Month: November 2015

Profiled by Maria Devan

Pours dark brown with a tan creamy head that clings and leaves lace.

Nose is coffee, light brown sugar, dark fruit, nuts and caramel. Light pepper from hops.

Taste is mellow as some bold coffee without bitterness comes across the palate smooth and with the nutty taste of caramel. Low diacetyl presence. Soft creamy mouthfeel shows you roasty malt and a dry-ish finish. Light cream to lingers with firm caramel as hops balance the beer perfectly with a moderate bitterness.

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.”

____________________________________Beer HERE

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Maria Devan lives in Ithaca, NY and is a great beer writer. She has regular beer Sundays where she profiles brews, reviews brews online with homebrewers and other beer community connected bloggers. She’s judged beer at a homebrew competition and been a steward. And she’s kind of short. But that’s OK.

Written by Tom Becham

In years past, I have made several visits to see family in Arkansas. Until just two years ago, what greeted me in the central portion of that state – around Little Rock and Hot Springs – was what I call a Beer Desert. That has changed. While the northwest corner of the state, home to Fayetteville and the huge University of Arkansas campus, has been fully aboard the craft beer train for awhile now, the rest of the state seems to have caught up with it.
Continue reading “Beer in Central Arkansas”

      The Topic: The Corporate Mugging of Craft Beer

 “Fascism should more appropriately be called Corporatism because it is a merger of state and corporate power”
― Benito Mussolin

 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. This edition of Brew Biz also appears as an edition of Inspection, another column by Ken Carman. This is by request of the author who feels this topic goes beyond beer.

 When beer boards, or government, and big corporations, join hands: especially to decide what the public can/can’t have, and to help hinder, even crush, small business, that’s certainly yet another step closer to “fascism….” -Moi’

 Can anyone tell me what’s good about the recent purchase of SBMiller by Bud’s owner, InBev? Context: I mean “good” for the consumer, beer lovers, beer world, healthy competition, less big corporate influence in politics, less corporate attempts to squash the multitude of small breweries, brewpubs, employees… not just “good for” management, corporately corrupted beer boards, CEOs or stockholders. Continue reading “Brew Biz: Werts and All”

My last beer to end the weekend tasting festivities. A happy hello to Monday and cheers to you all!

Profiled by Maria Devan

Brooklyn uses the word nimble to describe this beer and I think it’s the perfect word to do it. Pours the darkest brown with a with a glowing tint from ruby. Fat tan head that fell slowly to cling and leave lace. Nose is hop prominent alright! At least at first it is because ti’s so fresh. they seem to burst forth.. Beautiful spice and floral from those noble hops. They shimmer even on the nose. A fruitiness that smells fresh and vibrant and a firm hop herbal that is just darn sexy. The malt that seemed shy at first keeps coming forward until you have earthy coffee, bread like pumpernickel. Flavor is mellow earthy and round. Those abundantly fragrant hops are much lighter on the palate but the herbal is the most forward flavor from them. Peppery. Coffee and a tempting dryness from the malt. Here is the part that I think is nimble. It’s so dry as to show itself off. A touch nutty, toasty and all that bread. The bitterness int he flavor is just a light touch from both hops and the malt itself and that highlights the earthy coffee . It also shows me some very smooth richness from the malt that is not caramel. Oh boy! It finishes like silk with only a tickle from bubbles and gives up some bitter chocolate in the last moments. No harshness, no astringency, no diacetyl. Lingers leisurely and shows you a last peek at those hops and all that roastiness. Just a light residual sweetness. Nimble indeed and very hearty while showing a subtle richness underneath that is the very expression of the black beer. Classic and extremely well done.

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

___________________________________________________________________

Maria Devan lives in Ithaca, NY and is a great beer writer. She has regular beer Sundays where she profiles brews, reviews brews online with homebrewers and other beer community connected bloggers. She’s judged beer at a homebrew competition and been a steward. And she’s kind of short. But that’s OK.