Ale turns pale.

Pale ale is the hallmark of the craft beer movement. 

It's a beer complex enough to be interesting, but light bodied enough to be easily drinkable. It's also very quick to brew, which is why every new brewery that comes along makes a pale ale. New breweries need to get a product on the market quickly to generate some cash flow, and lagers need time to mature.

What are the unique qualities of American and English Pale ales?

A toast to Brie & Camembert!

What would be a good drink to wash down soft cow's milk cheeses like Brie and Camembert? 

Merlot lotta love

Merlot (mer loh) is often dismissed as a second rate Cabernet Sauvignon, but not only is Merlot delicious on its own, it is often used as a blending grape to make some fantastic wines.

Merlot is the most commonly grown grape in France and it helped put the Washington State wine industry on the map.

If you've dismissed Merlot in the past, do yourself a favor and give it a second chance.

Hey Bud, I'd like a pilsner.

[video clip]

Your average beer drinker probably thinks of lager & pilsner as interchangeable terms, both meaning a light colored, light bodied beer, but lagers come in a variety of strengths and colors, from light and bitter pilsners to dark and roasty schwarzbiers.

There are several styles of lager, but the most interesting one is Pilsner.

I used to work as a cheesemonger, but I Camembert it any longer.

  [video clip]   Camembert (KAM-ehm-behr) is a cow's milk cheese originally made in Normany, which is northwest of Paris. Oddly, Camembert cheese is not made in the village of Camembert.

The name Camembert de Normandie is protected by the French goventment, and it refers to a bloomy rind cheese made from raw Normandy cow's milk and produced in the Normandy region of France.

However, like the name Brie, the name Camembert is not protected, and is sometimes used to refer to many similar styles of cheese that may or may not be related to Camembert de Normandie.

How is Camembert different than Brie?