Twenty-five years ago, a consultant-turned-entrepreneur began hawking a new beer to Boston bars out of a station wagon. Jim Koch hoped he could build a modest local business with a high-priced brew that was heavier on hops and malt than most domestic beers.

Boston Beer Co., the maker of Samuel Adams Boston Lager, is now a publicly traded company with a market capitalization of about $790 million. Mr. Koch, chairman of Boston Beer Co., has helped foster a revolution in small-batch American brewing.

Today, "craft" brewing, which includes the likes of Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. and Deschutes Brewery Inc., represents 7% of the dollar sales of beer in the U.S. Craft beer is beer produced in small batches  Read more...

It is a frustrating aspect of wine tasting in Napa Valley: Too many tasting rooms are closed by 5 p.m.

This summer, however, a handful of wineries will change that, keeping tasting rooms open into the evening so that visitors can experience two of Wine Country's best features at once: great wine and glorious sunsets. Most begin new hours May 1, unless otherwise noted.

Silverado Vineyards

Fridays will be the night to be at Disney-owned Silverado Vineyards. From 5:30 to 8 p.m., the winery will open its terrace - a spacious patio with breathtaking views of the valley. Read more...

Adam Leemon - Adam the Wine Guy Twitter Facebook http://www.adamthewineguy.com/

Ian Blackburn - LearnAboutWine Twitter http://learnaboutwine.com/
(tasted: 2006 Cakebread Cellars Merlot http://www.cakebread.com/, 2006 Matanzas Creek Merlot http://www.matanzascreek.com/, 2006 Havens Merlot Napa Valley http://www.havenswine.com/, 2006 Rosenthal Merlot http://www.rosenthalestatewines.com/, 2006 Buttonwood Merlot http://www.buttonwoodwinery.com/)

Jonathan Mitchell - The Palm Restaurant, West Hollywood, CA Twitter Facebook http://www.thepalm.com/
(tasted:2006 Versant Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon http://www.versantvineyards.com/ **Mention The Tasting Room with Tom Leykis and get a 25% discount)

Derek Buono - Beer Magazine Twitter http://www.thebeermag.com/ & George Smith - Bayhawk Ales, Irvine, CA http://www.bayhawkales.com/
(tasted: California Pale Ale, Imperial Brown Ale, Chocolate Porter Ale, IPA)

Simon Ford - Spirits Ambassador
(tasted: Beefeater 24 http://www.beefeater24.com/)

P.J. Ochlan - Cobblestone Vineyards http://www.cobblestonewine.com/   Facebook
(tasted: 2004 Cobblestone Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley – http://www.cobblestonewine.com/cabernet2004, 2004 Cobblestone Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley – http://www.cobblestonewine.com/reserve2004, 2007 Cobblestone Chardonnay, Arroyo Seco – http://www.cobblestonewine.com/chardonnay2007, 2009 Cobblestone “Te Muna” Pinot Noir Rose, Martinborough, New Zealand – http://www.cobblestonewine.com/pinotrose2009) For free shipping: promo code TOM (good for a limited time on any quantity, any state they ship to)

Natalie Bovis - The Liquid Muse http://www.theliquidmuse.com/
(tasted: The Monkey Gland: 1 1/2 oz gin, 1 1/2 oz orange juice, teaspoon grenadine, teaspoon absinthe, ice. Shake. Strain.)

Kevin Ruder - 901 Silver Tequila http://www.901.com/
(tasted: 901 Silver Tequila)

Grant Berentsen - The Patron Spirits Company http://www.patronspirits.com/
(tasted: Patron Burdeos, Gran Patron Platinum, Patron XO Cafe)

Dave Elger - Muchote Tequila http://www.muchotetequila.com/ & Hot Mixology http://hotmixology.com/
(tasted: Muchote Tequila)

Jon Taffer - Nightclub & Bar Media Group http://www.nightclub.com/ http://www.ncbshow.com/ & Beam Global master mixologist Bobby "G" Gleason http://www.jimbeam.com/
(tasted: Jim Beam White 4 years, Jim Beam Black 8 years http://www.jimbeam.com/, The Red Stag by Jim Beam http://www.theredstag.com/)

Peter Angus - Tito's Handmade Vodka, Austin, TX http://www.titosvodka.com/
(tasted: Tito's Handmade Vodka http://titosvodka.com/titos.html)

David Breitstein - The Duke of Bourbon, Canoga Park, CA  http://dukeofbourbon.com/

Brian Thompson - Krupp Brothers & Stagecoach Vineyard, Napa, CA
http://www.kruppbrothers.com/ info@kruppbrothers.com 707-226-2215 Tours & tastings by appointment Twitter Facebook
Stagecoach Vineyard http://www.stagecoachvineyard.com/ 707-259-1198
(tasted: 2007 Black Bart Marsanne, Stagecoach Vineyard - $35 http://www.kruppbrothers.com/wines/index/black-bart/details/12; 2006 Krupp Brothers The Advocate, Stagecoach Vineyard - $70 http://www.kruppbrothers.com/wines/index/krupp/details/14; 2006 Krupp Brothers The Doctor, Napa Valley - $75http://www.kruppbrothers.com/wines/index/krupp/details/9)

Drew Beechum &Jonny Lieberman - Maltos Falcons The World's Oldest Homebrewing Club, Los Angeles, CA http://www.maltosefalcons.com/
The Everything Homebrewing Book: All you need to brew the best beer at home
(tasted: Uncommon Brewers Siamese Twin Ale http://www.uncommonbrewers.com/, Caldera IPA http://www.calderabrewing.com/, Maui Brewing Coconut Porter http://www.mauibrewingco.com/, Oskar Blues Ten Fidy Imperial Stout http://www.oskarblues.com/

NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) – Lloyd Flatt was a man who lived life large and had a passion for large bottles of wine. One of those bottles - a six-liter Methuselah of Romanee Conti 1976 sold for $42,350 at Sotheby's New York more than double its presale estimate.

Flatt, an eye-patch sporting American who began collecting wine long before there were wine critics and magazines such as the Wine Spectator, died in January 2008 after amassing a collection that became almost as famous as he was.

The total sale of his some 1,500 bottles netted more than $1.18 million, handily beating the $573,000-$824,000 pre-sale estimate range at the auction Saturday. Sotheby's said the winner of the Methuselah   Read more...

The monster that is threatening to turn premium Napa Valley wine into rotting slime was quickly plucked out from underneath the peeling bark of a grapevine.

The white cocoon containing the beast was barely large enough to cover biologist Monica Cooper's fingertip, but its presence is no more welcome in Wine Country than pod people from outer space.

Hundreds, possibly thousands, of European grapevine moths are now emerging from cocoons in dozens of vineyards in the heart of the world famous wine-growing region. It is the first time the pest has ever been seen in North America.

"This one is in the pupal stage," said Cooper, Napa County's viticulture farm adviser and the director of the UC Cooperative Extension   Read more... 
 

British brewer Peter Fowler, has made the world's most bitter beer after a friend challenged him to produce a record-breaking tipple.

Tests showed that Mr Fowler's creation, "The Hop", registered 323 International Bittering Units (IBUs), beating the previous record of 200 held by American beer Devil Dance Triple IPA.

Mr Fowler, 58, who runs the Pitstop Brewery in Stove, near Wantage, Oxon., said: ''It is always nice to beat the Americans and put a British flag on the bitterest pint.

''To be honest, I can only drink it in halves. To finish an evening, it is fine, but the taste lasts with me for four hours at a time.''   Read more...

Fess Parker, a TV icon of the 1950s and '60s who later helped Santa Barbara raise its profile as a world-class wine region, has died. He was 85. Parker had been in failing health in recent months and was under hospice care at his home in the Santa Ynez Valley when he passed away this morning.

The Texas-born Parker first made his name during the dawn of the TV era playing Davy Crockett, serialized on the popular Disneyland show. Parker and the show became so popular in the mid-1950s that boys across America wore his trademark coonskin cap. Parker followed that in the 1960s with a successful run on TV's Daniel Boone.

By the late 1970s, Parker was focusing on real-estate investment in Santa Barbara and developed numerous projects over the years  Read more...