porter Archives | Short Brews

Best Beers for Golf, Ranked for 2026

Thomas Short — Thu, 07 May 2026 15:50:40 +0000

Some things in life are always worth appreciating. A good beer. A nice round of golf. Of course, any golfer knows that you can’t just drink any beer on the course. Aside from the fact that you can’t bring your own beer (you would never do that, right?), some beers might have a more negative impact on your game and day. So, picking the right beers for golf is key. Here are the best beers for golf that you should be able to find on your course. Best Golf Beers, Ranked 1. Firestone Walker 805 There’s a lot to love about the 805. This beer is perfectly light, has good flavor, is 4.7% ABV, and doesn’t sit too heavily in your stomach. There are plenty of good occasions to grab an 805 outside of golf, but the course is a great place to enjoy this beer. 2. Ballast Point Grapefruit Sculpin IPA I know that adding an IPA is a bold call since IPAs, sunshine, and physical activity don’t mix very well. However, I think the Grapefruit Sculpin IPA gets a pass because the grapefruit flavor is just too perfect. It’s a 7% IPA that leans juicy and crisp, making it perfect to sip. Start your round with a Grapefruit Sculpin, or have one at the turn. Or have one after your round. If your golf course (or area) doesn’t carry this delicious beer, look for the regular Sculpin IPA or a Hazy Sculpin IPA. 3. Heineken Silver I don’t want to crowd this list with the “light lager” types (think Michelob Ultra, Coors Light, etc), but I’m going to highlight Heineken Silver. Why? Because it’s low-calorie and I legitimately like the flavor. It’s pretty close to the regular Heineken flavor while still being light and low-calorie, which is a great combination. 4. Deschutes Mirror Pond Pale Ale The Mirror Pond is a nice pale ale with real flavor, which I love. This beer does lean a little bitter and hoppy, but it’s just 5% ABV, meaning it packs a lot of flavor into a relatively light beer. It’s also available in most areas of the country, so it’s a safe pick if you see it on the beverage cart. 5. Local Lager Okay, this pick is a bit of a cop-out since it’s not a specific beer, but seriously consider buying a can of a local lager next time you’re golfing. Lagers are the perfect beer for sunshine, and you might find a local brewery that you enjoy! As an example, the Bandon Dunes Sheep Ranch Lager was the perfect pairing for Sheep Ranch, and I’m glad I gave it a try. 6. Athletic IPA The Athletic IPA, a great non-alcoholic beer, is legitimately one of the best beers to have on the links. Athletic does an incredible job of nailing beer flavor without any of the booze, perfect for someone who is taking their round seriously and doesn’t want alcohol affecting their swing. 7. Michelob Ultra I couldn’t honestly create a “best golf beers” list without including Michelob Ultra. Michelob Ultra is one of the best light beers and brings just enough flavor for you to notice without feeling heavy, which is perfect for a hot day on the golf course. I haven’t had a Michelob Ultra in any other setting, and I don’t think I will, but it’s great for golf. Golf Beers FAQs

The post Best Beers for Golf, Ranked for 2026 appeared first on Short Brews.

Food That Goes With Beer

Thomas Short — Sat, 27 May 2023 19:15:27 +0000

Forget about pairing your white wines with whatever type of food goes with white wine. We’re here to talk beer! Finding foods that go with beer isn’t as easy as “white beers for fish” or “red beers for steak.” Alas, if only it were that easy. Beers are complex, and different styles can have wildly different flavors. Honestly, the flavor from one IPA to another IPA can be so different that it’s tough to accept that they are both IPAs. The best we can do is generalize the styles and find out what works well with them. Don’t worry, you don’t need to sit down and come up with your own pairing list – I’ve done it for you. Food and Beer Pairing: The Basics I’m sure that some culinary experts could create a list of fantastic basic rules for beer paring with food, and I’m also sure that experts can disagree on just about every point. So, here’s my amateur opinion on food and beer pairing that, considering my years of experience, holds some value. Think About Regional Trends Having sausages? Try something German. Eating a burger? An American ale or lager would be great. Cuisine isn’t just some happy accident — experts in flavor and taste have spent years honing in on regional ingredients to create the perfect dishes. It only makes sense that beers from the same region would match the broader taste profile. Drink What You Enjoy If you absolutely hate sours but some random internet article is telling you that you have to pair your meal with a sour, just don’t. Trust this random internet article instead and drink what you enjoy. Just don’t mistake this tip for “don’t try anything new,” since I encourage trying new things. But I don’t encourage intentionally having things you don’t like. Don’t Do Too Much Don’t do too much. Don’t maple syrup on a steak. Don’t deep-fry fruit. Don’t pair a DDH IIIPA with a funnel cake. Just don’t do it. Too much is too much, and you’re going to literally destroy your ability to ever taste anything again if you do too much. You’ll also gross out everyone around you, and maybe even yourself. So just don’t do it. Trust Your Gut If it sounds good, it’s probably good. If it sounds bad, it’s probably bad. Truly, pairing beer and food can be this simple. Beers to Pair with Foods Instead of doing a long list of foods and saying “drink this and that,” I’m going with the quicker, more sensical route of starting with the type of beer and suggesting the foods that pair with it. This just seems so much simpler to do, and it saves you from having to scroll down a full page of text looking for some specific meal. What to Pair with Ales The trusty ale should be paired with trusty foods, and nothing is trustier than a hamburger. Also, good with ales are just about any fried food, anything with nuts, cheddar cheese, nachos…basically anything that you’d find on a traditional pub menu. What to Pair with Lagers Lagers are going to be your closest thing to white wine, and by that, I mean you should drink a lager if you’re eating seafoods, sushi, shellfish, etc. Also, good with a lager: chicken and spicy foods, as well as many pasta dishes. What to Pair with IPAs The bitterer brother of the ale, IPAs are going to pair well with the same foods as ales. I’d also say that spicy food work well with IPAs since the bitter hoppy flavor and the spice can really pack a 1-2 punch. What to Pair with Pilsners Like lagers, pilsners will go better with seafood than most beers. However, if you’re planning a salmon dinner then you should definitely pick a pilsner. Spicy foods pair will with pilsners as well, so Mexican or Asian dishes with spice will taste even better. What to Pair with Porters Anything that feels heavy should go with a porter. Chili, barbecue and most meats are going to be good compliments to the classic porter style. What to Pair with Stouts Because stouts and porters have so much in common, you can easily get away with substituting one for the other in a beer pairing. Since stouts can sometimes run a little sweet, salty foods might taste particularly good. What to Pair with Hefeweizens Light beers like hefeweizens deserve lighter fare. Any type of salad should go well with a hefe, as well as different types of fruits. There’s a reason people put citrus in hefes, you know! What to Pair with Barleywines I’m not sure how anyone can make room in their stomach while drinking barleywine, but the only way to pair with this has to be a dessert. Something decadent and small might be good, like a cheesecake, something with cinnamon or even cookies. Just grab some dessert!

The post Food That Goes With Beer appeared first on Short Brews.

What’s The Difference Between Stouts And Porters?

Thomas Short — Mon, 28 Oct 2019 19:30:25 +0000

Have you ever seen identical twins that you wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between even if your life depended on it? It’s pretty much impossible. Telling the difference between a modern stout and porter is probably harder. Why is it so hard to tell the difference between a stout and a porter? Because nobody really knows the difference. Brewers today can’t agree on what makes a stout a stout and a porter a porter. As a result, you can get a porter at one brewery that tastes exactly the same as a stout from a different brewery. Let’s explore why trying to find the differences between stouts and porters is so flipping complicated. Stouts And Porters: A Complex History Like any great drama, we set the stage with a complex history between our two characters. Like some great dramas, this takes place in England. Porters hail from an incredible drink called Entire Butt, a beer brewed to match the flavor of combining ale, beer, and twopenny (which was just a super strong beer). This style was popular, and it culminated in the creation of Guinness’ Single Stout Porter. Yes, a stout porter. So, Entire Butt could be described as the first porter/stout/stout porter. Why we never called the style a butt beer is entirely beyond me, and now we have to live with trying to define porters and stouts. Are Stouts And Porters Made With Hops? Nowadays, porters are generally made from malted barley. This comes from hundreds of years of tradition of trying to match the flavor of that awesome Entire Butt. As with any style of beer, hops are required — however, the hop profile in a porter is likely much subtler than anything you’d find in an IPA. Stouts are a little different. Not only can they use unmalted barley, but they also are sometimes made with malted barley. What stouts have in common with porters is the sparing use of hops. So, short answer: yes, stouts and porters are made with hops because all beers are made with hops. Which Is Stronger: Stouts Or Porters? Here’s a buzz word that always gets tossed around with beers. Some people are looking for beers so strong that the beer could pick up its drinker and carry them home. While this isn’t a thing (yet), the demand for strong beers persists. Historically, people in England called strong beers “stouts,” sort of like how you might call a strong guy a “stout chap” if you lived in England a few hundred years ago. It just so happens that during this time period super-dark porters were the strongest beers — AKA, the “stoutest.” At some point in time, people just decided that strong beers were the same as dark beers. So, all you strong beer drinkers, want to know which is stronger between a porter and stout? Neither, because strong is a highly subjective term and I could pick two stouts so unalike that you’d wish they were just called “Strong Butt” and “Weak Butt.” Same goes for porters. If you’re looking for la cerveza mas fuerte, I’d suggest something close to lighter fluid. Which Is Darker: Stouts Or Porters? Because the English language is a beautiful disaster and because strong and dark are synonymous in the world of Entire Butts…well, you can guess where this is going. Like everything else in the world of stouts and porters, the darker option depends entirely on where and how the beer is brewed. Here’s the nice thing, though — I can safely say that 9/10 times you order a stout or porter, it’ll be darker than nearly any other option on tap! It’s best to spend less time splitting the stout/porter hairs and more time drinking the hair of the dog. Am I Drinking A Stout Or A Porter? Here comes the answer you’ve been waiting for: what are you drinking? If your beer is made with malted barley, then odds are you’re drinking a porter. Today, many stouts use unmalted barley – which, fun fact, is where the coffee-like flavor of stouts comes from. Unless your brewer also added coffee. In that case, the coffee flavor comes from coffee. Keep in mind that stouts don’t always use unmalted barley. Sometimes they’ll use malted barley, depending on what the brewer wants to do. So to simplify: if you’re drinking a dark beer with unmalted barley, it’s probably a stout. If your beer has malted barley, it’s probably a porter. When in doubt, always remember this: the label on your bottle of beer should tell you exactly what your drinking. At the end of the day, your brewer probably knows what they’re doing. Just trust what they say. Unless they added pumpkin to the beer, but that’s for another post.

The post What’s The Difference Between Stouts And Porters? appeared first on Short Brews.