Month: October 2015

Profiled by Maria Devan

Happy Halloween everyone! Today’s beer is in anticipation of New Beer Sunday and is from the Genessee Brewhouse and it is their Salted Caramel Chocolate Porter. Now the porter is a really good beer with which to observe the changes that happen in beer as it warms. I suggest serving them at cellar not refrigerator temperature and I hope my review will tell you why. It’s best to sip it and let it warm even more.

Pours dark brown and while it does appear to be a bit muddy at first as you start to drink and look straight down into the glass you can see that it’s pretty clear. Thin tan head that fell fast and not too much lacing.

Right out of the refrigerator I smell caramel, sugar, butterscotch and a scent like cheap candy corn. Twiggy woody hops and sweet chocolate. In the tasting straight from the fridge it is sugary, sweet, not complex and tastes a lot like butterscotch. The hop herbal seems to clash with the rest of the beer and the finish is cloying.

After it reaches cellar temp. Nose is roasted malt, caramel and bitter chocolate. The hops stayed the same. Woody, twiggy and a touch of herbal. A lovely and light vanilla. malt is earthy and full on the nose . This beer does actually smell like a hand wrapped chocolate caramel and it was made in collaboration with Hedonist Artisan Chocolates in Rochester NY.

After it warms to cellar temperature the taste is luscious and full. Strong caramel that is not too stiff or heavy. Roasty malt a touch of burnt sugar. No alcohol on the palate. Bitter chocolate wrapped around a salted caramel. I have no earthly clue how they got it to taste like that but it does. A deceptively light mouthfeel as though this piece of chocolate candy has melted on your tongue but with a tickle from bubbles it is not heavy at all in the swallow. That woody herbal hop is integral to the taste and only by comparing how it stood out at first and now seems to have blended in will you notice what a good choice of hop it was for this beer. Slight bitterness as it accumulates on the palate with each sip to reveal all that silken and smooth flavor. There is a slight moment of residual sugar in the finish but that is far from what it was ice cold.

This is my first offering from the Genesee Brewhouse Collection and it’s everything people have said it is. Excellent!

4.2

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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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Maria. That’s Maria. Maria who lives in Ithaca. Between the two guys. To the left.

Profiled by Ken Carman

For our homebrew competition: Old Forge BIG Beer and Odd Ale Competition, Saranac gave us glasses, openers and five four packs of High Peaks. High Peaks is Saranac’s extreme, high abv, occasionally one off brews, and whatever pushs style boundaries. Here were the 5…

Imperial IPA
Clouded Dream: wheat beer with spices. We thought more a Saison, than a Belgian White.
Immortality: an “imperial amber” with German malts and local hops
Tramonay: brewed with grapes and a Belgian yeast
Imperial IPA
Single Malt: Scotch Ale aged in bourbon barrels

Here was our preference…

Single Malt
Tramonay
Clouded Dream
Imperial IPA
Immortality

The last 3 were a close call, to be honest.

As beer judges an “imperial amber” is beyond a contradiction in terms. The German malt: interesting, somewhat unique, but not that impressive. The Imperial IPA was really just a great IPA. Yes, like the Immortality, the abv was popped up just a hint, but “Imperial?” Not really. Clouded Dream was exactly as advertised just, once again, not that interesting. Just a hint more interesting than the other.

Let’s be clear: all were brewed professionally, carbonation perfect, clarity, except Dreams, perfect. The mouthfeel, excepting low abv sense, about what they should have had. It’s just if you’re going to compete with Sierra, Dogfish and Rogue, well, timidity isn’t the best approach.

Both of the top two were perfectly balanced, obvious high abv, and we really wanted to have Tramonay as the top. It is INCREDIBLE. Wine-like, smooth, hint of sweet yet not anywhere near cloying, this is a unique quaff. The body is medium yet the bourbon sweetness pushed on by the grape-sense dominates the mouth: demanding, insistent.

Here’s the problem: while more unique, quite pleasing, and the Single Malt is something many other brewers are doing slight versions of, this recipe for an 80/Scotch Strong is perfect. I would have problem at the judging table keeping my score below 45. I think in my 16 year judging career I may be able to count on one hand, at best two, any entries that have received anything above 45, 50 being the top. I’d have to see Mother Mary and she gives me the best… I’ve ever had to give a 50. Well, maybe a 49 and she’s have to grant me an eternity of?

Single Malt is just incredible, yet simple, exciting, yet right in there with what has become a standard of the craft beer world’s variations on classic styles.

Single Malt: 4.8
Tramonay: 4.7
Clouded Dreams: 4.2
Imperial IPA: 4
Immortality: 3.9 (Minus .1 only for being annoying)

BUT, since all were 4 or above, except one so close it can taste 4…

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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Ken Carman. What can we say about Ken Carman? Not much.