As he often does, my beer buddy Jay Brooks beat me to the punch with a post on his blog (brookstonbeerbulletin.com) about the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s new MyPlate nutritional chart.

USDA

Great minds think (and drink) alike, it seems. Along with Brooks and many others, I wondered why the USDA didn’t use the update as an opportunity to offer a recommendation for moderate alcohol consumption, as the Harvard School of Public Health’s Healthy Eating Pyramid does.

Or is USDA’s latest idea of health and nutrition education only aimed at children?

MyPlate (choosemyplate.gov) replaces the government’s old food pyramid with an icon shaped like a dinner plate. It’s divided into portion recommendations from four food groups — protein, grains, fruits and vegetables.

One more group, dairy, is in a smaller circle offset from the plate, in the place you’d expect to find a cup or a glass.

Certainly, that’s where you could put a serving of low-fat milk, if you were making a kids meal. …

Continue reading Beer Town: Is there a place for beer on MyPlate? »

Being a seasoned dive dad, I came prepared with a bottle of d’Arenberg’s The Dry Dam Riesling. “Whoa, Doctor!” as baseball legend Red Barber might have called it. Not only did it sooth the oppressive ambient weather conditions, it may have been the best damn Aussie riesling I’ve ever had.

Continue reading d’Arenberg Riesling »

Red Brick Double IPA

Red Brick Brewing Co., Atlanta

$9.99/4-pack at metro beverage stores; also on draft at select beer bars

Profile: The second offering in the Red Brick limited edition Brick Mason series is a hearty nine 9 percent double IPA, produced with a combination of five different hops — Apollo, Bravo, Columbus, Centennial and Cascade.

It pours a golden-orange color with a fluffy white head, then opens up with an panoply of herbal, citrus and pine aromas, before a bitter, juicy punch of grapefruit tang and a lingering dry finish.

Local beers geeks are saying it’s about time Red Brick produced a big, hoppy IPA like this. But many are wondering why the brewery didn’t make a whole lot more of it.

Pair with: Try the bold flavor of Red Brick Double IPA with spicy barbecue, jerk chicken, chiles rellenos or aged sharp cheddar cheese.

Bob Townsend is editor of Southern Brew News, a bimonthly beer publication distributed throughout the Southeast: www.brewingnews.com/southernbrew

Continue reading Beer Pick: Red Brick Double IPA »

The 2008 14 Hands Hot to Trot Red Blend went from grape juice to wine in less than a week, so it soaked up some tannins, but that is not a particularly long fermentation. Some fermenting red wines can spend a month with grape skins swimming around in them. Are those wines tannic? Yes, epic tannins!

Continue reading 14 Hands Hot to Trot »

All this washed over me the other day as I tasted through several zinfandels from Amador County, home to some of the earliest zinfandel plantings. I was particularly tickled by the finesse of the zin from Terra d’Oro’s Deaver Vineyard, which has vines planted during the Ulysses S. Grant administration.

Continue reading Terra d’Oro Zinfandel »

Atlanta’s newest brewpub, the Wrecking Bar, is set to open in Little Five Points on June 19.

Owners Bob and Kristine Sandage bought the turn-of-the century mansion that was formerly home to the Wrecking Bar Architectural Antiques store and lovingly restored it to create an events space and bar/restaurant with an onsite brewery in the basement.

Credit: Greg Scott, Picture This! Photography.

Chris Terenzi, a well-known figure in the Atlanta homebrewing and craft-brewing community, is the brewmaster, returning from a stint in the IT world to get back to the business of mash tuns, brew kettles and rubber boots.

“Even though I was disconnected from brewing for a while, I was still thinking about making beer,” Terenzi said. “I’d be sitting in my cubicle or I’d be at a meeting and I’d be sketching out a recipe for a new IPA in the margins.”

I caught up with Terenzi at the Wrecking Bar last week, where he was putting the finishing touches on the seven-barrel brewing system he’ll be …

Continue reading Beer Town: Wrecking Bar brewmaster debuts new beers June 19 »

Frogtown owners Craig and Cydney Kritzer submitted seven wines to the competition, which is predominately a California contest, despite its International moniker. Five were awarded gold medals and two silver, beating out many well-regarded West Coast winemakers.

Continue reading Frogtown Cellars Marsanne »

Sweetwater Waterkeeper Hefeweizen

Sweetwater Brewing Co., Atlanta

$3.99/ 22-ounce bottle at metro beverage stores; also on draft at select beer bars.

Profile: It takes a lot of water to brew beer. It’s no surprise then that Atlanta’s Sweetwater has long been involved with organizations that promote clean water and protect rivers and coastlines. Waterkeeper Hefeweizen is the newest release for the cause and will help benefit the Waterkeeper Alliance.

The German-style unfiltered wheat beer is made with a half-and-half blend of wheat and two-row barley malt and Sterling and Hallertau hops. The result is fresh and refreshing yeast-forward brew with juicy notes of citrus, clove and banana.

Pair with: Waterkeeper Hefeweizen is a perfect beer for the hot days of summer. Try it with salads, goat cheese, fresh sausages or a slice of orange and an omelet at brunch.

Bob Townsend is editor of Southern Brew News, a bimonthly beer publication distributed throughout the Southeast:

Continue reading Beer Pick: Sweetwater Waterkeeper Hefeweizen »