Dogfish Head

Salt at your fingertips While the pepper grinder is a must-have in the cook's kitchen, I find that salt mills don't seem to work as well. Also, it's hard to tell how much salt you've actually added. I much prefer to measure by the pinch. Thus the need for a saltcellar next to the stove, like this one made of glazed stoneware. - Maureen Fitzgerald Homestead saltcellar, $9.95, Crate and Barrel.   Crystal-powered IPA For beer geeks who crave fancy glasses as much as any wine lover, here's some beautiful Spiegelau crystal to amp your IPA pleasure.

WILCO TANGO FOXTROT: From California's Lagunitas Brewery, it's the same question the Daily News infamously posed on Page 1: WTF? Golden Shower: Perhaps realizing that a yellow pilsner named after a deviant sex act involving urine may not appeal to all beer drinkers, Dogfish Head relabeled this beer as Golden Era. Happy Ending: As if we don't get the naughty reference, the label on this imperial stout from Sweetwater features a...

HOW MANY calories are in your favorite beer? There's almost no way to know for sure. Unlike most all other food products in America, beer, wine and spirits are exempt from the federal Food & Drug Administration's nutritional labeling requirements. Those labels we squint at while grazing in the supermarket for low-fat Cheez Doodles are absent from beer packaging. "Even mom-and-pop oatmeal cookie companies have to divulge their nutritional data," author Bob Skilnik said. "Why not brewers and vintners?"

There are plenty of fancy food and drink pairings to be considered, but at this moment, in the midsummer glow of our world championship, no match is finer than pilsner, peanuts, and Phillies. Philadelphians are lucky to have at Citizens Bank Park what is certainly one of the best selections of craft beers at any ballpark in the country. At least 10 winners from great local breweries can be found at Brewerytown kiosks around the park, from Dogfish Head's 60 Minute I.P.A. to Yards Tavern Ale. But it's Pennsylvania's Germanic brewing legacy, and a unique talent for crisp pilsners, that best quenches the heat of a barn burner at the Bank.

IF YOU WANT to know where beer is headed tomorrow, find a homebrewer today and drink his or her beer. This shouldn't come as a surprise. It was homebrewers, after all, who launched the microbrewing revolution by turning pro. And it was homebrewers who originated many of the recipes that were refined for commercial products. Judging by the homebrews I sampled throughout Philly Beer Week, I'd say we're in for a round of big, unusual flavors that taste a lot better than they sound.

BOOK NERDS know that if you're looking for beer at the library, you head for Section 663 in the Dewey Decimal System. You'll find it filed under Useful Arts, a designation that I don't think anyone could argue with.   Or, for a taste of the real stuff, head out back at the Indian Valley Public Library in Telford at 6:30 p.m. on July 28for the library's annual Brews for Books fund-raiser. This year's theme is West Meets Local, with a selection of beers from both coasts. I'll be leading a breakout session focusing on my favorites.

On the surface, it's a lawsuit that seeks to prove the punchline to "Why is American beer like having sex in a canoe?" (You'll have to Google the answer.) Thomas and Gerald Greenberg of Montgomery County say the Budweisers they've been drinking haven't had the advertised kick. The brothers Greenberg assert Anheuser-Busch has been watering down their beer to less than the 5 percent alcohol content the mega-brewer prints on their Budweiser labels. They've been doing serious research to buttress their claim.

THERE WAS a time, maybe five or six years ago, that I could walk into a package store and honestly say I'd tasted everything on the shelves. And anything I hadn't, I could catch up with in a weekend. Today, forget about it. In an average visit, I'll find at least a dozen beer labels I don't recognize: one-offs from established American microbrewers, unusual ales from obscure European villages, countless collaborations by competing breweries. It's not surprising: There are three breweries opening every week, and that doesn't include all of these new nanobreweries that will be cropping up by the end of the year.

ENTERTAIN at home? What could I have been thinking about in last week's column when I shared all those cockamamie tips for celebrating the holidays at home? Get out of your hole and have some fun. Forget about stocking your fridge for your mooching brother-in-law - pull on your stockings and catch the holiday spirit at one of the many festive beer-drinking events this month. Tonight Mad Elf/Happy You Night, 6-9 p.m. at The Grey Lodge Pub (6235 Frankford Ave., Mayfair). Last year, I ranked Mad Elf the No. 1 holiday beer in my book, "Christmas Beer" (Universe, 2008)

Friday, July 17 French wine dinner , featuring a menu that includes a goat cheese and caramelized onion tartelette, braised burgundy escargots in champagne butter, Riverbrook farm trout filet, roasted whole filet mignon and a frozen Grand Marnier parfait with raspberry coulis; with each course paired with a different French wine. $85. 7 p.m. at Georges', 503 W. Lancaster Ave., Wayne, 610-964-2588. For more information, including a list of wines to be served, visit www.georgesonthemainline.

On the surface, it's a lawsuit that seeks to prove the punchline to "Why is American beer like having sex in a canoe?" (You'll have to Google the answer.) Thomas and Gerald Greenberg of Montgomery County say the Budweisers they've been drinking haven't had the advertised kick. The brothers Greenberg assert Anheuser-Busch has been watering down their beer to less than the 5 percent alcohol content the mega-brewer prints on their Budweiser labels. They've been doing serious research to buttress their claim.

Salt at your fingertips While the pepper grinder is a must-have in the cook's kitchen, I find that salt mills don't seem to work as well. Also, it's hard to tell how much salt you've actually added. I much prefer to measure by the pinch. Thus the need for a saltcellar next to the stove, like this one made of glazed stoneware. - Maureen Fitzgerald Homestead saltcellar, $9.95, Crate and Barrel.   Crystal-powered IPA For beer geeks who crave fancy glasses as much as any wine lover, here's some beautiful Spiegelau crystal to amp your IPA pleasure.

BOOK NERDS know that if you're looking for beer at the library, you head for Section 663 in the Dewey Decimal System. You'll find it filed under Useful Arts, a designation that I don't think anyone could argue with.   Or, for a taste of the real stuff, head out back at the Indian Valley Public Library in Telford at 6:30 p.m. on July 28for the library's annual Brews for Books fund-raiser. This year's theme is West Meets Local, with a selection of beers from both coasts. I'll be leading a breakout session focusing on my favorites.

IF YOU WANT to know where beer is headed tomorrow, find a homebrewer today and drink his or her beer. This shouldn't come as a surprise. It was homebrewers, after all, who launched the microbrewing revolution by turning pro. And it was homebrewers who originated many of the recipes that were refined for commercial products. Judging by the homebrews I sampled throughout Philly Beer Week, I'd say we're in for a round of big, unusual flavors that taste a lot better than they sound.

OCEAN VIEW, N.J. - Matt McDevitt spent years living the dream of every grown-up Jersey Shore kid: teach high school during the year, work the beach patrol during summer; in his case, the Sacramento beach in Ventnor. But this year, McDevitt and three buddies, two of them also teachers at Mainland Regional High School, will spend summer chasing an even more tantalizing beach dream: presiding over their own brewery, the Tuckahoe Brewing Co., creating recipes inspired by everything from warm summer days (Marshallville Wit)

George Hummel's life-changing moment came while traveling in his youth, when he tasted something quite literally unforgettable. "There were these weird things in California called microbreweries," says Hummel. "The beer was really different. I couldn't get anything like that back here, so I started making my own. " Fast forward to this fall, when Hummel celebrated the 25th anniversary of Home Sweet Homebrew, a supply shop off Rittenhouse Square that he owns with wife Nancy Rigberg.

In a back room at Appalachian Brew Pub in Collegeville, amid towers of plastic cups, a dozen tall, dark, unmarked bottles await a turn in the spotlight. One by one, the bottles are opened, poured, and studied. As noses dive deep into cups of amber brew, few words are spoken. One or two people close their eyes, analyzing, savoring, before they take a sip. The contents of each cup represent hours of isolated toil and, at this, the monthly meeting of the Stoney Creek Homebrewers Club, each member has the chance to get and give advice.

Nightly, through Feb. 9 Year of the Dragon , Chinese New Year dinner, featuring a menu that includes Pu Pu platter; longevity noodles with pork, tomato and chili; salt and pepper shrimp and scallops; sesame chicken; Peking duck fried rice; and chocolate shortcake. $45 plus tax and gratuity. Reservations available nightly during regular dinner hours at Sampan, 124 S. 13th St., 215-732-3501, www.sampanphilly.com . Saturday, Jan. 28 Belgium comes to West Chester beer tasting, featuring Belgian-style craft beers from more than 20 breweries, including Devil's Backbone, Dogfish Head, Harpoon, Peekskill, Stoudt's, Weyerbacher and many more.

WILCO TANGO FOXTROT: From California's Lagunitas Brewery, it's the same question the Daily News infamously posed on Page 1: WTF? Golden Shower: Perhaps realizing that a yellow pilsner named after a deviant sex act involving urine may not appeal to all beer drinkers, Dogfish Head relabeled this beer as Golden Era. Happy Ending: As if we don't get the naughty reference, the label on this imperial stout from Sweetwater features a...

THERE WAS a time, maybe five or six years ago, that I could walk into a package store and honestly say I'd tasted everything on the shelves. And anything I hadn't, I could catch up with in a weekend. Today, forget about it. In an average visit, I'll find at least a dozen beer labels I don't recognize: one-offs from established American microbrewers, unusual ales from obscure European villages, countless collaborations by competing breweries. It's not surprising: There are three breweries opening every week, and that doesn't include all of these new nanobreweries that will be cropping up by the end of the year.