When it comes to finding the perfect cocktail, there are a few key things to keep in mind.

Beer for Dummies author Marty Nachel breaks down the process of tasting beer.

Surrounded by the crowd of summer’s wheat beers, fall’s Oktoberfests, and winter’s porters, spring fades into the background. It’s a month of transition, a month of waiting for winter to clear and summer to set in, but spring shouldn’t be overlooked. Styles harmoniously paired with this wallflower season are light on the stomach, light in alcoholic content, are sharp and crisp in finishing effect, making them suited for any spring festival, picnic, or St. Patrick’s Day celebration.

We are living at the apex of beer. According to the Brewers Association, as of 2017 we have over 6000 craft brewers operating in the U.S. While this provides an abundance of choices for drinking, it can also create some confusion in navigating all the taps we have to choose from. To do so, we’d like to dispel some of the myths surrounding beer and help you fully enjoy this amazing bounty.

Pouring beer is an art. How you put that beer in your glass can change in not-so-subtle ways how your beer tastes, smells and feels. Doing it right allows the flavors of the beer to fully emerge. For the best drinking experience it is essential that you have the right beer poured right.

Though used in varying proportions depending on the style being made, ALL beer is made from grain, hops, yeast, and water. That’s it! In the hands of a skilled brew master these four simple ingredients can be transformed into a unique work of brewing art. There are hundreds of beer styles, thousands of breweries and tens of thousands of unique beers – all generated from these simple ingredients. The ever increasing number of new brewers are pushing beer creativity to new heights. With the addition of other ingredients – like spices or fruits – the flavor combinations are endless. As brewers continue to innovate, the future, for beer drinkers, is very good.

This is a great question. Understanding the answer will go a long way in helping you find the beer you love most, making it easier to navigate the ever expanding choices at the tap. Including all the major beer styles and all of their sub-styles, there are believed to be over 100 different beer styles in the world.

As a beer lover, this is the best of times to be alive - with local breweries opening everywhere and so much great craft beer available. However, in the face of this abundance, it would be easy to feel overwhelmed by the choices: pilsners, IPAs, bocks, browns, stouts, porters and so on.

Each of these styles are uniquely wonderful, but it can be overwhelming to understand them all. So, let’s take a step back for a moment…

Don’t worry, Craft Brew U is school as you wish it would have been. Here, we all major in beer! There are no tests, but we will have homework, which will consist of drinking beer (to better understand what we have learned).

Every year, numerous craft breweries go on tap, giving beer lovers more choices than ever (a good thing in our opinion). However, with all the talk of craft beer one must ask: What is craft beer?

On your next visit to our tap room, you'll notice an emblem of a large flag with 13 hops positioned in a circle with the slogan, “Embrace Independence.” Our team receives many inquiries on “what does it mean?” or “what are you embracing independence from?”

Welcome to Craft Brew U, our blog on the art of craft beer. Every week we’ll take a look at interesting beer styles, discuss key ingredients, answer common questions about beer and offer insights to help you fully enjoy the beer revolution.