I had an Italian friend who once shared a fable with me. I’d like to share it with you ... Once upon a time, there was a snake who lived among the fall leaves, rocks and grasses in a large field by a river.

This is where holiday magic begins; where generosity and sharing leap from the hands of the givers; and where dreams for the New Year take wing.

We all love quick little recipes for our Thanksgiving Holiday. When it involves beer, our delight is that much greater, particularly when it comes in unexpected recipes.

As a beer judge, I think a lot about taste, smell and the sensations we experience when enjoying food and drink. As I prepare to judge at the Great American Beer Festival, I am focused, even more intensely, on sensory perception and the factors that can change it.

Whether you dispense beer at home or serve as a bartender, your chief aim in serving draught beer is to enjoy beer at the freshest it can be after leaving the brewhouse.

In today’s British Isles, beer has shifted into a major dance since the early 1970s. Back then, beer had begun to take on the lightly-washed, fizzy character of mass production.