A Place to Gather and Talk
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”
Happy New Beer Sunday!
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.
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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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Maria. There once was a beer judge, steward, beer writer, Ithaca living, hill walking up and down-er to her apartment, gal named MARIA!
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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Maria 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.
Ghana, a small nation nestled between the Ivory Coast and Togo, offers a thriving nightlife and delicious, delirious drinks, but you have to know where to go. Luckily, I was visiting my American friend and her Ghanaian husband, who is a prominent member of the Ga tribe, in the capital city of Accra. He knew the town like a priest knows the Bible, and I was promised a fun night out.
Little did I know how it would end.
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I stole the pictures for this edition from my own articles because I was too busy judging, organizing and freaking out from time to time, to take pictures… as you shall soon read, hopefully laugh about, and wonder, “How did he get himself into THIS mess?” Story of my life. It’s a good story… mostly.
Last year our entries were about 25: depends on how you count the extra bottle someone sent us that was packed, and entered, as if it were as different entry. Yet it had the same name, same brewer and, when sampled, we determined had to be the same entry… a judgement call the brewer never disputed after post competition contact. I haven’t counted this years yet: all the information I need is about 10 miles away and my place has no roads going to it. I believe we had about 40. We almost doubled the entry level. Continue reading “A Beer Judge’s Diary: Old Forge BIG Beer and Odd Ale Competition”
I have never, ever, canned out on a homebrew competition, and I am glad to have made this one. The original set up was simple: I had drop off points in Erie and Buffalo for The Old Forge BIG Beer and I would use that as an excuse to do what I really love to do: judge. Immediately it started to fall apart: no entries in Erie and, at the same time, I found out my friend Dave, near Rochester, couldn’t let me crash on his couch.
Thankfully my friend, ex-captain of the Starship Quandary in the Wort galaxy and fellow judge, Tim Belczak, plus his, oh, so patient wife Cheryl, allowed me to crash there two nights. They even introduced me to their two in house gremlins: Dax and Drew… who look a lot better, and nothing like, the picture to your right from Gremlins 2. But they were as entertaining, as energetic: in far better, and nicer, ways. We didn’t even have to get those gremlins wet, or wait until after midnight, for them to be entertaining.
If you haven’t seen the movies, never mind. But if you haven’t seen the sequel do 
track it down. Nothing like a herd (Herd? Bunch? A… MURDER???) of gremlins doing a Busby Berkeley routine while singing New York, New York in Grand Central Station.
Drew and Dax were the life of the party. Smart kids. Soon mom and dad will go, “Huh? What?” I’m betting Dax, or Drew, will be a Grand Master before you, or me, Tim. (Safe bet with me!) Continue reading “A Beer Judge’s Diary: HAZtoberfest”
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