It's hard to hate Irish beer. It's iconic in its own right. In fact, there's a national holiday to celebrate it (kinda) called St. Patrick's Day. To a point, it's easy to think that the Emerald Isle is where all the best brews come from in that corner of the world.

Enjoying craft beer is not something that tends to be good for anyone's waistline. It sucks, but science has shown that "beer belly" is a real thing — and it is all weight gain due to the calorific nature of downing a pint or two every day.

Craft beer tastings, at one point, was kind of a joke among people. It was something that was seen as pretentious and silly; almost to the point that people accused it of trying to elevate "lowbrow" goods to a highbrow level.

Germany and beer go together like peanut butter and jelly. It's just a fact of life. German culture had a huge impact on our world's drinking culture as a whole, and for many beer aficionados, going to Germany means going to the Mecca of beer.

Burlington, Vermont is the home to a unique culture that embodies that of the state as a whole. This culture paints a vivid picture. Hard working farmers growing fresh produce. Bees making the tastiest honey. An army of college students. High-grade marijuana. And some incredible bars, breweries, and distilleries.

Ramen is a very deeply misunderstood food in America. Here, when most of us think of ramen, we think of those stupid packing peanuts in broth that impoverished college students are forced to eat out of budgeting issues.

As a lady who is under 35, I can say that at beer festivals I often feel a little out of place. Rarely do I have the opportunity to meet other ladies of my generation at a festival bar. The terms "Real Ale" and "CAMRA" generate a certain picture in people's minds, and sadly it does not include young ladies. This image is so pervasive that even I am surprised and excited when I meet another young lady who loves beer like I do. I find it a little bit scary that the drink I love has such a strong association with bearded, sandal-wearing men ticking off lists (not that there is anything wrong with beards, sandals, or lists). However, this not an inclusive image and I worry that this picture that pops into people's minds may actually be putting them off attending beer festivals, and particularly CAMRA festivals.

America's craft beer movement is booming and options for beer lovers abound, so being on any list of best breweries in America for craft beer is no small thing. Craft beer is defined as any brewery that produces no more than 6 million barrels, and usually it's significantly less.

Despite being known as Indian Pale Ale, and likewise considered mostly an American beverage, IPAs were actually invented by the British in India for longer journeys across the sea. For this reason, IPAs were made bitter, stronger and particularly darker than their counterparts. Fast forward to today, craft brews have grown up into a style of their own, tending to have some of the craziest flavors, most oddball names, and yet satisfying textures.

Beavertown Brewery announced earlier this year that they would be holding a two day beer festival. Tickets sold out swiftly, but my wife, a friend and I bagged one each for the second day. It wasn’t cheap, at £55 including booking fee, but it felt strongly like it had the makings of a very enjoyable day out.

My friends, we live in wonderful, magical times. We live in the time when drinking in the shower isn't a sign of alcoholism, but just a sign of mind-numbingly awesome-cool slackerdom.

Oh, gluten. You are the pizza crust on our tomato pies, the bread in our bread and butter, and the beer in our...beer.