Ken Carman

February 12, 2010February 11, 2010

Brew Biz: Werts and All

Topic for this edition of Brew Biz: Worst Beer Ever

Written by Ken Carman

So many bad beers. So much wasted time. So many times my taste buds have been offended.
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February 1, 2010February 2, 2010

Brew Biz: Werts and All

…and a “Where Are They Now” Brewer Profile: Todd Hicks

By Ken Carman

Perdido Vineyards
22100 County Road 47
Perdido, Alabama 36562
(251) 937-9463
http://www.perdidovineyards.com
Owner: Jim Eddins

I’ve known Todd Hicks for many years and through quite a few phoenix like rebirths. The first time I met Todd he was brewing at McGuires in Pensacola with Steve Fried. Since then he has brewed at the various rebirths of a brewpub in downtown Mobile, Alabama. It’s been Cannon, Hurricane; amongst other incarnations.

Can a brewpub be Buddhist in nature? If they used milk in a Milk Stout would the brewer wind up being reincarnated as a cockroach under foot for punishment?

Todd has been involved in almost every attempt to start a brewpub west of Tallahassee, east of Mississippi. Todd took Santa Rosa in Fort Walton from a brewpub that sometimes hooked up a Bud or Miller keg; claiming it as their own, to a brewpub that had one of the finest red ales I’ve ever had, and one of the strangest owners. Marketing “Death Cigarettes?” Luckily that brand name went about as far as where it was first placed: in the movie “Waterworld;” a multi-million dollar, four time nominated for a “Razzie” award including worst picture, worst actor, worst director and worst supporting actor, fiasco.

Santa Rosa may have gone the way of Death Cigarettes, but Todd “the immortal” lives on. You have to admire his stick-to-it-tive-ness and his ability to find ways to continue to perfect his craft. His last brewmaster job was at the now folded Hurricane in Mobile. I had a feeling it wouldn’t last. The menu alone was so sparse and unimaginative I could tell the owner didn’t seem all that serious. The brew business: and more specifically the brewpub business, in this area has always been a bit rocky, with McGuires being pretty much the sole survivor for many, many miles in any direction.

I could go on and provide a long list of achievements and where he has been, but this isn’t just about what Todd was, but where he is now and what his plans are.

So while Todd looks for investors to, yet again, reopen the old downtown Mobile location, he has also been providing his talents to a winery in Perdido, Alabama: about 50 miles north of Mobile, just off of I-65, on the east side of the interstate. Hard to miss. About the only thing at the exit.
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January 29, 2010January 29, 2017

Old Forge BIG Beer and Odd Ale Competition

January 25, 2010January 24, 2010

Brew Biz: Werts and All

The Topic: Extreme Beers

Why do I love extreme beer? I suppose because I have taste buds that need beating. Well, that’s true when it comes to most styles of beer. There are some I like to judge in competition simply because I don’t like them. Put me on a table that includes Russian Imperials and I’ll be a less effective judge, in my opinion, than I will when judging wheat beers. Same would be true with Imperial IPAs vs Sour Ales. Sometimes that Belgian funk can be just a bit too much: but I think I am better because I can focus more on style than preferences.

God, I hope this doesn’t mean I’ll wind up on tables featuring beer I like the least for the rest of my judging life because I just typed that.

One meme’ I have discovered while doing interviews with different brewers at micros and brewpubs as of late is a knee jerk reaction against extreme beer. One brewer told me he thought it was bad for the industry and he would rather brew beer that one could have several pints of. He also thought it too easy to hide defects in extreme beers and he thought traditional styles more worthy of brewing.

“It’s a trend, It will die.”

I think we need both.
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January 22, 2010January 22, 2010

Escambia Bay Brewers at the Chili Cook Off: Seville Quarter

Ken Carman reporting for professorgoodales.org

Last Saturday the annual Pensacola Chili Cook Off was at Seville Quarter in downtown Pensacola. As usual Escambia Bay Brewers were there in force with chili and beer. What a gas it was!

Yes, that was a bean joke. Get over it.

The picture above is of one half of our chili cook off crew. They made some really fine chili. We had Jim and Kellie as one team and Butch, Julie and Diane made up the second team. As always we put on a masterful presentation and made some scrumptious chili. We also provided beer: including, but not limited to, two pale ales and a grand smoked porter provided by Hal. Wow. And he thought “too much smoke?” I told him to submit it for competition. I’d make sure I was the judge who beat him down. No, seriously now, it was incredible, Hal.
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November 20, 2009November 23, 2009

Brew Biz: Werts and All

Topic: Beer Purity and Purists

Written by Ken Carman

“And the Lord came down and said, ‘Thou shalt only use only hops, malt, water and yeast. Any brewer who does otherwise shall be tossed into brew kettles and boiled for one and a half hours, rapid boil. Hop additions every 15 minutes…'”

“Then the Lord immediately excommunicated himself because his own instructions weren’t pure enough.”

I know. The Bible doesn’t say that, maybe you believe that was my point. Ya, think?

The German Purity Law, better known as the Gesundheitcaflabin… OK, I made that up for fun: the Reinheitsgebot … (Not to be confused with the movie about drinking too much beer: Das Bloat)… was made law in 1516. Here are a few fun facts that some may not know…
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October 13, 2009October 13, 2009

Music City Brewer’s Brew-Off

This is a wonderful and very real fairy tale. Christmas is still months away, but it kind of comes early to Nashville every year. Once upon an October weekend there was a yearly affair run by Santa Hop God and his merry little band of helpers…

Our first present, thanks to Santa Hop God and his sometimes all too merry band of helpers was our guest speaker, John Palmer, who spoke Friday night about water chemistry and beer. How was it? Well, we definitely had some “chemistry” going between audience and speaker.

As they prepared dinner for us, a few rooms down, various clubs from all over set up multi-tap exhibits. Kind of like discovering a lot of beer in your stocking. This was one of my favorites…

(Shades of the Blues Brothers!)