A bitter Englishman in the USA records his beer journey of more than 40 years
Quoted by, contributed to, and featured in …
Beers in the database:
Beers awaiting addition to the database:
Here’s one of the beers in the database …
Bell’s Batch 9000
Bell's Brewery
03/09/2010
Ding’s Most Recent Musings …
DBB. What it’s good for, and what’s it’s not good for
” … I’ve had a recent surge in traffic on the site so I thought it might be a good idea to summarize what you’ll find at dingsbeerblog, and perhaps just as importantly, what you won’t … “
Marketers and drinkers are two different groups of people
” … Those people are also still able to understand that Hazy Little Thing is a different beer to, say Tree House Julius, but there really is no need for this kind of parsing of styles. This analysis is strictly for … “
The Passing of Alan Sprints – he brewed on his own terms
” … For me, Alan’s beer was difficult, a bit of an effort, and that’s not something that I ever wanted in most of my beer consumption. Of course my preferences – in fact nobody’s preferences – were of any … “
Sensible Beer Talk
Errr … YES, that’s EXACTLY what I DO want!
For all of the misery that was inflicted upon the beer world by beeradvocate back in the day, in terms of beer, the scene in the USA was infinitely better back then.
I guess that me “shitting on Hazy IPAs” – which I’ve been doing for many, many years – was precisely the correct thing to be engaged in!
Ding, May 2024
Ding’s Rants
Recent and/or Popular Posts
Session Beer - an amalgamation of years and years of thoughts
Never meet your heroes. The death of elite beer bars in the USA?
Come Into My Parlor. A chat with Chris Bryant of Parlor City
More than a decade removed, beeradvocate still banning!
Legacy drinkers and the assault on Belgium, England and Germany
An Englishman and a Scotsman walk into a US brewery
How Beer is Promoting Community in Goshen, Indiana
Fortlandia - a true nano production in Fort Wayne, Indiana
Ding’s Six Pack
The 6 Most Recent Reviews
Anno 1050 Märzen
” … Mid-golden, yellow body with a white, nicely formed rocky head. Lace is good, retention also above average. Good looking beer with a pretty color – rather unusual. … “
Belgian Stout
” … The tastes are subtly bitter, and again alcohol soaked. The beer offers a roasty, slightly burned chocolate but it’s never too much. The bitterness is undoubtedly present but it never overwhelms, … “
Fantôme Red Summer Spiritus Project
” … The tastes follow the nose, but the grapefruit on the palate is not as sweet as the nose might have suggested. There is a carbonated, mineral quality running through the beer which adds to the … “
Raspberry Sour
” … Nose certainly gives up a good dose of fruit, and raspberry is up front. There’s almost zero tartness here at all, and the warmer it gets and the more the palate adjusts it simply feels like a fruit … “
Twenty Two Anniversary Ale
” … Tastes don’t reflect the alcohol of the nose, but at 14% it’s obviously still there. The beer is absolutely and extraordinarily smooth considering all the parameters. Given the type of beer … “
Irish Dry Stout
” … Substantial mouthfeel, likely a function of the oats. Light toast, and mellow malts permeate the beer. No bitterness until the far back-end where there is (perhaps) a diluted, light coffee element … “
The Past. The Present. The Future.
Here’s the complete blog archive with all of the posts from 2011 until today. In addition, you’ll see posts broken down into more specific categories in the Blog Menu. What kind of content can you expect here at DING’S BEER BLOG going forward? What’s the newer content likely to look like? What kind of opinions and writing can you reasonably expect? Here’s a heads-up.
The Past.
Just don’t. Frankly I’ve seen it all before and I’m tired of it
I am not a kid either in terms of my chronological age or my beer experience. There are a lot of movers and shakers in beer these days who weren’t born when I was drinking Bass from the wood with my dad, that were in elementary school when I was traveling to Belgium twice a year for beer, and that were only just starting puberty when I was critiquing the fledgling US craft beer scene two decades ago. (Don’t worry, I know that most of you don’t care). So what? Just don’t bother me with your BS.
The Present.
I’ll drink (almost) any beer at least once, but …
Drinking something that you know that you probably won’t like just because it’s there, or just because it’s the current flavor of the month is frankly, dumb. What does that mean for me and DBB? Well, likely that I’m going to come down hard against hazy ‘IPAs’, that I’ll be ultra-critical of the non-descript, lazy ‘fruited sours’, that I’ll be hating on milkshake ‘IPAs’, and more often than not pissing all over pastry stouts. I’m a traditionalist, a defender of classic styles, and not a fickle, Johnny-come-lately.
The Future.
The Fort Wayne & North-East IN beer scene critiqued
With the re-launch of the website you’ll likely find an emphasis on the beer scene in and around Fort Wayne and north-east Indiana, as I get back to reviewing and commenting on the beer (and the beer scene) that’s close to me. Expect to read my opinions about what’s going on here, but don’t expect blanket praise. If you’re a local brewery or brewer you’ll need to earn the kudos. Local beer is most definitely not necessarily good beer, and expect no punches to be pulled; no beer given a pass.