Month: April 2014

Beer: Interlopers
Brewery: Bear Flavored
Style: Strong Ale / Wild Ale
Brewed: 10.25.2013
Bottled: 2.6.2014
ABV: 7.8%

Appearance: hazy ruby brown, thin head, very little retention, fading to dark copper at edges
Smell: cherry cordial, tart grapes, plum, fruity funk, oak, vanilla, woodsy, Cantillon-esque
Taste: tart fruit, cherry, dry grape skin, plum, mild oak, tart finish / rich malt contrast, slight acidity
Mouthfeel: medium body, medium carbonation, dry finish, vinous

For the last couple years, I’ve noticed an interesting trend in my brewing: the more experimental the beer, the more I’m going out on a limb from tradition, the more consistently enjoyable my results seem to be. I’m talking a small margin here, but considering that you’d expect experimental brews to be the most hit-or-miss, it’s a rather strange discrepancy. Not that I’m brewing each of these beers repeatedly just yet — maybe they’ll all prove be impossible to replicate successfully and I’m just a lucky hack — but it seems bizarre to me that my Brett beers always seem to emerge free of off-flavors, while I’ve had plenty of batches of stuff as simple as a porter come out mediocre.

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“Are you happy to see me, or are you REALLY liking the beer?”

Sure, there are countless beer festivals happening everywhere, all of the time. And while most present the same sort of scene — tables, taps, brewery reps and crowds of enthusiastic and thirsty beer nerds lining up to grab a glass-full of the latest and greatest suds — here’s one that’s so out of the ordinary that it’s in a class all its own.

And that’s because it requires its guests to doff their duds before entering.

Yeah, you read that right. Nudity is a requirement for Sunny Rest Resort’s annual beer festival, which this year takes place on Saturday, June 28, 1 — 5 PM.

You’re free to wear a robe, towel or even pants and a shirt elsewhere at this clothing-optional vacation getaway in Pennsylvania’s Poconos, but on site of the annual brew fest, only birthday suits will be tolerated.

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Written by Ken Carman for The Professor

  Sometimes I pause and think about all I write and wonder, am I telling the whole story? Reviewing beer is grand, but there’s more to beerdom than yea or nay.
  For the first edition of A Beer-y Good Story we have Genesee Bock. I was introduced to Genny Bock when I first went to college. My drinking experience previous to college was using beer as a calm before the storm when I’d drink Stingers, Harvey Wallbangers and Tom Collins… I was an experimenter, as I have always been. Beer was, at best, boring, and sometimes merely tolerable.
  My friend in college, Dave Rank, kept trying to get me to go drinking with him, and I kept saying “No” because he wanted to go drinking beer. I thought I hated beer: it something just to fill in the gaps. Plus I was from a small town, and had learned manners and some social skills: far too few I admit. And someone who cursed every five seconds was someone I thought I needed to steer clear of.
  We’ve been great friends ever since; despite a few bumps, like once when a woman got between us. My fault. What do you do with someone who makes you dump your best friend, change everything about yourself for her, then dumps you and claims none of that ever happened?
  Well, anyway, he introduced me to dark beer, and Genny Bock. It was enough of a change that I said, “Hey, maybe there’s more to this beer adventure than I thought!” That was 72. By 79 I was brewing my own.
  Genesee was one of those small brewers that almost didn’t survive the onslaught of the mega brewers: Millers, InBev… though someone has always owned the brewery. Sometimes production was down to pretty much nil, during the darkest times. I can’t promise this is the same Genny Bock I had back then because now a craft brewing concern owns the Genny name, but I suspect it’s close. Continue reading “A Beer-y Good Story: Genesee Bock”

Profiled by Maria Devan for PGA

Poured the color of grapefruit juice. Golden hazy and with a slight orange blush on it. Fat creamy head of white foam that lasted well and left lace. This beer smells floral and fruity.

Lovely light citrus, pineapple and mango for intense sweetness. Earthy pine that is not heavy and does not stand out past the other scents. The malt on this nose is a light sweet perfume.

So wonderful how all Hill’s beer has this quality of lightness both in the nose and in the drink. I think if I had to summarize Hill’s trademark as a brewer I would do it like this – He is trying to put the hops in the beer and leave them on the vine at the same time. He has a way with hops and in this beer they are so fruity and yet so light on the palate. That’s his other trademark, the light malt that is so light it’s like the beer wants to just float out of the glass.

Crisp, light sweetness like a floral nectar, a bit of light sweet cracker that has exactly the perfect balance. The beer has a resonance rather than an aftertaste and it’s light floral and fruitiness. As the beer warms some sweet grass and pine comes forward and this is just a lovely beer.

4.5

Maria Devan lives in Ithaca, NY and is frequent reviewer of beer and a beer lover deluxe.

1. “Is it ready yet?”

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