Month: July 2014

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Beer Profile: Mr. Pineapple by SanTan Brewing

Profiled for PGA by Maria Devan

pgaprofilepinapbeer Pours a golden color with a slight haze that fell off to reveal perfect clarity by the bottom the glass. The head was scant but creamy white foam that fell with no lace.

The nose is crisp wheat, a touch of bread, some grass, and a very light banana and a sweet little bit of pineapple. I think I am getting a bit of clove but not too much. Taste is excellent.. A nice sweet pineapple that is not too acidic and not too tart meets a flaked wheat sweetness.

That mouthfeel is perfect. A little carbonation to keep it light, creamy, crisp and dry. Juicy middle.

The bit of pineapple and banana are just enough to taste and enjoy but nothing that makes the beer too sweet or too much like a hefe. The clove disappeared on the palate for the most part and the hops came up deftly to balance this beer with a graceful bitter that you might not even notice.

Saucy little beer and I really liked it! Thank you Kerry T. Adair for giving me my first beer from Arizona.

4.

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Welcome to the PGA beer rating system: one beer “Don’t bother.” Two: Eh, if someone gives it to you, drink. Three: very good, go ahead and seek it out, but be aware there is at least one problem. Four: seek it out. Five: pretty much “perfecto.”

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____________________________________Beer HERE

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

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Beer Profile: Knotty Pine Pale Ale by Lumberyard Brewing

pgaprofileKPPale Pours a beautiful orange amber with a slight haze and a stream of bubbles rushing up the center to meat a creamy head of off white foam that lasts and leaves rings of lace. Gorgeous!

Nose is sweet lemon peel with a bit of tart grapefruit. A touch of sweetness form malt and some hefty pine. A bit of spice tickles the nose and then as the beer warms it develops a sweeter fruit scent that is lightly tropical.

Taste is crisp dry and piney. The fruits are juicy and a bit sweet. The malt is a dry cracker and the pine is healthy and green.

The mouthfeel is soft and creamy. The finish leaves some of that pine resin on the tongue and the back of the throat while the malt sweetness comes to you one last time. The fruits did fizzle a bit on the back end but it was still darn good. The pine is a steady constant even in the finish and the hops bitter is outstanding.

It’s good enough for an IPA but there was enough flavor in this that it fits very well. Leaves you with a bit of tart fanfare and lovely lingering aftertaste.

Thanks Kerry for the chance to try this beer.

3.8

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Welcome to the PGA beer rating system: one beer “Don’t bother.” Two: Eh, if someone gives it to you, drink. Three: very good, go ahead and seek it out, but be aware there is at least one problem. Four: seek it out. Five: pretty much “perfecto.”

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_____________________________________Beer HERE

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

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Gossip Column Blur: Music City Brewers Festival

musiccitybeer
If I don’t get this down while the blur is still fresh in my mind even more of it will slip away.

Last Saturday evening I attended Session B (and they don’t call it a session without reason) of the 13th Annual Mafiaoza’s Music City Brewers Festival downtown. Thousands? (I don’t have any actual numbers but it was crowded) of folks attended the event which included representatives from most local breweries, many from out-of-state, and a few from other countries: more than 60 in all.

Want to read more? Please click…

HERE

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Beer Profile: Kostritzer Schwarzbier

Profiled by Maria Devan for PGA

pgaprofile Pours almost completely black but when held to the light does present a dark brown with a flash of crimson hue. That underscores the idea of clarity in this beer. I tried to capture in photographs that when held to the light the beer seems to shine inexplicably. The head fell reasonably fast and left a bit of lace and a thin ring.

The nose is malty and bread-y. A sweet caramel and no fruit.

Taste is clean and clear, crisp yet creamy. Some lovely malty sweetness that has soft breadth in the glass. It has caramel but that is not over the top of the original malty sweetness from the roast. It has a thinnish body so it drinks easily and although the carbonation is ample it does not bite. Drinks clearly and decisively. Soft dark bread with a bit of crust but nothing burnt. No char or ash. A becoming sweetness and a smooth body. The hops are quiet and serene. This dries out slowly with a touch of the roast and bread to linger amidst a subtle and gentle bitter. It is as though those hops are merely breath on the beer.

Excellent and drinks without too much sweetness. A good black lager.

4.

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Welcome to the PGA beer rating system: one beer “Don’t bother.” Two: Eh, if someone gives it to you, drink. Three: very good, go ahead and seek it out, but be aware there is at least one problem. Four: seek it out. Five: pretty much “perfecto.”

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_____________________________________Beer HERE

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

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Brew Biz: Werts and All

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The Beer Diviner, Junction NY Routes 22 & 43 (15950 NYS Rt. 22), Stephentown, New York (Might also be listed as “Cherry Plain, NY.” (518) 658-0299
thebeerdiviner.com

Written by Ken Carman for professorgoodales.net

The Beer Diviner: A Short New Brew Biz Alert


 My brother lives in Glens Falls, NY area, I was in Becket, Mass.: the Berkshires. Since I live in Tennessee, and we live so far apart, I took a Saturday and drove up Route 22: a route that snuggles up to Vermont and Massachusetts as if they were intimate lovers involved in an odd threesome.
 Most New Yorkers would wonder why I didn’t take the Thruway. It’s personal: I try to avoid what I call the Stealway. I think the state has been milking it far too long after previous promises to make it toll free. It’s also one of the worst interstates, condition-wise, I traverse yearly from Florida to Maine. It also ruins business: Mass made their turnpike free through the Berkshires for many years and it helped business. Upstate NY: the Mohawk Valley, has had no such luck… and has desperately needed since at least I lived there in the mid 70s.
 But the discoveries one finds getting off the sleep inducing four, sometimes plus, lane zoom, zoom makes it all worth it! This is where the real New York is… along with new businesses like The Beer Diviner.
 It was late Saturday I had a brief moment to stop and, for various reasons, could only buy a few bottles and have two small samples. Of course the brewer wasn’t in and I found out they brew elsewhere on a 2 barrel system Would be hard to put it in that small house, eh? Continue reading “Brew Biz: Werts and All”

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Colourful Taverns and Well-Stocked Bottle Shops in Ithaca

Written by Franz D. Hofer for A Tempest in a Tankard

Courtesy visitithaca.com
Courtesy visitithaca.com
In the midst of the Finger Lakes, Ithaca is an ideal base from which to explore the veritable explosion of craft breweries, micro-maltsters, and hop farms of the Finger Lakes region. In the first article of this series, I recounted the story of Ithaca’s first craft brewery, Ithaca Beer Company.

Want to read more? Please click…

HERE

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Beer Profile: Westbrook Gose

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Profiled by Maria Devan for PGA

pgaprofileThis is as fantastic as you have heard.

Pours cloudy and very pale yellow with a scant head of perfectly white foam that falls fast and leaves fleeting lace.

Nose is tart with citrus and something sour. A bit of wheat and sweetness and a some earthy coriander. The nose is like a kind of perfume. It’s hard to describe.

The taste is outrageously good. All the tartness of lemon, the brightness of the lemon peel, the earthiness of the coriander. The crisp and dry wheat malt. Rather than an outright taste of salt, there is a saline aspect in the composition of the palate. it is at once complex yet simple. It’s refreshing and has an underlying sweetness that is subtle. It’s dry and while it’s not salty the saltiness contributes to the overall mouthfeel and texture of the beer. It’s thirst quenching, it’s aromatic , it is an instant favorite.

4

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Welcome to the PGA beer rating system: one beer “Don’t bother.” Two: Eh, if someone gives it to you, drink. Three: very good, go ahead and seek it out, but be aware there is at least one problem. Four: seek it out. Five: pretty much “perfecto.”

1-2-3-4-5-fingers-on-hand1

____________________________________Beer HERE

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