Month: February 2016

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 writing on beer-related topics, and interviewing professional brewers all over the east coast, for over 15 years.

  Once again we ventured forth to explore what was once a wasteland…
  Nashville, in my opinion, was once a city which used to be way behind the times as small brewpubs and breweries started popping up all over the east coast. I would come home from tour and find none, to one or two at best. Now, after a few failed attempts early on, Nashville’s becoming a true brewery/brewpub Mecca. Two of the newest entries to our beer scene: Bearded Iris and Southern Grist, were our destinations.
  Bearded Iris sits in an odd location. Continue reading “Brew Biz: Werts and All”

Profiled by Maria Devan

I have happened upon a regional brewer that I am really starting to like a lot. Middle Ages in Syracuse. I bought a sixer from them called beast bitter and I almost had nothing to show for it because they disappeared that fast. Lucikly I put one away.

You have to love a brewer who has for their photo a half naked man inside of big mash tun wielding a paddle. Beast is a beast indeed. Pours beautifully. Nice and clear with a coppery and orange hues on a beautiful golden body. Off white head that did not last too long. Appearance is outstanding.

Nose is vivacious with malt. Biscuity and caramel. Firm dry caramel , none of that soft sweet stuff. The hops twinkle like fuggles do and show you soft earthy, woody spice. There is good citric backnote to them that makes them smell fresh and tangy and even a bit like zest. They also use cascade I think. Toasty malt is so crisp it’s almost crunchy in there. I love it! As you drink the beer it simply takes over your mouth and your will to fight. It’s abundant with malt. The hops are forward and keep forward until the very last moment in the swallow when you smile because it’s the malt that finishes this beer medium dry.

Taste is like toast! Lightly buttered and bitter. So delicious. The finish and the balance is what kept this beer in my glass until literally there was no more beer. Hops give an expert bitterness that never gains speed or strength. Steadfast, although it’s not really too gentle either. As all the flavor from malt fades, even the hop fruitiness fades off to tangerine pith but the bitter remains.

Outrageously good. I’ll take a few big mugs of that! I also hear that this brewer is using the ever elusive strain of yeast in this beer called Ringwood. I would love to know if that yeast is in any way responsible for the flavor that this beer has. You just can’t stop drinking it.

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. Not all three. Just the one in the middle.

Profiled by Ken Carman

Some dark malt, mostly pale. Very fresh smelling, but mostly elderberries stand out in aroma. The malt sense in background. Very.

Foggy, brown. Almost no head.

Elderberry deluxe with firm malt mouthfeel. More than a tad tart and a hint of sour. Not all that pleasant to be honest.

High side medium mouthfeel. A little harsh and bitter from the fruit. Too long of a boil with fruit, perhaps?

This is kind of like a gruit, tho from what I’ve read they did use hops. You’d never know. Elderberry sub’d for hops, essentially.

Yes, it is palatable, but not as pleasant as one would hope. 3.8. Way too elderberry focused, which makes it hard to continue drinking after a while. I really like the concept, but more focus needed to be had for drinkability.

81 BA, 55/22 RB.
3.8

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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Ken, WHO???

Profiled by Ken Carman

Black as hell with some deep ruby highlights. Light tan foam head, about ½ inch thick. This looks quite dense, and deep. Slight ruby red highlights at the edges in a strong light. Can’t be seen through, other than that.

Aroma: nice deep roast, no hops, fresh smelling and a slight lager yeast sense. This bugger is packed with malts, and a lot of dark malts. But hard to pick them apart. No hop nose.

The magic here is in the mouthfeel and the taste. NOT aroma. DEEP , malt sense. Heavy gravity obvious. Thick. Chewy. Obviously tons of grain and slight lager yeast sense. Getting sulfur way in the background; very light. If not from the yeast, most likely, then water? Does not seem a defect, more just part of the lager sense. The malts are dark, yet not roasty in the same sense as one would get from a stout, or an out of balance Baltic. It’s more like a deep, debittered, dark malt sense.

This is one of the better Baltics I’ve had. It is Baltic, as one would expect from Devil’s Backbone which has several examples listed as a “classic of the style” on the 2015 BJCP guidelines.

85 BA. 97/90 RB.

4.5

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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Yes, to the left is Ken Carman. Obviously Ken is a creature of 2 dimensions so he can slip in and out of breweries and sample their wares. He also has been known to sneak into WWE matches and pants the people in the ring just to underline how silly the farce called “pro” wrestling is.