National sales of craft beer grew 10.3 percent in 2009, despite the fact that overall beer sales in the United States fell by 2.2 percent, according to figures released Tuesday by the Brewers Association.

People sensitive to the taste of fat tend to eat less of it and are less likely to be overweight, according to Australian research that found human tongues can detect fatty tastes in addition to the five others — sweet, sour, salty, bitter and protein-rich.

Can a drink a day keep the pounds away? Perhaps for the ladies. New research suggests that women who regularly consume moderate amounts of alcohol are less likely to gain weight than nondrinkers and are at lower risk for obesity.

The dreaded morning-after feeling could be a thing of the past after scientists in South Korea came up with a technique that allows drinkers to avoid a hangover by adding extra oxygen to drinks.

If brewers could make a zero-calorie beer, would you even want it? More and more big-label brewers are trying to wring calories from popular brands of beer. Why? Because sales of light and ultra-light beers are up and brewers keep trying to go lower. As advances in beer science (and marketing) continue, consumers keep buying the stuff.

The Super Bowl® commercials have always been at least as popular as the game. People who don’t really watch football (I usually get bored around the 3rd period) watch the biggest game of the year so they can see what the ad wizards have come up with for $6 million dollars a minute (actual guesstimated rate). And what of beer?

If “having it your way” has always been a burger with a cold beer on the side, then Burger King may finally have the happy meal you’re looking for. Can you say fast-beer restaurant?

Do you like beer? Do you have a functioning cardiovascular system? A Tacoma, Washington based blood center offers donors a deal: Give a pint of blood, get a pint of beer.

Would you like to spend the night drinking and not have to worry about the hangover the next morning? How about not even worrying about driving home? Just pop a pill to sober up and drive home.

It’s the most wonderful time of the beer. Just the other day, I commented that MillerCoors’ Blue Moon “doesn’t suck, but I don’t really care for it.” So I was surprised to find myself buying a six-pack of their seasonal beer called Full Moon.

Not sure what beer to drink? The folks at Eating the Road and SloshSpot.com have come up with a flow chart to help you with the inevitable decision we all face at one point or another.

For whatever reason, Blue Moon wheat beer–brewed by MillerCoors–is one of the hottest-selling “craft” brews by a major bottler, but Anheuser-Busch is angling to cut in on that growth with its new Bud Light Golden Wheat. Only two months after its debut, the new wheat beer has nearly matched Blue Moon’s monthly sales.

The Boston Beer Company, known for many quality beer styles and a cult of craft beer that now borders on being mainstream, recently released their 2009 batch of Samuel Adams Utopias. Utopias is the flagship brew of their “extreme” beer line.

Space, the final frontier. A few years ago, Sapporo of Japan boldly sent some barley where no one had sent barley before… “outer” space; and recently “Space Barley” splashed down.

Who says sporks are just for grade school? OK, no one said that, but I was thinking it… a thin, flimsy, plastic spork that I ate oh-so-many horrible USDA Grade-F meat meals with at the cafeteria table.