Author: Ken Carman

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”

“Like shellfish… there will be a die off…”

Image courtesy cdn0.wideopenspaces.com

The Topic: Where Have All the New Breweries Gone?

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.

Where have all the breweries gone
Long time passing
Where have all the breweries gone
Seems so long ago…
-apologies to the ghost of Pete Seeger

 What I fear: it’s the year 2020 and there are a vast number of empty buildings where once there used to be breweries.
 Couldn’t happen? Seriously, I don’t know the year: I just picked 2020 out of my creative muse, and I don’t know for how long. But sooner or later, like shellfish every spring on the Emerald Coast, there will be a die off.
 I have been so happy as of late. I started homebrewing because, in the early 70s, I discovered the real world of beer doesn’t consist of just knock offs of German Pilsners with rice, or corn, as filler. I didn’t know the Rheinheitsgebot wasn’t written into law simply out of some innate German anal sense of purity. It was because the larger German breweries were trying to crush small breweries by mass producing, get this, brews with cheap adjuncts.
 The Germans legislated against it. America embraced it. So most taps when I first started drinking beer basically had the same beer, with slight variations. Continue reading “Brew Biz: Werts and All”

 Will the Predator try to kill Ted, Kathy, Millie and Ken as they enter No Li Brewery? 


           Perry Street Brewery
           1025 S Perry St #2, Spokane, WA 99202
           Phone:(509) 279-2820

           No Li Brewery
           1003 E Trent Ave, Spokane, WA 99202
           Phone:(509) 242-2739

           Iron Goat Brewery
           2204 E Mallon Ave, Spokane, WA 99202
           Phone:(509) 474-0722

           Laughing Dog Brewing
           1109 Fontaine Dr. Ponderay ID 83852
           (208)263-9222
           (Though, in another spot on their site, they list it as Sandpoint)

   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 20 years.

 My oldest brother, Ted Carman, escaped to the west coast, and eventually Spokane, Washington, many moons ago, and now also has a cabin in Sandpoint, Idaho. Despite all my tours as an entertainer I have never been west of Texas, and haven’t seen my oldest brother since 2007, the brother who started my life’s adventure into music in the late 50s. So last week we flew out to Spokane via Seattle. What a great opportunity to see him, his wife, his grownup kids and discover… 
 …new BEER!
 Joking aside, what we did do had to be limited. Millie and I weren’t even sure if we were going to get out, and that if we didn’t, no big shakes. The object here was visiting family. Plus, Ted and Kathy aren’t all that geared towards beer hence, even if we did get out, we knew any reviews would be brief.
 Three of the four breweries are in Spokane, one in Ponderay, Idaho. Maybe Sandpoint? I saw both cities mentioned on sites that seemed connected to the brewery. Four was all we had time for, on a three day, mostly family-related, visit. Continue reading “Brew Biz: Werts and All”

Written by Ken Carman

  The tightrope walker calmly stepped one step at a time, unlike our picture above; holding a balancing pole with buckets at each end. But as he delicately put one foot ahead of the other malt was dumped into one of the buckets. He had a rational, reasonable, hope that there wouldn’t be so much malt dumped before hops were added that he would fall, but more malt fell into the bucket anyway. He tilted to one side but continued to walk. Still hoping hops, then eventually yeast, would balance it out, more malt dropped. The tightrope walker found it close to impossible to stay on the tightrope as the fermentables piled up higher. Then the announcer declared, ”And now, ladies and gentlemen, with even more malt to come, we present our demonstration of IMPERIAL tightrope walking!”
  You could very well replace malt with hops in that tale, or simply take away the pole and make the rope as thin as the finest thread, and just as breakable. Continue reading “A Beer Judge’s Diary: Imperial, What???”

           The Topic: Ye Olde Brothers Brewery

 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.

 We headed down to the Emerald Coast because I had to perform in Mary Ester. Of course I Googled new breweries and came up with Ye Olde Brothers in Navarre. On the sign it was listed as “Santa Rosa’s first brewery,” so I had to ask, “What about Santa Rosa Brewery that used to be in Fort Walton Beach?” Apparently a different county.
 This is one of those long stretches of Florida panhandle road where there’s a whole bunch of nothing. Not Rt.20 long by any means, but long. If you’re coming from Pensacola go out to Gulf Breeze, head towards Fort Walton Beach. Take RT87. It will be on your left. If you’re coming down from I-10, be aware they’re tearing the hell out of 87. Looks like an attempt to make a four lane beyond the brewery. Will be on your left.
 We were both impressed with a rather simple set up, all based around a sample bar. I do not recommend the Buffalo dip if you’re going to actually assess these brews. It’s good, yes, but a bit spicy and palate wearing.
 We got a sample board with Blackwater Stout, Panhandle Porter, East Bay IPA, Session IPA, Speed Brake Stout. All of the brews were light on white pillow head and carbonation. Good clarity. Continue reading “Brew Biz Werts and All”

 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: InShaft Acquires Itself… (satire)

A gift to my readers for the season…

“Come the buyout brew-volution EVERYONE will have free InShaft beer.”
“But comrade, I like the choice of having many small breweries…”
“Come the revolution you WILL ONLY like InShaft beer.”

Reporting from Mega Brew International, the ONLY brewery in the world, two days before Christmas– InShaft acquired itself today and immediately told its distributors that it will give them an extra percentage of their profits if they distribute 99% InBev beer, but will drop that to 2% if they distribute InShaft beer. A bit confused, distributors immediately interpreted that to mean they should drop all formerly craft brew brands now part of the InShaft beer empire.
  Attempts to reach InShaft for comment were met with a phone tree featuring a Phyllis Diller sound alike that led callers nowhere except through a plethora of bad jokes via an ultra gravely voice, which STILL was more appealing than Mich Ultra. Continue reading “Brew Biz: Werts and All”

Profiled by Ken Carman

Big rock head combined with some pillow, a slightly brown head holds and holds. Deep obsidian: 38 srm or more.

Peanut butter nose, but slight, some chocolate malt, slightest hint of roasted barley at best.

Taste is peanut butter, followed by darker malts. Could use a hint more roasted barley: just make sure “stout.”

Mouthfeel is full and a tad slick. Complex mix between a slight stick to the roof of the mouth peanut butter sense.
Peanut butter focus too high, though not excessive. Just needs more stout character. Not much: slight.

Says “export stout:” if export you definitely need more. Millie said there’s lactose, I’m guessing that’s the chocolate… did they add milk chocolate or just malts? That may explain lactose sense. All I got was maybe chocolate MALTS.

Not enough reviews on BA to assess: what was listed varied quite a bit. Nothing noticed via Google listed for Rate Beer.

This is a pleasing, quite drinkable, quaff. But needs more to be as claimed.

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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What you see to the left is NOT Ken Carman. It’s two lucky guys: lucky to know Maria Devan. “Ken Carman” is a screen name for Scooby Doo. RU Row, wes not tellin the truth again!”

 I must admit: being off the grid, running a homebrew competition and work limiting my time to “get down” with the new 2015 BJCP guidelines, I never had much of a chance to comment. My fault. My loss.
  After all the vetting there’s not much I can say that would have much affect, but I know everyone at the BJCP has been turning blue, still holding their breath, thinking, “But, what does Ken think?”
  Yes, that sarcasm nugget was aimed at myself.
 So, like the white rabbit in Alice, since I’m beyond “late” for that review date, I think my commentary time would be best spent making suggestions on how to live with, how to view, how to use, and a valuable way to learn, the new guidelines.
  First, let me recommend a concept to homebrew clubs that the Clarksville (TN) Carboys are working on. Last Saturday (11/14/15), during the monthly meetings, we took examples of 2015 category 2 and sampled them while looking over the guidelines. Some categories may be tough to do this with, like category 3: Czech lagers. Finding examples may be tough, especially in more rural regions. I would say, ”brew it yourself then compare,” but considering the cost, the effort, and how tough some of these styles are to brew right, not sure how useful that advice might be. Continue reading “A Beer Judge’s Diary: Preparing to Judge Using the 2015 Guidelines”

      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”