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Beer Profiles: Hop Dam and Fresh Frog Raw

Profiled by Ken Carman for Professor Goodales

These two profiles will be a bit different. I brought Hop Dam to American Homebrewers regional here inb Nashville to get some comments from BJCP judges and competition organizers. So my comments will be brief so I can include them with mine in the short format I prefer to use for my profiles here at PGA. The other will be more like the usual profiles I do. Plus: thought it would be fun to compare them.

First: Hop Dam, Hoppin Frog’s Triple IPA; Akron, OH…
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Beer Profile: Saranac Irish Red Ale

Profiled by Ken Carman

Upon popping a top I usually sniff straight from the

Picture courtesy lenndevours.com
bottle. It can focus the aroma as the scent floats up the narrow neck. Smelled pretty clean, though there may be just a tad diacetyl. Not unexpected in the style. Just a little vague hop aroma. None I could sense in the taste.

Just a bit more of an Amber than Red, but close enough. Clarity good with garnet highlights. Head good, but fades fast… then lingers on the edges. Small glass may have caused some of that.

Mouthfeel: caramel/crystal malt very dominate. Slight sharp carbonation sense there, but not heavily carbonated: a background sense to the mouthfeel. Slightly more malt complex than many Irish Reds I’ve had.

There really is almost no hop sense to the taste. The aroma may be a bit malt sweet, but close to not quite as malt sweet to the taste as the style calls for. But tis pleasant and I would say still in style. Just borderline dry for the style. The strong malt backbone. for the style, seems quite at home in my mouth and equally happy passing on to its next destination as I swallow. Just a tad “chewy” and a bit like pure liquid, dextrin-ous, roasted barley. Just a bit bread like, like the more dense whole grain bread you get at a health food store.

An excellent entry for Saranac/Matt Brewing. I believe it’s just a seasonal. Would make a great regular offering. And they haven’t entered it anywhere I would suggest they do. It probably will win at least an award. Maybe two. Maybe more.

Here are the stats from the Saranac site…

Beer Style: Irish Red Ale
Malt Selections: 2 Row, Crystal
Hop Selections: Vanguard
Color: Deep Garnet
Mouthfeel / Body: Medium Body, Balanced Sweetness
Food Companions: Light Fare
Alcohol By Volume: 4.5%
Original Gravity: 11.0

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Gluten-Free Doesn’t Mean Craft Beer-Free

Written by John Holl for Craftbeer.com

Shortly after being diagnosed with celiac disease, a few regular customers of the Old Hat Brewery & Grill approached Brewer and Owner Tommy Fuller to ask for a favor. Having celiac meant they could no longer consume gluten, a protein found in wheat, barley and rye. As such, the beers they once enjoyed at Fuller’s Lawton, MI, brewery were now off limits. The favor they were asking was for Fuller to brew up a gluten-free beer.
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The Beer Nut: Brew with a Mission

Written by Norman Miller for GateHouse News Service

There’s nothing better than relaxing with a beer after a long day of work, except maybe drinking a beer that helps those in need.

That’s the idea behind 50 Back, The Brew of the Brave, where 50 percent of profits will go to various veteran support organizations.

“Veterans and their families sacrifice so much for the rest of us,” said Kimberly Rogers, co-founder of 50 Back Brewing Company. “If we can create a great-tasting beer that can help make even a small difference in their lives, we will have succeeded.”

The idea began about two years ago with Rogers and co-founder Paige Haley, both of Pepperell, Mass. They both had family members and friends who either had served or were currently in the military.

Both Rogers and Haley said they decided they wanted to do something to help the veterans.

“The idea (of helping) really resonated with other people as well,” Rogers said.

“Everyone knows someone, even if it’s not a family member, who is in the military,” said Haley. “We decided to make a great beer, and give back to our soldiers and veterans.”

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Who’s UP for a Beer with Viagra?

Posted by Steve Greenlee at boston.com

Say this for the Scottish beer maker BrewDog: These guys know how to attract attention.

Last summer BrewDog released a 55-percent-alcohol-by-volume Belgian ale called The End of History. But the extreme alcohol content wasn’t the absurd part. The absurd part was that the bottles were sold inside dead squirrels. For $765 a pop. BrewDog also sells a 41 percent ABV India pale called Sink the Bismarck. I saw a bottle on the shelf at Julio’s Liquors in Westborough last week, priced around $150. (Apparently the beer is nothing special; the users of BeerAdvocate collectively rate it only a B.)

How to top these beers?
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Beer Profile: Helluva Bock

Profiled by Ken Carman

Atlanta Brewing Company
Atlanta, GA

Nothing on the bottle tells us what style bock this is. There are a few clues, but clues so confusing even Sherlock would say, “Huh?” “Helluva” seems to indicate Helles, but alcohol content and nature: a bit “hot,” seems more “Eis” in nature. Aroma is lager yeast. Smells like sulfur to me, a little DMS which could be acceptable. Some malt nose, but background. Color: light copper would indicate Traditional Bock, but to my buds this ain’t no “Traditional.”

7.5%. Point one higher than standard. That’s not that much of a problem, in my opinion, but as I have stated the slightly higher hot alc nature is a bit problematic, especially since the whole damn quaff seems out of balance.

Atlanta Beer Master has it listed as a “Maibock.” (Helles) But: not deep gold or amber, strong head fades very fast and way the hell out of style for that kind of Bock, as the rest of this profile, and previous comments, indicate.

Carbonation and slightly hot alcohol in the mouthfeel. The malts are there, and I get the feeling if it wasn’t for the alcohol problem; as slight as it is, and the lager yeast, which I admit may be more me than defect, the malt sense would be quite pleasurable.
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Vancouver Craft Beer Week Brews Frothy Fun

Written by Tony Montague for straight.com

Iain Hill’s champion beers will be on the menu at the Yaletown Gold Medal Brewmaster’s Dinner. Photo by Tracey Kusiewicz

Don’t be surprised if you’ve never heard of a Cascadian Dark Ale. The style—a strong, well-hopped, and robust Brown Ale—is a new one, created in the Pacific Northwest. A group of B.C. brewmasters got together to produce a unique local recipe for the official bevy of the second annual Vancouver Craft Beer Week.

The celebration of artisanal, high-quality beer takes place in dozens of pubs, bars, restaurants, and other venues around town from May 6 to 14, with events from a wacky pub crawl to a tasting festival that incorporates the B.C. Beer Awards. Iain Hill, who helms the pipes and kettles at Yaletown Brewing Company, won three top prizes last year’s VCBW. All three of his champion beers are on the menu at the Yaletown Gold Medal Brewmaster’s Dinner on May 12—a highlight of the nine-day event and one of several food-and-beer pairing events.
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Brew Biz: Werts and All

Ken Carman is a BJCP judge; homebrewer since 1979, club member at Escambia Bay and Music City Homebrewers, who has been interviewing professional brewers all over the east coast for over 10 years.

Written by Ken Carman

The Topic: Homebrew Club Dynamcs

I can’t write about the dynamics in every homebrew club: I haven’t been a member or “every” homebrew club. I can only write about the clubs I am a member of, homebrew and not, and those I have visited or judged for. There’s a problem with this, as a writer: it involves people’s public behavior that they may not be all that fond of finding published for all to read, even just on the web.

So I am going to be very careful here: no names. My apologies to those whom I have praised. I promise: I will be doing a column on the value of certain members I am about to mention. I will use names.

No apologies to those who are about to receive less than praise. In fact you probably deserved to be pissed off more than this little column could ever achieve. If I had my way some of you should be up on billboards across the country, picture and all: “Never let this person into any club you are a member of, or even state you live in. They are not decent human beings.”

But let’s start this column off with somewhat of a positive spin…
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Get Ready, Arrogant Bastards! Stone Week Starts Tomorrow

Written by Robin Wheeler for blogs.riverfronttimes.com

Few craft brewers have arrived in St. Louis with as much anticipation and fanfare as Escondido, California’s Stone Brewing. But they arrive here this week, bringing all the Arrogant Bastard Ale and Stone Ruination IPA we’ve been longing for.

The beer hits store shelves and bar taps on Tuesday, but Thursday’s actually the big day for Stone Brewing events around town. The company’s collaborating with a host of St. Louis’ best beverage locales for events with Stone Brewing Co-Founder and CEO Greg Koch, including a tasting at the Clayton location of the Wine and Cheese Place from 4 to 5 p.m.

Store manager Paul Hayden’s been pushing for Stone Brewing to come here for a long time. In fact, in a blog entry two years ago, Hayden gave St. Louis beer lovers instructions on how to get Stone Brewing to town.

“The customer reaction has been ecstatic,” he says. “I cannot tell you how excited people are, and how excited we are to get the beers. We got tired of people coming into the store and asking if we carry Arrogant Bastard [Ale] or [Stone] Ruination [IPA]. Many people don’t understand beer laws and wonder why we just don’t order [it] and put it on our shelves. They don’t know about the red tape, and that Stone Brewing has to want to come to your state.”

Greg Koch’s coming to town, and he’s bringing beer!
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