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Holiday Gift Ideas for the Craft Beer Enthusiast

Written by Franz Hofer for A Tempest in a Tankard

If you’re like me, last-minute holiday shopping is a fact of life. December 18? Plenty of time! Whether you’re of the last-minute persuasion, or whether you’re still scratching your head wondering what the perfect gift might be for the classy imbiber in your life, Tempest’s annual holiday wish list has you covered. And even if the über-cool DrinkTank growlers are on back order till February, an I.O.U. with a picture of a growler tucked into a stocking might just be your ticket.

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Finally, A Beer That Will Solve Your Creative Problems

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Going by advertising alone, beer makes everybody better looking, funnier, and more charming. It surrounds you with interesting people and exciting times and will quench your thirst on a hot day all at once. But anyone who’s ever tried to recreate the magic of a beer commercial knows the result is too often soaked in fried food, antacid and shame.

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​The Other Magical, Medicinal Sticky Bud

​The Other Magical, Medicinal Sticky Bud

No, it’s not marijuana. It’s a close cousin, known as Humulus lupulus, better known as “hops.” You know it as a key ingredient in beer, but its fat, resinous flowers are also prized for their flavor and their medicinal properties. We’re just starting to unlock the biochemical secrets of hops, and discover why this plant is so magical.

Looming hops shortages spell potential price increases for users both large and small, and people are beginning to panic. We’ve been using and trading hops for centuries, and not just for brewing beer — but it’s only now, that we’re in danger of running out, that we’re starting to understand the history of hops and its relationship with people.

Hops History

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Beer Profile: Southern Tier C- Ration Breakfast or “Cascade”

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Profiled by Maria Devan for PGA

pgaprofilePours a brilliant clear orange with a fat head of cream colored foam that fell pretty quickly. Nose is subtle but very floral. This type of hops has a fruity sweetness that’s hard to pin down. Most people say grapefruit and I do get a bit of pink grapefruit. I also get a mild spice. A hint of herbal dankness. The more I observe the nose the more I think I smell a stone fruitiness but it’s elusive. Peach pit maybe. Cracker for malt with a light caramel sweetness on it.

Tastes like tea. Has an overall tea like quality that even feels like tea in the mouthfeel. Crisp but not sharply so and dry. Not awfully bitter. The bitterness is gentle enough but prominent enough to be pleasant. The grapefruit is earthy but light and a bit tart. It’s easy to see why this is a popular hop to use in pale ales. The flavors are clean and light.

The overall drink is clear and not heavy or busy. The tea like qualities would make it refreshing alongside a bigger fruit taste but without it it’s subtle and dry. Mouthfeel is the lighter side of medium and the caramel was so excellent in this. It gives a bit of weight to the beer but is not excessively sweet. This one is a masterpiece in subtlety.

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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.”

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___________________________________Beer HERE

meMaria Devan lives in Ithaca, NY and is frequent reviewer of beer and a beer lover deluxe.

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Every Day Is Craft Lager Day at Kansas City Bier Company

Written by Franz Hofer for A Tempest in a Tankard

KansasCity-BierCo-LogoIt’s that time of year again –– time to dust off your steins and head to your nearest purveyor of fine lagers to celebrate Craft Lager Day.

But where to go to find a decent lager outside of a well-stocked bottle shop? After all, not too many craft breweries outside of regions with historically high rates of German immigration feature lagers in their lineups. For starters, lagers suffer from an undeserved image problem on this continent. On top of that, lagers are notoriously difficult to brew. The clean fermentation profile of lager yeast leaves nowhere for faults to hide.KansasCity BierCo (Logo) And from a purely monetary perspective, lagers tie up fermenters for much longer than ales –– weeks if not months longer.

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The Secret World of… Beer

beerVenture through a dank railway tunnel, then turn on to a small industrial estate in south east London and you’ll find yourself at a fine example of a British brewery. But there are no rambling roses or tumble-down ancient buildings crying of English tradition here. The Kernel brewery is little more than five years old and the beer produced in this urban hideaway combines old traditions with new thinking – and a little experimentation.

“We rely on that process of hypothesis, experiment and result,” says brewer Toby Munn. “We can create our own little experiment and do all kinds of different things, which is fun.”

Munn shows off the fermentation tanks, where yeast gradually turns sugars into alcohol over several days, and a room full of barrels and large French “fouders”, which were previously used in wine-making.

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A Beer Judge’s Diary: The Batman Beer Judge Appears at Fugetaboutit 2015

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Written by Ken Carman for The Professor

bjd-265x300  I knew I was in trouble when I got the E-mail that claimed, “I know you like high gravity,” so I wasn’t surprised when the morning was filled with Belgian Strongs. Hey, it’s what I do. Who’s da man who started an all high gravity competition and used to be one of the biggest suppliers for Big Bob’s Barley Wine Bash in Pensacola Beach, Florida?
 This edition of A Beer Judge’s Diary will be a little different. If I repeat a competition I try to mix things up a tad. This will be more about the beer, my method of judging, stewards and my fellow judge… since Jake Evers and I partnered for the day.
 Jake and I patiently worked through every entry we judged. Jake is semi-new to judging and I gave him the option (A) of silence until after (or just before) scoring, or (B) laying out our cards and discussing as we went along. I prefer this with new judges: it’s like teaching someone how to play pinocle or rummy with all the cards out on the table. But instead of learning how to play a game, how to achieve a winning hand, it’s all about putting a great judging team together. When the other judge chooses option “B” I always tell them to stand up for what they believe and I never push for them to agree if they really feel they sense something I don’t, or don’t sense what I do.
  The title of this edition came from a discussion that happened as I started to set up. I put out my modified lantern: non-led with white duct tape to focus down to just the contents of the glass, a special AWOG competition opener that doesn’t bend the cap and several aroma glasses that seal so I can do appearance first and wait to judge that all too easy to escape item: aroma.
DSCN0871   It’s always been an “A” or “B,” thing with me. Either the head fades, or the aroma leaks into the room. Shaking with a palm over a glass gets my hand wet, or spills if not careful. So an aroma glass that seals helps.
 Jake used the aroma glass a lot.
 We worked well together.
  As I set up one judge says, “Boy, you come with all the tools, don’t you?”
  Without even thinking I snapped back, “Yeah, I’m the Batman of beer judges.”
  “You just need the utility belt.” Continue reading “A Beer Judge’s Diary: The Batman Beer Judge Appears at Fugetaboutit 2015”

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Best of The Northwest 2014: Breakout Breweries Break the Mold

pourFThis time of year – every year for the past six – I’ve compiled my most memorable experiences from travels around the Pacific Northwest – my heart and ‘hood – to come up with those I especially want you to know about. I say this just about every year because just about every year it’s true: This was a real banner year. The creaky Washington paradigm of “Nothin’ but Brits” is beginning to crumble. Oregon and Idaho breweries are not just pushing the envelope as much as ignoring the very existence of an envelope. Good breweries, promising breweries, and some right out of the wrapping paper have become great.

You’re going to read some names, here, that you’ve never heard or read. Two in particular – Tin Dog Brewing of Seattle and Big Block Brewing of Sammamish, Washington – are barely larger than the changing rooms Nordstrom’s. John Julum’s operation at Big Block, especially, is easily the most intelligently conceived, laid-out, and strategized nano-brewery I’ve ever come across. The whole brewery, because of his neighborhood’s CC&Rs, is in his garage! And he routinely has ten or twelve beers on tap, all amazing and all in decent quantities. This level of ingenuity is what sets the NW apart from the rest of the US and 2014 was the year of its full flowering, when breweries like De Garde, in sleepy Tillamook, Oregon, are birthed fully formed and hit the ground absolutely flying.

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