Category: Beer

Profiled by Maria Devan

Let’s make it a three beer sunday today. Ok I am deliberately putting this beer between my other beer and my first beer. Why? Not because the brewer was a woman and not because she was formerly with Leifmans who makes kriek that has gone into Ommegang beers before. I am doing it because I have noticed a difference in how Ommegang is represented on my local grocery shelf. I also noticed a difference in the styles they are making I am missing hennepin in four packs and frankly everything Belgian seems to be disappearing in favor of American styles which I can get from anyone. I am not known for being diplomatic.

OK Rosetta is a lambic and the word kriek means cherry.

Pours orangey brownish with golden hues in it. Then you will ntoice a blush from the cherries. No tint in the head. Good clarity fast falling head. No hops no diacetyl.

Big cherry scent! Ripe plump black cherries. It’s not straight up barnyard but what is missing from all ommegangs american beers is funkiness. This beer is earthy. A little twang like a sourish scent on the nose. Wet hay a touch of cracker, a little bit of funk that actually tickles the nose. Berries, airy wood.

Taste is cherries with a little bit of wood. Light body moderately tart cherry taste backed by a tasteful bit of funk. No diacetyl. Finishes with a good bit of sour to to augment flavors but shows me no vinegar notes. Fruit is sweet, succulent and while this does not make you pucker in a big way, it gives slight acidity that creates exactly the right amount of tension on the palate. Easy enjoyable and fruity beyond my expectations. As it warms it will show you more barnyard but never gives itself away. If you remember from other discussions the historical style point to sours can be found in the milder sours not in the newer ones. Many people have said this is more an oud bruin I disagree as it has no dark fruits in it. Steady mouthwatering and not as souras warheads or as many american sours. Simply makes you pucker a tiny bit like a sweet kiss. Earth and black cherry lingers as it dries. Funk tries to outlast the cherries and as they vie for the last moment it is the cherry that has the last word. Juicy. Low warming quality in the finish. A tiny bite form bubbly carbonation. This is a more delicate approach to sour in beer than the “americans’ usually have. malt actually begins to smell breaddy as it warms . A dark soft bread with sweet cherries in it. Impeccably balanced and quite delectable. Crisp , spicy and finishes with pepper. That pepper is important.Just enough acidity to keep tension on the palate and the mouth watering for more. Not too sweet.

Excellent.

4.5

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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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Maria. That’s Maria. Maria who lives in Ithaca. To the left.

Profiled by Maria Devan

Happy Halloween everyone! Today’s beer is in anticipation of New Beer Sunday and is from the Genessee Brewhouse and it is their Salted Caramel Chocolate Porter. Now the porter is a really good beer with which to observe the changes that happen in beer as it warms. I suggest serving them at cellar not refrigerator temperature and I hope my review will tell you why. It’s best to sip it and let it warm even more.

Pours dark brown and while it does appear to be a bit muddy at first as you start to drink and look straight down into the glass you can see that it’s pretty clear. Thin tan head that fell fast and not too much lacing.

Right out of the refrigerator I smell caramel, sugar, butterscotch and a scent like cheap candy corn. Twiggy woody hops and sweet chocolate. In the tasting straight from the fridge it is sugary, sweet, not complex and tastes a lot like butterscotch. The hop herbal seems to clash with the rest of the beer and the finish is cloying.

After it reaches cellar temp. Nose is roasted malt, caramel and bitter chocolate. The hops stayed the same. Woody, twiggy and a touch of herbal. A lovely and light vanilla. malt is earthy and full on the nose . This beer does actually smell like a hand wrapped chocolate caramel and it was made in collaboration with Hedonist Artisan Chocolates in Rochester NY.

After it warms to cellar temperature the taste is luscious and full. Strong caramel that is not too stiff or heavy. Roasty malt a touch of burnt sugar. No alcohol on the palate. Bitter chocolate wrapped around a salted caramel. I have no earthly clue how they got it to taste like that but it does. A deceptively light mouthfeel as though this piece of chocolate candy has melted on your tongue but with a tickle from bubbles it is not heavy at all in the swallow. That woody herbal hop is integral to the taste and only by comparing how it stood out at first and now seems to have blended in will you notice what a good choice of hop it was for this beer. Slight bitterness as it accumulates on the palate with each sip to reveal all that silken and smooth flavor. There is a slight moment of residual sugar in the finish but that is far from what it was ice cold.

This is my first offering from the Genesee Brewhouse Collection and it’s everything people have said it is. Excellent!

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.”

_______________________________________Beer HERE

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Maria. That’s Maria. Maria who lives in Ithaca. Between the two guys. To the left.

Profiled by Ken Carman

For our homebrew competition: Old Forge BIG Beer and Odd Ale Competition, Saranac gave us glasses, openers and five four packs of High Peaks. High Peaks is Saranac’s extreme, high abv, occasionally one off brews, and whatever pushs style boundaries. Here were the 5…

Imperial IPA
Clouded Dream: wheat beer with spices. We thought more a Saison, than a Belgian White.
Immortality: an “imperial amber” with German malts and local hops
Tramonay: brewed with grapes and a Belgian yeast
Imperial IPA
Single Malt: Scotch Ale aged in bourbon barrels

Here was our preference…

Single Malt
Tramonay
Clouded Dream
Imperial IPA
Immortality

The last 3 were a close call, to be honest.

As beer judges an “imperial amber” is beyond a contradiction in terms. The German malt: interesting, somewhat unique, but not that impressive. The Imperial IPA was really just a great IPA. Yes, like the Immortality, the abv was popped up just a hint, but “Imperial?” Not really. Clouded Dream was exactly as advertised just, once again, not that interesting. Just a hint more interesting than the other.

Let’s be clear: all were brewed professionally, carbonation perfect, clarity, except Dreams, perfect. The mouthfeel, excepting low abv sense, about what they should have had. It’s just if you’re going to compete with Sierra, Dogfish and Rogue, well, timidity isn’t the best approach.

Both of the top two were perfectly balanced, obvious high abv, and we really wanted to have Tramonay as the top. It is INCREDIBLE. Wine-like, smooth, hint of sweet yet not anywhere near cloying, this is a unique quaff. The body is medium yet the bourbon sweetness pushed on by the grape-sense dominates the mouth: demanding, insistent.

Here’s the problem: while more unique, quite pleasing, and the Single Malt is something many other brewers are doing slight versions of, this recipe for an 80/Scotch Strong is perfect. I would have problem at the judging table keeping my score below 45. I think in my 16 year judging career I may be able to count on one hand, at best two, any entries that have received anything above 45, 50 being the top. I’d have to see Mother Mary and she gives me the best… I’ve ever had to give a 50. Well, maybe a 49 and she’s have to grant me an eternity of?

Single Malt is just incredible, yet simple, exciting, yet right in there with what has become a standard of the craft beer world’s variations on classic styles.

Single Malt: 4.8
Tramonay: 4.7
Clouded Dreams: 4.2
Imperial IPA: 4
Immortality: 3.9 (Minus .1 only for being annoying)

BUT, since all were 4 or above, except one so close it can taste 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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Ken Carman. What can we say about Ken Carman? Not much.

Ithaca 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

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

Written by Ken Carman

  I bought The Great Chocolate Wreck by Good Nature Brewing, out of Hamilton, NY, with the intent of doing a PGA profile and to serve at my beer tasting in Beaver River I do every Labor Day weekend. So I had two champagne bottles. The first was interesting: a complex quaff with a little roasted barley to define the style (RIS), tons of malt, I suspect, of various types on the roast scale and tons of tons of chocolate, including the sensations of cocoa nibs, milk, bakers, dark… every chocolate known to humankind. Just a hint of over the top ABV. Continue reading “A Beer-y Good Story: Un-Wrecking the Wreck”

Written by Tom Becham

In 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”

Written by Ken Carman

 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: Old Forge Brewfest

 Looks cold, doesn’t it?
 Although this picture of the North Street Pavilion: down towards the old airport, courtesy the Adirondack Weekly, was taken at a different, more winter-y, time, the scene the day of the first annual BrewFest in Old Forge, NY, was similar. A snow squall kicked up and it reminded me of many days spent in the winter-y Dacks, past tense.
 Being BJCP beer judges, members of several homebrew clubs, having poured for many festivals, and one of us a former Old Forge area resident, of course we volunteered to pour. This was run by The View and I was amazed they got over 40 breweries the first year, and a bit busy because we poured for many different breweries: hence less pictures than I would like.
 Barkeater, Fulton Chain Brewery, Saranac, Sierra Nevada, Browns, Founders, Ithaca Brewing, Lake Placid, Ommegang… just to mention a few. There were two big areas where multiple tables had been put together, and a few off to the side. Continue reading “Brew Biz: Werts and All”

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”