Category: Beer

Profiled by Maria Devan

Copper and reddish. Clear and burly in the glass. Bubbles rise but not furtively, they waft.

The nose is biscuit.

Dry.

In this style, the red ale, we see a low presence from hops traditionally and what you would call biscuit and caramel. The caramel in this one is firm and brief. Nutty and the hop is herbal and speaks to you from the wings.

There can be diacteyl in this beer and if so only to smooth. Herbal hop steals the show in the finish as this creamy body takes towards IPA strength all with malt flavors. Nuttiness, roundness, biscuit and a brief but firm caramel. Then in the finish hop herbal and a touch of bitterness to make it a pint. That finish from hop on all that malt. Gimme one more. Lingers without any fruit and a dry biscuit malt.

4

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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Maria Devan. Not all three. Just the one in the middle.

Profiled by Maria Devan

Pours bright and clear with a persistent white head that clings and never really fades completely. Nose is bready with a bit of richness from malt. Hop is cool and herbal; soft and subtle and that tells me this is not a pilsner. Light open scent from dms and a glimpse at a tangy spice rounds out the nose. Crisp, bready, dry. Clean no diacetyl.

A light openness from dms and hop spice offer the sweetness in this beer. Carbonation is perfect bubbly but does not bite. Lovely pepper form the hop to finish it. There is a light sweetness on the nose that is the hallmark of the style in the drink it is but a brief bit of nectar before an expert and almost moderate bitterness shows you more bread. Impeccable. Cheerful and well crafted.

4

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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Maria Devan. Ithaca. Beer reviewer. Beer steward. Beer judge. Winter time liked to sled down the hill she lives on in a bathing suit. That last one is NOT true.

Written by Ken Carman

  The tightrope walker calmly stepped one step at a time, unlike our picture above; holding a balancing pole with buckets at each end. But as he delicately put one foot ahead of the other malt was dumped into one of the buckets. He had a rational, reasonable, hope that there wouldn’t be so much malt dumped before hops were added that he would fall, but more malt fell into the bucket anyway. He tilted to one side but continued to walk. Still hoping hops, then eventually yeast, would balance it out, more malt dropped. The tightrope walker found it close to impossible to stay on the tightrope as the fermentables piled up higher. Then the announcer declared, ”And now, ladies and gentlemen, with even more malt to come, we present our demonstration of IMPERIAL tightrope walking!”
  You could very well replace malt with hops in that tale, or simply take away the pole and make the rope as thin as the finest thread, and just as breakable. Continue reading “A Beer Judge’s Diary: Imperial, What???”

Profiled by Ken Carman

Nose: Saison spiciness and hint of phenolics. Some orange, moderate pepper, Taste: roasted wheat. Some slight debittered dark malt sense.

This really is a “dark Saison,” and a damn good one.

Head was deep tan, even somewhat brown: reminded me of a malt shake. Foam, and lots of it with big bubbles too. Long lasting. Light side of medium body with light, but obvious carbonation. Slightest spicy bitter.

Silky on the palate, with a firm sense of bitter towards the back of the mouth. Very fresh tasting.

Pepper is really in taste rather than nose, as per 2015 guidelines. A very worthy quaff.

4.2

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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Yes, to the left is a drawing of Ken Carman, done by bored demons. They did a HELL of a job, eh?

Profiled by Maria Devan

Hi everyone today I have Smistletoe from Smuttynose. I am not a big fan of the Christmas beer or what you would call the winter warmer so I was very happy to see that this beer is in a style I don’t see very often. Biere de Garde.

Happy Meet You Under the Smistletoe Sunday

Pours a peachy color pinkish. The color can range form golden blonde to reddish brown so I guess that’s ok. When I see a pink or off color beer I usually don’t find myself attracted to it. slight haze. Head dissipated quickly. The light does not show you the color that I wanted you to see but it’s a little pinkish looking and not as hazy as I had first thought.

Nose has a dry musty scent malty and herbal. Clean nose with no diacetyl. There is what I would call a brisk neutral scent at first and then the fruitiness starts to exhale gently with some spice as the beer warms.

Taste is very spicy. Soft sweet bread for malt. Fully fruity with a tartness in the middle. Crisp herbal and plenty of clean hop bitterness take over toward the finish with sweet herbs. Lingers like honey on a cracker or nectar from flowers. Syrupy sweet finish with lots of pepper that leaves a bit flat with all that spice sinking into the cloying sweetness. As I drank I found the sweetness tolerable but it is extremely sweet and definitely a slow sipper.

The bjcp says that this style of beer should have a cellar like or musty character form lagering which it does. It should lack the spicing and the tartness of the saison. I do not feel that it did. It should be rounder and fuller than the Saison but this is where it went sweeter rather than rounder.

Have a great day everyone and CHEERS!

3.5

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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Maria Devan lives in Ithaca, NY. That’s Ithaca: home to Ithaca Brewing and Bandwagon. She writes about beer frequently, so that means she samples a lot of beer. The professor is jealous.

           The Topic: Ye Olde Brothers Brewery

 Ken Carman is a BJCP judge; homebrewer since 1979, club member at Escambia Bay, Clarksville Carboys and Music City Homebrewers, who has been interviewing professional brewers all over the east coast for over 10 years.

 We headed down to the Emerald Coast because I had to perform in Mary Ester. Of course I Googled new breweries and came up with Ye Olde Brothers in Navarre. On the sign it was listed as “Santa Rosa’s first brewery,” so I had to ask, “What about Santa Rosa Brewery that used to be in Fort Walton Beach?” Apparently a different county.
 This is one of those long stretches of Florida panhandle road where there’s a whole bunch of nothing. Not Rt.20 long by any means, but long. If you’re coming from Pensacola go out to Gulf Breeze, head towards Fort Walton Beach. Take RT87. It will be on your left. If you’re coming down from I-10, be aware they’re tearing the hell out of 87. Looks like an attempt to make a four lane beyond the brewery. Will be on your left.
 We were both impressed with a rather simple set up, all based around a sample bar. I do not recommend the Buffalo dip if you’re going to actually assess these brews. It’s good, yes, but a bit spicy and palate wearing.
 We got a sample board with Blackwater Stout, Panhandle Porter, East Bay IPA, Session IPA, Speed Brake Stout. All of the brews were light on white pillow head and carbonation. Good clarity. Continue reading “Brew Biz Werts and All”

 Ken Carman is a BJCP judge; homebrewer since 1979, club member at Escambia Bay, Clarksville Carboys and Music City Homebrewers, who has been interviewing professional brewers all over the east coast for over 10 years.

 The Topic: InShaft Acquires Itself… (satire)

A gift to my readers for the season…

“Come the buyout brew-volution EVERYONE will have free InShaft beer.”
“But comrade, I like the choice of having many small breweries…”
“Come the revolution you WILL ONLY like InShaft beer.”

Reporting from Mega Brew International, the ONLY brewery in the world, two days before Christmas– InShaft acquired itself today and immediately told its distributors that it will give them an extra percentage of their profits if they distribute 99% InBev beer, but will drop that to 2% if they distribute InShaft beer. A bit confused, distributors immediately interpreted that to mean they should drop all formerly craft brew brands now part of the InShaft beer empire.
  Attempts to reach InShaft for comment were met with a phone tree featuring a Phyllis Diller sound alike that led callers nowhere except through a plethora of bad jokes via an ultra gravely voice, which STILL was more appealing than Mich Ultra. Continue reading “Brew Biz: Werts and All”