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What’s the healthiest libation for ringing in the New Year?
Beer, says Charlie Bamforth, a professor of brewing sciences at the University of California, Davis. Though it’s been blamed for many a paunch, Bamforth says it’s more nutritious than most other alcoholic drinks.
“There’s a reason people call it liquid bread,” says Bamforth.
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If you remember my last A Beer Judge’s Diary where there was some mix up at the judge’s table, let me start by saying whatever happened I doubt this was what I judged v. the 312 clone the Wheat was supposed to be. While what I judged was a pale this seems to have little caramel malt in it.
What I judged that day a definite caramel malt sense to the body. That’s not this beer.
Clarity is a little hazy, but I believe that to be chill haze: it was in the freezer because I couldn’t wait.
This seems to be pure pale ale with hints in the aroma of grapefruit/citrus like-like hops.
The carbonation is low in the mouthfeel, but firm. There’s also a firm bitter, and slight, grapefruit cling.
As it warms I can tell there’s another hop in there, just a hint of earthy and perhaps a touch of spice so slight I can’t decide what it is. The hops, as it warms, skews towards the bitter.
Like the wheat version is somewhat of a simplistic quaff, lacking in sophistication. But if you’re looking for a simple pale ale this wouldn’t be a bad choice by any means, especially if looking for a break between more complex quaffs, or going what some call “lawnmower.”
Yes, if this were a profile I would give it a 4. In a way I hate to because there are far better pales for my palate’s preferences than this, but just “my palate” isn’t the point behind a decent review, or any judge’s assessment, is it?
If you’re looking for less in a pale, this just might be it. But if you’re looking for a 312 Pale clone, what I judged that day wouldn’t be it either. The malt bill was different, though pleasing.
4, simply because there may be those looking for this somewhat simplistic rendition of the style.
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Ken Carman was born of a deity named Bill many moons ago when his wife Winnie was fermenting well at the time. He is a beer judge, beer writer and reviewer of brew-based business, beer commentator and BEER GOD. Do not challenge the one who ate too many hops one year, hence the green pigment you see to the left!
This was like a few spices in Bud. If it had been a cheap beer I might have rated it a tad higher, though not much, but here’s the problem…
I bought this is at Yankee Spirits in Sturbridge, MA when I was on tour last year. I have a taster at my annual Beaver River Beer Tasting who LOVES fruit beers, and my wife expressed an interest too. When I got up to the register they wanted about $60 for it: their computer had the magnum price for this tiny little bottle. But they were charging 26 for this itsy bitsy bottle. So, for my wife and Donna the beer taster I bought 2 of them.
I have had InBev/AB attempts at craft more interesting than this.
There is some chamomile in the nose, a bit floral and coriander may be part of that. But in the mouthfeel and taste it combines into just bitter.
A bit light yellow hazy with a pillow head that fades slowly. high side of low body that’s pale malt, or perhaps pilsner: not enough to tell. Spice focused. A hint buttery. A possible slight diacetyl problem?
Good, creamy head. Lightest yellow, like what comes out after drinking a lot of diet lemon-lime soda. Slightly hazy.
As it warm the spices reassert but does not save the quaff. It’s boring and the heavier spices in the almost NA amount of malt body turn just brittle bitter, and not in a nice hop, or gruit way. Annoying. Except for the spices almost no body to it.
BA gives it an 87. Did I get bad, or old, bottles? 95 at Rate Beer? Oi! I did notice RB had a lot of mediocre’ ratings, which always makes me suspicious (“Hack the ratings?” cough.) But BA’s ratings almost all seem good.
This is biased on a Saison. I suspect they went with the milder, safer, Saison yeast since the more funk-like (But not “funky” as in a sour) Saison yeasts would be noticeable. The spices are all that stood out and, until it warmed, that ain’t saying much.
I’m giving it a 3 out of 5 just in case Yankee held on to this stock way too damn long. At those prices: not surprised. They usually are quite reasonable. My wife, who is also a BJCP judge, agreed. Hmmm… something wasn’t right, and a fellow brewer at the tasting who brings his wares every year: winner of the Spirit of Homebrew Award at The Old Forge Old Ale Competition just shrugged when we tasted last Labor Day. The previous bottle was basically the same Snoresville quaff with an annoying spice combination once it warmed.
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Ken Carman was born of a deity named Bill many moons ago when his wife Winnie was fermenting well at the time. He is a beer judge, beer writer and reviewer of brew-based business, beer commentator and BEER GOD. Do not challenge the one who ate too many hops one year, hence the green pigment you see to the left!
Break out a pint glass, it’s time to knock back some state pride. We pulled data from BeerAdvocate and sifted through it all to find the highest rated beer every state has ever produced. To be included, each beer needed to receive at least 50 reviews. Some of these you can find in bottle shops, some you have to head to the brewery at a certain time for, and some will never even be brewed again, but each is worthy of some praise.
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Shadow Farm, a 53-acre farm in Lucketts, Va., announced the development of Lucketts Mill Hopworks, the State of Virginia and the mid-Atlantic’s first commercial-scale hops production and processing facility. The East Coast craft scene is just insane right now with the West Coast craft brewing invasion, so the timing for such a move is impeccable.
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I started the 12 profiles and the Professor added some of Maria’s, but I’m afraid we all got so caught up in the season we only got 4 in. So we decided to recommend and comment on some interesting brews to try this season and at least one ghost of Christmas Past. Links will be provided to PGA articles if available…
1. Hoppin Frog’s Frosted Frog: Barrel Series
The actual Frosted, in my opinion, is nothing more than a good, but not that interesting, brown ale platform on which to build a great barrel aged beer. Mr. Karm and his brewers do NOT disappoint. There have been several, all fascinating.
2. McGuire’s Christmas Ale is, unfortunately, somewhat a ghost of Christmas past. Yes, they still brew it, as they brew many fine beers that former head brewer, Steve Fried, never brewed. But all I have been able to try: and I’m not there every year by any means, have never come up the the simply spiced ale Mr. Fried used to brew. It’s all you would expect from the typical spices. When we were there a few weeks ago the Pensacola version, brewed by his former assistant Mike Helf, wasn’t up yet. Tom and Gary’s version in Destin was on tap but we simply didn’t care for it. It was as if someone took a Scotch 60 or 80 and added the usual spices. Problem: they didn’t mesh well in our opinion. Close to sickly sweet.
This ghost haunts me still.
Continue reading “The 12 Profiles of Christmas: Santa’s in a HURRY”
Anyone who lives in or has been to Central Europe at this time of year has likely warmed him- or herself with a mug of spicy mulled wine (Glühwein). I remember well my first encounter with this aromatic winter elixir. The gray sky hung low over Saarbrücken, and an icy drizzle coated the paving stones leading to the Sankt Johanner Markt in the center of town. But something was different about this day.
Aromas of baking spice and roasted nuts mingled with grilled bratwurst and pine boughs. I rounded the corner and was greeted by a cheerful panorama that seemed to defy the dark afternoon: my first Christkindlmarkt. The square had transformed itself into a collection of open-air stalls decked out for the season, many selling Christmas ornaments, nutcrackers and other handmade wooden toys, some selling Lebkuchen and candied almonds, and others selling beer and Glühwein to wash down the Fleischkäse, sausages, and other delectables. It is a winter scene that plays itself out all over Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and parts of Alsace and the South Tyrol.
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At Music City Brew Off I judged the Wheat/Rye category. A brewer contacted me back, claiming his entry was listed as a perfect clone of “Urban Wheat 312,” all of which, of course, did not end up in the description of the beer. To be honest I don’t remember being told whether it was wheat or rye, though my fellow judge believes he was told, so when I judged the beer, being perfectly clear and no wheat protein sense I thought it was rye. But there was no sense of rye either, which I commented on.
What I sensed was a nice APA that fit neither rye or wheat.
It bugged me a tad at first, and I answered the brewer’s questions as best I could. After solid judging for 2 weeks: every other day then 2 days in a row, I was surprised I remembered as much as I did. So, after we discussed the entry between me, the organizer, the other judge and the brewer, we settled the issue. Continue reading “A Beer Judge’s Diary, Re: Urban Wheat 312 by Goose Island”
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