at home primarily to save money. Read on for other reasons.

2. You Can Brew the Beer You Really Want

Any old lager will quench your thirst after you cut the grass, but there are times you want some beer with distinctive taste and complexity. Whether you prefer a wheat beer, a stout or one of the myriad varieties of IPA, your choice is always on tap when you make your own. If you’d like a beer with cucumber, jalapeno or papaya, you can infuse your version with as much or as little of the flavor as suits you.

3. You Become Part of a Community

Home brewers are passionate about their hobby. They love to brew beer, drink it, compare it and talk about it. You’ll find yourself initiated into a friendly society that’s always ready to welcome a new member.

They’re happy to answer questions, offer opinions and share their latest tips on equipment, techniques or ingredients. You’ll find them discussing the ins and outs of their hobby in live groups, on social media and at conventions.

4. Making Beer Is Fun

It’s easy to get started. You can work at it as hard as you want: stick to the standard recipes or challenge yourself to excel and even win contests. It’s a great way to spend time alone, and it can be even more fun with a like-minded friend or two.

You get to learn a little science and be creative. You play with interesting toys such as thermometers, tubes and brewpots. When the brew finally goes into the bottle, you can step back and bask in the pride of what you’ve accomplished.

5. You’ll Enjoy Sharing Your Wares

Anybody can pick up a six-pack on the way to a party, but it makes a bigger splash when you bring a few bottles of your latest creation. Homebrew is an appreciated gift for Christmas and birthdays. Who knows, your friends might like your product so much that they join you in the hobby.

In today’s mile-a-minute world, getting your daily dose of caffeine through coffee is something most of us depend on. Sure, any old cup of Joe will keep you buzzing, but if you want to savor the flavor, it is time to get more serious about what’s in your coffee mug. Here are some of the ways to really love your coffee.

Five Changes You Can Make to Transform Your Coffee Drinking Totally

Number 1: Say Goodbye to Convenience

Everyone loves how easy it is easy to use a pod coffee maker or instant coffee, but they require you to give up too much on taste, so if you don’t already have an alternative way to brew coffee, get one. Never feel you have to jump directly to a manual pour-over or another trendy brewing method. An automatic pour-over machine works perfectly well and can deliver fabulous coffee.

Number 2: Clean Your Coffee Maker

For those who already use another coffee brewing method, when was the last time you cleaned it? We are talking about an actual deep cleaning where you clean the machine inside and out. For the best results, you should run a few cycles of a detergent made for coffee machines or a 50-50 mix of water and white vinegar every two weeks. However, if that seems a little obsessive, at least do it once every month. It isn’t difficult, and believe it or not; you will notice a huge difference.  

Number 3: Buy a Grinder

If you are not already buying whole beans and grinding them moments before making coffee, you need to be. Within minutes of grinding beans, the quality starts to go down. You don’t need to spend a lot of money to get a decent grinder, but it is worth paying 20 or 30 bucks to pick up a conical burr instead of a cheaper blade grinder that is much less effective. 

Number 4: Use Better Water

Water makes up the bulk of any cup of coffee, so it is no surprise that using better water for brewing will result in better flavor. Even if you regularly drink the water from your faucet, your coffee will benefit from filtering the water. If you prefer, you can use spring water, but distilled or reverse osmosis water aren’t good choices. Ultrapure water doesn’t have the minerals that keep the coffee from tasting flat and tends to over-extract the grounds, making the coffee very bitter. 

Number 5: Make Coffee a Daily Ritual

When you turn your coffee-drinking habit into more of a ritual setting, you learn to appreciate it more and really begin to savory the flavors. Set aside 15 to 20 minutes as ‘sacred coffee time’ by getting rid of any distractions. It is easy to turn everything from the brewing process to sipping into a meditation that can clear your mind and set you up for a great day. 

While these hints may not turn you into a third-wave barista, they will definitely improve your coffee0drinking experience.  

Water is something that most of us have access to, but many neglect to drink the recommended amount. It’s estimated that more than 40 percent of Americans aren’t getting enough water on a daily basis. Experts suggest that you should be getting 3.7 liters per day if you’re a male, and 2.7 liters if you’re female. So how do we make sure that we’re drinking enough water? Here are a few tips to get to that recommended daily amount.

5. Water at Every Meal

When you sit down for a meal, there’s a good chance that you opt for something like juice, milk and, of course, soda, as your beverage of choice. To make sure that you’re staying hydrated, turn to a glass or bottle of water, instead. You’re much more likely to drink more as you’re eating, so pairing water with meals is a surefire way to get that extra boost you need. It will also save you a lot of money while eating out as restaurants tend to charge far extra for non-water drinks.

4. Add Some Flavor

What’s one of the reasons that people gravitate toward soda during meals instead of water? The taste, of course. Water is seen as too “bland” to some people, so why not add a little flavor to it to make things interesting? Between sugar free flavoring packets that can be used in bottles to simply getting some drops of fruit juice, there are a lot of options to pick from. However, you should probably steer clear of adding a bunch of sugar into your water.

3. Take Advantages of Apps

We live in a busy society, so it’s completely understandable that we forget to do some things that we deem to be minor. This includes sipping on water, but just like with anything, there’s an app for that. Hydration apps are no exception, and there are plenty on both iOS and the Google Play Store that can remind you to drink water with push notifications. Daily Water Tracker Reminder, Hydro Coach and WaterMinder are just a few of the 

2. Use a Straw

It might seem a little silly, but you’re likely to drink more throughout the day if you’re using a straw rather than gulping water (or any beverage). There’s a certain psychology to it, and it says that when a straw is in front of you, you’ll continuously sip as long as it’s there. You’ve probably seen people that have those massive water bottles with the built-in straw at work. Think about how much they have that straw in their mouth throughout the day and you’ll realize just how much water they’re getting.

1. Get a Water Filter

One of the biggest complaints that people have with their tap water is that it doesn’t taste quite right. It’s a perfectly acceptable response, too, as not every town or city is going to have good tasting (or even safe) water to drink. For this reason, getting a water filter is the smartest thing you can do for yourself. They’re inexpensive and make your water crisp and refreshing. Just a one time investment goes a long way, especially with more than 70 percent of Americans concerned about their city’s water.