The supply of new beers seems bottomless. There are 3,878 brands for sale in Pennsylvania alone.
How to keep up?
Thank God for the Internet - and more specifically, thank you, Adam Nason.
He's the beer freak behind BeerNews.org, a widely read website that devotes much of its content on new releases. In an average month, Nason posts notes on about 300 new, federally approved beer labels.
"It's pretty wild," said Nason, 26, of Massachusetts. "I don't know if it's sheer volume or a perfect storm, but it's all about new products these days."
Nason said he draws an average of 100,000 visitors a month to his website, which he believes is the nation's most popular online beer publication. He started the site as a hobby three years ago, then quit his job as an auditor to work on it full time. He posts new content at least three times a day.
Why so many brands?
"I would attribute it to all of these new breweries coming on line," he said. "And a lot of them, they're not just doing a pale ale, a porter, and an IPA to start with. They're breaking right out with lots of 22-ounce limited editions."
Reading BeerNews.org, you can't help but dream (and drool) over all of these new brews, many of which may never reach your hometown.
Nonetheless, here's a few newbies I'm looking for in the Summer of '11.
Acer Quercus. Brewed with maple syrup and maplewood-smoked malt, it's a collaboration from California's The Bruery and Lawson's Finest Liquids of Vermont.
Apricot Au Poivre Saison. Nebraska Brewing aged this peppery fruit ale in Chardonnay barrels.
Cape of Good Hope. Previously available on draft only, Yards' (Philadelphia) imperial IPA will make its way into bottles this August.
