Here we are with an updated list of the finest beers known to mankind, now up to 65 that you must try before you shuffle off this mortal coil. Ive rearranged a few based on recent tastings, and added ten more to the list since we last published one of these. 1. BRASSERIE DE ROCHEFORT Trappistes Rochefort 8 (Belgian Strong Dark Ale) 2. UNIBROUE La Fin Du Monde (Belgian Strong Pale Ale) 3. MOYLANS Hopsickle (Double IPA) 4. BRASSERIE DE ROCHEFORT Trappistes Rochefort 6 (Belgian Strong Dark Ale) 5.  read more »

By ERIC GORSKI, AP Religion Writer DENVER In the beginning, there was a long line for Judgment Day ale. Shortly after the doors opened on the 27th Great American Beer Festival, a crowd congregated at the booth offering that and other pours from The Lost Abbey of San Marcos, Calif., where the tap handle is a Celtic cross and the legacy of beer-brewing monks endures. Standing under a banner promising "Inspired beers for Saints and Sinners Alike," proprietor and former altar boy Tomme Arthur had a confession: He's using God to sell some beer.  read more »

THE ALEMBIC is a roughly 18-month-old restaurant & bar in San Franiscos Upper Haight neighborhood devoted to strong ales and high-end, locally-grown small plate food. Given its location at ground zero in the former hippie hotbed among the professional homeless, street punks and hipster shoppers, prices are way in line with what most area diners can afford, and now that Ive finally supped and imbibed there. I think the value-for-money quotient is outstanding.  read more »

We were ripe for an update on the worlds greatest beers, what with all the good ones weve added to the list recently so here they are, the finest 55 beers known to (one) man: 1. BRASSERIE DE ROCHEFORT Trappistes Rochefort 8 (Belgian Strong Dark Ale) 3. UNIBROUE La Fin Du Monde (Belgian Strong Pale Ale) 4. ST. BERNARDUS Grotten Brown (Belgian Strong Dark Ale) 5. THREE FLOYDS - Alpha King (American Pale Ale) 6. LOST ABBEY Gift Of The Magi (Biere De Garde) 7. BROWERIJ VAN STEENBERGE Monks Caf Sour Flemish Ale (Flanders Oud Bruin) 8.  read more »

(Note all photos by Jen Hale , who took a ton of great ones. Check them out by clicking here ) Another epic session at the BOONVILLE BEER FESTIVAL this past Saturday, always a big event at HBJ headquarters since its really the only major beerfest we allow ourselves to go to each year. We cant be trusted to keep it together any more than once an annum. 2008 in Boonville, California an idyllic little hippie/redneck village 2.25 hours north of San Francisco offered the usual fantastic weather, goodtime vibes, friendly smilin faces, incredible beer selection and even a few surprises. Without going too far deep into the personal, it was also notable for a number of firsts: 1. The first year that I traveled via limousine to the event (!) - or to any event 2. The first year I was safely tucked in back in San Francisco the night of the fest 3. The first year I didnt say, nor do, anything particularly regrettable (I think) 4. The first year I ever broke bread with another beer blogger (big ups to Jessica from The Thirsty Hopster ; Peter from BetterBeerBlog and the legendary Jay Brooks from Brookston Beer Bulletin ) 5. The first year I was smart enough to not wait in any astronomically long food lines and instead rolled my own But enough about me. Quit talking and start rocking, right? How was the beer?? Well, let me first offer some observations about the festival itself. There were some anomalies this year. Not only was it the largest crowd ever for one of these things (one semi-reputable estimate came in at 10,000 people, but that sounds bogus to me Im thinking more like 3,000), but, alas, the beer dawg quotient was at its absolute highest. You know what a beer dawg is, right? No?  read more »

This 375ml bottle is Batch 001 of Beatification. Brewed by Russian River Brewing in Santa Rosa, Sonoma County, CA, this is a blonde ale aged in oak barrels and comes in at 5.50% abv. To be more specific, this brew is aged in used La Folie barrels graciously handed over by Peter Bouckaert of New Belgium Brewing. Beatification was aged for 23 months in these barrels before it was bottled and contains Brettanomyces , Saccharomyces , Pediococcus and Lactobacillus. Click on each one to learn a littl  read more »