Butter and margarine are solid fats that should be stored in a fridge. But except from keeping them from melting, why should they be kept there? Have you ever really asked yourself how to store butter and margarine to get the most out of them?

First, a little information about the differences between butter and margarine.

Butter is made from churning milk or cream and is made of a cow’s, sheep’s, goat’s, yak’s, or buffalo’s milk. It’s about , 3% milk solids and 17% water.

Margarine is usually made from vegetable oil. Fat from skimmed milk is sometimes added but usually no dairy products are added.

But whilst they are both a little different storing butter and margarine is very similar.

Where Do You Store Butter and Margarine?

Both butter and margarine should be stored in a refrigerator at 40℉ (4℃) or below. By storing butter and margarine here you stop them from being exposed to light and high temperatures which can make them become .

You should keep them in their original containers or packaging, but should consider putting them in an airtight container as air is another contributor to making them go bad.

When storing butter and margarine, the best place to put them on the upper refrigerator shelves.

Does butter go bad?

When unopened, butter lasts for 1-2 months in the refrigerator. You should use it within 2 weeks.

Margarine may be kept for 3-4 months when unopened and 1-2 months when opened.

Can You Freeze Butter and Margarine?

Absolutely! What’s more is you can freeze butter and margarine before or after opening them.

Butter will last 6-9 months when frozen, whilst margarine will keep 6-8 months.

How Do I Know If Butter and Margarine Has Gone Bad?

To check if butter or margarine have gone bad, it’s best to smell and look at it. When butter or margarine has a sour smell and taste it has become bad. Other signs of expired butter or margarine are discoloration and mold.

However, it is worth noting that even after the expected expiry date, if there are no signs of butter or margarine having gone bad, it is still safe and good to use!

How to Store Butter and Margarine Like a Pro

Now you know all the best ways on how to store butter and margarine. The most important things to remember are:

• Keep them in the fridge in 40℉ (4℃) or below on the upper or middle shelf
• Butter lasts 1-2 months unopened and stored in the fridge, and should be consumed within 2 weeks of opening
• Margarine lasts 3-4 months unopened, should be stored in the fridge, and consumed within 2 months of opening
• Butter and margarine can be frozen: up to 6-9 months for butter and 6-8 months for margarine
• Butter and margarine have gone bad when they have sour smell and taste, have mold, or are discolored
• After the expected expiration date, if they don’t show signs of having gone bad, it’s safe to eat them

Storing butter and margarine in the best way possible will help it last for longer and help you to get the most out of it.

For more information on storing food, see our other .

You’ve decide to give up smoking. Seriously, massive kudos to you. It’s the first step to...well, not smoking anymore! We want to be the ones that fight in your corner. So we're here to give you some quit smoking tips, but specifically about what to do with your hands and mouth.

As well as being a popular New Year’s Resolution, you might be thinking about doing this because it’s coming up to October.

In the United Kingdom, October is known as “Stoptober”: a month dedicated to encouraging smokers to quit. The UK’s health service claim that if you’re able to make it through the first 28 days of quitting, you’re 5x more likely to quit for good. The Stoptober website also offers advice, as well as signposting to resources such as apps and support groups, to aid potential cig-free citizens.

But you probably know that it’s not going to be easy, even for a mere month.

The hardest thing for the majority of smokers is overcoming the addiction to nicotine. That’s no small feat! According to Vaping Daily, you start feeling the effects of nicotine withdrawal after just 4 hours of having your last cigarette, with the first three days being the hardest to overcome.

Symptoms include:

• Restlessness
• Trouble sleeping
• Irritability
• Headaches
• Heightened anxiety
• Increased stress levels

Eak! Hang in there. You can do this!

But another thing that many people find hard is trying to replace the feeling of having something in their mouth and hands.

So, we’d like to offer you some short shopping lists and some lighthearted but potentially effective quit smoking tips. These will help you keep your hands and mouth busy during this trying, but hopefully triumphant, month for you.

However, we do strongly advise that you do speak to a doctor before quitting smoking, and also check out the information, advice, support, and eve more quit smoking tips over at the official Stoptober website

Quit Smoking Tips: Engage Your Mouth

Snacking

This is a good way to engage your mouth. But you need to be careful as you don’t want to snack on unhealthy food, trading smoking for weight gain. But here are some snacks and foods that help you quit smoking.

Pretzel sticks - the best thing about these is that they can also help satisfy the feeling your hands miss as they’re a similar shape to a cigarette. Be careful though, as these are often very salty, and increased sodium intake can lead to high blood pressure issues such as hypertension.

Carrot or celery sticks - these are certainly healthier than pretzel sticks. Again, these kill two birds with one stone as their shape can also simulate that of a cigarette. But for many eating raw vegetables can be unpleasant. If the thought of eating raw carrots or celery is off-putting, consider using a dip such as hummus or salsa to improve their taste.

Dried fruit and nuts - these are snack staples for people on diets as they’re high in energy and often full of good fat and oil. So why wouldn’t it work for someone who’s trying to quit smoking? Again, just make sure you’re not gobbling down anything too salty to ensure your blood pressure stays low.

Snacking Shopping List

• Pretzel sticks
• Carrot sticks
• Celery sticks
• Hummus
• Salsa
• Dried fruit and nuts

Chewing

Another way to keep the mouth engaged without actually filling your stomach is to chew on something.

Chewing Gum - you can use nicotine gum to help stave off those cravings. But if you really want to push hard against that nicotine addiction, you can try normal chewing gum. Make sure it’s sugar-free though, as you don’t want to end up with bad teeth.

Aside from keeping your gob busy, chewing gum has some surprising benefits. There are studies that claim it can help:

• improve your
• keep your teeth healthy
•  by reducing your appetite

However, there are some long-term side effects of chewing, such as and , and chewing too much sugar-free gum in a short space of time can have laxative effects. But in moderation, chewing can be a great way to keep your mouth engaged.

Toothpicks - some people have found that chewing on a toothpick can really help suppress the urge to stick a cigarette in your mouth. You’ll also have the added bonus of looking like a cowboy or a bad ass action hero. What’s more, you can even flavor them if you’d rather not taste wood all day. You can do this using your favorite tipple, such as whiskey.

If you don’t drink alcohol, or your boss has an issue with alcohol-soaked paraphernalia in the workplace, you can try  such as cinnamon, orange peel, or mint.

Chewing Shopping List

• Nicotine gum
• Sugar-free chewing gum
• Toothpicks
• Whiskey
• Essential oils

Quit Smoking Tips: Engage Your Hands

Having something in your hands can really help you ease the sensation of not holding a cigarette anymore.

Plastic Straw - plastic straws are a great way to engage your hands. As well as being a similar shape to a cigarette you can even cut one down to be the length of a cigarette, too. What’s great is that it can engage your mouth too. You can simulate inhaling on a cigarette by putting the straw in your mouth and sucking air through it.

However, this comes with the drawback of being a bit conspicuous, especially if the straws you are using are brightly colored. What’s more, with the big conversation around banning plastic straws for environmental reasons happening at the moment, these might not be the best option depending on your environmental point of view.

Pen or Pencil - these are objects that are really easy to get hold of and are similar shape to a cigarette. What’s more, they’re quite inconspicuous and make you look like you’re super busy at work.

Stress Ball - they’re soft, squeezy, and specifically designed to help release some tension during stressful periods in your day. Chances are you’ve gotten for free from somewhere: a convention, a promotion, or stolen from your boss's desk. However, you can also buy them in various shapes and sizes, from brains to Donald Trump. These will certainly help with those increased stress levels caused by your nicotine withdrawal.

Fidget Spinner - are these still a thing? If you can still buy one, they can be an inexpensive way to keep your hands busy. You might even be able to get a hold of one for free from a younger relative who’s now preoccupied with the next fad to irritate teachers and parents alike.

On a serious note, you can also learn some  which can help keep your mind occupied from thinking about smoking.

Yo-Yo - if fidget spinners are hard to come by, or you really want to complete a rad 1980s look, get a yo-yo. Like with fidget-spinners, you can keep your mind busy by learning tricks to impressive all your mates down at the roller-disco.

Fidget Cube - if you want something a bit more adult and a bit less retro than a fidget spinner or a yo-yo, you can buy a specifically designed fidget cube. These usually have a variety of different apparatus to keep your hands busy, from switches and buttons to things that swivel, which can satisfy a whole range of fidgety twitches.

E-Cigarettes/Vaping - these can engage both your mouth and your hands at the same time as you’re essentially doing something very similar to smoking. As many of the liquids and flavors have nicotine in them, they can also help you gradually reduce your nicotine intake to help manage withdrawal symptoms, much like nicotine patches and gum can. However, these are not officially approved by as a way to quit smoking.

The verdict is still quite hazy on whether these are as healthy an alternative to smoking as they claim. Yes, you’re not filing your lungs with tar like with a lit cigarette, but some liquids have been reported to contain harmful ingredients . A lot more research does need to be done on the benefits/drawbacks of e-cigarettes and vapes, so it’s up to you whether you think this is a good option or not.

Furthermore, in some countries and states these are banned in public spaces and workplaces on the basis that it can expose people around you to harmful chemicals and aerosols. So this might not be the most convenient solution.

Cigarette - this comes with the big warning that you will have to fight the urge to light up. But some people do find having an actual cigarette between their fingers helps keep those withdrawal feelings in your hands at bay. This is because a cigarette is the closest thing to an actual cigarette when it comes to wanting have a cigarette in your hand. It’s risky, but if you can resist the temptation it can be a familiar comfort that can keep you on the straight and narrow.

Engage Your Hands Shopping List

• Plastic straw
• Pen
• Pencil
• Stress ball
• Fidget spinner
• Yo-Yo
• Fidget Toy
• E-cigarette
• Cigarette

Go Get ‘Em, Tiger

Now you’re armed with plenty of quit smoking tips to help keep your hands and mouth busy whilst you’re quitting smoking. We’re cheering you on from afar and are really hoping you can stub out the habit once and for all.

Snacking Shopping List

• Pretzel sticks
• Carrot sticks
• Celery sticks
• Hummus
• Salsa
• Dried fruit and nuts

Chewing Shopping List

• Nicotine gum
• Sugar-free chewing gum
• Toothpicks
• Whiskey
• Essential oils

Engage Your Hands Shopping List

• Plastic straw
• Pen
• Pencil
• Stress ball
• Fidget spinner
• Yo-Yo
• Fidget Toy
• E-cigarette/Vape
• Cigarette

Summer's nearly over. Which means the time for having one more great BBQ is running out! In the USA and Canada, Labor Day (which falls on 3 September) is seen as the holiday that unofficially marks the end of summer. What better way to celebrate than with a BBQ? For that, you're going to be a goo BBQ shopping list.

 Whether it’s a Labor Day shindig or just trying to make the most out of that last bit of sunshine, BBQs will be had all over the world during the next couple of weeks.

Of course, you want your BBQ to be the best. But without getting the basics right, you’re not going to reach the heights of BBQ legend that you’d like to. Get these BBQ basics wrong and your BBQ will be: basic!

But BBQs are about far more than the food you’re going to cook. It’s about how you cook it, what you use, and how you deal with everything else. So check out this basic BBQ shopping list and tips to get things to heat up the end of your summer properly. If you're super keen to fire up your bbq, then you can skip straight to our . 

Preparation

We`re not going to give you recipes and suggestions here.

There are simply far too many ideas already out there on the internet. You know what you and your guests want better than we do, so buy whatever you want.

But when buying sausages and burgers, make sure those on your BBQ food list they have a high meat content. Anything above 80% is what you’re aiming for. Less than 80% means that these burgers or sausages are filled with things like grain and water. This means the food won’t be as tasty as it’s not as meaty.

Furthermore, don’t try and cook too many different varieties of food. Different food needs different cooking times and heat. Going for the full gamut of meat and veg will only make it difficult to time and cook properly. Pick a couple of items and take time to do them well. Your guests will much prefer quality over variety.

Whatever you cook, you`re going to need some BBQ sauce: it's a BBQ shopping list essential!

But be careful about when you add it. Don’t add it to the food too early or the sauce will burn and coat your food with untasty charred bits. It will also make it more difficult to cook the inside of the food increasing the risk of giving you and your guests food poisoning!

Don’t forget things like cling film to keep dips and sauces fresh and fly-free, and aluminium foil to keep food warm. Handily, aluminium foil can be used to clean the grill grate afterwards, too. When scrunched up it’s coarse enough to remove burnt bits, but it’s not so hard that it will remove the grill’s coating.

If you’re planning on cooking a lot of food, be sure to bring some extra empty plastic containers for you or your guests to take home any leftovers.

If you’re BBQing in a park and not in your garden, bring a cool box and some ice blocks. Not only will is keep your drinks nicely chilled, you can use it to keep any uncooked food fresh for the trip back home meaning you won’t need to throw it away and waste it.

Preparation

• BBQ sauce
• Cling film
• Aluminium foil
• Empty plastic containers
• Cool box
• Ice blocks

Cutlery and Crockery

Of course, your guests are going to need something to eat with and on. Crucial items are:

• Plates
• Knives
• Forks

And if you’re serving dessert:

• Bowls and spoons for desserts
• Side plates and extra forks for cake

You may also need extra spoons and extra knives on your BBQ shopping list for dips and spreads.

Plastic cutlery and crockery are the staples of BBQs, but these days there’s a lot of concern about plastic's effect on the environment. As durable and convenient as plastic cutlery is, it’s a major part of our plastic problem.

The Pratt Institute found that plastic cutlery formed more than 20% of California’s plastic waste, and countries like the United Kingdom are even considering banning plastic cutlery and plates outright as it makes up .

So maybe it’s time to consider more environmentally friendly options.

Bringing your home’s metal cutlery, glasses, and ceramic plates means you can take them back to wash up later. You can really cut down on your waste this way. But you need to be prepared for things to get broken or lost. You’ll also need to transport these to and from your home. Whilst trash friendly, this can be inconvenient as transporting these can be cumbersome and heavy. If you do want to use your glassware, be sure that there aren’t any children attending, or any clumsy friends either!

So, are paper cups and plates the best option?

Well, they are biodegradable. But they can be flimsy, making them more trouble than they're worth. Guest want their food and drink in their mouths, not in their laps!

One other option is: edible plates! 

These aren’t easy to get hold of at the moment, but if you can you’ll be hailed an eco-warrior by your guests. You can even get edible cutlery too if you want to go for the full range of tableware you can eat.

Speaking of cutlery, you should look out for wooden cutlery or even cutlery made from plant starch. You can also get plant starch crockery. These are sturdier than paper and also biodegradable.

If you must use plastic, check your recycling facilities to see what type of plastic they can recycle. Then, try and buy plastic crockery and cutlery that you can add to your recyclable waste afterwards.

For example: if your facilities can’t process P4 or P5 plastic, avoid buying crockery and cutlery made from these types. 

Don’t forget the napkins!

Paper work well, but consider cloth ones that you can wash at home and re-use next year. Regardless, you should still have some paper towels handy to help clean greasy hands. These are designed to absorb grease as well as liquid making them generally better for cleaning up mucky faces than facial tissues. You might also want to consider some wet wipes for the same purpose.

Also get some hand sanitizer so your guests can keep hands germ-free, especially if access to running water is difficult.

Cutlery and Crockery

• Plates
• Knives
• Forks
• Bowls
• Spoons
• Side plates
• Extra knives
• Extra forks
• Extra spoons
• Napkins
• Paper towels
• Wet wipes
• Hand sanitizer

Tools

All that food: delicious.

But buying it was only half the battle. Now you have to cook it.

Making sure you have enough charcoal is a no brainer, unless you’re cooking on gas. Lumpwood charcoal is generally considered better to grill with than charcoal briquettes as they add a smokier and more natural flavor to the food. Self-lighting briquettes might sound convenient but you you risk adding chemical flavors and fumes to your food from the chemicals used to make them easier to light.

But if you’re not buying self-lighting charcoal, how are you going to light the BBQ? It’s not easy and some reckon it’s truly an artform! So what should you use to light your BBQ?

Matches are the first things that come to mind but these can be unreliable and you risk burning yourself. Cigarette lighters are even trickier and more dangerous! But these can be used as a last resort.

Instead: use a gas lighter.

These have nice long tips meaning you won’t burn yourself when lighting the BBQ. You can also use them to light things in hard to reach places. As they use liquid gas, there’s less chance of the flame going out in breezy weather.

One thing you should absolutely avoid putting on your BBQ shopping list is BBQ lighter fluid. This tends to create high flames for a few seconds but usually fails to light the coals first time around meaning you’ll have to add more and more. What’s worse is that too much lighter fluid can also leave a chemical taste to your food. Lighting blocks are more reliable, but you still risk them leaving that nasty taste.

Yuck!

The best way to light your BBQ is to invest in a charcoal starter chimney. To use one:

• Put newspaper at the bottom of the chimney
• Put the charcoal on top of the newspaper
• Light the newspaper
• Wait for about 15-20 minutes

The vertical design means heat is naturally and quickly drawn upwards lighting your coals fast and evenly.

If you want to add some extra BBQ flavor, then add smoking wood to your coals. These will add a smokey kick to your food. If you soak them at least an hour before using them (overnight is best) the moisture creates more smoke, which means more flavor.

Now that you’ve got your BBQ going and your food cooking, what now? To get the best out of your BBQ, use the lid. This locks in the heat and turns your BBQ into an oven, meaning the food will cook more thoroughly and evenly.

But don’t fiddle with the lid if you’re using one! Every time you open the lid, you lose that heat, meaning everything will take longer to cook. Therefore, you might want to invest in a food timer:

• Put the food on the BBQ
• Set the timer (according to cooking instructions)
• Put the lid on
• Wait

If you don’t want to buy a physical food timer, you can always use your smartphone’s inbuilt timer, or even download a timer app.

Next, you need to know if the food is fully cooked. What do you do to ensure things are cooked properly? Give it a little prod, right? Wrong.

Different types of food all feel different when they’re done. Unless you’re a professional, poking and prodding is a very ineffective way to tell if food is cooked. Stabbing it to see if it’s still pink in the middle makes all those tasty juices run out.

Instead, use a food thermometer. Just pierce it through into the centre of the food, and if it’s the optimum temperature for that food: viola! It’s cooked.

Other tools you’ll need include:

• Tongs to turn and pick up the food from the BBQ, and also help arrange the charcoal
• A bread knife if you need to cut burger buns and hot dog rolls
• Kebab skewers too, if you’re making kebabs

If you’re using wood kebab skewers, remember to soak these overnight to stop them catching fire or burning. If you’re using metal kebab skewers, coat them with a little vegetable or sunflower cooking oil to stop the food sticking to them.

If you’re grilling sausages or hot dogs, you might even want to consider a sausage holder which makes it easier to cook sausages on both sides without fear of them falling off the grill and into the coals!

Tools

• Lumpwood charcoal
• Matches
• Gas lighter
• Charcoal starter chimney
• Newspaper
• Smoking wood
• Food timer
• Food thermometer
• Tongs
• Bread knife
• Kebab skewers
• Cooking oil
• Sausage holder

Clean-Up

You’re BBQ was a resounding success. But now comes aftermath: clean-up.

One thing you’ll certainly need on your BBQ shopping list are trash bags. But be sure to buy thick ones. Cheap thin ones break easily, meaning you’ll only make more mess when cleaning up. Thicker bags are not only stronger but there’s less chance of a kebab skewers sticking through and hurting you.

Ouch!

You might want to also get some gardening gloves. This isn’t because you’ll be planting any flowers, but because these will protect your hands from any sharp surprises during clean up.

If you are planning on taking things home to recycle, don’t forget recycling bags so you can sort your recycling there and then rather than leaving it until later.

If you are having a BBQ in the park and the bins are all full, try not to leave full bags on the floor next to the bins. Please, take the home with you or find some empty bins elsewhere. Whilst park officials will eventually clear away the trash, until that time animals, such as bears, foxes, and raccoons, can easily access the trash bags on the floor. They’ll break open the bags to get at any leftover food creating a real mess. Whilst other items in your trash can make them sick or cause injury. It is more work, and carrying trash around is unpleasant. But your park officials will be very grateful as you’ll keep wildlife safe and your park looking lovely.

Then, there’s the grill that needs cleaning. Or does it?

Some say you  if you’re grilling regularly, as the grease and charred bits of food on the grill is said to prevent it from rusting. Therefore, you might want to consider cleaning the grill just before your next BBQ after warming it up.

Regardless, you should get a good BBQ cleaning brush. This will ensure all the bits of food and grease will be removed before your next BBQ adventure, meaning it’ll be hygienic and bits-of-old-food free.

Clean-Up

• Trash bags
• Gardening gloves
• Recycling bag
• BBQ cleaning brush

Basic BBQ Tips

Well, that’s a lot of advice, and some great lists for you there. 

But why not have some more tips to up your BBQ game?

Wait until the Coals are Covered with Grey Ash

The coals are lit and are nice and hot. You want to start cooking now, and your guests are hungry! However, you need to wait until the coals are covered in a grey ash before the BBQ is at its best to cook with. 

Grey coals are the best because they maintain a steady temperature, meaning no sudden heat-spikes leading to uneven cooking.

This will usually take about 15 minutes. which will feel like a long time when standing at the BBQ waiting for them to turn grey. So how about setting that food timer we talked about earlier, mingle with your guests, and check back on the coals when you hear it go off.

Vary The Temperature of Your Grill

It’s tempting to spread all the charcoal evenly around the entire grill. This means it’s nice and hot everywhere. But you can cook smarter by doing things differently.

Split your BBQ in half and put more coals on one side, and fewer, or none, on the other. You can even put less or no coals down the centre. 

This gives you more control over your cooking:

• One side can be for cooking things that need a high temperature
• The other side for food that needs lower heat

You can even:

• Sear the food on the hot part of the grill
• Cook it gently on the cooler part

Don’t Cook Meat Straight from the Fridge

We’ve all done it. Take the meat straight out of the fridge and put it straight onto the BBQ. But you should actually take the meat out about 30 minutes before cooking.

Why?

Because cold meat takes longer to cook. Also, cooking cold meat on a BBQ means the inside is more likely to be uncooked. If you let it warm up to room temperature before cooking, this is less likely to happen.

Don’t Eat The Meat Straight Away

Good things come to those who wait, and that includes BBQ food. Once you’ve cooked the meat let it sit for a few minutes. This ensures the juices are sealed within it as they’ll cool and thicken.

Cut or bite into too quick, and:

• Those tasty juices will drain everywhere
• You might burn your mouth as the juices are hot

Basic BBQ Tips

• Wait until the coals are grey
• Vary the temperature of your grill
• Don’t cook meat straight from the fridge
• Don’t eat the meat straight away

Be the Boss of Your BBQ

Now that you know the BBQ basics you’re ready to be a BBQ boss! You’re going to see summer off in the best possible way with the best possible BBQ, especially when armed with our free printable BBQ shopping list.

Oktoberfest is just around the corner, and beer is most definitely on the menu. And boy, there is a lot of beer out there! So let us provide you with a beer list of some of the world's best beers.

In March 2017, found that there are now over 19,000 breweries operating worldwide, with over 4,500 of them located in USA. In fact, the USA has more nearly 4x more breweries than Germany: the home of Oktoberfest!

Out of this global number, 94% of breweries are craft breweries: small, independent breweries creating their own unique beers in small batches.

If you think that’s a lot of breweries, then just imagine how many different types of individual beers they make! The very thought of it makes us thirsty:

We need a beer!

But what are the best beers to drink? Thankfully, the can help punters of pilsners and enthusiasts of IPAs taste their way through some of the world’s best brews.

The list of winners is also surprisingly diverse, with champion beers coming from countries as far reaching as Cambodia, Japan, and Taiwan. The winners' lists are not without they’re surprises too. Brazil, a country not instantly associated with beer, won more awards than traditional beer brewing countries such as Germany and Belgium.

So, are you thirsty for some of the world’s best beers? Check out this aware winning beer list below for a sudsy and superlative start to your Oktoberfest.

World’s Best Dark Beer List

1. Novo Brazil “Cookie Muncher” (World’s Best Dark Beer, World’s Best Strong Dark Beer)

2. Edinburgh Beer Factory “Bunk! Edinburgh Brown” (World’s Best American Brown Ale) 

3. Schwarzbräu “Aged Bock 2012” (World’s Best Dark Barley Wine)

4. Collesi “Rossa” (World’s Best Belgian Style Dubbel)

5. Samuel Adams “Thirteenth Hour Stout” (World’s Best Belgian Style Strong)

6. White Sails “Snake Island CDA” (World’s Best Black IPA)

7. Jopen “Bokbier” (World’s Best Brown Ale)

8. Pig Pounder Brewery “Boar Brown” (World’s Best English Brown Ale)

9. Long Man Brewery “Old Man” (World’s Best Mild Dark Beer)

10. Liefmans “Goudenband” (World’s Best Oud Bruin)

World’s Best Flavored Beer List

11. Surtur “8,2” (World’s Best Flavored Beer, World’s Best Wood Aged Beer) 

12. Dama Bier “Fellas” (World’s Best Chocolate & Coffee Flavored Beer)

13. Lohn Bier “Catharina Sour Uva” (World’s Best Fruit & Vegetable Flavored Beer)

14. Taiwan Head Brewers “Start of Autumn Tea Ale” (World’s Best Herb & Spice Flavored Beer)

15. Joseph Holt “Maple Gold” (World’s Best Honey & Maple Flavored Beer)

16. Ruosniemen Panimo “Musta Lomittaja” (World’s Best Smoke Flavored Beer

17. Gouden Carolus “Cuvée van de Keizer Whisky Infused” (World’s Best Spirit Flavored Beer)

World’s Best Lager List

18. Bauhöfer “Ulmer Pilsener” (World’s Best Lager, World’s Best German-Style Pale Lager) 

19. Free “Damm” (World’s Best No Alcohol Lager)

20. Schützengarten “St. Galler Klosterbräu” (World’s Best Amber/Vienna Lager)

21. Cisk “Pilsner” (World’s Best Czech Style Pale)

22. Hausen Bier “Dunkel” (World’s Best Dark Lager)

23. Tazawako “Pilsner” (World’s Best Dortmunder)

24. Fujizakura Heights Beer “Munchen Lager” (World’s Best Helles/Munchen)

25. Mica “SIN” (World’s Best Low Carb/Low Alcohol Lager)

26. Pyynikin “Mosaic Lager” (World’s Best Seasonal Lager)

27. Votus “003” (World’s Best Strong Lager)

28. Bauhöfer “Ulmer Maibock” (World’s Best Bock)

World’s Best Pale Beer List

29. Cameron’s “Where the Buffalo Roam Barleywine” (World’s Best Pale Beer, World’s Best Pale Barley Wine)

30. Les Trois Mousquetaires “Sticke Alt” (World’s Best Altbier Pale Ale)

31. Cevada Pura “Irish Red ALE” (World’s Best Amber Pale Ale)

32. Sunset Brew “Sunset Saison” (World’s Best Belgian Style Pale Ale)

33. Leffe “Blonde” (World’s Best Belgian Style Blonde)

34. Leffe “Rituel” (World’s Best Belgian Style Strong)

35. Wäls “Trippel” (World’s Best Belgian Style Tripel)

36. Paljas “Saison” (World’s Best Biére De Garde/Saison)

37. Oh! La! Ho “Captain Crow Extra Pale Ale” (World’s Best Bitter 4%-5%)

38. Stewart Brewing “Radical Road” (World’s Best Bitter Over 5%)

39. Corsaire “Kirk” (World’s Best Bitter Up To 4%)

40. Colorado “Murica” (World’s Best Cream Ale)

41. Hell de Janeiro “Hoppy Lager” (World’s Best Golden Ale)

42. Cromarty Brewing Co “Man Overboard” (World’s Best Imperial/Double IPA)

43. CLT IPA “India Pale Ale” (World’s Best IPA)

44. Mt. Begbie “High Country Kölsch” (World’s Best Kölsch)

45. Big Drop “Citrus Pale Ale (World’s Best Low-Strength Pale Ale)

46. Whitefrontier Brewery “Freeride World Tour” (World’s Best Pale Ale)

47. Riviere d’Ain “Thou” (World’s Best Seasonal Pale Ale) 

48. McGargles “Little Bangin’ Session IPA” (World’s Best Session IPA)

World’s Best Sour Beer List

49. Rügener Insel-Brauerei “Seepferd” (World’s Best Sour Beer, World’s Best Sour Ale) 

50. Les Trois Mousquetaires “Ceci n'est pas une Gueuze” (World’s Best Gueuze)

51. Samuel Adams “American Kriek” (World’s Best Kriek)

52. Le Trou du diable “L'Hérisson-Brassin spécial” (World’s Best Lambic)

53. Gueuzerie Tilquin “Quetsche Tilquin à l'ancienne” (World’s Best Flavored Lambic)

World’s Best Speciality Beer List

54. Hook Norton “Red Rye” (World’s Best Speciality Beer, World’s Best Rye Beer) 

55. Oud Beersel “Bzart Lambiek (World’s Best Brut/Champagne Beer)

56. Reddot “Sauvignon Ale” (World’s Best Experimental Beer)

57. Brunehaut “Tripel” (World’s Best Gluten-Free Beer)

58. Bossuwé Brewing Co. “Betty B.” (World’s Best Rice Beer)

59. Maryensztadt Brewery “Wunderbar13” (World’s Best Steam Beer)

World’s Best Stout/Porter List

60. Hideji-beer brewery “Kurikuro” (Worlds Best Stour/Porter, World’s Best Flavored Stout/Porter) 

61. Harvey’s “Imperial Extra Double Stout” (World’s Best Imperial Stout)

62. Le Bilboquet “La Corriveau” (World’s Best Porter)

63. Stonehead “Dark Side” (World’s Best Stout)

64. Guinness “West Indies Porter” (World’s Best Strong Porter)

65. Morena “Celtica Stout” (World’s Best Sweet/Milk/Oatmeal Stout)

World’s Best Wheat Beer List

66. Hirsch “Hefe Weisse” (World’s Best Wheat Beer, World’s Best Bavarian Hefeweiss) 

67. Alpirsbacher “Weizen Hefe Hell” (World’s Best Alcohol Free Wheat Beer)

68. Ketterer “Ur-Weisse hell” (World’s Best Bavarian Kristal)

69. Búzios “Brigitte” (World’s Best Belgian Style Witbier)

70. Leavenworth Biers “Boulder Bend Dunkelweizen” (World’s Best Dark Wheat Beer)

71. Unibroue “Don de Dieu” (World’s Best Strong Wheat Beer)

Supermarkets want us to get the best deals and save lots of money. They only want what’s best for us, right? Wrong. Although they can give us what seem like great discounts from time to time, they are still big businesses and their top priority is to get us to spend as much as possible using sneaky psychological supermarket tricks.

In fact:

Environmental psychologist, Paco Underhill, in their book , claims that up to 50% of our shopping cart are things we never intended to buy in the first place! We’ve all been there. We only go to the supermarket for milk and bread but come out with enough to feed a small family for a week.

How does this happen?

Well, there's a whole arsenal of supermarket tricks out there. Grocery stores us them to make sure we spend as much as possible. There are plenty of studies and websites that list these dirty schemes, although knowing what methods supermarkets use is only half the battle. Being able to beat them is key to winning the war on our wages.

What next?

We’ll tell you about some of the meanest supermarket tricks. We’ll also give you direct advice about how to fight them and how to save money when doing your groceries.

Supermarket Tricks #1: Taking it Slow

We all love music, right? Well, grocery stores love it too. Ever wondered why many supermarkets play easy listening or classical music? That’s because they want to:

• Slow your pulse down
• Relax you
• Make you shop slower

Why? Because shopping slower makes you spend more.

Don’t believe us?

Professor Ronald E. Milliman’s study “Using Background Music to Affect the Behavior of Supermarket Shoppers” found grocery stores that played slow music increased their sales by nearly 40%!

How does that work?

Slowing us down means we more of the products and offers making it more likely for us to buy them. but a study by Bangor University found some shocking results about what happens to our brains when we spend too much time in supermarkets. They found that:

• At around 23 minutes shoppers make choices with the emotional part of their brain instead of the logical
• After 40 minutes (the average time of a weekly shop) the brain stops making rational thoughts altogether

This proves that the longer you stay in a grocery store the more impulse buys and unnecessary purchases you make.

But music isn’t the only trick! Ever wondered why there are rarely any windows in grocery stores? When was the last time you saw a clock in one? All of these supermarket tricks are deliberately designed to make you lose track of time, take longer to do your shopping, and spend more of your money.

Solution: Get Your Grocery Groove On

The quicker you are at shopping, the cheaper it will be for you. So, why not put on some headphones and listen to your favorite upbeat playlist? This will help you keep your heartrate up, meaning you’ll focus more and move quicker around the store.

Supermarket Tricks #2: Not So Special Offers

You spot a large colorful sign or sticker with lots of big letters and even bigger numbers on it. It’s unmistakably an offer: buy, buy, buy!

WAIT!

Sometimes these offers aren’t always the best deals. Similar products at full price are still cheaper than what’s on offer. Those tantalizing signs and stickers are there to dupe us into thinking that this particular offer is the best. Even those nice big displays at the end of aisles aren’t always items on offer. They’re made to look like they’re on offer but are actually at full price!

Shockingly, a UK consumer association, found that most offers made little to no savings whatsoever. 10% of multibuy offers in British supermarkets were actually more expensive than if bought singularly or when not on offer.

How do grocery stores get away with this? Well, it’s easy when  and therefore don’t check the price per unit. When you remember that you stop making logical choices after 23 minutes, you can see how easy it is to be fooled by these offers.

Solution: Ask Yourself Do You Really Need That Many?

Multibuy offers make us think that it’s cheaper to buy them as a group rather than as individuals. But whilst you might save money per item, you’re still actually spending more, buying 3 when you'd otherwise just buy 1.

Sometimes these offers exist simply to make you buy more than you need or intend. The found that we are more likely to buy more of an item if there’s a higher quantity involved in the offer. Trials saw shoppers in different stores offered the same items at the same price, but under different “deals”:

• 10 for $10
• 5 for $5
• 1 for $1

They’re all the same cost per item, so there should be no clear winner, right?

Astonishingly, the offer of “10 for $10” was the most popular, whilst “1 for $1” was the least popular, showing people are prepared to buy 10x more than they need because of how the deal is presented!

We know what you’re thinking, though: “If I buy more today, I won’t have to buy as many next time.” Well, you’d be surprised. You’re more likely to use the items you bought rather than save them for later. This means you’ll probably have to buy them again when you next do your groceries.

Speaking in the Reader’s Digest, Jeff Weidauer, former supermarket executive and vice president of marketing at Vestcom, said: “If you used to buy a 6-pack of soda and drink 6 cans a week but now buy a 12-pack...you’re probably going to start drinking 12 cans a week. Be mindful when buying larger sizes to make sure your habits don’t change as a result.”

So, if you really think that you will not use the extra items before your next shopping trip, then you can make the decision to get the offer. If not: put the offer down, back away. Only buy the amount you intended to.

Solution: Use A Calculator Instead of Your Brain

Your brain gets tired when shopping. Even if you’re pretty confident about your mental math, you’re probably not going to be out your sum-processing best. Give your brain a rest and use a calculator to work out if those deals are really as cheap as they claim to be, especially compared to similar products at full price.

You don’t even have to bring a physical calculator. Almost all smartphones have a basic one inbuilt which is perfect for the simple sums and divisions that you’ll need to do around the grocery store. You can even download a calculator app. If you do download one, we recommend one with a widget so you can do the math directly on your home screen.

Solution: Use a Shopping List App With a Price Function

Some shopping list apps, like Listonic, have a function where you can , and can even multiply the unit price by desired quantity so you can see a total for each set. This means that when you’re shopping, you can see the maximum or desired amount you want to spend on those items. One glance at your shopping list and you can see if the offer is saving you money or costing you more than your budget.

Supermarket Tricks #3: Keeping it on the (Eye) Level

You have lovely eyes. Supermarkets thinks so, too.

Your eyes are what you shop with, and these aren’t spared from supermarket tricks. Eye-level is where the items supermarkets want you to buy the most are located. These aren’t necessarily the most expensive items: they’re the ones that generate the most profit for the grocery store. The cheapest items are often placed on the bottom shelves, or “stoop level”. They’re placed here because it’s more effort to look down and even more uncomfortable to bend down to pick the product up.

The area in between eye-level and “stoop level” is the eye-level of children, and they’re not safe from supermarkets tricks either! In this area are plenty of brightly colored and appealing items. This means it's easier for children to spot them and ask their parents to buy these for them. But watch out, these are often unhealthy treats.

Solution: Take a Good Look Around

Always have a good look around the entire shelf for the items you need, even if it means stooping a little. Looking only around eye-level will mean you’re seeing only what the supermarkets want you to buy the most, which isn’t necessarily the best or cheapest for you.

As for items targeting children at their eye-level, don’t bring them shopping if that’s possible. Leave them with a friend or family member whilst you shop. However, if you have to bring them with you, you’ll just have to try your hardest to resist your little one’s adorable pleading looks and hope they won’t throw a tantrum when you say, “no”!

Supermarket Tricks #4: Hunger Games

It’s not just slowing us down and drawing attention to things at eye-level that are part of the the huge set of supermarket tricks. They also want to make you feel hungry.

Why? Because when you’re hungry you buy more. When you walk through the store you can smell that freshly baked bread, or that succulent rotisserie chicken. It’s fairly straight forward. If you’re hungry, you’ll buy more food: that seems perfectly logical.

But did you know…

...that being hungry also affects our general decision making ability?

Studies by the University of Southern California found that hunger affects our shopping decisions, even on non-food items. These studies showed that hungry shoppers not only buy unnecessary items on impulse, but also buy more of what they need. Professor Norbert Schwarz mentions that,

“...the desire to get food may more generally plant the idea of ‘getting stuff’ in your mind, which increases the likelihood that you’ll also be attracted to products that won’t satisfy your physical hunger...the internal message ‘I want food’ becomes simply ‘I want’.”

Solution: Don’t Shop Hungry

It’s a pretty simple solution: eat before you shop! If you can, plan to do your shop after a main meal. Larger supermarkets are open quite late these days so it’s possible to go shopping after your evening meal. But that’s easier said than done, especially if you’re someone who has a busy schedule and is pressed for time.

If you’re not be able to have a full meal before going shopping, eating a snack before going to the grocery store can make a difference. This will keep you full enough for your shop meaning you’re less likely to make hunger-based decisions.

If you are going to have a snack, eat an apple.

A study by Cornell University found that shoppers who ate an apple before shopping bought 25% more fruit and vegetables than those who ate a cookie! Similar results were also had with shoppers who had healthy snacks instead of sugary ones.

Supermarket Tricks #5: Sizable Shopping Carts

Have you felt like you’re shrinking when you go to the supermarket? Your shopping cart just gets bigger and bigger! Don’t worry! You’re not going crazy. Shopping carts are getting larger.

Why? Because it’s another supermarket trick.

The shopping cart, in Oklahoma, USA, was invented so customers could move groceries around their store. Although they never caught on initially, they are now found in every supermarket around the world. As unthreatening as they may seem, they’re actually another tool to make you spend more money in grocery stores.

Marketing Consultant and author of Brandwashed, Andrew Lindstrom, ran an experiment where people were given shopping carts that were double the size of the usual. Those with the bigger shopping carts bought 40% more than those with the smaller! This is because your cart now looks emptier, meaning you’re more likely to fill it up with impulse buys and treats.

Solution: Use a Basket

If you think you can put all your shopping into a basket, use one! Baskets are also considerably larger these days (some are so big they even have wheels) so you can comfortably put a good amount of shopping into them. Because it looks fuller, you’ll be able to resist putting unnecessary items in them.

However, if you’re carrying a basket around the store though, be warned. A study appearing in the Journal of Marketing Research found that shoppers carrying a basket are more likely to fill it with unhealthy foods, as an unconscious “reward” for the workout your arms are getting.

Supermarket Tricks #6: Paying for Preparation

Cooking is hard work. Preparing fruit and vegetables can often be quite time consuming: all that peeling, chopping, slicing, and dicing. So, you can’t be blamed for wanting to make the time spent cooking that little bit easier and quicker. That’s why supermarkets offer a whole range of fresh prepared food: simply because they want to make our lives easier, right?

Well…

...according to they’re up to 5x more expensive than their unprepared equivalent weight.

What’s more, they’re not as healthy! Did you know that as soon as you cut fruit and vegetables they , particularly vitamin C? They are most nutritious when just cut, so prepared fruit and vegetables are not as healthy as if you’ve cut them yourself.

So, these aren’t just costing you your money, they’re also costing you your health.

Solution: Give Prepared Food the Chop!

Simple: buy unprepared fruit and veg.

If you’re new to preparing vegetables, you can find plenty of handy guides on how to prepare food over at Wikihow. However, if you’re really struggling for time, or find preparing food difficult, we suggest buying frozen prepared food. Whilst these can still be around 50% more expensive than their fresh equivalent weight, studies show that they are .

Supermarket Tricks #7: An Ever-Changing Labyrinth

Last week the baked beans were in aisle 9. You’re sure of it. They were there for a good few weeks. But now, aisle 9 is full of tea and coffee, and baked beans are in aisle 7!

Why, oh why! Up until now you knew the grocery store layout like the back of your hand and could speed around it and get all your shopping done super quick. Do supermarkets do this on purpose?

Short answer: yes!

Long answer: Sure, there are some things that don’t change. Such as having flowers, fruit, and vegetables at the entrance of the store because all those bright colors and fresh looks put you in a good mood. A cornerstone of traditional psychology and marketing, this creates, “a pleasant oasis apart from the rest of your workaday”, says psychologist Melanie Greenberg, speaking in .

Then, there’s the milk, bread, eggs, and other staples at the far corner of the store so you have to walk across the entire length of the supermarket to get to them.

“Stores typically put these items in the farthest reaches of the store to expose customers to the maximum amount of product on their ‘quick trip’ so they will impulsively buy other things,” says .

But everything in between tends to move around every so often.

Why? Because by changing the layout of the store every so often you have to re-learn the layout which slows you down. It’s a risky move because it can lead to customer frustration and loss of sales. But when done right, it can increase sales.

According to Milpole Technologies, a product solutions company, the benefits are:

• Making customers spend more time in the store
• Making them notice new products whilst searching for where their desired products have moved to
• Present an opportunity to tidy-up and dust the store, keeping it looking clean and fresh

After a change in the store layout, you’re going to be slower doing your shopping for a couple of visits until you’ve become familiar with the changes. Then, they’ll do it again!

Solution: Use a Shopping List

Unfortunately, there’s little you can do to stop supermarkets changing the layout of the store every so often. So, the best way to tackle some of these more stubborn tricks is to shop using a shopping list. This will help you to keep focus on what you’re supposed to buy and stick to it.

Is there’s an offer on yogurt? Yes. Is yogurt on the shopping list? No. Then don’t buy it. See: easy!

In fact, a  confirmed that shoppers who do the most preparation before their shop, including using a shopping list, are less likely to buy items on impulse. So, you can stick to your list no matter how dramatically the store layout has been changed.

Time to Take on Supermarket Tricks and Win!

Who knew supermarkets are so sly and persuasive about making you spend money. And these are only 7 of the many ways they convince you to part with your cash.

But you’re now armed with the knowledge of how they do this, and several handy solutions to these crazy supermarket tricks:

• Listen to music whilst shopping
• Use a calculator
• Only buy the quantity you need, not what’s on offer
• Use a shopping list app with a price function
• Look around the entire shelf, not just at eye-level
• Don’t shop hungry
• Have a meal or a healthy snack before shopping
• Use a basket instead of a shopping cart
• Don’t buy prepared fruit and vegetables
• Use a shopping list

We really want to stress the importance of the final point: use a shopping list. Not only does it prevent you from buying those impulse deals by keeping you focused, it can also make your shop quicker, meaning less time for you to fall prey to supermarket psychology.

Digital shopping lists are a really great modern way to create and use a shopping list. Specifically, many will have a which means other people can view and even help build your shopping list. If you’re really struggling to resist those impulse buys, you can share your list and have someone else who is more resistant to these tricks do your shopping for you. At least, that can be your excuse!

There are other handy functions as well, such as Listonic’s ability to add prices to items and calculate total cost of multiple items (mentioned earlier). This can help you budget better. There are a whole gamut of other little lifesavers across a wide range of shopping list apps that we highly recommend you trying out.

But overall, be vigilant!

These psychological supermarket tricks are good for business. You may avoid many now, but you can be sure that grocery stores are looking at new ways to trick you into spending more! They're constantly investing into consumer psychology to create new supermarket tricks.