March 2014 – Page 7 – Professor Good Ales

March 2, 2014December 5, 2014

From the Bottle Collection: Whitstable Oyster Stout

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By Ken Carman

Without intent, I have collected well over 1,000 beer bottles since the early 70s. When something finally had to be done about the cheap paneling in this old modular, I had a choice. Tear down the walls while, oh, so carefully, replacing the often rotted 1X3s. Or: cover them with… The Bottle Collection.

Rated 62 at Rate Beer and 42 for style.
83 at Beer Advocate.

I really enjoy Oyster Stouts, and that seems counter intuitive. Really? Oysters in beer? I must admit, being a beer judge, that no longer seems as weird as it used to. You wouldn’t believe some of the weird beers I’ve judged.
I also think it could be easy for this “adjunct” to take over the recipe, though not as easy as the smoked salmon beer a friend submitted (I found out later it was his) and I judged. As I wrote on the form, “I think the salmon swam away with the recipe.” Continue reading “From the Bottle Collection: Whitstable Oyster Stout”

March 2, 2014March 2, 2014

Getting To Know Oyster Stout, A Beer Made With Oysters

photo: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/neilconway/">neil conway</a> on Flickr

Chocolate in beer simply makes sense â€” especially in rich, heavy stouts and porters that already taste something like a liquid brownie. And cherries in a sour beer is a tart and summery idea â€” a perfect marriage. Even yerba mate, that bitter tea-like herb of Argentina, is a sensible fit in an IPA. But just what was the brewer was thinking who first put oysters into a vat of boiling brew?

Oyster stouts could easily play the part of just another wild concoction stewed up in the modern heights of craft brewing madness. However, theyâ€™ve actually got honest, time-tested roots going back more than a century to Victorian England, when many pub-goers ate oysters on the half shell while sipping their favorite beers. Often, these were stouts, whose bittersweet toasty flavors happened to complement the briny, juicy flesh of the mollusks quite well. For a time, in fact, â€œoyster stoutâ€ was simply a term that referred to a pub session at which oysters were slurped between sips of beer.

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March 1, 2014March 1, 2014

Americaâ€™s Fastest-Growing â€œCraftâ€ Beer is Made by the Worldâ€™s Biggest Brewer

Of course what they skip is the fact it was a style pioneered by small craft and Belgian brewers, and InBev disguises it as “craft.” So deception works. Surprised? Oh, and the regular brews of Miller and AB are actually down in sales in genera, while craft is up. The unfortunate lesson: pretend with fake packaging to be craft more -PGA

A Belgian-style wheat beer by the name of Shock Top is the fastest growing craft beer in the US, according to Moodyâ€™s. Production of Shock Top surged by 64% between 2011 and 2012, according to data the ratings firm recently collected.