Month: October 2015

Ithaca Beer’s Creeker 2015 Box of Hops!

This was bottled on 10/7/15

Hazy golden with a short creamy head after a vigorous pour. Bubbles are buoyant. Sure does make a splash in the glass.

Nose is pungent with citrus. Floral and a light honey. Peppery herbal hop and pine . Grapefruit lemon and fruit peel.

Taste is a generous helping of tangy citrus with a pineapple backnote. Good smooth malt that is crisp and just sweet. Pine needles. An expert bitterness flourishes as it lingers to show lemon pith and more grapefruit. Finishes crisp and with pepper.

This is the best Creeker yet.

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4.2

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. There once was a beer judge, steward, beer writer, Ithaca living, hill walking up and down-er to her apartment, gal named MARIA!

Written by Ken Carman

  I bought The Great Chocolate Wreck by Good Nature Brewing, out of Hamilton, NY, with the intent of doing a PGA profile and to serve at my beer tasting in Beaver River I do every Labor Day weekend. So I had two champagne bottles. The first was interesting: a complex quaff with a little roasted barley to define the style (RIS), tons of malt, I suspect, of various types on the roast scale and tons of tons of chocolate, including the sensations of cocoa nibs, milk, bakers, dark… every chocolate known to humankind. Just a hint of over the top ABV. Continue reading “A Beer-y Good Story: Un-Wrecking the Wreck”

Written by Tom Becham

In years past, I have submitted a great number of reviews to PGA for pumpkin ales. The very simple reason for this is that my wife loves pumpkin and pumpkin spice flavors, so the beer will be in the house anyway. And I always like to try new things.

So, here are a few more seasonal brews I’ve had the past couple of weeks, and my impressions of them.

My first review is actually an Oktoberfest beer. Karl Strauss is a regional brewer in Southern California, with a chain of brewpubs. Their beers are generally brewpub-standard styles (which is to say, not extreme, and therefore not exciting to many beer geeks) but generally very well done. Their Okto (called, imaginatively enough, Oktoberfest) is no exception. At only 5% ABV – slightly understrength for the style – Strauss’s Okto starts with a very grainy, malty aroma, caramel undertones snaking into the nostrils on occasion. The flavor is much the same, with the finish dry and reminiscent of hazelnut. It is not a terribly complex beer, but it is quite good, and suitable for session drinking. Continue reading “Tom Becham’s Seasonal Beer Reviews”

Written by Ken Carman

 Ken Carman is a BJCP judge; homebrewer since 1979, club member at Escambia Bay, Clarksville Carboys and Music City Homebrewers, who has been interviewing professional brewers all over the east coast for over 10 years.

The Topic: Old Forge Brewfest

 Looks cold, doesn’t it?
 Although this picture of the North Street Pavilion: down towards the old airport, courtesy the Adirondack Weekly, was taken at a different, more winter-y, time, the scene the day of the first annual BrewFest in Old Forge, NY, was similar. A snow squall kicked up and it reminded me of many days spent in the winter-y Dacks, past tense.
 Being BJCP beer judges, members of several homebrew clubs, having poured for many festivals, and one of us a former Old Forge area resident, of course we volunteered to pour. This was run by The View and I was amazed they got over 40 breweries the first year, and a bit busy because we poured for many different breweries: hence less pictures than I would like.
 Barkeater, Fulton Chain Brewery, Saranac, Sierra Nevada, Browns, Founders, Ithaca Brewing, Lake Placid, Ommegang… just to mention a few. There were two big areas where multiple tables had been put together, and a few off to the side. Continue reading “Brew Biz: Werts and All”

Written by Tom Becham

For my birthday in September, a friend took me up to Firestone-Walker Barrelworks. If you have tracked my articles over time, you may realize I am a bit of a Firestone Fan Boy. But since Firestone has won at the Great American Beer Festival four times for Best Mid-Sized Brewery, I don’t think my enthusiasm is misplaced. They’re obviously doing some things right. Continue reading “Tom Becham on Firestone Walker Barrelworks”

Written by Maria Devan

If I read a review of a beer from years ago am i drinking the same beer? Nay i say. Ommegang has been less than stellar lately and here is two reviews of their re release of iron Throme and Take the Black Stout.

My first impression was that these beers lacked confidence as compared to the other beer from Ommegang I tasted recently (grains of truth). This is a re release of the beers I’m sure. Continue reading “Maria Devan Re-Reviews Ommegang”

Happy New Beer Sunday!

Profiled by Maria Devan

You know how I have been known to say frequently and often that the IPA does not really pair well with food because it’s too bitter. Well I have also said that no beer will kindly go with spaghetti and tomato sauce. By some strange twist of fate I seem to have a beer that might just show ’em how to do both.

Pours lemon yellow with a tastefully slight haze. Creamy head of decadent off white foam that clings and falls slowly.

Nose is bright . Malt is a cracker with light honey and a firm hop herbal. Something very tropical. At first a softness, then more fruity and slight pepper from the hops. Citrusy.

Mouthfeel is brilliant and seems feather light. Well defined hop flavors. Citric , tropical and one of the most impressive hop herbals I have seen in an IPA. Bitterness is clean and powerful. Malt is fine and smooth. It lingers strong and because the mouthfeel is so light it finishes with the exactness of the hops. Pungency from dried herbs, the tickle from spice. A sparklingly clean finish and a precise dryness. The malt that seemed so elusive actually came perfectly round to end this beer as the bitterness faded.

This one has all the flavor of the most impeccable IPA and all the bitterness but somehow does not wreck my palate. The food pairings are endless with this beer. It’s like a lemon slice in a glass of water. It’s that versatile. I daresay I am going to buy it again and put it to the test with the spaghetti sauce.
smile emoticon

As it warms it sweetness only a little and shows me more lemon, a bit of malt.

Cheers to Victory this is a spectacular beer.
but remains crisp and cool.

4.2

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.”

_________________________________________Beer HERE

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Maria. There once was a beer judge, steward, beer writer, Ithaca living, hill walking up and down-er to her apartment, gal named MARIA!