Category: Beer

Profiled by Ken Carman for professorgoodales.net

This is superb. I was amazed how much it reminded me of Geuze from Belgium. this is from… Cincinnati?

Rocky head, slight: fades very fast. Light urin color. Sorry, but that’s what it is. SRM is probably 2 at best. Hazy.

Mouthfeel is a sour that lingers and a light pilsner malt in the background. This is as light as air, body-wise. Slight tingle from slight carbonation: pleasant.

Aroma: brett-lie, sour with hit of sweet and funk that could only get more funky in time. Perhaps a bit horse saddle.

Taste: sour dominant, but not offensive so in any sense. This is a delicate quaff. Malt background way back. I would say this is one of those rhubarb-like sours that should get even better in time. I would recommend doing as per the style: mixing aged versions more. This one seems a bit young. But I recommend: buy.

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…

Label image courtesy beerstreetjournal.com

Without intent, I have collected well over 1,000 beer bottles since the early 70s. When something finally had to be done about the cheap paneling in this old modular, I had a choice. Tear down the walls while, oh, so carefully, replacing the often rotted 1X3s. Or: cover them with…

The Bottle Collection.

 

Written by Ken Carman

Although some reviewers rate this as lightly sweet, I seem to remember it as medium to very sweet for a milk stout. Bare in mind, it’s no Mackeson, which to my palate can sometimes come close to “sickeningly sweet.”

Haven’t seen it for a while, but I haven’t been looking. A lot of malt character: mostly pale with the obvious roasted barley that defines a stout. The head was good, plentiful and very black. The taste lingered for quite a while: sweet dominant backed up by the malt and few hops.

Aroma: sweet with dark malt sense, from what I remember. I remember the aroma as the best part of an otherwise good, but could be better, beer: via balance.

Mouthfeel indicates if there’s not any oatmeal in this, it’s like there is. I’m guessing the gravity is not that high, but the complete, cover the palate, mouthfeel gives the perception of more boy. If I had to liken it to fruit I would say a hint of milk coated plum.

I would rate this as close to a classic of the style, from what I remember, but not quite. Back off on the sweet/lactose/milk sense just a tad.

Profiled by Ken Carman for professorgoodales.net

Damn this is expensive.

Damn this is good.

Obsidian black with no light shining through. Head fades so fast hard to assess… perhaps pillow with a hint of rock. Second pour held. Soft, delightful, pillow upon the mustache head. Held longer 2nd time. Off the srm chart. Light carbonation supports a thick, luscious, dark malt dominated viscosity. If there’s any black patent in here just enough. The alcohol is obvious, but not intrusive. Full body, but carbonation on lighter side of medium.

Deep, dark, malt nose with a hint of sweet. Sweet, dark, malt dominated taste. Not lactose, but hint of to the taste in sweet. 10% plus, but not that alcoholic for that. Some molasses-like sense.

This is a substantial beverage. Almost after dinner-ish. Very rich, deep malt sense.

Very respectful.

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.

Diary of a Beer Judge: Fugetaboutit

   A few years ago Tony Giannasi from the Barley Mob Brewers: Chattanooga, convinced a few of us at the Music City Brew Off to come on down and judge at the first Fugetaboutit homebrew competition. Since then we’ve judged for Fugetaboutit at Terminal Brewhouse, the third year at a business in downtown Chattanooga. Continue reading “Brew Biz: Werts and All”

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

Last episode of The Brew Biz this beer judge offered up his diary of a competition in Mississippi. In that “episode” I ended up as one of three judges at the Mead table, two of us Certified. There are more than a few judges I have met who feel Meads and Ciders shouldn’t even be in a beer competition. I disagree, but as a brewer of Braggots, I admit I have my own partisan mash tun dipped into the debate. Most judges I know welcome the addition of Ciders/Cysers, Pyments, Hydromels, Melomels, Braggots (Yes!) and Meads. However, most of us are not all that comfortable judging them.

Some of the best ways to educate judges about their duties would be the BJCP test, supplemental reading and studying BJCP testing information provided on site… the order where one should start from having been reversed in that list. Yes, taking the test itself is an “education” of sorts. If for no other reason it can help encourage you to learn more and judge more. The more you judge, the more you learn, and that applies to Mead too.

While this has been an education for me, my regular readers know I have been rather critical of some aspects of the program in the past. While many of these aspects have changed, it’s still been an adventure discovering just how wrong I was, occasionally. And an adventure discovering how right I have been: occasionally. You, the reader, might be the best judge, I suppose. Judging that for myself would be as unfair, and as unethical, as judging my own entry in a competition.

But, more than anything, it has been an “adventure” discovering how helpful the education leading up to the test and, yes, the test itself, are. It helps us focus: better assess all the categories and to judge well, encourage us to judge more frequently.
Continue reading “Brew Biz: Werts and All”

Profiled by Ken Carman for professorgoodales.net

If this really is “imperial,” as claimed, it is well hidden.

This is probably one of the best pumpkin ales I have ever had. You have a great background of caramelized malt: in nose, mouthfeel and taste, although taste is more malt, nose is more spice, mouthfeel the slick sense of pumpkin essence. Spice is allspice-like, ginger, cinnamon: all you would expect. The balance is damn near perfect.

Nice head, mostly pillow. Color: 2-3 srm. Clarity: a light gold. excellent. Mouthfeel: a chewy pumpkin, I suspect they used some real pumpkin, though my guess is not tons. It can really screw up a mash.

Dominant spice: ginger and nutmeg.

Mouthfeel: sweet, spicy/pumpkin pie with caramelized malt giving very solid support.
There’s a sweet aftertaste that could be cloying, but they backed off enough to avoid. Hint of slick, but not diacetyl: pumpkin.

What’s nice about this is they went overboard with nothing. the hit the balance just right.

All I can say is: buy this damn beer.

Profiled by Ken Carman for professorgoodales.net

Word of advice: wax seal is fine, but make damn sure the consumer can get to the bloody cap, OK?

Sweet malt sense to the mouthfeel with darker malts that provide a nice medium body: probably caramel with brown malt-like sense.

The aroma is a hint of Allspice, cinnamon. Sweet nose: tad sugary malt sense. Appearance Stout black with some highlights on the edge of the glass and rock head that holds. Brown malt like complexity that has a sweet sense with a hint of spice. That’s the best aspect of this beer.

This is everything is should be, just needs more of what it should be. Be more aggressive! Honestly? Boring, otherwise. As a real kick your tail hefty malt, spice laden, abv push, brooding dark, complex, malt wonder, it would be sought out by beer geeks everywhere.

“Strong Ale?” Not really, SweetWater. More of a Brown Ale. Not bad for that.

You wimped out, SweetWater.

The Topic: A Beer Judge’s Diary, November 10th, 2012

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.

Written by Ken Carman

Last year we judged at the very first BJCP sanctioned beer competition in Mississippi: Jackson. We wanted to support them for daring to do so since brewing homebrew is illegal in Mississippi. (And Alabama too.) Apparently they enjoyed the small category competition last year so much they went crazy and did a full blown category competition this year. Well, since we like going crazy too, but with a collie whose ears had become infected: packed with an anti-fungal, wax-like substance, we thought it best to limit the crazy time: get up at 12 midnight, drive, and come back at 3 am the next morning.

And I’m calling doing a full blown competition “crazy?” What I just typed alone made me want to yawn.

Continue reading “Brew Biz: Werts and All”