Category: Beer

Written by Ken Carman for PGA

 By the mid-90s my tours as a children’s entertainer an educational service provider had reached as far as Lafayette, LA and Portland, Maine area. Summer, I’m guessing 97 or 98, I was sitting in Shipyard’s brewpub: Federal Jack’s, in Kennebunkport, Maine, looking at very expensive sailboats sail in and out of the inner bay, probably sipping on an Old Thumper, among other quaffs.
  I’ll be honest: I was not impressed, not even in 98. Continue reading “A Beer-y for a Good Story: Federal Jack’s, Shipyard and Old Thumper”

Profiled by Maria Devan for PGA

Pours gold with good clarity and some bubbles are seen rising to the top. A fat head of white foam that leaves a ring and some lacing.

Nose is not remarkable. It’s clean. Not even too much malty scent. Just a bit of malt scent and some mild hop grass.

No fruity esters at all. Faint bit of musky spice as it warms. The taste is smooth mild and very even. Hops balance this one unobtrusively for a bready but light taste. The mouthfeel is medium and has some good bite from carbonation. The spice is as much a part of the mouthfeel as are the bubbles and I like that. The malt is bready but not too sweet. Finishes clean and dry with no fruit flavors at all. There is a bit of sweet grass in the drink but it too is very mild. The hops become a bit floral and perfumey as it drinks and it tickles the back palate with that spice and dry bread.

I really like it.

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.

  I’m gearing up for a competition I imagined, I registered, I have had to reimagine and also figure out how NOT to know who entered so I might be available to judge. I’m the head bottle washer, chef, purchasing agent…
  The Old Forge Old Ale Competition is all high gravity, collapsed category, so obviously I am very much in favor of collapsing categories. There are just some that shouldn’t be combined, and some you should be careful with.
  I understand: you have just so many entries, so sometimes it’s necessary. But Stout and Porter? Really? The problem here is they are so similar, yet obviously not, and the distinctiveness of each need not be lost. If nothing else we must be real careful with collapsed categories, especially when judging with newbies. At one competition, as head of the table, I had to remind them several times, “Uh, folks? We’ve switched categories.” Continue reading “A Beer Judge’s Diary”

Profiled by Maria Devan for PGA

Pours a cloudy and beautiful pale yellow with a short head of loose white foam that falls fast and does not leave any lace. The middle of the beer seems to glow a bit with a light as it passes through the haze.

The nose is graceful and has the malt up front. Wheat sweetness with a bit of the coriander laid in earthy. So it’s what but a bit edgy. There’s chamomile and that’s floral and sweet. There’s a soft breath of lemongrass faintly in the background and the orange peel comes up earthy to the nose as well.

The taste is subtle but spicy. As the ingredients combine they create a very unique flavor. The what is dry and crisp, the chamomile floral and sweet the lemon grass is also faint on the palate. The surprise is the subtle and gentle orange. it’s not loud but it is powerful. It too has an earthiness but it brings the sweetness of the orange t the drink in a way that is light yet juicy. Drinks softly and pleasantly. Crisp lager carbonation that is perfect with a just enough bite.

The mouthfeel is somewhat creamy in defiance of the spicy character.

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

This poured a light amber gold with a fat creamy head of white foam. Clear and had bubbles rising to the top. Lovely presentation. You could call it glorious.

The nose is sweetened grain. it has a richness on the nose that is deep. A slight hop herbal grass to sweeten it. It drinks well. Hearty grain, dry and robust with plenty of depth and the hops are accents.

They add some sweet herbal grass to the palate for definition and depth.

The beer has a medium mouthfeel and is not shy. I would call it forceful in it’s malt stature. The malt is the drink.

It’s pleasing and leaves with a slight bit of dryness and maybe an earthiness that you could call bitter. This was made by a Thai brewer who got his training in Germany and it’s evident in this beer. Tall golden liquid grain with a an enthusiastic and crisp presence.

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.

Reviewed by Maria Devan for PGA

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 almost completely black but when held to the light does present a dark brown with a flash of crimson hue. That underscores the idea of clarity in this beer. I tried to capture in photographs that when held to the light the beer seems to shine inexplicably. The head fell reasonably fast and left a bit of lace and a thin ring.

The nose is malty and bread-y. A sweet caramel and no fruit.

Taste is clean and clear, crisp yet creamy. Some lovely malty sweetness that has soft breadth in the glass. It has caramel but that is not over the top of the original malty sweetness from the roast. It has a thinnish body so it drinks easily and although the carbonation is ample it does not bite. Drinks clearly and decisively. Soft dark bread with a bit of crust but nothing burnt. No char or ash. A becoming sweetness and a smooth body. The hops are quiet and serene. This dries out slowly with a touch of the roast and bread to linger amidst a subtle and gentle bitter. It is as though those hops are merely breath on the beer.

Excellent and drinks without too much sweetness. A good black lager.

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.

The Beer Diviner, Junction NY Routes 22 & 43 (15950 NYS Rt. 22), Stephentown, New York (Might also be listed as “Cherry Plain, NY.” (518) 658-0299
thebeerdiviner.com

Written by Ken Carman for professorgoodales.net

The Beer Diviner: A Short New Brew Biz Alert

 My brother lives in Glens Falls, NY area, I was in Becket, Mass.: the Berkshires. Since I live in Tennessee, and we live so far apart, I took a Saturday and drove up Route 22: a route that snuggles up to Vermont and Massachusetts as if they were intimate lovers involved in an odd threesome.
 Most New Yorkers would wonder why I didn’t take the Thruway. It’s personal: I try to avoid what I call the Stealway. I think the state has been milking it far too long after previous promises to make it toll free. It’s also one of the worst interstates, condition-wise, I traverse yearly from Florida to Maine. It also ruins business: Mass made their turnpike free through the Berkshires for many years and it helped business. Upstate NY: the Mohawk Valley, has had no such luck… and has desperately needed since at least I lived there in the mid 70s.
 But the discoveries one finds getting off the sleep inducing four, sometimes plus, lane zoom, zoom makes it all worth it! This is where the real New York is… along with new businesses like The Beer Diviner.
 It was late Saturday I had a brief moment to stop and, for various reasons, could only buy a few bottles and have two small samples. Of course the brewer wasn’t in and I found out they brew elsewhere on a 2 barrel system Would be hard to put it in that small house, eh? Continue reading “Brew Biz: Werts and All”