A Place to Gather and Talk
“That black in the second picture AIN’T Guinness.”
Iowa’s senior senator has a suggestion for President Barack Obama: Time for a beer summit. Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) told a conference call of Iowa reporters Wednesday that h Continue reading “Senator Suggests Using Beer Ingredients to Clean Up Spill”
Hood River, Or. Oregon State’s Hop Docs wanted feedback from Pacific Northwest brewers on building a new aroma hop and it sounds like they got an earful.
The consensus? Dial down the alpha, jack up the oils, and add something “tropical” to our flavor arsenal beyond the all-pervasive citrus bomb.
Continue reading “Flower to the People: OSU Empowers Hop Sensory Panel”
Jim and Ruth Beaton collect beer memorabilia, or “breweriana,†which they display in three rooms on the lower level of their home in Bloomington.
When collectors from around the country converge in the Twin Cities next week, a group of them will visit a museum together. Not the Weisman or the Walker, but a basement in Bloomington.
All the artifacts share one theme: beer. The “curators,” Jim and Ruth Beaton, have been collecting for almost four decades and are members of four national beer-collectible organizations, including the American Breweriana Association (ABA), which is holding its annual meeting June 8-12 in Bloomington.
“When the big shows are in town, we invite them over for an open house,” said Jim.
Visiting the Beatons’ basement really is like visiting a museum, said Otto Tiegs, the ABA’s immediate past president. “It’s big, but what makes theirs really nice is the historical value, and the way they’ve saved the beer memories and mystique.” The Beatons have items representing the big local brewers, such as Hamm’s and Grain Belt, but they also have many artifacts from obscure breweries, such as Kiewel’s of Little Falls, Minn.
Continue reading “Beer here! Collection is a toast to bygone brews and breweries”
The Topic: The BJCP Exam
Last September I took the BJCP exam again. For those unfamiliar, this is the exam that ranks beer judges. I’ve heard the uninitiated joke and make fun, thinking this is something straight out of one of my least favorite movies: “Beerfest.” Oh, I can see the humor; I just think “Beerfest” is one vast dump on a very serious endeavor: filled with cliche’s and misconceptions. One would think from watching “Beerfest” all beer related events are guzzling affairs attended by alcoholic nincompoops.
That’s just the opposite of the actual process of judging beer where one often assesses color, clarity, head, aroma long before the brew gets to touch the lips. Then mouthfeel is assessed before swallowing. It is, like any form of judging, a deliberative process. Samples are small and pouring more from the same bottle is unnecessary and even discouraged by some some highly ranked judges, unless necessary. The second bottle is not to be opened unless there’s something about the first that demands it be opened.
The test itself has a well deserved reputation of being harder than some engineering exams and those who grade it being exceedingly tough. It’s a well deserved reputation. The majority of your grade is culled from the written part, a far lesser part is drawn from a blind judging of beer samples. I think this is backwards. A beer judge who doesn’t know the various BJCP beer categories by heart can simply use the guidelines when they judge. They are given a copy. But a judge without refined taste buds is a poor judge indeed.
Continue reading “Brew Biz: Werts and All”
One of the many winners and honorable mentions. This one by homebrewer Brandon Jones
There are lots of ways to show the world the greatness of your homebrews, but a well-made label is king. Whether it is a simple, hand-drawn design or a computer-generated logo, A beer label is your homebrew’s first impression on potential drinkers. This year, as in years past, we received many, many original, thoughtful and funny homemade designs for our annual Label contest. In fact, if we didn’t know better we could have sworn some of this year’s labels were fresh off of a commercial bottling line, thus proving that homebrewers are not only an industrious bunch, they are also endlessly creative.
For winning entries, please click
How do I get to Beaver River for the FREE beer tastings???
Important: for further information call Ken at 315 376 6625 or Millie at 615 255 4848. For reservoir transportation/reservations/accommodations: 315 376 6200 and speak with Ginger or Scott, or 315 376 7035 and speak with George.
There are NO roads to Beaver River. But you CAN get there for this year’s free beer tastings hosted by two BJCP judges. Millie and Ken Carman’s 6th annual beer tastings are scheduled for August 21st and September 4th: both at 2pm. A special warm invite to the Saratoga Throughbrews this year, with the hope by next year we can have a competition and a homebrew demonstration in the Old Forge/Beaver River area. All those 21 and older are welcome.
Route 28 to Eagle Bay, NY. Take the Big Moose Road all the way until it turns into dirt. When you reach a “T” in the road, take a right. Stop at BIG lake.
At Beaver River Station the adventure is getting there. Imagine yourself of a River Boat floating 7 miles down a scenic reservoir, or riding a barge, or traveling by railcar…
You can take the barge (The only way to drive into Beaver River… 315 376 6200), meet the River Boat (same number) or call ahead for a boat taxi. (There are two boat taxis: use the same number or call George at 315 376 7035, who also has a railcar that can pick you up in Big Moose.)
Stouts, Porters, Barley Wines, Fruit Beer, Wheat, Weird Beer of ALL Kinds, Homebrew and maybe even some wine and some Peycer. (Find out at the tasting!) Ken and Millie gather beer from all over the country all year long.
Just get there by 2!
Accommodations are available at Noridgewock (315 376 6200) or The Beaver River Hotel (315 376 3010) And Millie and Ken have limited free room for members of Saratoga Thoroughbrews (315 376 6625 or 615 255 4848)
The free tasting on the 21st will be at Norridgewock, the tasting on September 4th will be in front of the hotel.
Don’t forget… 2pm. August 21st, 2010 and September 21st 2010
(Only in British Columbia… pity!)
A 9,000 year old beer made of rice, honey and hawthorn may give a whole new meaning to cracking open a cold one.
The beer, called Chateau Jiahu, will come July be on sale in British Columbia and depending on sales perhaps sometimes soon in the rest of Canada.
Chateau Jiahu has its roots in a village in Hunan province in northern China. A molecular archeologist Patrick McGovern from the University of Pennsylvania found chemical traces of a 9,000 year old beer on some pottery in a dig in the Neolithic village of Jiahu. The beer was made of a blend of rice, honey and hawthorn berries.
Continue reading “9,000 year old beer recreated”
New Belgium Brewing in Fort Collins, Colo., — makers of Fat Tire Amber Ale, Ranger IPA and other craft brews — is bringing its Clips of Faith Beer & Film Tour to St. Louis’ Soulard Market Park on June 25.
Continue reading “Amateur beer films will screen at Soulard Market this month”
Ken Grossman (rear) & Charlie Papazian (front) mesmerized by swirling wort on its way to
becoming second in Sierra Nevada’s 30th Anniversary beer series, Charlie, Fred & Ken’s Imperial Helles Bock. Photo courtesy Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.
Stylistically speaking, the just released Collaborative Sierra Nevada 30th Anniversary Beer is different. Pioneer and original homebrew guru Fred Eckhardt, from Portland, Oregon, Ken Grossman, founder and president of the 30 year old Sierra Nevada Brewing Company, the brewers at Sierra Nevada and myself collaborated to decide what we would brew that represented the pioneering beer spirits each of us have been involved in. Continue reading “Charlie, Fred and Ken’s Imperial Helles Bock released by Sierra Nevada”
Image courtesy beerhistory.com
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