Category: Beer

Profiled by Ken Carman for professorgoodales.net

Light brown head: rock mixed with pillow. Obsidian. Roasted barley up front but not too much to be problematic. This is a beer worthy of the heroic dog it was named after. Sent into space, Laika was a struggling street dog who was taken from trash barrels in the old USSR where life was tough tough to begin with unless you were highly placed in the party, taken from a street life of scraps. Then he was trained, not that he needed a lot of training. Everyone who worked with him said he was brilliant. Brilliant even for some humans. He died in space because they didn’t know how to bring him back. That sucks!

Nice full mouthfeel with a sturdy abv to support. Carbonation light but perfect. Head holds and slowly fades. The pale malt plus roasted barley mix is perfect: not that much of “other” malt sense. Hint of sour, as per Guinness. Foam tingles the mustache as it gently glides over the palate.

Taste is a nice roasted barley mix with malt intensity. I would call it roasted barley, mostly… with just a hint of sour. Hint of sharp hop bitter balanced with malt sweetness: the balance here is superb. This is what a Russian Imperial should be. There are obvious sweet unfermented sugars, but: in the background.

From Straight to Ale out of Huntsville, Alabama. I will have to check this out. Sweet Magnolia is great, But this is impressive!

Welcome to the new PGA 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 “prefecto.” This beer was rated…

Written by Tom Becham for professorgoodales.net

Gather any group of drinkers together, and you will no doubt generate some discussion – and disagreement – over the relative merits and drawbacks of any particular alcoholic beverage.

I will admit, that for me, with age comes an ability to find the good points in much anything. While I am first and foremost a Beer-Geek, I can also appreciate a nice merlot with a steak, or port with cheese, or an eiswein with a slice of gateau. There are also times when a sip of a nice single-malt Laphroaig or Talisker seems nigh unto heaven itself.

But bottom line, beer is by far my drink of choice in the majority of circumstances. The first reason is that, being in my mid-40’s, getting drunk is no longer my top priority. Rather, I’d like to simply relax a bit and enjoy the taste of what I’m drinking. So, that knocks out distilled drinks for most intents and purposes.

But why beer over wine?
Continue reading “Beer? Wine? Hard Liquor?”

Profiled by Ken Carman for professorgoodales.net

Pours a hazy, not clear, SRM 3-4: slightly dark urine, or dirty gold if you prefer. Head faded so fast hardly any time to tell. Pinpoint bubble mixed with pillow and big bubbles. Aromatically somewhat grapefruit. Centennial perhaps? Mouthfeel: harsh hop, brash, even astringent. Pale malt base there but hidden.

This is supposed to be their first high grav, high abv, beer. 7.3 and 83 ibu. That’s quite the achievement in Tennessee where we have been fighting stupid, I repeat “stupid,” abv limitation laws for a long time. I am assuming they got a distilling license: another long lasting fight where a local, Nashville, distillery, had to fight for years to get approval for a tasting room.
Continue reading “Beer Profile: Adam Bomb by Blackstone”

Profiled by Ken Carman for professorgoodales.net

Brewed by Oskar Blues Brewing in Colorado. 8.7abv, 60 IBUS.

Red? More like a pale, color-wise, or IPA. Nice head, pillow mixed with slight rock. Head holds. A bit hazy, could be cold chill. Their site lists it as an Imperial Red and a Double IPA. A Double IPA would be hoppier and an Imperial Red should have more “Red,” and even more of a butterscotch, Irish/toffee sense.

Aroma: caramel malt-sense with grapefruit-y-like hops.

Nice full mouthfeel: probably Brit-like malts which can provide body and some unfermentable Slight carbonic tingle as carbonation flows over the tongue with a slight coat.

This really isn’t a red. And there’s a funny buzz going on in the background, taste-wise, that seems to be coming from the hops. A bit grassy is the sense I’m getting and drying on the hops. The “dry’s “OK,” but the grassy? Nah, if this were a fresh hop beer might be more appropriate. More of an IPA.A bit boozy, but the best part of this is the higher abv is well hidden behind the dry and, yes, the grass.

What I think happened here is that they didn’t know what the hell to call it. Really: a beer seeking a style but not quite making it, though IPA with a hidden ABV pop might be closest. Not bad, but there’s far better, and without it being a fresh hop, the grassy might be a bit annoying for those seeking any of the styles they claim that this beer should be.

Welcome to the new PGA 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 “prefecto.” This beer was rated…

ALL 14% higher! One: 57%.

Profiled by Ken Carman for professorgoodales.net

Let’s make this clear from the start: you cannot buy this beer, at least not yet, unless someone sells you one of the few pre-bought bottles. How sad for you.

Rocky head: not a lot in a small glass. The first pour: none. Second: better. Black as midnight.

Bourbon barrel aroma mixed with roasted barley. A little dark chocolate with a bare hint of smoke. There’s a nice sweet sense that I am guessing is from the barrels.

Mouthfeel: just a hint of slick and, again, smoke. Roasted barley sense provided the roast with also a whisper of higher alcohol, but only as expected if placed in a bourbon barrel. 6.2 abv seems about right. The body seems fuller that it really is: probably the bourbon and the nibs helped with that.

I have enjoyed many a beer from Jackalope and seen them grow from using a Brew Magic system where the pale, to provide one example, was pleasant, yet cloudy and even a bit milky… in looks only, to a brewery with nice clear beers that kept the integrity of the original recipes, and then some. But this has to be the best beer ever out of the partnership of Bailey, Steve and Robyn.

This was aged with bacon in a bourbon barrel. The bourbon taste, and sweetness, are obvious, yet not cloying. The bacon is more background, but murmurs in the background, almost like the gentler ghosts from The Sixth Sense. Cocoa nibs (I’ve seen this spelled “Cocao” nibs too.) provide a slight dark chocolate bitter that compliments all the other additions. The balance for all added, perfect if looking to avoid a sense of “too aggressive.”

A nice nitro push, on tap, at the tasting room, would be a dream come true.

“Tannakin” was named after a legend about a woman born with hog-like features.

This was a special purchase: the first hand bottled, wax sealed with a logo, labelled beer from Jackalope, Nashville, TN. Only 50 bottles and we got three, sold one to a lady who was desperately looking for one for her husband as a surprise. The second bottle is being saved for the summer when I do beer tastings in the Adirondacks.

If they do not brew this again, I’ll see if I can get some of the more unpleasant Sixth Sense ghosts to rattle their chains in the brewery, 24 hours a day, or the spirit of Tannakin herself to possess the wood this fine beer sat on, until they say, “Think we’d better go ahead and brew more: these ghosts have us over a bourbon barrel!”

Welcome to the new PGA 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.” This beer was rated…

                                                     

Mike Kraft

Written by Ken Carman for Professorgoodales.net

   Ken Carman is a BJCP judge; homebrewer since 1979, club member at Escambia Bay Salt City, Salt City and Music City Homebrewers, who has been interviewing professional brewers all over the east coast for over 10 years.

Turtle Anarchy
216 Noah Drive
Franklin, Tennessee 37064
(615)595-8855
Brewer: Mike Kraft

  Mike Kraft facts from a previous Brew Biz interview

 
 Mike’s from Nashville originally, Siebel trained. His first job as a brewer was at Hubcap Brewing in Veil, Colorado, and he spent nine years as the head brewer at Two Rows Brewing, with brewpubs in Allen, Houston and the Dallas area. Like many pro-brewers Mike comes from a ‘mixed’ background where he started out as an electrical engineer, but found his ‘happy’ in brewing.

  
  Once up a time a brewery like Turtle Anarchy wouldn’t expect a lot of visitors. Over the years I have interviewed many a brewer in industrial locations and business parks and, at best, there may have been a tiny tasting room: mostly for the few who would stop by out of curiosity. Tucked away in industrial locations, business parks and other odd places, it was a quieter time where the beer went out a door that few folks, except the brewers, would pass through. Continue reading “Brew Biz: Werts and All”

Written by Jerry Buckley. Buckwheat beer brewed by Jerry Buckley

 As far back as Aristotle, the scientists and philosophers have insisted that our knowledge of the exterior world is limited to and defined by our sensory perceptions; and that that all sensory input can be compartmentalized into five neat packages: sight, sound, touch, hearing, and taste. However, those of us who home brew for a hobby realize that this is an inadequate explanation for what we understand to be a much “bigger picture.”
 Sure, we can feast our eyes on the sensuous ruby hues of CaraRed barley, or the occult darkness of chocolate malt. We can ogle the vibrant color of the orange peel we are “zesting” to add to our boil. Moreover, I don’t know about you, but watching a good krausen orgy in my carboy is far more entertaining than watching most television programs. Continue reading “Come to Your Senses, Man!”

Written by Ken Carman

Ken Carman is a BJCP judge; homebrewer since 1979, club member at Escambia Bay, Salt City and Music City Homebrewers, who has been interviewing professional brewers all over the east coast for over 10 years.

The Topic: Judging Mead Part II

Greetings from the beer judge who likes to challenge how things are being done, perhaps a bit too much. If you remember, a few weeks ago, in another edition of BB, I suggested that we streamline the process of taking the Mead exam with a provisional Mead judge status and an online exam. The response I got back was intriguing, and logical. Considering the response I wanted to write just a little more on the topic.

Before I do that, I must state that I am happy that the BJCP responds so well, so quickly, to its members. As with any organizations there are certainly those who don’t always do this well… and admittedly there are those who challenge who think their “challenge” is more important than the organization itself. I am not one of those folks.

In addition I will add that anything I say could be wrong headed, or misguided. I do understand that I am not directly involved in designing and implementing these programs. Having been an entertainer who designs and sells my own shows for children since 1984, I very well understand there’s a big gap between conceptualizing, then designing something, and even more so: implementing something. Sometimes people suggest ways of doing things and they really don’t understand because they aren’t actually involved in “making it happen,” that it simply won’t work that way. Things rarely work when put to use exactly as one expects them to when you put them into practice.

Now, to address some of the concerns raised about my last proposal…

Continue reading “The Brew Biz: Werts and All”