Author: Ken Carman

The Topic: Adventures in Braggotland, Part 2

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

  First the news: I won second in Chattanooga for my Bee Czar, and first in Savannah for my 3 Weizen Guys. Here’s the irony: they both scored poorly in the competitions they didn’t win in. If you simply compared the scores forms you would think I mixed up the bottles, except the judges made specific comments that proved to me I labelled them right. Both set of judges thought the brews that didn’t score well might be infected.
  Chuckle.
  Here’s what I think happened. The Dunkelweizen Braggot, aka: 3 Weizen Guys, was not labelled for the judges as using a Dunkelweizen-base for the beer at the first competition, even though I specifically specified that when I entered it. Hence the phenolic sense one might expect in that style were perceived as a defect. And, to be honest, I doubt the judges had much experience judging braggots. That’s common. Meads alone are kind of the poor cousins in beer judge-dom. That kind of makes braggot the bastard child of the poor cousin many don’t want to know, much of which has to do with some judges who think mead shouldn’t even be in a beer competition. Continue reading “Brew Biz: Werts and All”

Without intent, I have collected well over 1,000 beer bottles since the early 70s. When something finally had to be done about the cheap paneling in this old modular, I had a choice. Tear down the walls while, oh, so carefully, replacing the often rotted 1X3s. Or: cover them with… The Bottle Collection.

Written by Ken Carman

Old Nutfield Brewery
Derry, NH

  I remember the day I bought this. I was waiting for a movie and decided to stop by for a beer in Nashua, NH.It was a small bar that advertised they had “our own craft beer.” They called themselves the Nutfield Pub. It was actually a bar/hotel complex from what I remember. Makes me wonder if it was a bar owner trying to climb onto the craft trend in a somewhat dishonest way, or if Jim Killeen actually had some connection to the pub. I think that’s why I thought it might be a contract brew at the time, since obviously there was no brewery there or bottling line.
 Not that memorable, but not bad from what I remember. A nice mild, nutty, amber beer
  Ratebeer.com gives no score and says, “formerly brewed at Nutfield Brewing Company, 22 Manchester Road
Derry , New Hampshire, NH.” Then says they’re out of business.
  My web search revealed the brewer was Jim Killeen, born October 1955, died October 2010, who left the corporate world as an employee to become his own employee: starting a microbrewery. He had worked for Lockheed Martin.
  He operated his brewery in the 90s and died while joggin in 2010. The brewery died before that “when plans to expand fizzled,” often meaning a company over extended itself.
 The brewery was a 25 barrel brewing system which was actually set up by New England craft beer legend, Alan Pugsley.According to a book on New England craft breweries Jum contributed a description of his brewery to they had open fermentation tanks, and that was the 90s before Belgian brewing became quite the trend.
 When Bob Dole was running for president he decided not to stop by the brewery because they had a beer called, “Old Man Ale.” Bob was being criticized because of his age. That produced a lot of negative press, so he stopped anyway.
 The brewery is now owned by Alan Pugsley: famous for starting Shipyard and their brewpub in Kennebunkport: Federal Jacks, but turned it into a contract brewery. The beer brand doesn’t exist anymore.

Jim Killeen, left, with wife, Tina, on their backyard deck.

Written by Ken Carman for professorgoodales.net

 Often the first, and the last, contact a traveling: out of town, beer judge has for a competition is the judge coordinator, or “director” as they’re sometimes referred to. Last year my work schedule took me close to New York State, and I wondered, “Wouldn’t it be a hoot to judge beer in my native New York again?” Previous to that I had judged in Albany, NY at a competition known as the Knickerbocker.
 So that’s how I wound up at Amber Waves of Grain, or AWOG: Buffalo area. Held at a Knights of Columbus in Niagara Falls, New York.
 This year my schedule seemed cooperative, so I offered my Certified judge services up to Mr. Terry Felton again: beer judge director at AWOG. Yes, I’m “Certified,” but my readers already knew that: even those who read my other, non-beer related, columns, right?
  Millie, my wife and also a beer judge, decided to go with, so we towed my work truck up to a client’s parking lot in Cortland, Ohio, looked at the snow surrounding my ancient tour bus in the storage area about 5 miles away, and decided to crash at a service area on the New York State Thruway instead of possibly getting stuck in a lot in Ohio.
 Late March, snow, Ohio? Yup, and we could hear Phil from Punxsutawney laughing just across the border, while Bill Murray was muttering about an “over sized rat.” And, yes, I wrote that before all those Facebook Phil jokes.
 So two semi-rested beer judges registered and headed off to see what we were judging after a very brief talk with Terry Felton. Actually: correction. No need to “head off.” Terry already had our assignments up on a big white board that latter he erased and reused for the second sessions. I took a picture of the board, but it didn’t come out, but you can see part of it to the right in the picture of Terry.

Continue reading “A Beer Judge’s Diary: AWOG’s Terry Felton”

Simply put, this is dark chocolate delicious. Nice full mouthfeel, light carbonation tickles the tongue, head fades fast with a mix of mostly pillow and some rock to start. Nose chocolate, but very light. Full body. Taste-wise this is an uncomplicated beverage: dark chocolate, full deep body hidden by dark chocolate: not much else.

The aroma: chocolate, pretty much nothing else. Very black and a bit murky, probably from chocolate. No light shined through the quaff. Head tan that was small and faded fast: my guess either a tension to the surface problem, or more likely the glass it was poured into. This was sampled along with many others, so ran out before could check with a bigger/different glass. Sometimes small glasses are not friendly to decent head.

95 on Beer Advocate. Nothing noted on ratebeer.com.

According to their website…

Around 50,000 barrels of beer annually. The hand crafted ales are now available in more than half of the United States, as well as parts of Australia, Denmark, Japan, Philippines, Singapore, Ontario, British Columbia, and the United Kingdom.

Founders Phineas DeMink and Allen “Skip” Yahn started the brewery with the vision of reviving the practice of small batch brewing to a region rich in brewing tradition. Very thick in a pleasant way.

ABOUT THE BEER
STYLE: Imperial Stout brewed with Chocolate
BREWED SINCE: 2007
ABV: 10.0%
FERMENTATION: Ale yeast, two varieties of hops, four types of malts, bittersweet Belgian chocolate
COLOR: Opaque, very dark brown
EFFERVESCENCE: Lightly carbonated
NOSE: Chocolate, sweet caramel notes, hints of vanilla
FLAVOR: Chocolate, dark cherries, lightly woody and bittersweet
BITTERNESS: Medium
BODY: Creamy, heavier bodied
SERVING TEMPERATURE: 48°F
GLASS: Tulip glass, snifter, oversized wine glass
AVAILABILITY: November release / 22oz / 1/6 keg
CELLARING: 35-40°F

The deepness, and the darkness, of this brew is incredible. While simple, I don’t find that a problem: more a positive. 10%? You’d never know. No hops noticed.

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 “prefecto.”

The Topic: Adventures in Braggotland, Part I

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

     My wife and I have been homebrewing since 1979. To be honest I started with what was probably close to a Russian Imperial, minus the roasted barley since I didn’t know any better, and did variations on that for quite a while. Then we stopped homebrewing for a few years: late 80s and early 90s, because of some physical problems, and returned in the mid-90s. By then homebrewing had gotten real serious with homebrewers owning equipment that would have made George Washington and Tom Jefferson jealous.
  Yes, our forefathers were homebrewers.
  And it seemed they were all out to brew the most perfect Pale, or IPA. Everything had gotten so tech-y and extract brewing, even with additions, was frowned upon. Of course we obediently followed their lead.
  Not.
  Just went all grain year before last, but even there we shrunk our brewery rather than trying to brew 10 plus gallons. Now we brew 2 to 2 1/2 gallons and can focus even more on wild and wacky recipes that seem to fit no style. Ciders? Yes, but blueberry, raspberry, and a few apple ciders/cysers. (Yes, I know there’s a difference when talking to the true cyserman, as one of our former club members called themselves.)
Continue reading “Brew Biz: Werts and All”

Without intent, I have collected well over 1,000 beer bottles since the early 70s. When something finally had to be done about the cheap paneling in this old modular, I had a choice. Tear down the walls while, oh, so carefully, replacing the often rotted 1X3s. Or: cover them with… The Bottle Collection.

Written by Ken Carman

Wynchwood Brewery
Witney, Oxfordshire, UK

  I have mixed opinions about Wynchwood. Some of their beers are marginally impressive, a few “why did they bother?” The last Wynchwood brew hardly seem worth the effort.
 To me, Scarecrow is probably one of the best, if not the best, I’ve had from this brewery. Not the hops, which seem mostly not there. The body, the malt, nice, but nothing to rave about. It’s the yeast. The yeast is marvelously bready, almost like a loaf of hardy, wholesome, multi-grain bread from some small, whole food, bakery that only uses natural ingredients. Yet it’s not “dark” or dense, more complex, yet light.
 Not rated that high at Beer Advocate: 71, and Rate Beer only a… 23? YIKES!!!
 Is it me, or did the reviewers miss the yummy yeast? Personally I think some Americans think yeast should be neutral when it comes to all the flavor components in a beer. Ferment: yes, but otherwise neither be seen or tasted. To me, done well, it’s delicious: if not for how yeast changes beer many Belgian brews would be considered inferior in craft beer world.
  This beer used to be called Circle Master, but I never saw that name in the stores here in the states.
 Here’s some history and facts… Continue reading “From the Bottle Collection: Scarecrow”

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

Written by Ken Carman

The Topic: The New Brew-Jewels of the Gulf Coast and Alabama

Written by Ken Carman

 This will be a very general overview of three new breweries; one in the panhandle of Florida, one near the coast of Alabama and last: northern Alabama. Hoping to stop by Props and Fairhope next year to do full interviews and updates and, for my next big Brew Biz project, I hope to go Straight to Ale!

 Millie and her weird, blond monster, husband, have always had a passion for the Emerald Coast, or Gulf Coast to include Mississippi and Alabama. So not too long before my birthday we headed south for a few days. I won’t tell you how old I am, let’s just say I’m close to double the old fashioned number journalists used to use to tell editors an article has ended, and I use at the end of every Brew Biz and Inspection column in honor of old time journalism.
 You’ll figure it out by the time you scroll to the end. Continue reading “Brew Biz: Werts and All”

Craft Brewed
2502 Franklin Pike
Nashville, Tennessee 37204
(615)873-1992

Written by Ken Carman

  When I first saw a picture of the sign out front of Craft Brewed on Facebook: like what’s at the end of this column, I wondered where it was. Once I found out I knew what one of my first questions would be when I interviewed the owner: “Why?”
  What I found out made a lot of sense. This portion of Franklin Road has gone through many changes since we moved here in 78, though not as problematic as parts of East Nashville used to be, also going upscale. But, as owner Chip DeVier said, it’s… “becoming a hot area, rapidly gentrifying and, well, it’s close to home!”
  While small, Craft Brewed is a comfortable, easy place to down a pint with perfect product placement in visually artistic, locations. Continue reading “Brew Biz: Werts and All”