A few weeks ago I made fun of a travelogue about drinking beer in Denver by Time Magazine. Well, Time’s main competitor Newsweek also recently published a piece on craft beer, but this one is much more of a worthwhile hard news story.

I want to direct your attention to a pretty decent interview in Newsweek reporter Daniel Stone recently did with homebrewing legend Charlie Papazian, who also happens to be the president of the U.S. Brewers Association.

Papazian is in Washington D.C. to lobby Congress on behalf of the Brewers Association and talks to Newsweek about federal beer regulations, the current state of craft beer production in the U.S., and how beer is the “new wine.” Actually, Papazian points out what we craft beer enthusiasts already know — that craft beer is way more versatile beverage than wine because of the myriad of styles.

Here is a quote from the story about that phenomenon.

“Think of it this way: with wine you have red and white varieties based on the grapes used to make them,” Papazian says. “But with beer, for starters, you have dozens of kinds of malts. You have the pale malts, toasted malts, roasted malts. You have malts that give flavor like toffee and caramel and honey.”

“There's every which direction that malts can take the beer,” Papazian continues. “Then you have hops. They contribute not only a degree of bitterness but can add flavors like citrus, apricot, even a jasmine. Then we haven't even begun to talk about strength.”

“When you add more malt, you add more sugar, which brings a higher degree of fermentation and more alcohol. With alcohol comes new complexities, like what wine has.”

Papazian also talks about the slowdown in the craft beer industry in the late 90s and how craft beer is now more popular than ever thanks to a constantly evolving American palette. Good stuff.