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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Beer Profile: Ithaca Beer’s Creeker

creekerIthaca Beer’s Creeker 2015 Box of Hops!

This was bottled on 10/7/15

Hazy golden with a short creamy head after a vigorous pour. Bubbles are buoyant. Sure does make a splash in the glass.

Nose is pungent with citrus. Floral and a light honey. Peppery herbal hop and pine . Grapefruit lemon and fruit peel.

Taste is a generous helping of tangy citrus with a pineapple backnote. Good smooth malt that is crisp and just sweet. Pine needles. An expert bitterness flourishes as it lingers to show lemon pith and more grapefruit. Finishes crisp and with pepper.

This is the best Creeker yet.

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4.2

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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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mdMaria. There once was a beer judge, steward, beer writer, Ithaca living, hill walking up and down-er to her apartment, gal named MARIA!

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Returning for Another Sip of Terroir

Written by Franz Hofer for A Tempest in a TankardIMG_4688

I pause from reading the newspaper to take another sip of my coffee. A melange –– a Viennese classic coffee that goes by a French name sans the accent. A true mix: no single-origin beans here. This evening I’m experiencing a mélange as well: a mixture of the beloved Viennese pastime of wiling away the afternoon in an elegant setting with a coffee whose very name blurs its origins.

Want to read more? please click…

HERE

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Tom Becham’s Seasonal Beer Reviews

Written by Tom Becham

karl-logoIn years past, I have submitted a great number of reviews to PGA for pumpkin ales. The very simple reason for this is that my wife loves pumpkin and pumpkin spice flavors, so the beer will be in the house anyway. And I always like to try new things.

So, here are a few more seasonal brews I’ve had the past couple of weeks, and my impressions of them.

My first review is actually an Oktoberfest beer. Karl Strauss is a regional brewer in Southern California, with a chain of brewpubs. Their beers are generally brewpub-standard styles (which is to say, not extreme, and therefore not exciting to many beer geeks) but generally very well done. Their Okto (called, imaginatively enough, Oktoberfest) is no exception. At only 5% ABV – slightly understrength for the style – Strauss’s Okto starts with a very grainy, malty aroma, caramel undertones snaking into the nostrils on occasion. The flavor is much the same, with the finish dry and reminiscent of hazelnut. It is not a terribly complex beer, but it is quite good, and suitable for session drinking. Continue reading “Tom Becham’s Seasonal Beer Reviews”

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Tom Becham on Firestone Walker Barrelworks

FW Barrelworks

Written by Tom Becham

For my birthday in September, a friend took me up to Firestone-Walker Barrelworks. If you have tracked my articles over time, you may realize I am a bit of a Firestone Fan Boy. But since Firestone has won at the Great American Beer Festival four times for Best Mid-Sized Brewery, I don’t think my enthusiasm is misplaced. They’re obviously doing some things right. Continue reading “Tom Becham on Firestone Walker Barrelworks”

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Maria Devan Re-Reviews Ommegang

omgth

Written by Maria Devan

If I read a review of a beer from years ago am i drinking the same beer? Nay i say. Ommegang has been less than stellar lately and here is two reviews of their re release of iron Throme and Take the Black Stout.

My first impression was that these beers lacked confidence as compared to the other beer from Ommegang I tasted recently (grains of truth). This is a re release of the beers I’m sure. Continue reading “Maria Devan Re-Reviews Ommegang”

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What is it that ferments lambic?

As everyone knows, lambic is fermented by “wild yeast and bacteria”. But what does that actually mean? What yeast? And what bacteria? This is not an easy question to answer, but last year a study attempting to answer this was published. The results are interesting in several different ways, so let’s take a look.

Let’s consider what they’re doing first. A batch of lambic is fermented in a fairly big stack of wooden casks piled on top of one another. It stays there for one to three years. The task of the researchers was to say what microorganisms are in there. This is non-trivial when a thousandth of a liter can contain 10 million microorganisms, or even more, and these are unlikely to be evenly distributed in the fermenting beer. A further challenge is that, obviously, these critters are too small to be seen, except with a microscope, and too many to be counted.

Want to read more? Please click…

HERE

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Beer Profile: Victory Vital IPA

creeker

Happy New Beer Sunday!

vitalipa

Profiled by Maria Devan

You know how I have been known to say frequently and often that the IPA does not really pair well with food because it’s too bitter. Well I have also said that no beer will kindly go with spaghetti and tomato sauce. By some strange twist of fate I seem to have a beer that might just show ’em how to do both.

Pours lemon yellow with a tastefully slight haze. Creamy head of decadent off white foam that clings and falls slowly.

Nose is bright . Malt is a cracker with light honey and a firm hop herbal. Something very tropical. At first a softness, then more fruity and slight pepper from the hops. Citrusy.

Mouthfeel is brilliant and seems feather light. Well defined hop flavors. Citric , tropical and one of the most impressive hop herbals I have seen in an IPA. Bitterness is clean and powerful. Malt is fine and smooth. It lingers strong and because the mouthfeel is so light it finishes with the exactness of the hops. Pungency from dried herbs, the tickle from spice. A sparklingly clean finish and a precise dryness. The malt that seemed so elusive actually came perfectly round to end this beer as the bitterness faded.

This one has all the flavor of the most impeccable IPA and all the bitterness but somehow does not wreck my palate. The food pairings are endless with this beer. It’s like a lemon slice in a glass of water. It’s that versatile. I daresay I am going to buy it again and put it to the test with the spaghetti sauce.
smile emoticon

As it warms it sweetness only a little and shows me more lemon, a bit of malt.

Cheers to Victory this is a spectacular beer.
but remains crisp and cool.

4.2

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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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mdMaria. There once was a beer judge, steward, beer writer, Ithaca living, hill walking up and down-er to her apartment, gal named MARIA!

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Beer Profile: Cortland Pumpkin

Profiled by Maria Devan

It’s dark but handsome and pours to style. Copper. Darker than the rest of the pumpkin ales you have seen I bet. Thin tan head that falls fast. Smells good. Modest malt nose heady with some cinnamon and nutmeg in the background. Taste is disappointing. Wet finish, loose body, and watery. No finish no flavor. what happened? As it warms you see a big wet citric flavor on that spice and what happened to the malt which does actually linger mysteriously. This is missing a malt stance. The malt fell apart and what I am drinking is the hops character which is tantalizing. Citric, juicy but not any bitterness is coming through. When I see the spice on the palate I think that is perfect but the malt is missing. Woody hop. There is pumpkin in it and you can taste it there is acidity.

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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mdMaria Devan lives in Ithaca, NY and is a great beer writer. That’s Maria in the middle. The other two are not, but they are lucky to have her as a friend. She also recently judged for the first time as a beer judge with Certified beer judge Brent Blanchard, and stewarded for PGA editor Ken Carman, also Certified. Oh, and shared a scary ride home to Ithaca with the latter where Ken got REALLY sleepy. Sorry, Maria.

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Beer Profile: Ommegang Grains of Truth

Profiled by Maria Devan

Vibrant appearance although quite hazy. Orange and with a tan head that fell spectacularly.

Fragrant. This beer uses barley, wheat oats and rye. The wheat is first to the nose it’s golden sweet scent. The rye is crisp and spicy. It’s very peppery but also has a delectable softer scent. A fruitiness in sweet bread.

This beer is sassy and bitter. Crisp malts are tempered by dryness. It’s very hearty. Brown sugar. A succulent fruitiness as it becomes lighter on the palate because of it’s flavor. It evokes fall in all it’s colorful nature . The oats are a smooth slick feeling. There is a dynamic hop floral. At the very end is a bit of cheek from bitterness that shows off the hops in a brief moment.

When I tasted it I said to myself now this feels like an Ommegang beer. Well made. It’s like it has a purpose. It’s complete it has only one small flaw and that’s that the oats do gather in the finish oily I guess would be the word. Simply excellent and so robust. Heartier than I have seen a beer from Ommegang. These malts have a fullness both in flavor and in finesse.

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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mdMaria Devan lives in Ithaca, NY and is a great beer writer. That’s Maria in the middle. The other two are not, but they are lucky to have her as a friend. She also recently judged for the first time as a beer judge with Certified beer judge Brent Blanchard, and stewarded for PGA editor Ken Carman, also Certified. Oh, and shared a scary ride home to Ithaca with the latter where Ken got REALLY sleepy. Sorry, Maria.