Category: Beer

Beer Term ‘O the Day: Solventlike (sal’-vent-layk) Flavor and aromatic character similar to acetone or lacquer thinner, often due to high fermentation temperatures.

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J… a… m…e… s V… i… s…g… e… r. That’s how it’s spelled. Just in case you flunked spelling.

Raise by vampires, James never picked up his host’s taste for blood. Instead he veered towards beer, and is a fine beer judge, president of Clarksville Carboys, Clarksville, Tennessee. And if you haven’t figured out these profiles yet, yes, we were joking about vampires. His parents were grand folks.

Beer Term ‘O the Day: Chill haze. a haziness in beer caused by the precipitate formed when a beer is refrigerated. Many homebrewers let the boiling wort cool overnight in a sealed, sanitized container, then pitch yeast the next day. When this is done, the beer will always have a chill haze because the haze-forming compounds will have remained in solution. A good rule is to boil it as hard as you can, then chill it as quickly as you can. That and the use of a finning like Irish moss will get the proteins and tannins to drop out in the brew kettle.

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James Visger. What can we say about him? Nothing. That’s all.

OK. We’re kidding. James and Jami live in Clarksville, Tennessee. James is president of The Clarksville Carboys and a BJCP beer judge.

Beer Term ‘O the Day: BJCP (Beer Judge Certification Program)
Encourage knowledge, understanding, and appreciation of the world’s diverse beer, mead, and cider styles;
Promote, recognize, and advance beer, mead, and cider tasting, evaluation, and communication skills; and
Develop standardized tools, methods, and processes for the structured evaluation, ranking and feedback of beer, mead, and cider.

We certify and rank beer judges through an examination and monitoring process, sanction competitions, and provide educational resources for current and future judges.

The BJCP was founded in 1985 and has administered the Beer Judge Examination to 8,632 individuals worldwide. 5,137 are currently active judges in the program, with 771 holding the rank of National or higher. Since we started keeping detailed records, our members have judged over 1,041,977 beers and we have sanctioned over 6,527 competitions.

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James Visger, more powerful than a very loco, locomotive, able to leap pint glasses with a few attempts… Nah, he’s from Clarksville, TN and presidente’ of The Clarksville Carboys. We just like teas\ing our writers here at PGA.

Beer Term ‘O the Day: BIAB. Brew in a Bag (BIAB) all grain beer brewing is a new method for all grain brewing that originated in Australia. BIAB is an inexpensive way to for homebrewers to transition to all grain or partial mash brewing. Brewers also enjoy brew in a bag methods for the shorter setup, brewing and cleanup times.

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James Visger leads a secret life as a beer spy. Like a kind troll, he lives under a fermentation tanks and sprinkles goodness into brew tanks world wide. All of that was a lie. James lives in Clarksville, Tennessee, he’s president of the Clarksville Carboys, and grand guy.

Beer Term ‘O the Day: Fermax. A premium formulation. Fermax Yeast Nutrient gives nourishment to your yeast so that it stays healthy throughout the fermentation process. Used in beer, wine, mead, etc. to produce healthy yeast for a complete fermentation. Use 1 teaspoon per gallon prior to fermentation beginning (usually added at the last 15 minutes of the boil). I use it in big beers… the yeast has to be super healthy as when beer produces alcohol… it is killing itself off… otherwise you might end up short of your final gravity leaving your beer with a lot of unfermented sugars. Also, meads where there is little nutrients for the yeast. I don’t use it for my normal OG beers as there is sufficient nutrients in the wort and my yeast starter is healthy.

We’re sorry. The blurb you have contacted about James is busy right now. Please try latter. Much latter.

No? Well, if you MUST. James lives in Clarksville, Tennessee, he’s a beer judge, and president of Clarksville Carboys.

Beer Term ‘O the Day: Toasted Malt. Pale malt kilned for 10-15 minutes @ 350 degrees to impart a toasted aroma to beer.

James Visger lives in Clarksville, TN. He’s a BJCP beer judge and president of The Clarksville Carboys. He probably eats Wheaties, or Cheerios, all to disquise he’s from the planet Vishnu. (Curious question, Hindus. Why have you never told us what Vish knew?)

Written by Ken Carman

The Topic: Of Homebrew Competition Conversations and The War of the Wort 2015

  This is at least the third time we’ve driven to Starkville, Mississippi to judge at the War of the Worts. It’s certainly not convenient distance-wise. WOW is almost 300 miles away, and there’s no direct way there.
  Part of the reason we keep going is obviously amenities. Judges, and stewards, who drive long distances often have to pay for pricey motel rooms, maybe even drive when they probably shouldn’t. At the War of the Worts they have free, on the property, rooms.
  But that’s not our favorite. It’s a small competition, which we seem to prefer, and time at breakfast, dinner, lunch, then breakfast again where judges from many areas compare notes. And we have been getting to know each other over the years. Continue reading “A Beer Judge’s Diary: War of the Wort 2015”

Profiled by Maria Devan

Pours golden yellow with a white head.

Nose is citrusy, sweet and floral. Comes together on the palate like a spiked lemony sugar cookie blast with a strong bitter to finish it.

Forceful and well made.

I paired this with two dishes. A light salad with apples and a lemon dressing and some home made breaded chicken with a sweet chili and lime dipping sauce.

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, is a great beer writer, rides elephants on roller skates from atop the hill where she lives and should be a beer judge. That last part is true, the one before: NOT.

Beer Term ‘O the Day: Chill haze. a haziness in beer caused by the precipitate formed when a beer is refrigerated. Many homebrewers let the boiling wort cool overnight in a sealed, sanitized container, then pitch yeast the next day. When this is done, the beer will always have a chill haze because the haze-forming compounds will have remained in solution. A good rule is to boil it as hard as you can, then chill it as quickly as you can. That and the use of a fining, like Irish moss, will get the proteins and tannins to drop out in the brew kettle.

James Visger lives in Clarksville, TN. He’s a BJCP beer judge and president of The Clarksville Carboys. His wife’s name is Jami. We have no idea what the name of the gerbil is who has been stalking him.

The Topic: FastFerment Review

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 writing on beer-related topics, and interviewing professional brewers all over the east coast, for over 15 years.

  I must admit as homebrewers my wife Millie, and I, are more than a bit dated. We started brewing when it was made legal in 1979. We had moved to Nashville the year before and one of my jobs was as a security guard.
  My multiple security guard assignments included the many buildings that were part of the Green Hills Mall complex, one which was also home at the time to Lil’ Ole Winemaker: the first post legalization homebrew store in Nashville.
  I had learned to love the darker, stronger, more complex beers after several visits to Canada and simply couldn’t find the kind of brews I craved in the Bud/Miller dominated 70s. So homebrewing was almost a necessity. Continue reading “Brew Biz: Werts and All”