Category: Beer

Profiled by Maria Devan

This one couldn’t wait until Sunday smile emoticon. Alpine Duet. Pours hazy yellow a brilliant kiss form orange. Pours out like light you can see it in my photo. Thin white head that wants to hang on. Nose is explosive with tropical. Crisp honey dew melon. Herbal hop that has a woody backing. Orange blossom honey.

Perfect mouthfeeel . The eptiome of lightness. Crisp lightly sweet, bubbly beer. The catty spice from the simcoe takes this one to the finish and doesn’t back down. Impressive tailored bitterness. At the very swallow the woody earthy hop. Bitter, drying. it seems to evaporate after all this fireworks of flavor.

Well worth the seven dollars and change for the bomber. Drinks like hops juice with all the succulence of the hops. a light orangey citrus in the background. Hop nectar. They leave a light pepper on the tongue as it lingers dank and fruity. I’ll have more.

Stunning.

4.5

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.”

__________________________________________Beer HERE

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That’s Maria Devan. In the picture. Between the two guys.

 I must admit: being off the grid, running a homebrew competition and work limiting my time to “get down” with the new 2015 BJCP guidelines, I never had much of a chance to comment. My fault. My loss.
  After all the vetting there’s not much I can say that would have much affect, but I know everyone at the BJCP has been turning blue, still holding their breath, thinking, “But, what does Ken think?”
  Yes, that sarcasm nugget was aimed at myself.
 So, like the white rabbit in Alice, since I’m beyond “late” for that review date, I think my commentary time would be best spent making suggestions on how to live with, how to view, how to use, and a valuable way to learn, the new guidelines.
  First, let me recommend a concept to homebrew clubs that the Clarksville (TN) Carboys are working on. Last Saturday (11/14/15), during the monthly meetings, we took examples of 2015 category 2 and sampled them while looking over the guidelines. Some categories may be tough to do this with, like category 3: Czech lagers. Finding examples may be tough, especially in more rural regions. I would say, ”brew it yourself then compare,” but considering the cost, the effort, and how tough some of these styles are to brew right, not sure how useful that advice might be. Continue reading “A Beer Judge’s Diary: Preparing to Judge Using the 2015 Guidelines”

Profiled by Maria Devan

Pours dark brown with a tan creamy head that clings and leaves lace.

Nose is coffee, light brown sugar, dark fruit, nuts and caramel. Light pepper from hops.

Taste is mellow as some bold coffee without bitterness comes across the palate smooth and with the nutty taste of caramel. Low diacetyl presence. Soft creamy mouthfeel shows you roasty malt and a dry-ish finish. Light cream to lingers with firm caramel as hops balance the beer perfectly with a moderate bitterness.

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.”

____________________________________Beer HERE

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Maria Devan lives in Ithaca, NY and is a great beer writer. She has regular beer Sundays where she profiles brews, reviews brews online with homebrewers and other beer community connected bloggers. She’s judged beer at a homebrew competition and been a steward. And she’s kind of short. But that’s OK.

Written by Tom Becham

In years past, I have made several visits to see family in Arkansas. Until just two years ago, what greeted me in the central portion of that state – around Little Rock and Hot Springs – was what I call a Beer Desert. That has changed. While the northwest corner of the state, home to Fayetteville and the huge University of Arkansas campus, has been fully aboard the craft beer train for awhile now, the rest of the state seems to have caught up with it.
Continue reading “Beer in Central Arkansas”

      The Topic: The Corporate Mugging of Craft Beer

 “Fascism should more appropriately be called Corporatism because it is a merger of state and corporate power”
― Benito Mussolin

 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. This edition of Brew Biz also appears as an edition of Inspection, another column by Ken Carman. This is by request of the author who feels this topic goes beyond beer.

 When beer boards, or government, and big corporations, join hands: especially to decide what the public can/can’t have, and to help hinder, even crush, small business, that’s certainly yet another step closer to “fascism….” -Moi’

 Can anyone tell me what’s good about the recent purchase of SBMiller by Bud’s owner, InBev? Context: I mean “good” for the consumer, beer lovers, beer world, healthy competition, less big corporate influence in politics, less corporate attempts to squash the multitude of small breweries, brewpubs, employees… not just “good for” management, corporately corrupted beer boards, CEOs or stockholders. Continue reading “Brew Biz: Werts and All”

My last beer to end the weekend tasting festivities. A happy hello to Monday and cheers to you all!

Profiled by Maria Devan

Brooklyn uses the word nimble to describe this beer and I think it’s the perfect word to do it. Pours the darkest brown with a with a glowing tint from ruby. Fat tan head that fell slowly to cling and leave lace. Nose is hop prominent alright! At least at first it is because ti’s so fresh. they seem to burst forth.. Beautiful spice and floral from those noble hops. They shimmer even on the nose. A fruitiness that smells fresh and vibrant and a firm hop herbal that is just darn sexy. The malt that seemed shy at first keeps coming forward until you have earthy coffee, bread like pumpernickel. Flavor is mellow earthy and round. Those abundantly fragrant hops are much lighter on the palate but the herbal is the most forward flavor from them. Peppery. Coffee and a tempting dryness from the malt. Here is the part that I think is nimble. It’s so dry as to show itself off. A touch nutty, toasty and all that bread. The bitterness int he flavor is just a light touch from both hops and the malt itself and that highlights the earthy coffee . It also shows me some very smooth richness from the malt that is not caramel. Oh boy! It finishes like silk with only a tickle from bubbles and gives up some bitter chocolate in the last moments. No harshness, no astringency, no diacetyl. Lingers leisurely and shows you a last peek at those hops and all that roastiness. Just a light residual sweetness. Nimble indeed and very hearty while showing a subtle richness underneath that is the very expression of the black beer. Classic and extremely well done.

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.”

________________________________________Beer HERE

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Maria Devan lives in Ithaca, NY and is a great beer writer. She has regular beer Sundays where she profiles brews, reviews brews online with homebrewers and other beer community connected bloggers. She’s judged beer at a homebrew competition and been a steward. And she’s kind of short. But that’s OK.

Profiled by Maria Devan

The oatmeal stout is like the plane jane of stouts. A lower abv and not ususally put into barrels or has anything flashy added to it.

The color is a dark brown and if you will note the range in color on the srm chart for this style can go from 22 all the way to 40. I would say this one is a 36/37. Thick creamy khaki head that persisits and refreshes itself with each tip. Clarity is good.

Nose is roasted grains and rich little bit of coffee and cream. A faint light sweetness on the nose. They used lactose in this so that is cheating but it smells authentic. A little more than a low noble hop on the nose that I think is fresh and so light as to be seductive in this beer but that too deviates from style just a tad. Oats show a bit of soft breadiness and at first there is no fruitiness from malts. Then I think it’s their house yeast giving a grapey fruitiness rather than the dried dark frutiness you usually find in a very low background note in this style. Because it does not seem to make the beer “Belgian” I think it smells and tastes a bit strange. Sweet chocolate.

Smooth flaovor. Roasty and rich with nothing burnt. The hops in this beer are delightful and take their place in the beer without trouncing the other flavors. They are a bright little bit of freshness. A pleasant floral from the bravo and a lightly stem-y herbal from the Styrian Golding. Cocoa powder that is less sweet on the palate as it is on the nose adds a bit of complexity. Slickness on the tongue and in the finish from the oats and even though they used lactose I think the sweetness is in check. A subtle bitterness from the hops and a touch of dryness from the roast finish this one creamy, full bodied, balanced and it does not linger long in the aftertaste. They used midnight wheat in this beer and that adds a bitterless, dark color to beer with hints of roast depending on how much you use. It also is said to finish exceptionally clean and I think they used it to smooth any astringency from the oats that would gather in the finish. There was none. As it warms the dark fruit starts to emerge. it is not well defined so you cant say raisin or this or that and it remains in the background. Becomes more nutty from the oats as it warms.

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.”

_____________________________________Beer HERE

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Maria Devan lives in Ithaca, NY and is a great beer writer. She has regular beer Sundays where she profiles brews, reviews brews online with homebrewers and other beer community connected bloggers. She’s judged beer at a homebrew competition and been a steward. And she’s kind of short. But that’s OK.

 I chose my column: A Beery Good Story, to publish this because that column is more about a “story,” and this is about more than judging, or even running a competition. It’s about helping brewers and a community. And I think next year the potential is even greater if we have a popular, yet one with local impact, cause we can support with a modest entry fee once we combine it with local arts group at The View and their beerfest.

Written by Ken Carman

 I think I started planning this competition 10 years ago. Knowing the Central Adirondacks had little contact with homebrew related events, no craft brewery and little craft beer: in comparison, I first imagined hordes of homebrewers floating down Stillwater Reservoir on the tour boat run by the Thompson family and staying in a rented cabin, a motel room or the hotel.
  It would have been like a weekend bonanza for homebrewers, stewards and judges.
  Gee, think I might be prone to making things difficult for myself? Try to fly over too high a bar?
  Duh.
  It took a few years, but I moved away from that concept because getting brewers up there just to have free beer, for a brew weekend, no matter how much I offered, just didn’t work. I did come close. One club was lined up but, unbeknownst to me, they had a change in management mid discussions and somehow the info got lost. So I was stuck with lots of burgers and beer. Continue reading “A Beer-y Good Story: Postscript… Old Forge BIG Beer and Odd Ale”