Author: Professor Good Ales

San Diego Cornado bridge

Written by Tom Becham for professorgoodales.net

My wife and I recently made another short trip to San Diego – or as I call it, “a pilgrimage to Beer Mecca.” I am fortunate to have a spouse who is almost as appreciative of good craft beer as I am. This is all the more amazing when one realizes she was raised in a Coors-drinking household, and thus believed all beer to be equally vile until just a couple years ago.

The original purpose of this trip was to return to Port/Lost Abbey Brewery for the release of their Red Poppy Ale, a Flemish-style sour ale. Flemish sour is my wife’s favorite beer style, and Red Poppy is an uncompromising example, probably the best American-made sour, and laced with sour cherries. Indeed, Red Poppy is very reminiscent of Verhaege’s Echte Kriek. Red Poppy is a very small batch beer, and generally only available at the brewery door. If you like very acetic, shockingly sour beers, or are a fan of lambic-type beers (the real ones, not the sweet,syrupy, ersatz-lambics), you’ll love Red Poppy.
Continue reading “Pilgrimage to a Beer Mecca”

Southern Star Brewing
Conroe, Texas

Profile by Ken Carman

Remember what I wrote last time about trying to describe one drop in a rainstorm? Well, that is indeed de do a lot like trying to describe one beer at The Bluebonnet: competition in Texas. After all the judging, the tasting, the judging, the pub crawling and tasting again, taste buds don’t just go on overload: they hold up little signs and scream, “Stop, for criminy’s sake: can’t taste a ruddy thing!”

Do we listen? Hell, no.

One beer that stood out, in a good way, was Buried Hatchet Stout.

Let’s clear up a few misconceptions here, one promoted by the brewer. There is no “Strong Stout” category. Imperial? This didn’t seem to be that, although if the 8.5abv their site claims is accurate… it’s an incredible achievement. That is low Imperial Stout territory. Doesn’t seem that high at all. Like I just typed: an achievement. It may have just a tad too much chocolate malt, since the “dark” and the flavor of a true Dry or Foreign Stout is driven by roasted barley, and a Sweet Stout usually by lactose. Chocolate malt can make a stout a bit malt sweet. though this is so minor to still be quite marvelous. No Chocolate malt? Well, something else then. Hmmm…. site says “Brown malt.” That might explain it too. What, no roasted barley? That explains my style concerns I expressed right off the bat. Note to brewers: add roasted barley for “Stout” category, please. It could use at least a smidge for balance, Stout-wise; or a smidge more if your “roasted malt” actually was supposed to be “roasted barley.” “Roasted malt” means squat. It’s all “roasted” to a certain extent; if just to dry it out… a matter of how much and how it’s done.

Since it came straight from the can and my sample glass was far away I didn’t see the head or clarity. It seemed to pour just a little light on the dark side of a stout, but liquid in that close proximity to the lips isn’t the best way to judge such things. Mouthfeel? Light on the carbonation, a bit malty with a slight touch of hops: correct style from what I remember. In other words: not all that Cascade-y or other more American IPA-type hops. Perhaps a touch of the Fuggles? The site says “Saphir” hops, a noble-type. Seemed just a tad more Brit to me. Though not as “earthy,” that slight Fuggles citrus sense was there, which makes since since Fuggles and Cascades are related: like parent to more wildly citrusy son. Hatchet didn’t fill the mouth as much as it begged to be buried by an eager swallow. But the taste: refreshing, tingling, exciting. From the can I felt like I had been lying under the fermenter and someone opened it after all the yeast and gunk had been drained.

Not sure the style. Not quite a dry, not a sweet, foreign… hell, no. Imperial? I expect more from an Imperial, which most likely explains why they didn’t call it that. But quite the pleasing quaff no matter what.

Written by Kiran Aditham for mediabistro.com

Pardon our language for the duration of this post, but let’s begin it with an Upper Austrian village called Fucking, which is the inspiration for a new beer called Fucking Hell. Yes, the common English term for surprise and/or frustration is now a brand name thanks to a German firm which has been granted permission by the European Union’s Trade Marks and Designs Registration Office to brew beer and produce clothing under the name.

According to Spiegel Online, the EU’s trademarks authority seems to have no problem with Fucking Hell and rejected a complaint that it was “upsetting, accusatory and derogatory.” In a statement, the EU office says, “The word combination claimed contains no semantic indication that could refer to a certain person or group of persons. Nor does it incite a particular act. It cannot even be understood as an instruction that the reader should go to hell.” “Hell” in fact is a term for light ale in southern Germany and Austria, so see, it all makes sense.

Still, the mayor of Fucking isn’t too pleased with the notoriety that this beer, which is set to be released in August or September, is going to bring to his town that’s already had 12 or 13 signs stolen over the years. According to Radio Netherlands Worldwide, though, Fucking residents voted to keep the name recently despite the problems caused by tourists who just can’t help but take pics in front of the traffic sign on which the village’s name is printed.

Whatever the case, German marketing executives Stefan Fellenberg and Florian Krause, who own the rights to the brand name, could start a whole empire considering there are also Bavarian towns called Kissing, Petting and Pissing.

What We Think Beer Does for Us… and What Beer Can Do

Britain’s national drink is helping keep pubs alive. Written by Pete Brown for The Independent

Italian food. French wine. British beer and pubs. Our national icons resonate deeply not just because they’re things we’re good at, but also because they reflect our national characteristics. To eat like an Italian is to treat great food with the gusto and relish it deserves. A Margaux reflects centuries of sophistication and refinement. And a pint of ale in a pub… well, it’s a bit more complicated.

Pubs are different from the bars the rest of the world has to make do with. They’re more convivial, more homely, diverse, eccentric, understated and contradictory. They can be a bit intimidating on a first encounter, but get to know them and you’ll never want to leave. Just like the average Brit, really.

That’s why there has never been a successful British soap without a pub at its centre. After the Royal Family, the traditional British pub is the first thing foreign tourists want to see when they come to Britain. And when they’re there, they want to drink a traditional British beer.

Want to read more? Click…

HERE.

Written by Steve Fried for Pensabrew News

I started home brewing in 1979 and went professional in 1989 when I started working at McGuire’s (Pensacola…. also Destin, FL… Irish theme restaurant/brewpub- Prof. GA) As an extract home brewer from the beginning, I finally experimented with all grain in 1988 and the beer was horrible, my worst ever, and I didn’t know why. It wasn’t until I started brewing at McGuire’s that I was to learn my fatal mistake. The heat exchanger had not been properly cleaned and sanitized. My trainer taught me the proper method I’m about to share with you. I credit this technique, which I followed faithfully for 12 consecutive years, for our clean ales. During that time I brewed 1,500 batches of beer, re-pitching the same yeast culture I started with in 1989. I did not re-culture once during that time.

The technique is to run a hot caustic solution in reverse through your heat exchanger followed by a hot rinse. This removes the reddish brown scale that builds up on the plates or tubes. On brew day and after mashing in, I would heat my sparge water up to 200 degrees F and then transfer it from the brew kettle to my fermenter via the heat exchanger, hoses and pumps that would eventually be used to do my heat exchange into the fermenter. Everything that comes into contact with the cooled wort will have been heat sanitized. Assuming you have a clean yeast, you are well on your way to making a clean beer.
Continue reading “The Technical Edge: Infected Beer? Your Counterflow Heat Exchanger is the Most Likely Culprit”

Image courtesy flickr.com

Style: Stout
Part of the 30 anniversary series at Sierra Nevada

Profiled by Ken Carman

I kind of figured this is what would happen. You combine Sierra Nevada and Fritz the founder of the whole damn craft beer industry, and what do you get? Damn near perfection. Perfect head that holds for quite a while, obsidian black, holds to the side of the glass as if slightly glued there. Hop, roasted barley, roast nose. Wow. I’d hate to have this in competition: so many good brewers would be pushed to the side, nose-wise. Not a ton: just right.

A little bit of a soured mouth sense: are these guys channeling Guinness? Just the right amount of bubble: not heavy… but there.

The problem, if any, is in the taste. This is a stout for those who like stouts and no compromise. Just a bit more of a Extra than a regular Stout. The alcohol is just a bit high. You like this… or you don’t: which to me defines some Extra Stouts. A little less of the roasted barley, more of the dark Black Patent sense than Guinness. I do like this, but I had to take time to adjust: kind of like I did when I first had Guinness Extra in Montreal at Finnegan’s: 1974. It took me a few to fall in love. And by the end of this 25oz champagne-corked bottle I was getting close.

What, no more?

Sniff. Sniff.

If you are beer geekish like me, buy it and make up your own damn mind, No matter what this took talent to do.

Craft beers use labels to promote their region or maker’s individuality.

Written by Veronique de Turenne for LA Times

True confession: The first bottle of Black Dog Ale I ever bought wasn’t for the taste or the price or even the reputation. What separated that six-pack from hundreds of others in the 40-foot-long beer case was the black Labrador retriever on the box. There he was — the noble profile, those silky ears, his golden eyes gazing into the distance. And to clinch the deal, behind him rolled a tree-filled alpine meadow, backed by snowy mountain peaks.

I didn’t buy the beer, I bought the label. And it’s not just any label. With the detailed drawing of the dog, the idealized depiction of the place, all rendered in rich colors, with an unmistakably retro vibe, it’s the modern-day version of that other icon of advertising— orange crate art.
Continue reading “Beer label art matches the quirky character of the microbrews”

Image courtesy stanford.wellsphere.com

Profiled by Ken Carman

You’re going to have to excuse me, I’m doing this one from memory. I had this beer at the Bluebonnet and describing one beer from something like the BB is almost like describing a single drop in a thunderstorm. I type “almost” because this one stood out: not for what it was but what it wasn’t.

You would expect a beer with anaheim, fresno, serrano, jalapeno, habanero peppers in it would be overwhelming: especially one with a light ale body like this. Well, I believe “ale,” but to be honest I’d need another taste minus the thunderstorm to be sure. I can usually tell the difference: ale more fruity, lager variable amounts of a sulfur-like sense.

But, instead of a pepper whack, the spicing here is gentle: subtle; just enough to tingle the buds. No hops evident and aroma is pepper… not much else. The example I had was clear and a little darker than Bud: not dark at all, really.
Continue reading “Beer Profile: Billy’s Chilies”

Bluebonnet Brew-off 2002 Winners
Continue reading “The Bluebonnet: Winners”