Month: August 2014

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Austin Beer Brewer Sells Epic 99-pack for $99

r620-bbeaa10d1aff6c02f68b6260f2bd97d0Anybody want to drive down I-35 with me?

Austin Beerworks in Austin, Tex. launched a new brew called the Peacemaker this week with probably the coolest promotion I’ve ever heard. They’re selling 99-packs of the new beer for $99 in various locations around Austin, according to the brewers’ website. Might have to double-check my math here but I do believe that averages out to roughly one dollar per beer.

The 99-pack clocked in at seven feet long and 82 pounds, so I’m going to need you to drive your truck ’cause that ain’t gonna fit in my Chevy Aveo.

So how is the beer, anyway? According to the video below, “it’s light, balanced, refreshing and very session-able.” Sounds like a winner to me.

Want to read more? Please click…

HERE

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Warm Beer and Sudsy Drink Mixes from Olde Albion

Written by Franz Hofer for Tempest in a Tankard

wassail courtesy wiki
wassail courtesy wiki

At the beginning of his chapter on warm beer, W.T. Marchant expresses regret that “some of the more comforting drinks,” such as wassail, had waned in popularity over the years. “When beer was the staple drink, morning, noon, and night,” he continues, “it was natural that our ancestors would prefer their breakfast beer warm and their ‘nightcaps’ flavoured, hence the variety of their comforting drinks” (599).

HERE

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Beer Profile: Flying Dog’s Raging Bitch

Profiled by Ken Carman for PGA

pgaprofilefdogRB Giant white pillow head that gently fades into a caramel, amber, crystal clear quaff. , Great amber highlights: like shining a light through a fine scotch or whiskey. Left behind: a light, paper thin cloud on the surface and poillow small bubble head on the edges of the glass.
Nose is grapefruit and tangerine-like with hint of rind. Some caramelized notes behind that. No Belgian yeast sense.
Mouthfeel: solid grapefruit. There are a lot of American hops in this and/or a long boil: but not too long. If a torpedo or spider were used I would not be surprised.
Taste is solid grapefruit-like hops and caramel malts plus pale. Wheat is so far in the background one wonders why they bothered. The bitter is solid, but backed up with enough fuity goodness to make it a heavenly marriage. While an easy quaff, it’s substantial. A party with this would go south quickly.
Overall a very enjoyable quaff. I would buy it in a snap. But what makes it “Belgian?” I expected funk, or something “Belgian” to stand out. I understand not all Belgian brews have “funk” but if you’re going to claim Belgian then hop it so high, have so much American-hop-like aroma, taste and mouthfeel and have such a nice caramel malt-like background, something needs to step out and say, “Hi, this is what makes me ‘Belgian!”
87 on BA, 98 Rate Beer.
So, style-wise, I can’t go above 4. I really want to. But punishment is due. Bend over Flying Dog: I’ll be kind.
So good I simply can’t go below a 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

FredricmartianKen Carman is a Certified beer judge, columnist, entertainer and all around weird guy who lives i Nashville, TN and Beaver River Station, NY

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Beer Profile: Leffe Blonde

Profiled by Maria Devan for PGA

pgaprofilePours true gold. Perfect amber. White head starts fat and falls of webby and sticky, then to a film on top before it goes away completely. not too much lacing. Lots of bubbles to look at.

Nose is lovely. Sweet hint of pear and some lovely soft biscuit malt sweetness. A bit more clove than I expected at first but nice and a very faint banana in back. Some sweet flower petals and as it warms some pungent bitter grass.

Lovely in the drink with a crisp and dry malt.A softness that is actually excited by all those bubbles. The clove and the fruit combine lovely and earthy at first then give way to a fruity middle made up of light peach and a little pear around the edges. The finish is dry and drying to the palate with a light remnant of the malt sweetness, a bit of ticklish spice and that lovely peach. It lingers but not long .

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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Born Again in Berlin

Courtesy mostmetro.com
Courtesy mostmetro.com
The laboratory door was shut tight, but the people who weren’t supposed to be there took the precaution of disguising themselves anyway. They had pulled on long white coats just like regular lab employees, despite the late hour, in case they were spotted by security guards. Inside, they flipped on fluorescent lights and started looking for the equipment they wanted. Outside, a sign noted that the room they had sneaked into was a Class 2 laboratory specifically designated for working with genetically modified organisms.

Today, Andreas Bogk won’t name the employee who let him in, and he won’t tell you exactly where this took place: What they did was more or less illegal, after all, and Andreas is nothing if not cautious, rarely saying more than he really has to. In all likelihood he could have just broken into the lab himself, cracking the lock on the door or performing a clever bit of social engineering to scam his way inside, but Andreas likes to make things easy when he can, and having a friend with a key is a lot simpler than hacking a passcode or picking a lock.

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HERE

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Beer Profile: Abita Turbodog

Profiled for PGA by Maria Devan

pgaprofileabturbo Pours a very dark brown with a crimson hue when held to the light. It has a large creamy head of tan foam that falls slowly. The nose is mild. Some toasty malt with a nice sweetness on it and maybe some faint grass. Sweet milky chocolate creeps into the nose as it warms and there’s a touch fo bread crust on the nose.

Taste is gracefull and well done. It has a thin mouthfeel with a slight bite from carbonation. There’s a fruity backnote and some hops balance it for a finish that is lightly dry and has a faint touch of bitterness. The malt stays mild in this but enticing with some bread crust a bit of toffee and some light sweet chocolate.

Easy to drink and very pleasant.

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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Drinking Weed – Environmental Problem Proposed as Beer Ingredient

220px-Illustration_Bromus_tectorum0.jpgbeernewspga

Barley growers aren’t going to like this report. It’s a nasty, invasive and non native grass that’s called cheatgrass.  It crowds out native grasses, tangles dog hair and ruins your socks and running shoes and grows all too well everywhere you don’t want it.  But it may be good for beer.

A U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service report titled, An Economic Solution for an Environmental Problem: Cheatgrass  indicates that cheatgrass seed (barley is grass seed too) could be a suitable beer ingredient.

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HERE