Hop Culture
An online magazine covering the best beer, bars, breweries, gifts, and supplies in the United States and around the world.| Hop Culture
An online magazine covering the best beer, bars, breweries, gifts, and supplies in the United States and around the world.| Hop Culture
Ten years ago, my partner and I packed up our Volkswagen Tiguan (named Manuel) and left Chicago for the big lights of New York City. It was our first big move since graduating from college, and in many ways, it became one of the most pivotal changes of our lives. We’d both quit our jobs and planned to take the… The post The 11 Best Breweries to Visit in Michigan appeared first on Hop Culture.| Hop Culture
Up north. Two little words. But if you know, you know. Growing up in the lake-filled land of Minnesota, my family and I would pack up the car once or twice a year and “head North.” In just a few hours, we left behind towering buildings for towering trees—the sounds of cars humming for loons thrumming on the water. When… The post Up North, Home at Last: The Story of Elder Piper Beer & Cider appeared first on Hop Culture.| Hop Culture
This isn’t an introduction to the next great American novel, but it could be the first page. It’s a party. Just not one that we’ve ever been to. Look around the room and you’ll see now-familiar faces—future comedians, big-time actors, talk show hosts, and one brewery owner. As people sip on his homebrewed cherry pale ale, a twenty-something-year-old Sam Calagione… The post America’s Next Great Novel: The 30-Year Story of Dogfish Head appeared first on Hop Culture.| Hop Culture
It’s no secret that light lagers are gaining traction within craft beer trends. The style has even climbed up Untappd’s Year in Beer charts, ranking third in 2023, just behind IPAs and stout. When it comes to Japanese rice lagers, specifically, over the last four years, the number of check-ins for the “Lager—Japanese Rice” style on Untappd has increased almost… The post Japanese Rice Lager: A Simple Recipe Achieves Phenomenal Results appeared first on Hop Culture.| Hop Culture
When Hop Culture Founder Kenny Gould spent two weeks in Japan in 2019, he came back regaling the country’s whiskey producers. But the best breweries in Tokyo? Or, for that matter, craft beer at all? Well, this industry in Japan hasn’t reached the same heights as in America. In fact, while you can purchase the equipment, it’s technically still illegal… The post The 18 Best Craft Breweries and Bars in Tokyo, Japan appeared first on Hop Culture.| Hop Culture
I haven’t seen the night sky or a sunset in nine days. For that matter, I haven’t seen a sunrise. Each cloudy day blurs into the next on the back of a| Hop Culture
My hands grip the wheel of our Suzuki Vitara a little tighter. Grey clouds that at first appeared drab and harmless, and puffed themselves up a bit. Like a bloated belly, they now belch out a steady stream of droplets. And what has for the last hour been a completely straight road now reaches a towering mountain. In my head,… The post Over the Mountain, Through the Snow, To a Brewery at the Edge of the World We Go appeared first on Hop Culture.| Hop Culture
What do you get when you mix a college student reading The Complete Joy of Homebrewing, a Toyota Prius full of beer, and a wild dream that started in a 280-square-foot shed? You get Lawson’s Finest Liquids, whose iconic Sip of Sunshine became one of the juiciest, most dangerously drinkable IPAs. When Lawson’s Finest Liquids launched in 2008, fans swarmed… The post 10 Things You Didn’t Know About Lawson’s Sip of Sunshine appeared first on Hop Culture.| Hop Culture
Hop Culture’s summer travel adventures continued with visits to Estonia and Latvia. We were most excited to check out the world-renowned Põhjala, known for its crazy barrel-aged program, session sours, and an imperial Baltic porter unlike any you’ve ever tasted. But we were perhaps most surprised by Labietis, a brewery in Riga, Latvia, which makes what they call “Pagan Brews,”… The post The Top 11 Beers We Drank in July 2025 appeared first on Hop Culture.| Hop Culture
Before cannabis was a billion-dollar industry—before dispensaries looked like Apple stores and you could order THC seltzers straight to your door—there were two guys in a beat-up van getting stoned and making America laugh. Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong weren’t just countercultural comedians; they were pioneers, rolling joints and rolling tape at a time when the risks were real. The… The post From Jokes to Joints: How Cheech & Chong Sparked a Cannabis Movement appeared first on Hop Cul...| Hop Culture
The road stretched out before us, a long, thin paved line disappearing into the horizon. An optical illusion drawing us nearer to two monstrous,| Hop Culture
I untwist the jar, inhaling a strong, sweet scent similar to vanilla candles and my mom’s nightly ritual of tea and honey. “This would be meadowsweet,”| Hop Culture
The letters seem to dance in front of my eyes, waving up and down like a flag in the wind. P-Õ-H-J-A-L-A. Among the sand-colored exposed brick and| Hop Culture
Roll over, bourbon barrel-aged beers, and make room for mezcal-aged ones. The availability of mezcal barrel-aged craft beers follows a sharp rise in| Hop Culture
Beer rained down on us this month! Well, who are we kidding? We could say that about any time of the year, but the clouds indeed burst copious amounts of| Hop Culture
“If you want, I can pick you up from the airport and we can visit our new brewery, about 25 mins from the Airport, not far away.” That’s the response I| Hop Culture
The M curves sharply, an extra leg on the left side bent like an arm pulling on a beer engine. The lowercase “a-r-l-o-w-e” flows softly and freely like a| Hop Culture
In the heart of San Francisco’s Bernal Heights neighborhood, you’ll find a church with no altar or priest. It’s a building with no cross on top or stained| Hop Culture
Spontaneous fermentation is one of the most romantic processes in the beer brewing world. But also, arguably one of the most confusing. Historically, some| Hop Culture
A new year means 365 new days to try new beers and visit breweries new to us. Hopefully, you’ve already checked out everything from "The Juiciest," our| Hop Culture
For the first time last year, we actually took a moment from our breakneck pace of drinking, traveling, discovering, and writing, not just to look back on| Hop Culture
Colorful characters, blooming flowers, and sneakers. A cloaked reaper, a giant burrito, and a cat. In 2024, beer labels continue to get simultaneously| Hop Culture
Here’s a fun fact: In 2024, Hop Culture Senior Content Editor Grace Lee-Weitz drank 534 unique beers from 211 different breweries in 117 styles across| Hop Culture
Every year, we think this list will get harder and harder to make. But then we get off our butts to drink at incredible beer festivals, visit taprooms| Hop Culture
What does it mean to be a hidden-gem place to drink? We feel like the answer to that question is like watching the technical round of The Great British| Hop Culture
Every year, the number of breweries opening in the U.S. creeps slightly higher. According to the Brewers Association, 9,906 breweries currently operate in| Hop Culture
If March showers bring the proverbial April flowers than this month definitely rained beer down on us. We had so much good stuff to drink these thirty-one| Hop Culture
You know what we mean, when we say "hidden gem places to drink," right? These could be the places you keep all to yourself because you don’t want the word| Hop Culture
Lambic-style beers have an air of mystery and intrigue. While the style has deep roots and tradition in Belgium, it’s only within the last decade or so| Hop Culture
