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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Austin: Twenty Beers and Breweries You Won’t Want to Miss

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Another edition of SXSW is upon us. If you’re from out of town, or even if you live in Austin, the plethora of excellent craft beer possibilities can make drink decisions a little daunting. But fear not. I’ve put together a list of some of my favourites so you can easily find both the finest beers and purveyors of those brews.

Written by Franz Hofer for A Tempest in a Tankard

Tankards, Tankards, and More Tankards

How does it all shake out? Three tankards are up for grabs, and Tempest’s Tankards has all the details on how I approach evaluating beer.

A few notes:
•Austin is awash with some fine beverages…

Want to read more? Please click…

HERE

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Beer Profile: Prairie Limo Tint

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Profiled by Maria Devan

pgaprofilePours a mocha head of creamy thick foam that lasts on an opaque burnt caramel, dark brown body. Leaves sheets of shimmering lace as you drink.

Nose is roasty, milky. Sweet cream on roasted malts. Leather. Cocoa powder a nice light chocolate scent.

Taste is smooth and creamy. A big roasty malt that is so smooth and luscious. It tiptoes up to a touch of bitterness in that roast but stays shy. A silken caramel seems to come out of nowhere and glide over the back palate.

The mouthfeel is silken, creamy, soft, medium full and a touch chewy at times. Finish is sweet cream and roasted grains with chocolate on top.

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, atop a steep hill that would be great for sledding, if not for traffic. Roller skates would probably have to out of the question. She has been reviewing beer for many years, even with many homebrewers and other beer critics across the nation, on the web. We are very lucky to have her here at PGA.

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Five Reasons Your Homebrew Doesn’t Suck

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Recently, Esquire published an online article titled, “Why Nobody Wants to Drink Your Home-Brewed Beer.” In it, the author — a chef named Chris Dudley — gave five reasons that (according to him) your beer sucks. What the article exuded in in-your-face attitude, it lacked in understanding of how beer is brewed or knowledge of the actual problems most commonly detected in homebrews.

Dudley’s article is so dumb, I’m not even going to bother to go through it point by point and demolish it. If you’re reading this website, you likely don’t need my help understanding what a steaming pile of dung his article is. But I would like to issue this rebuttal.

One of the overarching mistakes Dudley makes is to paint all homebrew with a single brush stroke. I’ll begin my article by making the same mistake — albeit by assuming all homebrew is wonderful. (I’ll fix that at the end.) My point will be that I can write a far superior (and technically sound) article praising homebrew than he can write damning it. With that in mind, here are my five reasons your homebrew doesn’t suck.

Want to read more? Please click…

HERE

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Inspection- Beer-y Interesting Controversy

Since, once again, we head into craft beer sue-land, here’s an archive edition of the column on the first, recent, controversy.-PGA

Ken  Have you noticed how some controversies morph and the drama eventually seems to become more drama queen?
 Have you noticed that maybe it’s serving those who do “battle” well: people are clicking on sites like mad, product is headed out the door even faster?
  Ever wonder if that was the plan by both sides all along? Continue reading “Inspection- Beer-y Interesting Controversy”

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The 7 Beer Trends You Need to Know This Spring

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Despite rumblings that we might be approaching a saturation point, America’s craft-brewing boom hasn’t slowed down a bit — there are now more than 3,000 breweries operating across the U.S., and the number continues to grow. It’s great for beer lovers, who get to choose from an increasing number of varieties. From brews inspired by ancient styles to entirely novel blends, here are seven hot U.S. beer trends to watch.

Want to read more? Please click…

HERE

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Austin: Twenty Beers and Breweries You Won’t Want to Miss

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Written by Franz Hofer for A Tempest in a Tankard

Another edition of SXSW is upon us. If you’re from out of town, or even if you live in Austin, the plethora of excellent craft beer possibilities can make drink decisions a little daunting. But fear not. I’ve put together a list of some of my favourites so you can easily find both the finest beers and purveyors of those brews.

Want to read more? Please click…

HERE

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Weekly Mix Pack: Fakery, Extinct Beer, and Reefer Madness

This was a big week! Daylight Savings Time started, temperatures climbed above freezing for many parts of the country, and it finally became acceptable to drink one of the Spring seasonals that breweries have been pushing on us since early February. Jerks. Let’s take a look at some the most interesting beer stories we’ve come across in the past week!

1. Looking at Tomorrow’s Extinct Beer Styles Today
Beer is old enough that most styles that have ever existed are now extinct. While it’s hard to imagine, some of the very styles that are right now at the peak of their popularity will likely inevitably become relics at some point. Jeff Alworth ponders which of our current beers will eventually become recipes that a future Sam Calagione-type will try to recreate some day far in the future.

Want to read more? Please click…

HERE

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Small Sylva brewery in big trademark dispute

HERE WE GO AGAIN-PGA

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Innovation Brewing of Sylva makes only about 500 barrels of beer a year, mostly sold in Jackson County. But size doesn’t matter in a tough trademark dispute with the much bigger Bell’s Brewery of Kalamazoo, Michigan, which made more than 310,000 barrels last year.

Bell’s has filed a federal action against Innovation over the use of its name. Bell’s says its unregistered advertising slogan “bottling innovation since 1985” could lead to confusion with customers. While the slogan is used on bumper stickers, it’s not present on any of the brewery’s beer packaging.

Want to read more? Please click…

HERE

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Beer Profile: Well’s Sticky Toffee Pudding Ale

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Profiled by Ken Carman for PGA

This exactly what the label says: as if someone made a sticky toffee pudding beer.

pgaprofile Yes, it’s a one note, novelty, brew, but that one note is perfect. I wouldn’t drink bottle after bottle, it could get boring. But it’s, essentially, a desert beer.

Toffee tan with great clarity, though the gravity provides some distortion. Big bubble head with some small and pillow.

Nose- caramel and toffee Aroma same with malt behind that.

Mouthfeel is like a liquid version of somewhat sweet sticky pudding: caramel with a viscosity reminiscent of the caramel pudding I had as a kid. No hops sensed.

Heavy side of medium body. Taste tad sweet: just right for pudding. Caramel lightly carbonated, but this is not candy. Luxurious, rich.

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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martianKen Carman was born of a deity named Bill many moons ago when his wife Winnie was fermenting well at the time. He is a beer judge, beer writer and reviewer of brew-based business, beer commentator and BEER GOD. Do not challenge the one who ate too many hops one year, hence the green pigment you see to the left!