Category: Front Page

From allaboutbeer.com

(In 1991) Rogue Ales moved into its third brewery, and its original name—Rogue River Brewing Co.—no longer seemed appropriate. The brewpub in Ashland, OR, at the headwaters of the Rogue River, made 200 barrels in 1988, and co-founder Jack Joyce and his partners wanted to sell more. They opened a brewpub in Newport in 1989, then moved the brewery into a former marine repair shop across Yaquina Bay. Rogue closed its Ashland pub after a flood in 1997 (now Caldera Brewing operates a taphouse in the location), but still operates 12 in all.

  I have never judged at King of the Mountain before and, only due to the fact this is the first time in 30 years my quirky schedule has ever brought me into northeast Ohio twice in the spring, not sure if I will be able to again. I hope to, but competitions that are far away from home are, by definition: “when I can.” Amber Waves of Grain in Niagara Falls, NY, is the same situation. Living in Tennessee and, by definition, not being a rich man, means I must have some excuse to travel so far other than judging.
  This year I noticed there was a competition on the weekend not too far from where I’d be staying so, well…
  I’ve only been through Mentor a few times over the years: promoting my shows or popping off of I-90 on my way to my place in the Adirondacks. Usually I just buzz by on I-90. But from the few times I’d been through here I could tell it really has exploded. Just one look at Red, Wine and Brew told me a lot of interesting businesses have entered the area since I last drove through here. And what an impressive place Red, Wine and Brew is: row after row of giant, personal library-like, wooden shelves up to the ceiling filled with exotic brews, multi-tap bar… In other words: nirvana for beer lovers. Continue reading “The Beer Judge’s Diary: King of the Mountain, Mentor, OH”

An Idaho brewery is wading into political commentary with a new beer dubbed “Little Bitch Otter,” which appears to take a shot at Idaho Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter.

The logo, made by Crooked Fence Brewing co-owner and marketing director Kelly Knopp, features an otter wearing a tie and cowboy hat.

“Anyone that is going to try to take away freedoms or not let someone be equal, Crooked Fence is against,” says Knopp.

Knopp wouldn’t be more specific on why their political cartoon appears to put Gov. Otter in the cross hairs, although the timing seems deliberate.

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Earlier this week, Green Flash Brewing officially disclosed that it has tweaked the recipes of two of their flagship beers, Hop Head Red and West Coast IPA. While it’s not uncommon for brewers to make slight changes, whether it be hop substitutes or a minor change in malt bill, when a brewer boosts one of it’s beers from 7.0% abv. to 8.1% abv., the wheels in my head begin turning.

From Green Flash’s memo this week, and their memo announcing packaging changes, here are the reasons outlined why Hop Head Red and West Coast IPA were tweaked:

• “In response to your demand for flavorful and extreme IPAs, we have boosted the flavor profiles..”

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Lazy Magnolia’s amber-colored Timber Beast IPA is one of the first craft beers produced in Mississippi since the state loosened its liquor laws.

For a century, Mississippi and other Southern states had Prohibition-era laws on the books that kept alcohol-by-volume (ABV) levels so low that many craft breweries were prevented from setting up shop.

When Mark Henderson and his wife Leslie founded Lazy Magnolia in 2003, it was the first brewery to open in Mississippi since 1907. And it was the state’s only brewery until the laws changed nine years later.

“We got started and it was all very challenging,” said Henderson, who could only make and distribute beer below 6% ABV. This meant no gourmet Belgian ales, IPAs, or barrel-aged beers, which are all made with more alcohol (and are often how a brewery is judged by connoisseurs).

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Ye Olde comes back with a vengeance. Yes, he has been absent for a long time, which is not quite as bad as absinthe beer would be.

Fortune by Miller/Coors

Twiggy was less flat. A bad bottle? Yeah slight fizz and a strong corn taste. AH, the invasion of the beast from planet DMS! It’s urine color, yellow urine after a night drinking bad beer.

Is this Miller’s idea of recycling?

There’s a tartness that speaks an infection from the skin of a fruit. What Fortune LACTOS in flavor it makes up for in unintended bugs. In fact there’s also a slight green apple taste. Oh, Fortune, thy name be acetaldehyde!

The mouthfeel does have a hint of pin prick carbonation, with emphasis on “pin” and then… well. Sure this isn’t Red Apple’s Ale?

No hops noticed except maybe the slightest bitter. Scribe would be bitter too forced to be in this atrocity. Why did they bother?

Ye Olde Scribe has been writing for PGA since the professor started the site. He lives in his secret bunker somewhere in New England, or is it Oregon, or is it Florida? He’s stocking up with GOOD beer and wished to warn off anyone else who may be doing this so they will only have GOOD beer to drink when supplies dry up because the beer hating trolls dumped it onto their fields of magic mushrooms as fertilizer.

ALESBURG — A revolution is brewing within America’s beverage industry — the revolutionary being craft beer.

At least that’s the claim of local beer enthusiasts, some of whom call the rise in craft beer “mind-blowing.”

“Even in the last year, the growth has been insane,” said Galesburg home brewer Sam Fisk. “I don’t buy beer a lot because I brew my own, but when I do, I don’t even know what to buy because there’s always so much new stuff on the shelves.”

It seems Fisk and other locals who have noticed craft beer’s climb are not far off, based on recent numbers from the Brewers Association, the country’s largest organization of brewers.

In 2013, the association released data indicating an 18 percent growth in craft brewer volume, with craft beers representing 7.8 percent of the United States’ total beer market.

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South Carolina is on the verge of passing the most progressive craft beer production laws in the country, industry advocates say — a prospect that just three weeks ago was virtually unthinkable.

The “Stone Bill” — an effort to loosen Prohibition-era beer laws to attract San Diego-based Stone Brewing Co.’s $31 million eastward expansion — has already been approved by the state House of Representatives.

On Thursday, the state Senate assigned the bill to a six-member conference committee that is expected to meet as early as next week to iron out details.

Half of the committee’s House and Senate members sponsored the bill, said Wesley Donehue, a political consultant for the South Carolina Brewers Association.

“We made magic happen,” Donehue told The Greenville News on Thursday. “To pass a bill this fast in South Carolina is something I’ve not seen, especially when it comes to alcohol. It’s pretty insane.”

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