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The unexpected chill in the air foretold snow as we set off from Missoula in the direction of the interior of British Columbia. By the time we began to wend our way through the Bitter Root Range, driving sleet was upon us. Our destination was still an Idaho Panhandle and a Washington State away, so we stopped off in Coeur d’Alene to fortify ourselves for the remainder of the journey. Before leaving Missoula, we had provisioned ourselves with bread, cheeses, and sausages. A resort town situated on a pristine lake of the same name and surrounded by dense coniferous forests, Coeur d’Alene presented a scenic backdrop for our midday feast despite the rain. All that was missing were a few local beers to wash it down.
Beer Profile: Captain Lawrence Captain’s Kolsch

Profiled by Maria Devan
This beer has almost no nose. The malt is but a sweetness in the breath of it.
It catches the light aflame because of it’s haze. The crown is white. Only a shy depth from the grain will come to the nose. Taste is bread-y, a slight bitterness and only a whisper of herbal from hops. Very dry. You can barely perceive a fruity lightness from the grain because the malt is crisp and dramatic.
In the finish it gives a slight pucker.
3.5
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
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Maria Devan lives in Ithaca, NY, atop a steep hill.She NEVER, EVER rides a big wheel tricycle down it. She has been reviewing beer for many years, even with many homebrewers and other beer critics across the nation, on the web. She’s known as “The Girl Next Door” in her You Tubes. We are very lucky to have her here at PGA.
Hangover-Free Wine: New Type Of Yeast Could Yield Breakthrough In Wine Production

Researchers have developed a new type of yeast that can make healthier, smoother, and hangover-free wine, beer, and other alcoholic beverages.
The yeast, which is a genetically engineered version of the polyploid strain Saccharomyces cerevisiae, was discovered after researchers at the University of Illinois developed a genome slicing technique that allows them to cut away multiple copies of a gene in the genome of yeast, allowing them to remove unwanted properties of wine, including its hangover-causing properties.
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Brew Buz: Horta and All
The Topic: In Today’s News, 4/1/15

News courtesy Brew Buz’s lead news department reporter, and Star Trek former actor, Hot Rocks Horta.
In a surprise move InBev, the owners of Anheuser-Busch, and many other brands, in a massive purchase bought Millier/Coors, Sierra Nevada, Lagunitas, Anchor, North Coast, Rogue, Sam Adams and most of the craft brewers in America. Now very, very local, Memphis-based, Boscos was also taken over too, but they were headed into obscurity anyway.
There were a few who refused to be bought out, like Dogfish, McGuires, Straight to Ale, Cool Springs, Jackalope, Thirsty Dog. And a few made public statements, like Wayne Wambles of Cigar City, “No way in Hell,” and Fred Karm of Hoppin Frog: “That’s NOT the way the frog rolls.” Immediately there was an attempt to toss plagues at those who resisted: like locusts, sanitized Belgian yeast and the Progressive gal. But they just found a way made interesting beer out of all of them.

Continue reading “Brew Buz: Horta and All”
Egyptians Brewed Beer in Tel Aviv 5,000 Years Ago

Tel Aviv’s reputation as a party city for expats might have started 5,000 years ago.
During the Bronze Age, Egyptians were making beer in what is today downtown Tel Aviv, new archaeological evidence suggests.
When archaeologists were conducting salvage excavations ahead of construction on new office buildings along Hamasger Street, they found 17 ancient pits that were used to store produce, according to an announcement from the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA).
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Maria Devan Reviews: Praga Dark Lager
A Beer Judge’s Diary

Written by Ken Carman
The Topic: On His Way to Grand Master… Tim Belczak
A few years ago I realized, while on tour, that there was a competition down the road in Niagara Falls during the same time I was usually performing in northeast Ohio. Being a native New Yorker, who has been living in Tennessee since 1978, brewing since 79, I wanted to share my own passion for homebrewing and judging with other equally passionate folks, so I drove north to the AWOG competition: Amber Waves of Grain. I think it was at the third AWOG where I judged with Tim Belczak. A short while latter, for the first time, we met again at King of the Mountain and NY State Fair.
You really need to stop following me, Tim. I won’t get a restraining order… yet.
Or am I following you? I hope you don’t get a restraining order. Besides, as Millie might say, tis tough to restrain me. Bet Cheryl has NEVER said that about you.
Well, in one way, many of us are following far behind, for in such a short time here is just part of what Tim has achieved…
Milestones:
Recognized: 1/9/2014
Certified: 4/1/2014
National: 3/18/2015
Best scores:
Written: 83
Tasting: 90
Total: 87
Yet, despite the speed with which Tim has been ascending… did I see a hint of a halo last time we met, or was that just the rim of a competition sample glass? …most interviewers might consider interviewing a Grand Master judge, or even Master, instead. Continue reading “A Beer Judge’s Diary”
New York’s Finger Lakes Region: A Backroad Craft Beer Tour
Written by Franz Hofer for A Tempest in a Tankatd
You might be asking why the Finger Lakes aren’t more well-known outside of New York State craft beer destination. The answer, fellow intrepid beer traveler, is one of the main reasons you’ll want to visit the region. Many of the breweries that dot the landscape are “farmhouse breweries†that have taken advantage of favourable legislation passed recently to stimulate the local hop and malt industry. Production at these breweries is small-scale –– so small that the only way you’ll get to sample the beer is to head to the taproom or a local tavern that might occasionally have a keg or two of Finger Lakes beer on tap. Only a small handful of the breweries in the region bottle or can their beer, and even then, distribution doesn’t stretch much further than a few hundred miles beyond the brewery.
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Behind the Scenes at the NHC
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Augurs of Spring: Wheat Beers Belgian, German, and American

Written by Franz Hofer for A Tempest in a Tankard
The quintessential beer for your rites of spring, be they seeding the garden or cleaning the cobwebs out of the grill, is one that’ll quench your thirst on a sunny afternoon yet stand up to an evening chill. You won’t go wrong with a hoppy and refreshing American brown ale, and nor would a porter be out of place on a cooler day. For this Saturday’s six-pack, though, I’m going to suggest a selection of beers that stays within one (admittedly broad) family, a family of beers that hits all the registers of spring in its arc between winter and summer: wheat beers.
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