Like to collect tap handles? If you Google tap handle there are a lot of displays out there that will help you present your collections…
The Beef is Here (Meaty Booze)
Beer Profile: Avery The Kaiser
Profile by Tom Becham
It’s that time of year again! Time for Oktoberfest!
While most of us who attend Oktoberfest celebrations in the United States will tend to drink very similar versions of the same style of beer, if you get the chance to try The Kaiser from Avery Brewing in Colorado, do it. You won’t regret it.
I was rather uncertain about this beer, as Avery has always been rather hit-and-miss with me. Some of their stuff I love, others I loathe. There seems to not be any middle ground. They tend to make very strong and/or very hoppy brews, so any mistakes tend to big and difficult to ignore.
Avery bills The Kaiser as an “Imperial Oktoberfest”, which seems like an inherent contradiction.
The Kaiser pours with a moderately large head of dense foam, which lingers for some time. It appears a coppery brown-orange, as is expected for an Oktoberfest/Marzen.
The aroma has the toffee and caramel-like malt one expects of the base style, with some earthy hop notes.
I had some misgivings about the taste and mouthfeel, but they turned out to be totally unfounded. The Kaiser has the same malty-but-not-quite-sweet quality of any good German Oktoberfest/Marzen. There is a hop quality that both balances the sweetness, and gives a somewhat citrus jam quality to the flavor. There are also some vague earthy hints that almost remind me of ginseng. Surprisingly, for a beer of 9.73% ABV, there is little perception of alcohol. Frankly, I expected this one to be much “hotter”.
All in all, I would definitely recommend The Kaiser for anyone seeking both a traditional and innovative approach to Oktoberfest drinking. Just be careful not to overdo!
Club Update: Saratoga Thoroughbrews
Saratoga/Glens Falls/Albany area
Hi All,
First up, of course, is our monthly meeting this Thursday, October 7th at 7pm at the tap room at OSB. We will be judging catagories 20 and 21, but feel free to bring anything you wish to share.
On October 16th, from 1-5, is the Octoberfest at Adirondack Pub and Brewery in Lake George to benefit the Red Cross. We will once again be manning a table, and sharing our homebrew. Anyone interested in assisting with set-up should be there around noon. Bringing homebrew is encouraged; I will have an English Bitter on tap.
At 9 am on Saturday, November 13th will be our 15th annual Knickerbocker Battle of the Brews at the Albany Pump Station. We are still in need of Judges and Stewards, and others to help prior to the competition. Anyone interested in being a judge or steward, please let me know as soon as possible; please include your BJCP # if you have one, as well as which styles you wish to judge/steward, and which you wish to avoid. Anyone interested in volunteering for other duties, please contact Chris Gersey at: knickerbockerbattleofthebrews@gmail.com . And of course, ENTER!!
Hope to see you all there,
Norwegian Brewing
Written by Bryan Harrell or Celebrator Beer News
Norway was once a country without any craft beer. Perhaps this is the main reason Kjetil Jikiun found craft beers so captivating during layovers in the U.S. while flying as a pilot for a major European airline. It certainly influenced his homebrewing hobby, to the point where he decided to open up his own brewery in 2002 under the theme of “the uncompromising brewery.â€
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Beer Joke Time!: “There’s Always Room…”
Submitted by R.S. Janes
A philosophy professor stood before his class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, wordlessly he picked up a large jar and proceeded to fill it with rocks about 2″ in diameter. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.Visual
So the professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles, of course, rolled into the open areas between the rocks. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.
The students laughed as the professor picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else.
“Now,” said the professor, “I want you to recognize that this is your life. The rocks are the important things — your family, your partner, your health, your children — things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full. The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house, your car. The sand is everything else. The small stuff.”
There was total silence as the students absorbed the lesson.
“If you put the sand into the jar first, there is no room for the pebbles or the rocks. The same goes for your life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you. Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your partner out dancing. There will always be time to go to work, clean the house, give a dinner party and fix the disposal.”
The students started nodding in agreement at the professor’s profound wisdom.
“Take care of the rocks first,” the professor finished — “the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.”
But then…
A student then took the jar which the other students and the professor agreed was full, and proceeded to pour in a bottle of beer — and then another! Of course the beer filled the remaining spaces within the jar making the jar truly full.
The moral of this tale is…
Burgers and Booze: Beer on Tap at Burger King?
Do you REALLY want this guy pouring beer for you?
Posted @SodaHead.com. Author not credited
As if there are not enough places to drink in New York City. Now Burger King is opening a Whopper Bar in Times Square.
The express-type concept, meant to combat the growth of McDonald’s McCafes, was first introduced in 2008 and is slowly expanding around the world with spots open already in Miami, Orlando and Memphis, Tenn.
Though the Times Square location’s liquor license is still pending, officials tell The New York Times that they hope to start pouring brewskis by mid-August.
No word yet if you get a bottle opener with your kid’s Happy Meal.
What the Colonists Might Have Quaffed
Written by Greg Kitsock for The Washington Post
Yards Brewing Co.’s Ales of the Revolution are beers with a history chaser. The Philadelphia microbrewery, which opened in 1995 in a building the size of a toolshed and now occupies a former skateboard rink, has attempted to replicate the brews our Colonial forefathers would have downed while talking sedition in wayside taverns.
General Washington’s Tavern Porter takes its cue from a home-brew recipe, preserved in the New York Public Library, that Washington jotted down while he was serving in the Continental Army. It calls for fermenting a “small beer” from molasses, evidently a more common ingredient than barley in that era.
Yards President Tom Kehoe compromised, beginning with a base rich in dark, heavily roasted malts, then adding four pounds per barrel of baking molasses during the second fermentation. The sugar-rich molasses kicks up the alcohol to 7 percent by volume, but enough residual sweetness remains in the beer to balance the sharper, coffeelike flavors.
Thomas Jefferson’s Tavern Ale presented a bit of a dilemma, Kehoe says. Jefferson brewed extensively at Monticello, but in his voluminous records he never recorded a complete beer recipe. Rather, he left the fine details to a slave named Peter Hemings, brother of the more famous Sally Hemings.
Kehoe scoured our third president’s farm records and “used whatever was available at Monticello in formulating the beer.” In addition to barley, Tavern Ale is brewed from 30 percent wheat (a major crop at Monticello), plus small amounts of corn, oats, rye and honey. At 8 percent alcohol, it’s more potent than the porter. “They made them strong back then to hide their mistakes,” Kehoe says with a laugh.
Continue reading “What the Colonists Might Have Quaffed”
Free Beer Tastings: Beaver River Station, NY
Ready for an adventure in beer tasting? Two chances! August 21st and September 4th: 2010; 2pm
How do I get to Beaver River for the FREE beer tastings???
Important: for further information call Ken at 315 376 6625 or Millie at 615 255 4848. For reservoir transportation/reservations/accommodations: 315 376 6200 and speak with Ginger or Scott, or 315 376 7035 and speak with George.
There are NO roads to Beaver River. But you CAN get there for this year’s free beer tastings hosted by two BJCP judges. Millie and Ken Carman’s 6th annual beer tastings are scheduled for August 21st and September 4th: both at 2pm. A special warm invite to the Saratoga Throughbrews this year, with the hope by next year we can have a competition and a homebrew demonstration in the Old Forge/Beaver River area. All those 21 and older are welcome.
How do I get there?
Route 28 to Eagle Bay, NY. Take the Big Moose Road all the way until it turns into dirt. When you reach a “T” in the road, take a right. Stop at BIG lake, unless you have an amphicar. (If you need to ask then you obviously don’t.)
But NOW what do I do?
At Beaver River Station the adventure is getting there. Imagine yourself of a River Boat floating 7 miles down a scenic reservoir, or riding a barge, or traveling by railcar…
You can take the barge (The only way to drive into Beaver River… 315 376 6200), meet the River Boat (same number) or call ahead for a boat taxi. (There are two boat taxis: use the same number or call George at 315 376 7035, who also has a railcar and can pick you up in Big Moose.)
What Kind of Beer?
Stouts, Porters, Barley Wines, Fruit Beer, Wheat, Weird Beer of ALL Kinds, Homebrew and maybe even some wine and some Peycer. (Find out at the tasting!) Ken and Millie gather beer from all over the country all year long.
Just get there by 2!
Where do I stay?
Accommodations are available at Noridgewock (315 376 6200) or The Beaver River Hotel (315 376 3010) And Millie and Ken have limited free room for members of Saratoga Thoroughbrews (315 376 6625 or 615 255 4848). We may be able to make one trip each way to pick up members of Saratoga Thoroughbrews with our boat, if we all come up with a mutual time. It’s quite the trip down Stillwater!
The free tasting on the 21st will be at Norridgewock, the tasting on September 4th will be in front of the hotel.
Don’t forget… 2pm. August 21st, 2010 and September 21st 2010
This year’s tastings are sponsored by Professor Good Ales and hosted by Millie and Ken Carman, Beaver River Hotel and Norridgewock. Thanks in advance for another successful year!
From the Bottle Collection
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.
Since I first started writing for Professor Good Ales I have frequently provided one column called “From the Bottle Collection.” I thought I’d share some pictures of the collection I have: over 2,000 bottles. This is, by no means, the full collection…
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