Emily Smith and Justin Lear are a food-loving couple who work for CNN and live in Atlanta.

Emily: This past Wednesday, I felt like I was in the middle of a drug deal. I nervously stood near the beer section of our local liquor store, waiting for a man wearing a green apron. When I saw him, I awkwardly confronted him and asked for what I'd come for: Hopslam. He told me to wait right there, and a wave of relief washed over me.

With my precious six-pack finally in hand, I begged for another. "You can only sell me one?"

I knew I was pressing my luck, but I had to after receiving a desperate text reading, "Come here to Greens and buy Hopslam. I can only buy one."

My boyfriend Justin's lack of the word "please" could only be excused by a life or death situation, otherwise known as running out of Hopslam.
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Despite the fact that it has been federally legal since 1979, there are still two U.S. states that don't allow residents to make beer in their own homes: Alabama and Mississippi.
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Ray Isle (@islewine on Twitter) is Food & Wine's executive wine editor. We trust his every cork pop and decant – and the man can sniff out a bargain to boot. Take it away, Ray.

Once again it is upon us: National Beer Can Appreciation Day (not to be confused with National Beer Appreciation Day, which I believe is actually every day of the year).

People first got the bright idea of putting beer in cans back in 1933, when the Gottfried Krueger Brewing Company teamed up with the American Can Company to produce a test run of 2,000 cans of Krueger’s Special Beer. If you’re wondering how it worked out, consider this: In 1941, people in the U.S. consumed roughly a billion cans of beer.

Despite the success of the beer can, in recent years, the craft beer industry has been wary of the allure of metal. Until a few years ago, most independent small brewers have been resolutely pro-glass.
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Nathan Berrong works at CNN's satellite desk and writes Eatocracy's beer column, "Berrong on Beer." He Tweets at @nathanberrong and logs beers at Untappd.

Monday marks the 57th Presidential Inauguration, where President Obama will once again assume the duties as commander in chief. Many people will judge President Obama’s next four years on how well he handles issues like gun control, the economy, education and our involvement in the Middle East. But for me, I’ll be judging his presidency on what the future holds for the next White House beer.

Last year, the White House released recipes for two of its home-brewed beers under the Freedom of Information Act. When the recipes were released, complete with a video showing the brewing process, I learned a very important thing about our President - the man cares about his beer! And, he shares three very important things that all Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Independent and Green Party craft beer drinkers care about - where the beer is from, how the beer is made and the quality of the beer.
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Ray Isle (@islewine on Twitter) is Food & Wine's executive wine editor. We trust his every cork pop and decant – and the man can sniff out a bargain to boot. Take it away, Ray.

It’s possible you may have missed it, but just before Christmas a team of scientists in Seattle managed to determine the absolute configurations of isohumulones in beer!

Relieved, aren’t you? Me too. But no matter what you think, it’s evidence of sorts that people’s curiosity about beer knows no bounds; and in this case, their curiosity about how hops work.
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Does your pooch seem a little parched? Perhaps he or she needs a bowlful of Dawg Grog. Bend, Oregon brewer Daniel Keeton loves his dog, Lola Jane as much as he loves serving up suds in Boneyard Brewery's tasting room.
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Nathan Berrong works at CNN's satellite desk and writes Eatocracy's beer column, "Berrong on Beer." He Tweets at @nathanberrong and logs beers at Untappd.

2012 has been yet another milestone year in the world of American craft beer. There are currently more breweries in operation in the United States than ever before, even surpassing the alcohol boom of the late 1800s. Outdated beer laws are beginning to change and will benefit both brewers and consumers, and a debate began between the little guys and the big boys about what exactly defines craft beer. Oh yeah - there were also some incredible beers made in the last 12 months.
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Ray Isle (@islewine on Twitter) is Food & Wine's executive wine editor. We trust his every cork pop and decant – and the man can sniff out a bargain to boot. Take it away, Ray.

Few issues in the world are truly black-and-white. Cats, for instance. Some people think they’re nice pets; some people think they’re furry little narcissists who’d happily dine on your face if there were ever a complete collapse of civilization due to a nuclear apocalypse. Ditto Elvis (meaning some people love his music, some think it’s awful. ...Not that he’d dine on your face. Though, honestly, if it were a zombie-based apocalypse, I suppose he might.)

But one thing that can be divided into simple, black-and-white categories is winter and holiday beers. Basically, there are the ones that taste like something your grandmother would bake, and the ones that don’t.

Not that I’m trying to tick off the grandmothers of the world. I don’t want a legion of rolling pin-wielding grannies chasing me down Fifth Avenue, bent on my demise. However, I do think that a beer should, at least in some way, taste like a beer instead of, say, a fruitcake.

Other people may not be as riled up by this topic as me. I accept that. Since it’s almost Christmas and there’s still time to buy a case of tasty winter ale, I don’t want the beer drinkers of the world to come back home with something that tastes like a fermented brown sugar-cinnamon Pop-Tart. So here are six that are actually very good:
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Editor's note: Tom Long is the chief executive officer of MillerCoors. He wrote this column in response to a CNN Opinion piece by Steve Hindy of The Brooklyn Brewery: "Don't let big brewers win beer wars."

(CNN) - The other day, the industry group representing small brewers issued its latest definition of what qualifies as a "craft" beer. Based on our size, that definition excluded us, even though we brew some of the most popular craft beers in the marketplace.

We respect the fact that some of our fellow brewers would want to differentiate themselves, but we're convinced that the ultimate assessment of our beers will not come from an industry organization, but instead from America's beer drinkers.

We know that no matter what style of beer it is, we will ultimately be judged by the quality of our beers. We like that, because we are confident that the quality of our beers stacks up well versus that of any brewer of any size, anywhere.

Read the full story: Judge brewers by their beer

Nathan Berrong works at CNN's satellite desk and writes Eatocracy's beer column, "Berrong on Beer." He Tweets at @nathanberrong and logs beers at Untappd.

The end of the world is just a day away, and as the crazies prepare for it by stockpiling canned goods and jugs of water, I’m more concerned about which beer I’m going to drink to celebrate the future. You see, the world isn’t really going to end and the Mayans didn’t even predict it would. December 21, 2012, is just the final date on one of the Mayan calendars. According to scholars, the ancient Maya created several calendars and when one ended, another began.

For the Mayans, the end of a calendar cycle wasn’t about death and destruction but about rebirth and newness. December 21 should be about the celebration of what’s to come, not about the doom and gloom of a bygone world. Regardless of which view you lean towards, there’s a beer for you!
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