Duvel Green
Brouwerij Duvel Moortgat, Belgium
On draft at metro beer bars (prices vary)

Profile: Not exactly your usual St. Patrick’s Day pint of plain, Duvel Green is nonetheless one of the most refreshing “green” beers you could grab to toast the traditional Irish holiday with a hearty slàinte.

It’s sort of the gentler, less complicated little brother of the lively Duvel Belgian Golden Ale. And though it uses the same ingredients as the Golden, including Saaz and Styrian Golding hops,
Green is brewed exclusively to be poured on draft. It doesn’t go through a secondary fermentation and it’s lower in alcohol. In general, the hoppiness and carbonation are less pronounced. But it retains an elegant white head, beautiful pale golden color, and clean, slightly fruity flavor, with a smooth dry finish that recalls a great pilsner.

Pair with: Duvel Green would make a fine match for a variety of hors d’oeuvres, especially shrimp, oysters or clams. And it would pair well …

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And when collectors or bighearted wine lovers buy these wines to share with their friends, Markham gets to put smiles on the faces of those championing worthy causes. Oh, those heartless, ruthless decision makers in the marketing department!

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Once upon a time, cask-conditioned ales were rarely available outside of Great Britain.

Nowadays, though, you can find unfiltered, unpasteurized natural ales served straight from a tapped cask or pumped from a beer engine at many Atlanta bars. And more craft breweries and brew pubs are experimenting with unique flavor combinations in imaginative, limited edition cask offerings.

In January, Sweetwater Brewing Co. won first place in the specialty category at the annual Atlanta Cask Ale Tasting Festival with a version of its spiced winter seasonal Festive Ale that had been aged in an oak rum barrel from Prichard’s Distillery in Tennessee.

Now, in typically irreverent fashion, Sweetwater is putting a new twist on the typical cask ale tasting event with its inaugural “Brew Your Cask Off” Cask Ale Festival. The brewery invited some 75 special guests — including local celebrities, home brewers, retailers and representatives from charitable organizations — to create recipes …

Continue reading Beer Town: “Brew Your Cask Off” Update »