Category: Beer

Thanks Terry Urbanik for the chance to try this wonderful beer.

Pours perfect yellow amber with a fat creamy head of foam that lasts and leaves a bit of lace before receding to a thin ring. Looks perfectly clear at first glance but then reveals some very tiny particles floating in suspension. By the time I am done with the glass they are gone. The beer has some small bubbles floating upwards.

The nose is lovely bright lemon that becomes sweeter and more bountiful as the beer warms. That is met by a bright bit of orange.

Lovely combination on a soft and subtle sugar cookie malt. Light as your grandmother would make. There is a serenity in this malt that is both delicate and crisp. It verges on so many things but stays true to it’s simplicity always . Light spice as the beer comes toward the finish which is delightfully light and dry. West coast style mouthfeel all the way and the only real weight in the mouthfeel is from the alcohol which is not on the palate. Brilliant! Then just as you think it’s almost done a small stickiness comes over the palate and a bit of pine. Nothing too forceful now, just some light lip smacking delight. There is a lovely bitter to end this beer that really does linger a bit and showcase all that delicate flavor but it also brings out the tartness of the lemon.

I love this and think it’s extremely well crafted. It has every measure of an IPA but not in copious amounts. It does not run roughshod over your palate it is subtle and perfectly balanced. The malt in this is superb and I wish I could describe it’s grace better. The lightness and the crispness of it. Reminds me of a lemon drop candy by the end.

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

Maria Devan lives in Ithaca, NY and is frequent reviewer of beer and a beer lover deluxe.

As with any adventure in life, there’s always a background story…

 I started liking: really “liking,” beer in late 1972 when my first college friend, Dave, brought me to a bar with dark beer. It was probably mostly food coloring, but I think it was an ale. Or was it Dave sharing his love for Genny Bock? A lager, but more malt, and a hint more malt complexity. For the time? A lot. Remember this was a time when Bud-like beer really was king, and almost every brewer on the east coast was generally doing what now would be considered almost a clone of Bud, Miller, Schaefer… With recipe changes even Ballantine was fading into yet another, “So what?”
 When I got married in my hometown at Big Moose Chapel my father-in-law had them bring in Heinekin Dark. For the Central Adirondacks: especially Big Moose, this was real exotic. By the time I went home again I found out the Big Moose bars had started stocking Heineken Dark. Even compared with the rest of the Adirondacks, the Central Adirondacks always seemed to have been a tad slow to bring in what we now call “craft beer.” And homebrew? Well, even these days I’ve had to go to Watertown or Syracuse for supplies.
 So I decided to start a competition.
 Location was problematic. I thought at first we’d do it in Beaver River: bring them down the reservoir in style on the Norridgewock Riverboat, stay at my cabin and the local hotel or motel. We’re a tiny community with no roads going to it on the eastern end of the Stillwater Reservoir. What an adventure! Continue reading “A Beer Judge’s Diary: The Old Forge Old Ale Competition, Part 1”

Written by Ken Carman for PGA

The Topic: Beaver River Bootlegger’s Yeast

 I could be admitting to a high crime for my community here. The punishment: my property could be confiscated. In our deeds here at Beaver River there’s a phrase that states anyone caught brewing or distilling can have their property taken away. I asked Scott Thompson: a member of a five generation Beaver River family, and fellow wise… guy, about that and we agreed it was probably put in the deeds by his grandfather, or great grandfather during Prohibition.
  And I asked, “Because he wanted everyone to stay above the law, right?”
  He chuckled, “No, he probably didn’t want the competition.”
  Then he added, “I don’t care if you brew back here.
  But let’s just add to my story that all this kind of, sort of, happened somewhere else, OK?
  We have green apples growing here in Beaver River. Not sure what type they are: they’re not really “green,” or “crab,” since they turn somewhat red in spots when completely ripe. The tree across the tracks has apples that turn totally red. I suspect they are of a different variety.
  The apples closest to my Anywhere But Beaver River Brewery are a grand mix between a nice shade of sour and slightly sweet. I’ve been attempting various versions of… “making cider…” out of them over the years. This year I bought a small fruit press, tired of the very inefficient potato masher mashing method.

Continue reading “Brew Biz: Werts and All”

Chris McQuistion measuring dry yeast to prime our bottling sugar mixture. This was the special sideways room that defies gravity so it facilitates great yeast growth. Uh, actually we had no way to turn the picture here at PGA, so just blame it on us.

Written by Jerry Buckley

It has been well said and oft repeated that “necessity is the mother of invention”. It may also be fairly postulated that “laziness is the mother of discovery”. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy brew day: the pre-game putting together of the grain bill and the coming together of a plan; the soothing smells of grains mashing and wort boiling, the feel-good mojo of creating an enjoyable end product from scratch. But at another level, I don’t wish the brew day experience to be any more time-consuming or difficult (not to mention expensive) than needs be. Continue reading “OctoberTest”

Profiled by Maria Devan for Professor Goodales

Pours a rich and dark. If it’s not completely black it may as well be because there are no hues and no edges. A thick creamy head of mocha colored foam graces the beer and lasts. leaves lace and plenty of bubbles to linger on top.

Nose is deep roast. Soft bready-ness with a caramel backing. Some bright dark fruits and a sweet bit of chocolate. There is a powerful vanilla on the nose but as fragrant as it is it does not dominate.

Taste is supple and full roast. Chocolate and a bit of nuttiness greets the palate. There’s a surprisingly bright dark fruit. This malt is substantial and faintly acrid. There is a smoothness to the flavors form the vanilla which is light on the palate. Creamy full mouthfeel with a touch of it’s weight from alcohol. The alcohol is a light warmth as this one finishes bitter with a only a small measure of the sweetness to linger.

Bold as brass!

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

Maria Devan lives in Ithaca, NY and is frequent reviewer of beer and a beer lover deluxe.

Profiled by Maria Devan for PGA

Pours a fiery copper orange. This beer is aglow with light and with radiance. A fat tan head of foam fell well and left a ring and some spots of lace to look at. Inside the glass it is as serene as a perfect pane of colored glass.

The nose is bready. Dark crusty bread that is lightly toasted. There is a baked grain sweetness on this plus a sweetness from caramel. No fruity esters, no hops, wonderfully clean.

Taste is tantalizing and smooth. All that malt but no heaviness. The body is thin and the lighter side of medium,. The malt is crisp. A brief hint of chocolate comes out as it warms but remains largely and delightfully unfullfilled. It envelops the palate just as it’s light sweetness comes up to rescue you. The finish on this one is malty, breaddy and dry with a light touch of bitterness from subtle hops. Perfect.

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

Maria Devan lives in Ithaca, NY and is frequent reviewer of beer and a beer lover deluxe.

Profiled by Maria Devan for PGA

Pours a lovely mahogany with a ruby hue. A fat creamy head of tan foam that fell fast but I tasted some and it was darn creamy. Clear and beautiful beer.

Nose is roast, toast a bit of fruit and a bit of coffee. A hint of nuttiness and toffee that comes forward as the beer warms. Taste is mild, roast with an almost burnt edge to it and a slight bitterness. Toast that is bread-y but the bready-ness does not become heavy.

Smooth coffee flavor and a hoppy bitterness on the tongue but it has no real flavor if you know what I mean.. Light nutty flavor at first that turns to toffee and nuts as it warms. Easy drinking good character. There is an overall fruity backnote to this beer that I found lovely. Finishes with a malty sweetness to bring it home and a bit of slickness from the medium mouthfeel.

Best I have had of this beer in quite a while. Good job Ithaca.

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

Maria Devan lives in Ithaca, NY and is frequent reviewer of beer and a beer lover deluxe.

Written by Tom Becham for PGA

Please be aware that my upcoming reviews of gluten-free beers are at the request of a friend. Since that request, I have also discovered more people than I knew of also wanted such reviews.

After my most recent experience with the gluten-free NGB Lager from Minhas Craft Brewing, I never thought I’d be writing a decent review of a GF beer. Certainly never imagined I would write a review of two of them from the same brewer, and find positive things to say about them both.

First, let me say that my experience with NGB Lager was instructive. It taught me that gluten-free beers tend to have a certain flavor profile, as they lack the familiar beery flavors that barley give us.

As well, it would seem that sorghum produces tastes that are sour almost to the point of being astringent. However, skillful use of rice, millet and/or buckwheat can moderate the odd sorghum flavor palette. Clearly, a reviewer should suspend his normal expectations of beer when reviewing gluten-free brews.

It seems that Green’s Brewery, the maker of these two beers, is a subsidiary of Belgian brewer De Proef. De Proef has an excellent reputation amongst beer geeks, and produces a number of unusual brews, many of them either experimental, or of very obscure styles. So, I had hope for the Green’s beers.

It seems that hope was not misplaced.
Continue reading “Beer Reviews by Tom Becham”