Of Coolships, Cobwebs, and Cantillon
Written by Franz Hofer for A Tempest in a Tankard
Cantillon needs no introduction. Even if you’re not yet a convinced imbiber of wild-fermented beers, chances are you’ve at least heard of Cantillon, that legendary Brussels brewery of mythic proportions and mystical imaginings. If lambic and gueuze producers in Flemish Brabant merit pilgrimages, Cantillon is the holy grail.
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Beer Profile: Southern Tier Harvest
This one is as fresh as it gets. it’s an Extra Special/ Extra Strong Bitter.
Profiled by Maria Devan
Pours clear and orange with a tan head that lasted well. Effervescing.
Citrusy crisp orange peel. Fresh tangy spice and twigs. Biscuity malt. Smooth and long. Nice and creamy but with a mellow but very deep toastiness. silky hops give chic citrusy 
flavor. Bubbly. Bitter finish to linger firm and to show off a little. The hops never take the middle as fresh they are. So succulent and the beer finishes malty. Gentle with tall sweet grasses that are juicy with stems that have a somewhat bitter and sticky sap. Fresh soft herbal. Light peppery bitterness as the toasty malt finishes round.
Exemplary.
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.”
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Maria Devan lives in Ithaca, NY and is a great beer writer. That’s Maria in the middle. The other two are not, but they are lucky to have her as a friend.
Brew Biz: Werts and All… Purcellville, Damascus and Rehoboth
Ken Carman is a BJCP judge; homebrewer since 1979, club member at Escambia Bay, Salt City, 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.
Written by Ken Carman
Last year I wrote about a trip to Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, where my wife’s family does a reunion every year. So Dogfish is 
familiar territory and always part of the plan. Last year we swung through Asheville. We wanted to stop by go to Wicked Weed.We wanted to addmore spice to the beer side of our journey, or maybe more “sour…” both in a grand way, and not so grand.
Great sours, but the GPS royally screwed us up when we tried to escape Asheville and get back on track to Rehoboth… adding more miles than necessary. This year, on the way, we went to Purcellville, Virginia because I had been doing research about Virginia breweries and discovered Adroit Theory. It did not disappoint.
Neither did Purcellville. A tiny hamlet, we were amazed there were four breweries, and especially one as unique as Adroit. Continue reading “Brew Biz: Werts and All… Purcellville, Damascus and Rehoboth”
Professional vs. Amateur Brewing: A Game With Which I am Not Familiar
After watching the field-crushing performance by Jack Nicklaus during the 1965 Masters, Bobby Jones, the tournament’s legendary co-founder and a man idolized by Nicklaus himself, had the following to say about Nicklaus’ performance:
“He plays a game with which I am not familiar.”
That sentence runs through my head quite a lot when I hear homebrewers talk about brewing – especially when they’re citing professional brewery practices to justify something they believe to be essential to homebrewing.
When Jones gave his famous quote, he wasn’t being humble or even falsely modest: he was simply pointing out that the game of golf was so different compared to when he had competed (equipment, the advent of professional golfers whose sole vocation was the game, course design) that the two could hardly be compared. Â He was complimenting Nicklaus, to be sure – but he wasn’t necessarily conceding that Nicklaus was more skilled or talented.
So it is with homebrewing v. professional brewing. Â What is necessary, desirable, or appropriate for one is not necessarily so for the other. Â They’re playing a game with which we homebrewers are not (well, are maybe not) familiar.
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Where the Wild Beers Are: Brussels and Flemish Brabant
Written by Franz Hofer for A Tempest in a Tankard
Skimming place names on a map of Belgium is like going into a prodigiously stocked bottle shop. Where do you start in a country with a beer heritage as rich as it is in Belgium? Trappist beers, witbier, saison, Flanders red, oud bruin? What about all those famous towns like Chimay, Roeselare, Poperinge, and Westvleteren –– to say nothing of urban beer havens such as Antwerp and Leuven?
For me, the choice was relatively easy: I had never had the opportunity to taste lambic, those Belgian ales discussed in hushed and reverent tones among adepts of the zymurgical arts, beers that rarely make it beyond the immediate vicinity of Brussels.
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Brew Biz: Werts and All
The Topic: America! Yeah!????
Ken Carman is a BJCP judge; homebrewer since 1979, club member at Escambia Bay, Salt City, 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.
Written by Ken Carman
At least the new Dominos ad a few years ago came across as, “Hey, America, We don’t suck as much now!” GM has its, “Buicks used to be worse” ads.
At least they weren’t so cynical as to just slap AMERICA! on the product in huge letters and hope people so stupid they might abandon craft beer for the summer.
Wait. It’s an election year where accepting stupidity reaches new heights. Maybe I should rethink those last two sentences. Continue reading “Brew Biz: Werts and All”
Romulan Ale
Research suggests music can make beer taste better 0
Beer can taste better when presented along with music, according to a recent study published this May in Frontiers in Psychology. The study found that music may be used to add value to multisensory tasting experiences when there is a previous connection between a person and the music.
The effect of multisensory information on the taste of food and drink products is of growing interest. Research has shown that what we see and hear can greatly affect our perception and enjoyment of flavors. For example, a different color on product packaging leads to different flavor association.
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