All the top Beer news.

Beer is a fine versatile ingredient. Low enough in alcohol and acidity, it can be an almost one-for-one substitute for water in a recipe ... yet one with flavor. Malt, caramel, roast, toast, cocoa, meaty, spice, earthy.But occasionally you'll find recipes scaled for exactly 6 ounces of beer. The other half of the bottle is reserved for the chef.Beer cuisine is as much —or more— pairing food with beer as it is as an ingredient. The context can matter as much as the content.There was a lunch the other day that paired a saison with a salad: a Belgian-style ale with flavors of sweet cooking…

For all you intrepid devotees of good beer in the Washington, D.C. area: Orr Shtuhl of the Young and Hungry at the Washington City Paper has changed his Twitter (@beerspotter) procedure.So, now ... if you wish to spot, alert, and Tweet (that is, post to Twitter) about your good beer finds in the Washington, D.C. area, use the phrase "@beerspotter" (excluding the quotation marks) anywhere in your 140 character Twitter post.For example, here's what I Tweeted today:@beerspotter: Red Sky at Night Saison on cask at Rustico. 'Dry-spiced' with orange, lemon, & lime peel, and coriander, juniper,…

Fritz Hahn of the Going Out Gurus of the Washington Post tasted 6 cheap canned beers. Drank them. Rated them. And ...... survived to write the story. each individual beer had to cost less than $1, or no more than $6 a six-pack.This was a blind tasting, with beers served in unmarked cups. Participants were asked to rate the beer on a scale of 1 to 5 on the overall taste -- this was relative, given the quality of beer -- and a separate score of 1 to 5 based on how refreshing the beer would feel on a hot summer day.The entrants were Shaefer, Miller, National Bohemian, Pabst Blue Ribbon, Schlitz,…

Clamps and Gaskets is a weekly wrap-up of stories that I have not posted at Yours For Good Fermentables.com, but that, nevertheless, I find interesting or germane.Most are concerned with beer, or wine, or whisk(e)y. Some are not. But all are brief. And many are re-posts from my Twitter account: twitter.com/cizauskas.This is Week 25: 21 June - 27 June 20092009.06.26Jazz bassist Christian McBride poignantly remembers Michael Jackson: http://bit.ly/4X5gP2009.06.26""#FollowFriday is the identifying hashmark from users of Twitter when they recommend other Twitter users (Tweeps). And, of course,…

The weather-folk are saying that storms on Friday should clean out the air. Saturday will be sunny, less humid, and with temperatures in the low 90s. Sunday should be the same, but with a few more clouds.That sounds like ideal summer beer festival weather... for the Northern Virginia Summer Brewfest in Leesburg, Virginia.'A Celebration of American Beer' will be held at Morven Park in Leesburg, VA, from 11am-9pm Saturday, and 11am-7pm Sunday. The BrewFest will feature over 50 of America’s best breweries, a variety of food to complement the craft beers, and great Virginia local and regional…