The Brooklyn Brewery just introduced a new beer to its ever-changing array of offerings: Mary's Maple Porter, a tasty and potent (7.5% alcohol by volume) dark ale made with real maple syrup from upstate New York. The beer is named for the brewery's "quality control" supervisor Mary Wiles, who owns 500 acres of maple trees on property in Onondaga. 50 gallons of her Cedarvale Maple Syrup go into each batch, and while the beer doesn't taste sweet, you can definitely taste maple, as well as caramel, chocolate, and coffee flavors from the brewery's blend of roasted malts. Here's a video starring Brooklyn Brewery's brewmaster Garrett Oliver, who has some background for the beer nerds: more ›

The exhaustive Oxford Companion To Wine has long been a must-have compendium for oenophiles, who turn to it for detailed explanations on absolutely everything remotely related to vino. Now the wine companion has a companion: The Oxford Companion to Beer, a thick and thorough A-to-Z collection of beer info, with more than 1,100 entries written by the world's most prominent beer experts. The ringleader of this massive undertaking is Garrett Oliver, who edited the book and wrote a number of its entries. Oliver, who serves as the acclaimed Brewmaster at the Brooklyn Brewery, recently spoke with us about all things beer. more ›

BENEFIT: Tonight catch a special performance by Alanis Morissette, while rubbing elbows with Matt Dillon...all for a good cause! The inaugural fundraising benefit for the Adrienne Shelly Foundation will be held this evening, and you can get in with a ticket from $150 to...well, $10,000 bucks. You'll be supporting the late Shelly's foundation which "supports the artistic achievements of female actors, writers and directors through a series of scholarships and grants." 6pm // Skirball Center... more ›

A fact for you: the average American lives within ten miles of a craft brewery. more ›

Garrett Oliver, Brooklyn Brewmaster more ›

Bob McKee, Local Music Now more ›

Garrett Oliver's personal site, as well as his bio on the Brooklyn Brewery site. And Tien went to Brooklyn Brewery's Happy Hour last Friday. more ›