Author: Professor Good Ales

Mythical poster at The LTS Good for What Ales You Beer Journal. Loves good beer. Hates same old, same old. Muses that Bud and Miller might as well be brewed in urinals. Drinks lagers too, if they are complex and interesting.
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Brew Files – Episode 51 – Real Time Recipe Challenge


The Brew is Out There!

We asked our listeners to challenge us – give us a beer idea you want us to design and prepare to make. Out of the pile of suggestions we each chose one recipe to challenge the other with. In this inaugural challenge, we only find out what recipe we’re supposed to formulate right then. Listen to us walk you through how we’d tackle these challenges.

And congrats to Aaron Kennison and Eric Pierce who’ll be receiving a half pound of Yakima Chief Hops’ Veteran’s Blend!

Want to listen to the podcast? Please click… HERE!

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Esters vs. Phenols in Beer

When perceiving certain aromas of beer, you may hear people refer to “esters” and “phenols.” These terms are often times used incorrectly or interchangeably. The fact of the matter is, esters and phenols are quite different, though they can be present at the same time. Let’s take a look at some of the main causes of esters and phenols in beer.

Esters

The fruity aromas perceivable in beer are typically generated by yeast esters, unless there’s actual fruit in the recipe. During fermentation, a reaction between organic acids present in the wort and the developing alcohol cause esters to form. Common aromatic ester characteristics include banana, pear drop, apple, honey, roses and even solvent-like in some instances.

While the reaction between the acids and alcohol actually form esters, three variables influence the amount of esters that can potentially develop. By understanding and managing these variables, homebrew…

 

Want to read more? Please click… HERE!

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The Score: Von Trapp German Helles

Judges: Millie and Ken Carman/BJCP Certified

This brew never specified what version of Helles this was. The decision made: 5C German Helles

Judge 1: Millie (Used guidelines)
Judge 2: Ken (Did NOT use guidelines)

Both judges noted a low fill.

Judge 1 found a light floral aroma, judge 2 more herbal; as in oregano-like. Both found typical lager year sulfur notes. Judge 1 found a hint of sweet malt in the aroma. Judge 2 found a DMS/corn sense as might be expected with the malt and some lagers. Not overboard. He also found some diacetyl.

Judge 1 and 2 found a white head with a mix of big and small bubbles except judge 2 found foam instead of small bubbles. Judge 1 found the entry acceptably clear, judge 2 tad hazy. Judge 1 called it golden in color, judge 2 light gold to yellow. Judge 1 thought head was low, judge 2 didn’t, both thought it didn’t persist that long. Judge 2: glass cling to foam.

Both judges thought malty sweet dominated a little, judge 2 described it as “crackery.” Judge 2 found the bitter only expressed itself much when sample warmed. Judge 2 thought malt persisted, judge 1 thought bitter persisted in the finish. Judge 1 found a spicy hop sense, judge 2 thought it slight and more background except when it warmed. Judge 2 found some diacetyl, though not a lot, judge 1 found it after discussion and it warmed

Judge 1 thought carbonation a bit light for style, judge 2 thought it medium so not bad for style. No astringency/warmth/creaminess (both). Judge 2 thought the body low side of medium and thought malt persisted on top of palate at end. Judge 1 commented about water profile, judge 2 who wasn’t using guidelines did not.

Both found the sample to be representative of the style, judge 2 commented that even though he was no fan of the style he would have 2 but no more due to that stylistic reluctance. Judge 1 thought the entry should provide just a little more of the style-sense. Judge 2 thought more lagering would eliminate slight diacetyl.

JUDGE 1: 33 out of 50
JUDGE 2: 34 out of 50

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Brew Files – Episode 49 – Starting Off Right


We know that we need good yeast to make great beer and we need to treat them right. Somehow we’ve managed to go through 48 episodes of this show without talking methods of treating your yeast right. On this show, we’ll walk through how we used to do things and why we changed and Denny will even challenge Drew to get uncomfortable!

Want to hear more about this? Please click… HERE!

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Beer Profile: Evil Twin Imperial Doughnut Break

Profiled by Ken Carman

Right off the bat I took a sip to assess what ended up being low carbonation and I got high alcohols. This seems to be a consistent Evil Twin problem.

Brown foam head that’s big, luscious and fades fairly quickly into a small bubble and glass edge only “head.” Black as all hell: no light shines through. Slight glass coat when tipped.

Deep malt complexity to malt in aroma. I get a hint of vanilla and almonds. No doughnuts, but unless I knew what the nature of the doughnuts were I have no idea what to look for. No hops in aroma. Deep dark chocolate sense dominates with a slight sweetness like a hint of brown sugar. If coffee is there it’s so slight hard to discern. There is a cappuccino sense: a hint at best, in taste.

Here’s the problem: there’s a strong higher alcohol sense that dominates the flavor making it a tad astringent and harsh. Behind that is the vanilla. Behind that is the slight sense of almonds. I don ‘t get the doughnuts but, again, what kind of doughnuts am I looking for? This quaff is harsh due to alcohol and it has SO much promise! Aftertaste in vanilla and alcohol. Finshes just a tad sweet AND dry! Dries the tongue, coats the roof of the mouth with a brown sugar like sensation.

I think the doughnuts may have simply added a viscosity to the point of thick. Almost chewy. Carbonation low, which I would expect. Coats roof of mouth AND the tongue.

I really, really wanted to like this. The higher alcohols are a major defect. I would check fermentation temp and find a better yeast: seems something this higher alcohol would be a problematic yeast, and the fact I’ve had problems with Evil Twin before and higher alcohols suggests to me a house yeast situation. Of course it could just be fermentation problems too.

I have saved some of this brewery’s brews for my tastings and have found out it smoothes out a tad. But it’s still not right.

4.2 BA
4.1 untappd
4 RB

Sorry guys, can’t do any better than…

3.4

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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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_______________________Beer HERE

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New Brewery: Various Artists, Nashville, TN

Two Nashville entrepreneurs plan to open a brewery on Elm Hill Pike not far from Fesslers Lane, my Nashville Post colleague William Williams reports. The brewery and pub will offer a menu featuring Argentine-style grilled meats.

Pat Isbey and Jeff Bergman will co-own and operate Various Artists Brewing Co., to be located at 1011 Elm Hill Pike in a building that Bergman owns. Longtime followers of Nashville’s restaurant scene may recall Isbey from the excellent barbecue spot Jimmy Carl’s Lunch Box, which he owned and operated from 2009 to 2010 in the Station Inn building in the Gulch. Isbey and Bergman are targeting a late-December opening for Various Artists Brewing.

Want to read more? Please click… HERE!

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Beer Profile: Saranac’s Varick Street Breakfast Stout

Profiled by Ken Carman

For a slightly wood aged-like, imperial sweet stout I can’t imagine better. I got a 4 pack for judging Old Forge BIG Beer and Odd Ale Competition. It took me a few weeks before I could open one, but this is the kind of brew that can wait. By the way fellow Certified BJCP judge and my marital superior: Millie Carman, agrees.

The nose is lactose-like, milk and dark chocolate-like, mix. Just a hint of roasted barley sense way in the background. No hops sensed in aroma. Sweet sense tingles my nostrils; demanding I drink.

Black as hell, no light shines through. The head is dark tan, closing in on light brown. Pillow and Guinness-like in nature it goes from real big to small, but lingers. It coats the glass like it loves being there and hates to leave.

But the taste is where it’s at: intense malt profile. It finishes sweet, as expected. Slightest bitter, even though 50 IBUs. With this malt bill and sweet: not surprising. The sweet just doesn’t want to leave and dark caramel candy sense follows behind that. What hop sense there is is bitter, maybe with a whisper of herbal. Too little to assess what herb. Pale, caramel, hint black malts and hint roasted barley sense provides a BIG malt kick.

Carbonation light, but just right. Malt dominates in mouth feel too. This is so enticing to the palate as well: reminds me of a dark, brown sugar-ish sticky bun. That’s in mouthfeel too.

If they don’t brew this again may the spirit of craft beer haunt Saranac brewers and Fred Matt, their boss. INCREDIBLE. Highest rating I’ve ever given in my reviews.

untappd 4.02
BA 4.3
RB 3 (What’s WRONG with you, Ratebeer? OH, THAT’S RIGHT! No wonder. Bud driven ratings.

4.9

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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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___________________________________Beer HERE

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Brew Files – Episode 47 – The Bays of Portland

The Brew is Out There!

One of our favorite yeast people is back and he’s got big news! Nick Impelitteri is going full time and moving to Beervana – aka Portland – aka the new “Bay” City? In addition we talk about new toys he’s bringing to bear including a nectar loving critter that might change how you experience hops.
Want to hear more? Please click… HERE!

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‘World’s oldest brewery’ found in cave in Israel, say researchers


Researchers say they have found the world’s oldest brewery, with residue of 13,000-year-old beer, in a prehistoric cave near Haifa in Israel. The discovery was made while they were studying a burial site for semi-nomadic hunter-gatherers. Brewing beer was thought to go back 5,000 years, but the latest discovery may turn beer history on its head.

Want to read more? Please click…HERE!

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Cask Ale, No Frills, and Plenty of Conversation: Reinventing the English Pub for the 21st Century


The pub, or public house, is a revered institution in the United Kingdom, outweighing and outlasting even the church as an everyday part of British life. Pubs are romanticized, sentimentalized, and politicized, a nexus for conversations about gentrification and culture, and a proxy for the very state of the nation.

The ideal English pub might be an ancient rural coaching inn out of a painting by Constable, or an urban gin palace dancing with warm light reflected in mirrors and polished wood. Either way, it will probably be at least a hundred years old. New pubs were built in the 20th century—some 5,000 so-called “improved public houses” between the world wars, and around 4,000 austere modernist structures in the era of post-war reconstruction—but they tend to be less well-loved than their predecessors, lacking their dark corners and coziness.

Want to read more? Please click…HERE!