It’s hard to beat the flavor combination of a soft pretzel, tinged with minerality and subtle sweetness, dipped into piquant mustard and washed down with a cold beer. The partnership between beer and pretzels is an ancient one. According to folklore, monks first shaped scraps of dough into twisted knots that represented the holy trinity in the year 610 A.D. We all know how much monks love brewing beer, so it is quite likely that pretzels have been served with beer since their inception.

To this day pretzels are the most iconic food associated with German biergartens, and now you can recreate this authentic experience with Andrea Slonecker’s great new book, “Pretzel Making at Home”(Chronicle, April 2013). Divided into three smart sections—soft pretzels; hard pretzels; and mustards, dips and spreads—the pages are packed with clever ideas for beer-friendly pretzelized creations, plus several mustard recipes for dipping, like the one below.

Craft beers have been taking a bath in Kentucky’s finest barrels. The results, in the right brewers’ hands, can be delicious. Americans have enjoyed bourbon for centuries, but it wasn’t until the 1990s that craft breweries began tinkering with bourbon-soaked barrels. The......

Love craft beer? Why not brew your own? The American Homebrewers Association (AHA) just helped our beer-mad country celebrate National Homebrew Day (May 7), which was established by Congress in 1988, and probably should be a federal holiday. They also promoted the AHA Big Brew , in......

In May 2013, Odell Brewing , will release its first variety 12 pack, Montage. The new package will feature two brewery flagships, a seasonal offering, and a new brew, Loose Leaf American Session Ale. Loose Leaf was developed on the brewery’s five barrel pilot system. The......