If you're wondering what rum is, one thing is certain, regardless of color, rum is among the world's premier mixers.

Rum is something of an oddity among distilled spirits in that its final form varies so widely. Rum is, in a sense, bipolar. Rum can be clear or dark brown with an alcohol content that varies by as much as 75% and a flavor that can be faint or sweetly heavy. It’s a drink that tries to please everyone. British sailors were not only bribed by island natives, but also officially provisioned with rum from the government to, in part, combat Caribbean pirates, whose signature drink was, indeed, rum.

Rum’s divergent characteristics mirror the spirit’s development and the diverse peoples who contributed to its evolution. We cannot date the first batch of rum with precision, but we do know that by the 17th century, it was in production on various Caribbean islands, where sugar cane was native and plentiful. As workers cut and milled the sugar cane, it oozed a juice: “melazas,” or what has become the English word “molasses.”

The bridge between melazas and rum was simple: workers noticed that the hot sun of the West Indies caused the melazas to ferment. Because the Caribbean was such a nexus of South American, European, and North American exploration, trade, colonization, privateering and piracy, word of the recipe for fermented molasses sailed before the wind to a variety of homelands.

Distilling and Aging Rum

Although the paths to a finished cask of rum may diverge, rums begin similarly. Wild or cultured yeast is added to sugar cane juice. The mix ferments for a few days to a few weeks, which influences the spirit’s alcohol levels. The resulting spirit is then distilled. It is colorless—even dark rums lack initial color. Light rums are made in column stills, whereas dark rums are made, like Cognac, in pot stills.

Light rums, such as those from Cuba, are hardly, if ever, aged. Dark rums, like those of Haiti and the Dominican, sometimes spend several years—up to twelve—in oak barrels. Although the wood of the barrel imparts a touch of color, the lion’s share of the hue of dark rum comes from caramel tint.

Types of Rum

Whether rum remained light or was colored dark was a matter of national preference. Countries under the Spanish banner, such as Cuba and Colombia, liked light rum, whereas those under British influence preferred their rum dark.

Light Rums

Light rums are further classified as light, silver, or white rums. Their flavor is subtle, which makes them most popular as cocktails companions, as opposed to drinking straight. The majority of Light Rum is produced in Puerto Rico.

Amber Rums

Amber rums, also known as Gold rums, usually have a foot in both camps. Typically aged, Amber rums have more flavor than their lighter counterparts.

Dark Rums

Also known as brown rum, black rum, or red rum, Dark rums, bear much more resemblance, in both color and flavor, to the molasses from which they derive. Dark rums are considerably more robust and have greater complexity of tastes and aromas, such as vanilla, caramel and sweet spice. In addition to being an excellent base for cocktails, most chefs favor this type of rum for cooking. With the exception of the award-winning rums Flor de Caña and Ron Zacapa Centenario, most Dark Rum comes from Jamaica, Haiti, and Martinique.

Spiced Rums

Spiced rums can be light, dark or in somewhere between, as the flavor comes from the added spices not the underlying spirit. Some of the most common additions are cinnamon, rosemary, absinthe/aniseed, or pepper.

Despite modern storage technologies, some wine will go bad. Use these tips to know when a wine has spoiled.

Countless “best of” or “recommended wine” lists borrow the marketing phrase from the 1980′s claiming that “life’s too short to drink bad wine.” If life is too short to drink poor quality wine, it is definitely too short to drink wine gone bad.

No particular genius is needed to detect a spoiled wine. Its warning signs are clear. Despite modern storage technologies and rapid, refrigerated transport, a few bottles per hundred may reach your table spoiled. Here are some tips to detect a wine that has spoiled.

Corked Wine aka TCA Contamination

Despite the advent and widespread adoption of synthetic corks, wineries still stopper countless bottles with natural wood corks. The longer a wine has been cellared, the more likely its cork will be natural.

A high quality natural cork makes an outstanding, time-tested bottle stopper, but it is made from tree bark. Cork is an unfinished wood product. Like most unfinished woods, it will eventually dry out, crumble and deteriorate, leading to a series of problems for your wine.

However, the problem associated with a drying or otherwise deteriorating cork do not make for a “corked wine.” Corking is a specific malady.

Natural cork is prone to assault by microorganisms. Fungi sometimes contaminate a cork with TCA (1,2,4-trichloroanisole, if you are keeping score at home). TCA contamination can be introduced by virtually any wood with which wine or its bottle come in contact- corks, barrels, even the wood racks in cellar.

TCA contamination—the condition we refer to as corked wine—produces a series of bad smells and tastes in wine. Wine starts to smell musty, like dirty socks, damp moldy cardboard or mushrooms; it may taste less fruity, and more bitter.

One of the reasons why, in restaurants, someone is chosen to inspect the cork and test the wine is to ascertain whether the wine is corked, or contaminated by TCA, before everyone else gets a glassful.

Cooked Wine

Not cooking wine, the salted stuff used by some cooks, but cooked wine—wine that has, while in the bottle, been exposed to high air temperature.

A bottle of wine is exposed to numerous environments during its life, beginning in the winery, in transport, in storage in a restaurant or store, or in your home. At any given place, during any period, temperature can be higher than ideal, perhaps far higher.

Elevated temperatures make wine swell or expand a little. As a result, air pressure inside the bottle rises. As the pressure rises, it nudges up the cork, breaking the seal and permitting air entry into the bottle, prematurely oxidizing the wine. When temperatures rise very high, it is as if you put the wine in a pot to heat it up. It literally is cooked.

Cooking changes the flavor and color of the wine. Fruit flavors fade dramatically. Where once you tasted bright fresh berries, you will taste stewed prune, old figs, and dates. If the cork is squeezing out the top of an unopened bottle, it may have been exposed to high temperature, and may be cooked. Cooked wine bottles will often show crud, or dried remains of wine seepage, around the rim of the bottle or on the foil capsule, but not all bottles showing crud on the lip have been cooked.

If you suspect a bottle is corked or cooked, you have every right to send it back in a restaurant or return it to the shop from which it was purchased. It is damaged merchandise and, lest we forget, life’s too short to drink wine gone bad.

Need help with the wine list? Here are some tips for how to choose wine in a restaurant.

The pressure is on. You are flanked by the boss and four very well-dressed potential clients. The situation is already tense. You don’t have a feel for how well the pitch is going. Just as the room becomes a little hotter, the waiter sidles up, next to you. Chin raised, he expects you to order wine for the table.

How to Choose Wine from a Restaurant Wine List

No need to panic. Don’t fumble for a Xanax. It’s just a wine list. Unlike the IRS, it won’t harm you. To the contrary, you can make the restaurant wine list your ally and trusted guide, overcome wine list panic and wind up impressing, as well as earning respect and thanks from your dinner companions. 

How to Read the Wine List

A restaurant wine list is just another document. Approach a wine list as if it were a catalog because, well, because it is, and catalogs are more fun than fearsome. Everyone likes catalogs. Relax, and flip through it. Look at how the list is organized and you’ll find it easier to understand your options. Wine list organization varies, but most often categorizes wines by:

1. Color – red, white, rose
2. Food Course – aperitifs, dinner wines, desert wines
3. Region of production – Domestic, France, Sonoma Valley
4. Specials — Occasionally, the wine list will also include a special section that showcases a single winery.

Now that you are comfortable with the structure of the wine list, find out everyone’s preferences for red or white. Absent consensus for either, plan to order a bottle of each.

Let the Sommelier Choose the Wine

Depending on the restaurant, a sommelier might be on staff. It is perfectly OK to “take charge” of the situation by, in effect, delegating the choice to the house expert, especially if you need to choose a single wine that has the best chance of complementing a variety of dishes.

A true sommelier has been through these situations countless times. In fact, part of what he or she is paid to do is to help patrons navigate through the wonderful, if sometimes daunting options to match wine and food. Many are quite skilled at picking up clues from guests to help them through their selection process gracefully. For example, when talking to the wine steward or sommelier, you might point directly to a price on the list, and say that you are “thinking of something like this, but perhaps you have a more suitable recommendation?”

Don’t be surprised, however, if the restaurant wine list quotes no prices.

Let the Wine List Determine Your Choice

If the wine list appears to focus on a specific region, vineyard, or varietal, it often indicates that the category pairs well with the restaurant’s fare, or perhaps a category expert has stocked the cellar. Selecting from a featured category of the list will likely lead to perfectly fine results, just as would selecting one of the evening’s dinner specials from the chef.

Let Conversation Guide Your Wine Choice

Restaurant wine lists should never make one panic. If you’re at the table with casual or new acquaintances, the list can prompt some enjoyable discussion. Talking it out can also take the pressure off the wine selection process in unplanned ways.

For example, you might notice that the list appears deep in selection of California Cabernets or Pinot Noir from Washington. Bring this up in conversation while you are looking over the restaurant wine list. Mention that you enjoyed your last trip to that region, or that you have always intended to go there. Someone else in your party may pick up the lead, and before you know it, it’s easy to have the group rally behind the notion of toasting shared experiences by trying a wine from the region.

Photo by Laura Padgett

Are you afraid to pay too much for a bottle of wine you might not like? There is a whole world of inexpensive wines to explore. Photo by wickenden (flickr)

Wine is no place for monogamy. Drink around! Why be loyal to a single favorite, when you can develop loyalties to multiple grapes, vineyards or styles. After all, to enjoy wine is to delight in flavor. Each winemaker brings a slightly different flavor to your table, and part of the fun of wine tasting is to discover unique tastes and intrigue your palette as you explore.

Numerous paths into wine country beckon. If you’re longing to hit the road for some great oenological explorations, here are two ways to find inexpensive wines.

Wines of Lesser-Known Origin = Lower Prices

Reserving a ticket on a wine tour through the actual vineyards and wineries is always an option, but you can take some aspects of the tour from home, too.

Many enjoy developing an understanding of the wines produced by a single region, or appellation. If a wine you enjoy is from Lodi, California, look for some other wines made on adjacent or nearby properties.

Your tour from home, however, is not restricted to your physical location. Pour a glass of faraway origin. Explore wine regions with which you are unfamiliar. By now, most folks know that wine is made outside California, and very well, too, at vineyards in Washington and Oregon. Fewer know that upstate New York and Long Island offer rather unique wines—and watch for the up and coming New Jersey bottlings, too.

Anyone willing to tackle the challenge of growing familiar with the wines of Spain, Hungary, Argentina and Chile can encounter great wines at incredible prices. Head to head, these lesser explored regions often yield wines for which you would not blink to pay double or triple the price.

During the past several decades, wines from Australia have consumed increasingly more rack space at US wine shops, and US consumers have become familiar with the subregions of Australia, too.

Rather than get stuck in a Bordeaux rut (as tasty as that can be!) move around France. Sample the Rhone and Hermitage; taste test the Pouilly Fume from the Loire Valley. Skip the white Zin and relish the Beaujolais from Burgundy.

Second Vin and Second Labels = Second Tier Prices

Some of the greatest wineries developed their stature through careful quality control. Winemakers know that to preserve their pricing status in the market, they must deliver quality, year after year. Grapes, however, do not always cooperate. For various reasons, some may not be quite up to snuff during any given harvest. They may be great, but not superb.

In Bordeaux, winemakers long ago developed a Second Vin for many of their create chateaus. Winemakers reserved the best of their crops for the prestige bottlings, but had plenty of leftovers of truly high quality fruit. Second wines have become enormously popular, and are an excellent way to sample the product of some of the best wineries of the word at, often, significantly lower prices.

California has adopted the practice too. When looking for second wines, it helps to patronize a large wine shop with knowledgeable staff. Be upfront: tell the wine advisor that you are looking for something special in a second wine. He or she should know exactly what you mean, and why you are asking, and be able to lead you to a favorite, low production, overlooked gem.

Rhineland-Palatinate is the leading producer of wine in Germany. The federal state grows 65-70% of the grapes used in wine production.

Let’s just get this wine monkey off Germany’s back right away: Liebfraumilch is far and away its leading export. Great Britain, the US, and the Netherlands knock back most of it and, rest assured, this accounts for almost all Liebfraumilch consumption, because in Germany, it is not popular. Sweet and simple, if innocuous, Liebfraumilch is mass-produced almost exclusively for export. Germans rarely touch it after it leaves the winery.

One can hardly blame Germany for exporting a profitable commodity. Unfortunately, Liebfraumilch has become far too synonymous with German wine. Liebfraumilch undermines the reputation of Germany’s fine wine makers and hides the nation’s world-class estates; it masks the region’s legacy and cloaks its recent innovations.

Bis wir uns wiedersehen, mein Liebfraumilch…

German Wines

Since the first few centuries AD, when the region was an outpost of the Roman Empire, wine grapes have been cultivated along the Mosel and its tributaries. Most of the better vineyards are located towards the west of the country. German vineyards have the distinction of being among the most northerly in the world. The cool climate; the steep slopes of the local topography; the soil composition — limestone, slate, loess, quartz — define an unusual terrier and all influence the wines.

Popular misconception holds that Germany produces only white wines, but almost a third of its production is red and rose, and some of the white wine is finished in a sparkling style, Sekt. Germany’s most widely planted red wine grape is Spatburgunder, the local strain of Pinot Noir, but Dornfelder is a perennial favourite, too. Dornfelder produces full-bodied, dark, fruity age-worthy wine in a climate quite harsh for red wine grapes.

Although German viticulturists planted many acres of black-skinned grapes over the past few decades, the ratio of white to black grapes has now steadied. Despite its proliferation of red wine vines, Germany remains one of the world’s foremost producers of refined whites. Although most are finished sweet, many are dry, and the better sweet wines show layer after layer of complex fruit and floral perfume supported by steely acidity.

Staple grapes in German wine include:

1. GewŸrztraminer: off-dry, often slightly spritzy, rose petal, lychee, passion fruit, highly aromatic
2. MŸller-Thurgau: an early-ripening, high-yielding hybrid. The backbone of Liebfraumilch.
3. Riesling: Germany’s most plentiful and signature grape. Aromatic, acidic. Can be finished dry, semi-sweet, sweet or sparkling. Fresh, crisp apple, gooseberry, grapefruit, cut grass, honey, peach and roses.
4. Silvaner: once the most popular white wine grape in Germany, but acreage has steadily declined over the past 50 years. Can produce forceful, dry, earthy white wines in Franconia and Rheinhessen.

Those who enjoy dry whites should look for labels that describe the wine as Trocken, Halbtrocken, Classic, or Selection. The dry German styles pair well with food. For rich, more fruit-forward wines look for SpŠtlese, and the very sweet Auslese styles. For a dessert treat, try an Eiswein or Trockenbeerenauslese.

Photo of German Wine Country By Wolfgang Staudt (Flickr)

There are several methods for crafting a good ale, each producing a distinct type of ale with unique flavors. Nearly all contemporary ales fall into one of three categories.

Lager and ale comprise the two primary categories of beer. However, many consider ale to be the world’s best and most important beer.
The two styles are differentiated by the type of yeast a brewer uses to catalyze the fermentation of maltose into carbon dioxide and alcohol. Ales use top-fermenting yeast, so named because it tends to rise in tank and accumulate near the top, making it simple for the brewer to filter it out as he sees fit.

Ale-making techniques date to the early medieval period. During the ensuing centuries, several distinct approaches to the craft developed, and account for the wide variety of contemporary ale types, including: 

Pale Ales

Pales ales are lightly-hopped and a little bitter. Virtually every been producing nation on the planet makes a variety of pale ale.

India Pale Ale, for example, descends from the British October Ale, exported to India during the 18th century. India Pale Ale features more hops in its recipe than many other pale ales. British sea captains found that extra hops better preserved the beer with which the crew was provisioned for long voyages.

Barley Ales

Barley Wine is not wine at all; Barley Wine is a sweet and quite heavy beer brewed in a style preferred by the English. It is high in alcohol- sometimes as high as 10% ABV. To make Barley Wine, the brewer uses yeasts that can stay active despite the high alcohol concentration they stimulate. Barley Wine is deeply colored, from fiery copper to rich dark brown.

Scotch Ale is even darker. It is sweet, quite malty, and the malt is sometimes caramelized to both deepen the color further and accentuate a toffee flavor. Brewers will sometimes put barley malts through a smoking process, which gives the beer flavor that recalls whisky. The most popular example of this type of brew in the US is Samuel Adam’s Scotch Ale.

Belgian Ales

Although Belgian Ales have a long history of production in their home locale two, in particular, are renowned around the globe.

Saison, which derives from the French word for season, is earthy, a little spicy, dry and smooth. Traditional brews were mom-and-pop productions; each farmer would develop a unique twist on the basic recipe.

Belgian brewing may reach its pinnacle in the hands of the brew masters of the six Trappist monasteries, who produce, among other brews, Tripel. To make Tripel, the brewer adds as much as three times the usual amount of Trappist malt. Tripel beer is light gold, high in alcohol, and chock full of malt flavor. Thick creamy heads and rich aromas further characterize most examples. Tasters commonly note Tripel’s slight bitterness, despite that fact that Belgian candy sugar is occasionally part of the recipe. The finest Trappist Tripel may be Westmalle, and produced at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart. Westmalle Ale is very heady: alcohol can be as high as 12% ABV, and the flavor a rich mix of malt and hops.

Ale has a rich history and continues to evolve and develop new styles as brewers around the world experiment with new technologies and import new flavoring agents.

Like the a cover for a book, Wine label art hints at what is inside.

Walk into a fine wine shop, and you feel like you’ve just stepped into an art museum. Creating wine labels certainly keeps the graphic artists busy! Wineries love to play up oenology as fine art, and reinforce the notion with gorgeous graphics on their bottles.

One can’t blame them, of course. Most of us enter a wine shop blind. We may know that we need “some wine,” but often don’t have a specific bottle in mind. Few of us are well-versed in the wine review sources, and wineries, like any other manufacturer, are aware of this.

To a degree, it is advertising, and designed to catch the eye and influence your purchase decision. However, wine bottle labeling is more than just pasting Starry Night to one side of a bottle, no matter how much glitter they add to the stars. In the United States, wine labels must disclose certain information, per federal regulations.

Wine Labels — the Truth from Front to Back

Government regulations demand that a variety of information be legibly printed on every bottle sold in the US. However, the laws are not so strict as to define with absolute precision where and how the information is to be displayed. Wine bottle labels will vary by size, shape and prominent features.

Required information is often relegated to a small label that contains the equivalent of legal fine print in other forms of advertising. Although your eyes will tell you the complete opposite, this legal info is the true front of the bottle. The splashy logos and large, lush graphics are the back of your bottle.

We prefer the illusion of sipping grace poured from a bottle aged lovingly by an oenological Rothko to that of the hack who writes “Contains sulfites” on the front. But when it comes to wine labels, politicians have mandated disclosure of some rather prosaic information, including:

• Alcohol content
• Wine type
• The bottler’s name
• Liquid volume
• A sulfites disclosure
• Health warnings

Wine Labels Look Best from the Back

Winemakers are permitted much more latitude on the back label. Here, they can commission new artwork or license existing works, and have a more engaging assignment for us writers, too. The result can often be an impressive package, and makes wine shopping fun.

Although many wine shops display reprints of wine reviews above bins to help you through a purchase decision, wine marketers often seize the opportunity to pitch the wine’s alleged features to you right on the label.

Glossary of a Wine Label – Define What’s Inside

We see prose more purple than the wine within, along with designations such as “reserve,” which indicates that the wine has been aged longer than, strictly speaking, necessary before release.

If a bottle is labeled “estate,” it means that the grapes were grown and the wine was bottled on the same property, which distinguishes it from wine made from grapes purchased from a different vineyard.

Over the past few decades it has become common to read about the percentage of the various varietals that comprise the blend before you, and a little bit about the oenologist’s process or inspiration, all of which help to personalize the bottle and enrich our enjoyment.

Despite its role as advertising, the back of the bottle helps us to learn more about wine making. Many people enjoy researching the terms found on labels, and comparing the characteristics revealed by the tongue compared to what is written on the bottle. Among the many appeals of wine is that it truly is something that, through study, can become an even more rewarding experience.

photo by Nosha

The quality of boxed wines has improved dramatically since the days of bottom-shelf Chardonnay. Even the look is more upscale, such as this boxed wine from Wineberry.

Boxed wines, bag-in-box wine, Tetra pack wines-all were frowned upon until quite recently. Wine shipped in plastic bags was stigmatized, as much for the packaging as for its status as sub-par swill. Contemporary boxed, bag-in-box, and Tetra pack wines are, however, gradually gaining converts, thanks to vastly improved packaging technology and an increased willingness of wineries to ship true premium varietals in boxes and Tetra packs.

Boxed wine’s time may have come. BrandPackaging magazine’s September 2010 issue cites boxed wine as one of the top ten packaging ideas for the past decade. Boxed wine, claims BrandPackaging, makes for more eco-friendly wine, consuming less energy to transport.

Packaging is almost always a compromise, and bag-in-box wines are no exception to the rule. Although the best boxed wines have been lauded as exceptional wine bargains, boxed wines have both advantages and disadvantages when compared to their traditionally bottled brethren. 

The Advantages of Boxed Wines

The average wine bottle is 750ml; boxed wines are typically larger, often four times the volume. Advantage: boxed wines? That depends. For a gathering of some size, most likely, because packaging volume leads to lower prices per glass.

Bag-in-box wines have a distinct advantage over bottles when it comes to keeping wine fresh. The bags inside Tetra packed and boxed wines are designed to collapse around the wine as it is poured, reducing the wine’s contact with air, thereby maintaining the untapped state of the remainder. Clear advantage: boxed wines, because they extend the “drink by” date from roughly four days to four weeks.

Cork-stopped bottles have been the industry standards for quite some time, but the method is imperfect. Once in a while, the cork on a bottle from a recent vintage develops mold. The wine can gather a musty nose or flavor. Boxed wines completely avoid this scenario.

Advocates of boxed and tetra packed wine also claim that:

• Boxed wines have lower carbon footprint
• Great wine volume can be shipped per cubic foot of cargo space
• Boxed wines are permitted in parks and at beaches
• Less breakage occurs during shipping
• Boxed wines pass post-production savings to the consumer

The Disadvantages of Bag-in-Box Wines

The landscape is changing to a degree, as the wine industry experiments with new packaging ideas, including plastic corks and even cans. Nevertheless, most wine consumers still associate boxed wines, however unfairly, with swill. The wine inside does not deserve the reputation. Inexpensive wines are inexpensive whether they are in plastic or glass, and the packaging neither improves nor damages the wines shipped in boxes. Still, some guests may look askance at boxed wines. Others may applaud you. You have to size up the room.

The size of the typical boxed wine can be a disadvantage if you pour a glass or two per day. You would finish a bottle quickly, but the boxes hold the equivalent of four bottles. What if you don’t enjoy the wine? Do you want to drink it for a couple of weeks? Similarly, trying new wines fairly frequently is part of the enjoyment of wine. Many prefer to taste a few different wines per week, rather than settle on one.

Boxed wines lack cache. They lack romance. They lack the look and feel of the bottle, and certainly don’t help the table dŽcor. A good wine shop may have thousands of different bottles from which to choose, but only a few dozen boxed wines. Boxed wines are not at all appropriate for aging. Take heir “best by” dating seriously.

The Final Word on Boxed Wines

We expect the wine industry to persist in the trend towards introducing new packaging ideas. Some will fail, some will gain some traction. Boxed wines clearly number among the latter. Their popularity has grown in lock step with the rise in quality level of the wine inside.

image: Boxed Wine from Wineberry

Not every beer is meant to be lagered after purchase. However, enthusiasts know that, under the right conditions, some beers develop with age.

The German word “lagern” means to store or stock. Despite the current craft beer boom and the proliferation of domestic ales, lager beer styles such as Pilsner are by far the most popular beers in the United States. Since “to lager” means “to store,” it must be appropriate to store lagers, right?

Wrong! The term “lager” refers to not only a style of beer, but phases of the fermentation and conditioning process administered by the beer’s brewer prior to its release for consumption. The brewer has already optimally “lagered,” or aged, the beer before it was bottled, and your average bottle of lager should be consumed within months of its release to experience its peak of flavor and aroma.

Most ales have slightly longer shelf lives than do lagers. With notable exceptions, however, even ales should not be aged. Most are at their peak of flavor and aroma for no more than six months after bottling, and many ales, such as those whose primary flavors and scents derive from hops, are best consumed just as quickly after bottling as a lager.

Which leaves the question: what beers can be stored (or cellared) for drinking later? 

Storing Beer in a Cellar: Which Brews Age Best

That said, if you can defeat the temptation to drink that cool, delicious ale flirting with you every time you visit your cellar, or if you are intrigued by what might happen to one of your favorite beers as it evolves in the bottle, some categories of ale not only withstand aging, but also develop in pleasing, sometimes surprising ways. Serious beer enthusiasts in the US are now building beer cellars similar to wine cellars for the express purpose of storing beer for the long haul. Perhaps we are not far off from the day when Americans, like some Europeans, might brew a special high alcohol ale to commemorate the birth of a child, and consume that brew at a milestone in the child’s life, such as when he reaches majority or is married.

The beer aficionados are most likely to cellar, because they exhibit the most interesting flavor, aroma, and textural developments as they age, will be styles whose alcohol content begins at roughly 6%. Beer that has not been pasteurized, and is conditioned by yeast remaining in the bottle, can often grow more complex as it ages.

Lambic beer and Belgian sours, barleywines, imperial stouts, Baltic porter, and various winter ales are all popular choices for cellaring.

Conditions for Storing Beer in a Cellar

The conditions to be met by a quality beer cellar are few and simple, but frequently difficult to achieve. The location need not be a basement — a beer cellar can be located anywhere adequate conditions prevail. The most important considerations include:

1. Light. Never store beer in sunlight, and keep all beer away from any other light source to the fullest possible extent.
2. Position. Store beer upright. Corking is not an issue for beer, except for those select few ales that are sealed with corks. If your bottle is cork sealed, contact the brewery for its recommendations. However, expect to be told to store the bottles upright.
3. Humidity. Should not be extreme in either direction.
4. Consistent temperature. Storing beer at a consistent cool temperature is the most important condition to be met by a beer cellar. Fluctuations of a few degrees are no big deal, but constant, substantial temperature variation, measured daily or seasonally, will shorten the shelf life and prevent positive developments in flavor and aroma.

Temperature for a Beer Cellar

Again, consistent temperature is essential, but the actual temperature is just as crucial to proper beer storage. Not all beer should be stored at the same temperature. Beer cellars may need to allow for three different temperature ranges:

• Cool room temperature: 55-60°F. Good for strong, high alcohol beer, such as dark ales, tripel, and barleywine.
• Cellar temperature: 50-55°F. Good for doppelbock, stout, IPA, lambics, porters, ESB’s.
• Refrigerator temperature: 45-50°F. Actually, slightly lower than the kitchen fridge. Good for storing wheat beer, lager, mild ale. Keep in mind that these beers are stored for relatively short periods, and not aged.

If your location can meet these few, simple conditions, congratulations! You can meet the criteria to build a quality beer cellar that will be perfectly adequate for laying down some wine bottles, too.

Before you purchase wine online, read our tips for making sure the dealer is reputable.

Those of us in metropolitan areas can invariably locate an excellent wine merchant reasonably close to home. Even the best wine stores, however, cannot carry every wine. Thanks to the internet, consumers all over the world have the ability to purchase wine online, often at great prices, especially if one buys in bulk to amortize the shipping costs over numerous bottles.

Before you back up the truck or, more precisely, load up the virtual shopping cart, it’s best to keep a few pointers in mind because, although this might come as a shock to many, not everything you read online is the truth.

That was terrible blow, I know. It’s good you were sitting down. But it had to be said. If you’re getting ready to purchase wine online, keep these tips in mind. 

When Buying Wine Online, Track the Source of Reviews

The last decade has seen the number of wine reviewers explode upwards. Not only have established food and wine critics developed their own blogs and wine review sites with links to opportunities to purchase wine online, the sites of most large online wine stores encourage comments from consumers as reviews of a wine advertised for sale.

One may not agree with a professional’s opinion, but they do have a reputation to protect and foster. To that end, they are careful to post reviews of specific wines and vintages. The proliferation of blogs and the commenting capacity on many wine sites, together with the syndication of consumer comments, while on the surface a good idea, has created a great deal of misleading wine commentary.

Before you buy a wine online, try to determine whether the glowing comments you see before you actually pertain to the wine advertised for sale. Perhaps you are interested in buying the 2008 vintage of Silver Trees Cabernet. You see some fantastic reviews. You add the wine to your cart. However, if you looked carefully at the reviews, you would see they were all dated 2005 an earlier. They do not describe the 2008 vintage.

Look for reviews from reputable wine critics. Compare them to the tasting notes of amateurs. Be sure to compare apples to apples or, in this case, grapes to grapes, to make sure that the reviews reflect the varietal, winery, and vintage in which you are interested.

If all seems in order, by all means, purchase the wine online.

Buy Wine Online, but Vet the Store

When shopping at an unfamiliar store online, take a look at the “About” section of the site. See if they have brick and mortar locations. Many do. They might even be nearby. Some allow you to purchase online, at discount, but pick up your purchase in store, and thereby save shipping costs.

Other online wine stores, however, are only warehouses or virtual stores. There’s nothing wrong with that, per se. Give them a call to get a feel for their operations. Ask questions. Inquire about a wine in which you are interested. Ask about their shipping containers. Ask about their return policy, or damage claim policy and procedures.

Above all, confirm that they ship to your state-wine shipping regulations vary widely from state to state. In some states, you cannot receive wine by mail, period. In others, you cannot receive shipments from some states, but can from others.

By making these inquiries, you can raise your level of confidence in the online wine store. You’ll know, for example, that there really is someone to call, and that, if you experience problems with your online wine order, policies are procedures are in place to resolve the situation.

Purchase Wine Online for Discounts and Great Selection

Once you have done your homework, and verified that the wine reviews you see at an online wine store truly reflect the product the item you wish to add to your cart, and have satisfied your curiosity that the store itself is legitimate, purchasing wine online has numerous advantages. When you buy wine online, you get:

• Greatly expanded selection
• Convenient home delivery
• 24/7/365 shopping hours
• Discount prices
• No driving, no lines!
• Easy access to wine futures

Coming soon: we’ll review and recommended some specific online wine stores. Many have been doing business via the web for a decade of more, and have generated a loyal following based on their selection, prices, and service.

Anise-flavored liqueurs such as absinthe, ouzo, sambuco are the key ingredient in several classic cocktails.

Parsley has a cousin that might surprise you: anise, which imparts the flavor we think of as licorice. Anise is the cornerstone of the liqueur anisette and over a dozen others from all over the world.

Anise liqueur was developed in France, although it is now popular around the world, and made in various forms in several countries. The French made their original, somewhat sweet, nutty drink by grinding at least ten varieties of seeds to flavor a neutral spirit. They added syrup to raise the sugar level, and let the mixture ferment until it reached roughly 25% alcohol by volume.

By maintaining a ceiling on its alcohol content, distillers of anise-flavored liqueurs create delightful after dinner drinks whose sweetness and texture makes them just the right touch at dessert.

Drinking Anise Around the World

Fans of the flavor enjoy it straight, whether at room temperature, slightly chilled, or on the rocks, under a variety of trade names, recipe variations, and geographical origins, including:

• Absinthe (France)
• Anis del Toro (Spain)
• Anisette (France)
• Arak (Middle East)
• Galliano (Italy)
• Herbsaint (United States)
• Ouzo (Greece)
• Raki (Turkey)
• Sambuca (Italy)

Anise-flavored liqueurs are a key ingredient in many well-known mixed drinks.

A Russian Roulette, for example, consists of:

• a 1/2 an ounce (15 ml) of Kahlua,
• 1/2 an ounce of vodka, and
• 1/2 an ounce of anisette, gently stirred.

The legendary Harvey Wallbanger contains:

• 3 parts Vodka
• 1 part Galliano
• 6 parts fresh orange juice

To prepare, stir up the orange juice and vodka in a tumbler, and pour the Galliano gently, so it floats over the top. Drop in a maraschino cherry, and garnish the glass with the traditional orange slice.

Make Your Own Anise Liqueur at Home

If you’ve a DIY bent, you can make your own crude anise liqueur. Buy some fresh anise seed in a mortar with pestle. Your goal is to have 3 ounces of ground seeds to add to either a liter of plain spirits (grain alcohol) or vodka. Combine them in an airtight container and put it in a dark spot.

After a week or so, strain the liquid. Separately, make simple syrup by adding 2 lbs (1 kg) of sugar to a 1/2 quart (1/2 liter) of pure water and boil. Cool the syrup to room temperature. Mix this with your spirits. Put it back in the airtight container in the dark and don’t touch it for six months.

The results may not rival the legends of Absinthe or pique the curiosity like Ouzo, but you can drink them, and entertain your friends with tales of your project.

National Bohemian Beer is an American Adjunct Lager from Baltimore, MD.

In many ways, beer from the United States is defined by its contradictions or, at the very least, by radically opposing points of view. Most beer-producing nations have their mass-produced brews as well as higher-quality ales and lagers intended more for the connoisseur. The United States, however, may exhibit the widest dichotomy between the two approaches to brewing.

On one side of the style fence, we have Anheuser-Busch (most notably, Budweiser and Michelob), Miller, and Coors (including Blue Moon). On the other side, place almost any of the 1600 or so craft breweries across the nation. The former three companies and their ilk sell roughly twenty times the beer sold by all of the craft breweries and brewpubs combined. 

The Spectrum of American Beer

Craft brewers and large breweries all sell beer, but the beer they sell is radically different. Craft brewers earn respect for their innovations as well as for their resurrection of traditional styles; for high quality ingredients; for going out on a limb to exploit flavor characteristics and sometimes push them to extremes as they vie to produce better beer.

The large breweries have proven eminently able to make money. They have also produced many award-winning television commercials.

The Rising Appeal of American Adjunct Lager

Prior to Prohibition, the Pilsner and other lagers brewed in the US were heartier than their Repeal counterparts. Pre-prohibition beer relied upon heavier malts than today’s macrobrews. To be fair, the use of adjunct grains, or alternatives to barley on the grain bill, dates to the earliest brewers in the New World. The brewery in Jamestown made extensive use of corn and other adjunct grains, and both colonial and United States’ brewers followed the precedent. The US is not alone in doing so. American Adjunct Lager has roots in traditional Bavarian beers as well as in genuine Pilsner.

However, the US has become associated with sales of a tepid adjunct lager on an unprecedented scale. Until the emergence of the craft brewing movement began to make tiny dents in the machine, the post-prohibition, post World War II beer of choice in the US was (and, frankly and overwhelmingly, still is) a brew that is light, rather carbonated, and quite pale.

Lightly hopped, its bitterness remains remarkably low. Its alcohol by volume is low and its already light malts are further neutered by a substantial percentage of corn or rice on the grain bill. Once one thinks of corn while drinking an American Adjunct Lager, corn flavor sometimes moves to the fore. Although the percentage of corn in contemporary US beer is far lower, early Repeal-era US beer contained as much as 50% corn or rice on the grain bill.

Why Americans Love Adjunct Lager

Many of the factors that lead to the evolution — or de-evolution, depending on your perspective — of American Adjunct Lager were unabashedly economic. Adjunct grains were cheaper than barley. That said, the light, relatively innocuous product was easy to drink, paired well with all kinds of food, appealed to women, and so tapped, as it were, a new market, was quite thirst-quenching, and very affordable.

Aficionados can sneer and dismiss the beverage, but the 10 largest brewers of American Adjunct Lager sold nearly $100 billion dollars worth of it last year.

Photo by Edwin.Bautista (Flickr)

Lambic beer is unlike traditional ales and lagers. Photo by Donderwolk at nl.wikipedia.

Beer classification typically splits into two groups—ales and lagers—determined by the type of yeast used to spur fermentation. Ale uses top-fermenting yeast, and lager uses bottom-fermenting yeast. However, most ale and lager yeasts are cultured; they are hybrid products, exhibiting ostensibly contradictory features. At times, the classification of a given beer as ale or lager appears nearly arbitrary.

Lambic beers, however, are not typical and leave no room for interpretation. Genuine lambic beer relies on wild yeasts grown in the Payottenland southwest of Brussels, Belgium using recipes and techniques that stretch back to the middle ages. 

Brewing Lambic Beer

During the making of a lambic beer, the wort is cooled and exposed to air, allowing it to ferment spontaneously, catalyzed by yeast present in the environment. The practice only takes place between October and May. Production is restricted during the summer months because too many unwanted bacteria and other organisms are present for the open-air brewing process to be safe.

In contrast to the cultured, controlled brewing of ales and lagers, lambic beer is wild. The lambic process opens the door to Mother Nature and permits a measure of wilderness, with results that can be relatively unpredictable from batch to batch. You might like a bottle from a given brewer today, but next time you taste a bottle identically labeled, it might taste quite different.

What Makes Lambic Beer Unique?

Wild yeast is not the only ingredient that distinguishes lambic beer from ales and lagers. Other ingredients also differ, as do its storage techniques and aging process.

Lambic beer contains a good dose of wheat along with the barley common to virtually every beer. Unlike other beers, however, Lambics spend time in oak barrels aged and seasoned by the wine they previously transported. Ales ferment for a couple of weeks at most; lagers, for about a month; lambics, for as long as two to three years. When it comes to aging, again Lambic beer violates the rule and can be cellared for up to 20 years.

Pairing Lambic Beer

Lambic beer tastes unique—a little acidic, tart like an apple cider, very fruity, perfect to pair with hearty bread and sharp cheese.

Locating authentic lambic beer used to be tricky, but the web has put producers in instant touch with consumers. Now that the US beer palate has become more adventurous, a greater number of domestic brewers are stepping up with lambic-style creations, and even home brewers can now buy lambic yeast and begin to experiment.

Of course, the proper way to drink lambic beer is in Brussels, where you can enjoy a glass of genuine gueuze or authentic kriek.

Its all about flavor. The hoppy bitterness and sweet malt in beer match up with cheese in a way that wine never can. Follow these tips for matching beer and cheese.

Wine and cheese make a fine couple. A little overrated, perhaps a pinch too attentive to their own glowing industry press but, in the end, a nice couple. Definitely good to have them over now and then, even if wine’s a bit full of itself. It’s understandable, right? With all the writers locked in perpetual gush over how good wine is for cheese, how perfect they mesh…

Fact is, wine’s ruddier brother, beer, might make an even better match for cheese. A good wine and cheese pairing is anything but automatic. The rich fats and salts of cheese can just as well mask a good wine as accentuate its flavor. Beer, bursting with hoppy bitterness, sweet malt and bold roast flavors, fortified by carbonation, is often better equipped to keep both food and beverage honest, the palette cleaner and therefore better able to discern the subtleties of flavor threading together lunch, snack or supper. 

Beer and cheese have a bountiful history. Many places that respect good beer also produce outstanding cheese. Numerous monasteries once pursued dual industries of brewing beer and making cheese. Identical pursuits fed many a farm family over the centuries. The “ploughman’s lunch” of cold meat, beer and cheese remains a staple in English pubs, and it’s not far off from a fresh cold draft and juicy London Broil gushing melted cheddar and drenched in caramelized onions on hot crusty Italian garlic bread.

Writing about beer and cheese makes you hungry.

That steak and cheddar sandwich would go great with either an English or a more robust American Brown Ale. If you prefer, substitute Gloucester or Colby cheese- Brown Ale complements all three in classic fashion. If Brown Ale is too malty for you, pour pale ale instead.

Flavorful Tips for Matching Beer and Cheese

Want to know which cheese goes best with which beers? Here are some further beer and cheese matchups, some funky, some traditional:

• American Cheese: Pilsner
• Asagio: Brown Ale, Scotch Ale, Porter
• Blue Cheese: Trappist Ale, Stout, Porter
• Brie: Stout, Belgian Blond Ale, Kolsch
• Cheddar: Brown Ale, Pale Ale, Pilsner, Steam Beer (Sharp Cheddar? Try an IPA)
• Cheshire: Brown Ale
• Feta: wheat beer, Weissbier, Hefeweizen
• Goat cheeses: wheat beer, Scotch Ale
• Gorgonzola: Barley Wine
• Gouda: Amber Ale, Brown Ale, Porter
• Gruyere: Bock, Munich Dunkel, Octoberfest, Porter, Stout
• Havarti: Pilsner
• Mascarpone: fruit beer, Porter
• Monterrey Jack: Pilsner
• Mozzarella: fruit beer, wheat beer, Hefeweizen, Weissbier, Witbier, Pilsner
• Muenster: Pilsner, Porter
• Parmesan, Romano. Pecorino: Amber Ale, Pale Ale
• Provolone: India Pale Ale
• Scottish Cheddar: India Pale Ale
• Swiss: Bock, Festbier, Octoberfest Beers, Dark Lagers
• Triple Crme: Saisson, Kriek, fruit beer

Four Final Tips on Beer and Cheese Matching

1. Match bitter beers with heaps of hops with tart, sharp cheeses
2. Match malt-driven beers with aged cheeses.
3. Match subtle beers with fresh cheeses.
4. Match big, sweet beers with blue cheeses.

One last thing: Subvert the paradigm. This is beer, not wine. Eat the cheese and drink the beer you like. The Taste Police have other stuff on their minds.

Photo: ulteriorepicure

Some might say that a professional winemaker is an artist with a diverse skill set, intent on creating a beautiful experience that can be bottled and shared.

Although anyone who makes wine is a winemaker, not every winemaker is of the same class. One could be a home or hobbyist winemaker; a consultant, a “flying winemaker,” who travels the globe on serial projects to assist other winemakers; or an oenologist with a doctorate degree working at a single large winery.

Part chemist, part magician, a winemaker in a small operation might have his or her hands on everything from vine planting to invoicing the distributor, while his colleagues at larger wineries would likely restrict their activities to directing only the most technical activities. 

The Role of the Winemaker

To best understand the role of the winemaker, however, it might be best to think of the winemaker as an expert generalist who oversees all phases of production at a small commercial winery. Here, the winemaker will be very hands-on, responsible for the full spectrum of activities, from tending to the vines to bottling and, often, in promotional campaigns to spur sales.

Larger commercial enterprises might have multiple winemakers. Each might specialize in a particular technical aspect of the process, or in one class of wine, or even a single varietal, but follow the production of that wine through all its phases. At the very largest wineries, a winemaker might even be restricted to research and development, rather than commercial production, and thus become more of a pure scientist than one who actually makes a product for commercial gain.

The Winemaker’s Job Description

The following activities might be a featured in a job posting for a winemaker:

• Assist in planning the grape planting strategy as a member of the viticulture and marketing teams.
• Coordinate the activities of the vineyard and winery.
• Monitor grape production, testing as necessary to ensure fruit quality and determine the ideal harvest schedule.
• Supervise the crush, pressing, settling and all other phases of juice treatment and fermentation of the must.
• Supervise maceration and filtration.
• Test wines for quality and commercial potential.
• Cask the filtered wines.
• Oversee cask storage and maturation.
• Prepare bottling plans for each wine.
• Train and Supervise the entire production team production.
• Help maintain both winery and vineyard year round.
• Help strategize product lines.
• Guide winery tours, conduct tastings, write wine descriptions and meet with media.

The Winemaker’s Skill Set

Winemakers spend part of their day as scientists, and another portion in public relations. They need a marketing professional’s communication skills as well as a scientist’s focus, acumen, and analytical abilities, in addition to a process engineer’s problem solving skills.

Of course, the winemaker also needs highly specialized skills, such as an acute sense of taste and smell. After all, it can be but a nuance that makes the difference between a wine that is merely drinkable and wine worthy of an award.