There are some beers that seemingly inhabit their own alternative reality - and have in one way or another entered the lofty and somewhat ethereal realms of what might be called cult status. You know the ones; they typically achieve perfect scores on rating sites, are scarce and hard to come by and generally pass people’s lips as words muttered and not as liquid imbibed. Today’s beer is certainly a contender for this exclusive niche but, happily, it’s available right here at the click of the button from the chilled shelves at Beer Cellar. Parabola from Firestone Walker is a...

If there is one beer that has been the driving force of modern brewing it’s the IPA. Our thirst for the stuff seems insatiable, and although it has morphed and evolved and branched out in many weird and wonderful directions - it is still the traditional, no thrills, hop forward, common or garden version that garners most respect.Its roots lie in England in the early 1700s with the invention of indirectly heated kilns for malting which took beer out of the dark ages and into a more enlightened pale phase (or at least made pale malts more accessible and easier...

The 1980s was a heady decade; from big hair to hip hop and new wave to punk - a lot of interesting stuff was taking shape. It was also an exciting era for US craft beer, and although the majority of sales were hogged by behemoth commercial brands such as Bud, Miller and Coors, the craft scene was starting to gather pace. Over the course of this decade, more than 100 microbreweries appeared, and one such brewery was today’s.Deshutes was started in 1988 in Bend, Oregon and sold a decent 310 barrels of beer in its first year - which...

Josh Landan is a man who has been round the beer block a few times. You may remember him as the chap who founded Saint Archer in 2013, in the heady gold rush days of San Diego craft brewing. The enterprise was so successful that it was sold to Coors Molsen only two years later, and, in fact, was the first craft brewery in the region to successfully sell out to a giant conglomerate.I say successfully, but breweries often get a bit of stick for this sort of thing. I don’t know about you though, but I think I would...

January 17 1920 was a dark day in US history. It was the day on which the 18th Amendment - which prohibited the "manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors..." went into effect and the country effectively went dry! Yes, this was the beginning of Prohibition and it lasted for a whopping 13 years. Eek - can you imagine it?!!!The amendment didn’t actually ban the consumption of alcohol and so there were loopholes that people exploited to make the odd drink viable. That said, it pushed everything underground, tarnished the drinks industry and made everyday citizens into outlaws.It also decimated...