Professor Good Ales

Profiled by Maria Devan for PGA

Nixon said I am not a crook and I am saying “I am not a homer.”

Gosh this was a fantastic sour beer. i waited for the hype of the release to die down and then went to the bottle I had in the fridge. Beautiful appearance. Hazy , golden. As though someone had taken the sun out of the sky and put it in the glass. Fizzy fat head of off white foam that popped and did not last.

Nose is striking! It’s as though they have bottled sweet and fresh air. It’s pristine with a touch of woody sweetness. The kiND of sweetness that would attract a bumble bee to wood. Some brett and a bit of bread. These do no compete in this beer. The funk is funky and light and the bread has a bit of honey and both are content to be equal. Then the fruit. Lemon and mango. The lemon is rendered into this beer perfectly with all it’s facets, from tart and sour lemon juice to the sweet peel. The surprise is the tropical mango. At first it shows itself like a bit of tartness and you raise an eyebrow but as the beer warms it appears to ripen right before your eyes.

This beer has a vinegary backnote and beautifully bold acidity that is ultimately enveloped by deep sweetness that cannot compete with the earthiness. If you will notice, my tasting notes have no distinction between nose and taste. That’s damn fine beer that lives right up to itself in every way. This beer creates tension on the palate like the best and most boldy acidic red wine and it is succulent and invigorating! I love this!

Thank you @cavedave for taking me to the release for this beer where I met lots of people whom I hope to see much more of.

4.5

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

Profiled by Maria Devan for PGA

This beer poured a murky dark brown with a thin loose head of foam that fell before I even picked up the glass.

Nose is lovely. Mellow and spicy rye. Deep but not too bold. A light airy wood and a modest sweet whiskey. Dry dark fruit like raisins, nuts and a touch of expansive malt sweetness like toffee and caramel. A fragrant bit of vanilla and I can’t wait to taste this.

Taste is lovely. Spicy rye that has become modest with a bit of age and from the oak barrel. Deep and tall rye flavor that is not unbounded like most rye ales but rather proper and containing all it’s loveliness so that you can have it but so that it does not overrun the other flavors. A touch of smooth vanilla and airy wood. A surprise in some brilliant tart cherry. The cherry really enlivens the palate and lets you taste all the malt sweetness by contrast. The mouthfeel is surprisingly light with some tiny prickly bubbles in the finish. A small warming form the alcohol Smooth and very mellow.

This one awesome beer.

4.5

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

It’s an unlikely beer-drinking toast: “Here’s to El-Tee-Pee-Won!” Yet, the secret to optimal foam in the head of a freshly poured brew, according to Cornell food science research, is just the right amount and kind of barley lipid transfer protein No. 1, aka LTP1.

Bitter compounds found in hops, like iso-alpha acids, are important to brewers, says Cornell’s Karl J. Siebert, principal investigator and author of “Recent Discoveries in Beer Foam,” set for publication in next issue of the Journal of the American Society of Brewing Chemists.

“Dissolved gases in the beer – carbon dioxide and, in some instances, nitrogen – play a role. So do acidity, some ions, ethanol levels, viscosity and numerous other factors that have been tried by brewers and scientifically tested,” says Siebert, professor of food science and technology at the New York State Agricultural xperiment Station in Geneva, N.Y. “But LTP1 is the key to perfect beer foam.”

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HERE

Written by Tom Becham for Professor Goodales

(Octoberfest picture courtesy piximus.net

Well, I’m here to give you a good guide to attending beer festivals.

First of all, at this time of year, when the weather is starting to warm up, there will be a metric assload of beer festivals. Sure, they happen all year ’round, but Spring and Summer are when you will find a huge number of them. And, unless you are independently wealthy and don’t have a steady job (and possess the liver of Hunter S. Thompson), it will be literally impossible to attend all of them just in your area! So, you need to be selective.

Check out a festival carefully before purchasing tickets. Continue reading “Attending a Beer Festival”

Profiled by Maria Devan for PGA

Pours a hazy honey orange color with golden and yellow highlight. As if the sun were shining from out of the beer. A fat pillowy head of off white foam that lasts and lasts and leaves plenty of lace.

Nose is bright, floral and fresh! Just brilliant with hop character that includes sweet and tangy pineapple softly sweet fresh orange, and a bit of citrus peel from both orange and from earthy grapefruit. There is a a small earthy pine in the background. For malt it has the scent of a light and flaky little biscuit.

Taste is outrageous! The active carbonation dances across the palate and enlivens the tongue to be ready to taste the brilliant hop fruitiness. Sweet, orange, bright orange peel, tangy pineapple and the just sweet, just dry and lightly breaddy biscuit. One of the best malts on a pale I have had lately. Crisp malt that is the dryness in this drink. The hops bite only a little and finish with a lingering sweetness that includes that lovely biscuit malt presence.

This beer was lively, fresh, had boisterous fruity flavors and was indeed a tiny beautiful something. One of the best pales I have had.

4.5

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

In an effort to broaden my beer-tasting horizons, I decided to revisit IPA territory. I’ve had recent success with Goose Island’s India Pale Ale and Fuller’s Bengal Lancer, so I felt reasonably confident heading into the bar across from my office and ordering a pint of Dogtown Duck, produced by Venice Duck Brewery in Venice Beach, CA.

Peering over the shoulder of the bartender, I watched as the beer flow gently from the tap into my glass, producing a smooth and modest head. I had a better look at the color once the barkeep placed it before me – an even and healthy copper, not too dense.

So far it had been an amicable introduction, and the initial fragrance was just as polite. As a relative neophyte when it comes to beers that aren’t produced en masse, I tend to expect all IPAs to have the same level of hoppiness and, subsequently, a lively and prominent nose. Not so with Dogtown Duck. The gentle aroma led me into a refreshing first sip.

Goose Island, Bengal Lancer, and now Dogtown Duck…it was going to be a trifecta of blissfully brewed indulgence. I was ready to become a full-blown IPA evangelist.

I took a triumphant second sip.

Indeed, I was all set to trumpet the drinkability of every India pale ale being bottled. It was clear that my earlier unpleasant experiences were entirely my fault, for not having enough of a sophisticated palate. Well, bring it on!

I threw back my head and gulped down a hearty mouthful…and did all I could to keep it from coming back up.

Imagine one of those high-speed, time-lapse blooming flowers you might find in a nature documentary. That’s what flashed through my mind as an explosion of citrus coated the back of my throat. Whereas the other IPAs I recently enjoyed played nice with notes of lemon and blood orange, an aggressive grapefruit sourness went from underwriting to overpowering the flavor.

I stoutly finished my pint, feeling the full effect of the hops and every bit of Dogtown Duck’s 6.8% ABV. Luckily a plate of hot wings kept me from becoming too light-headed (note to self: never sample ANY beer when all you’ve had to eat that day is a cake donut).

Perhaps this is a lesson for IPA (and high alcohol-by-volume) newbies like myself. By pairing an India Pale Ale with an appropriately spicy meal, like Buffalo wings or a bold Asian curry, you not only temper the buzz but also allow its bigness and bitterness to dampen the heat and cut through the sauce.

To be sure, Dogtown Duck IPA ain’t no leisurely happy hour brew to enjoy with the interns and co-workers. It’s a beer with a quirky and audacious personality, just like the town where it’s brewed. I recommend trying a pint just as I would recommend visiting Venice Beach itself – count on an eye-popping time, but follow it up with familiar ground if you intimidate easily.

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Tom Dumenjich is a new writer here at PGA, but a beer lover and obviously lives on a cloud, if we are to believe his picture from Facebook! He and fellow PGA writer Tom Becham have been known to meet and discuss beer over, well beer… what else would you discuss beer over? Expect updates on Mr. Tom as he provides us more great reviews.