http://www.post-gazette.com/ News about drinks and beverages en-us Copyright 2012, post-gazette.com. Sat, 4 Feb 2012 13:09:56 -0500 15 http://www.post-gazette.com/includes/2007design/images/150x30pg_now_logo.gif http://www.post-gazette.com/ 144 39 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12033/1207386-504.stm?cmpid=libations.xml I've never made the trek to Punxsutawney on Groundhog Day, but friends have told me it pretty much consists of three things: camping out on a hillside, shivering and drinking beer. Betcha I know what they're drinking out there today: "Groundhog Brew," made by Straub Brewery in St. Marys, 50 miles away. You might also have seen the rodent on bottles locally. Thu, 2 Feb 2012 14:59:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12033/1207376-389-0.stm?cmpid=libations.xml There's a rich history of whiskey making and drinking in Western Pennsylvania, but in the years since Prohibition, most distilleries never returned to the region and many of us have lost touch with this piece of local history. Thu, 2 Feb 2012 14:22:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12033/1207378-389.stm?cmpid=libations.xml Small-batch whiskey-making, like most creative and entrepreneurial endeavors, is all about heart. More specifically, it's all about "hearts" -- the product of the distillation recipe that emerges after the impure "foreshots" and "heads," and before the "tails." Thu, 2 Feb 2012 14:17:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12032/1207190-389.stm?cmpid=libations.xml If you ever were going to choose a beer solely for its label, you might want to choose an Illustration Ale. The beer's good, too -- a dark Belgian-style ale made by East End Brewing Co. and bottled in 1-liter, swing-top bottles -- just 700 of them total. Wed, 1 Feb 2012 13:45:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12019/1204290-389-0.stm?cmpid=libations.xml Thanks to Pinsker's Judaica store in Squirrel Hill, Pittsburghers now have access to a long list of kosher wines. Today's bear little resemblance to the sticky, cough-syrup-like sacramental wines of old. Those sweet wines still are available but the exciting news for drinkers is that modern versions taste much like wine made in a particular region from a particular grape variety. Thu, 19 Jan 2012 11:26:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12005/1201227-389.stm?cmpid=libations.xml The Wine Spectator, America's top-ranked magazine for wine and wine culture, annually produces a list of its top 100 wines released that year. In a year, the editors typically blind-taste more than 16,000 new releases. To create their top-100 list, they eliminate any wine scoring less than 90 on a 100-point scale. That leaves more than 5,000 labels that are awarded 90 to 100 points. Thu, 5 Jan 2012 16:40:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12005/1201337-56-0.stm?cmpid=libations.xml Just past the busway off North Dallas Avenue in Homewood is a red-brick industrial building where the faint smell of beer trails from a door stenciled with the words, "East End Brewing Co." A foursome piles out of a car and steps into the place on New Year's Eve. Two ask for a sample of the Big Hop Pale Ale, while the others get samples of the Black Strap Stout. Thu, 5 Jan 2012 11:51:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12005/1201204-389-0.stm?cmpid=libations.xml A local brewery just opened that's different from most, in that it invites you to come in and brew and bottle or keg your own beer. The Copper Kettle Brewing Co. opened -- softly -- Wednesday on Greenfield Avenue in Greenfield, adjacent to Hough's, whose owners announced last spring that they were going to open Pittsburgh's first "brew-on-premises" business. Thu, 5 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0500