Professor Good Ales

It was in Newark that the legend of Ballantine Burton Ale was born. Famous for the reputably excellent Ballantine IPA, the brewers at Newark made a special beer for private distribution. This beer was brewed to a very high gravity and designed for long periods of maturation in oak tanks. A limited bottling every Fall would be released to employees and friends of the brewers as gifts for the holiday. The special label (examples of which are periodically available on ebay) lists the date the beer was brewed, bottled, and the person for whom the gift was intended.

According to Fred Eckhardt in an interview I conducted several years ago, the Burton Ale was a very strong beer of unknown gravity, with over 60 IBU’s of bitterness and a lengthy period in the wood. Eckhardt suggests that this beer has its roots prior to prohibition. This is a sensible assumption. As Ballantine dated its origins in Newark to 1840, it is not hard to imagine the brewery tapping into the old New England tradition of strong stock ale. The Burton Ale can be viewed as a fostering of this tradition, perhaps one of the last remaining examples.

 

(This article includes an actual tasting and further comments.)

“When taste buds rebel and stomachs upchuck you know your palette is stuck on YUCK.”

Written by Ye Olde Scribe

Grab the little critter and squeezzzzzzzzzeeeeeeeeeee the essence into your glass. Make sure you get both barrels. Ah, SKUNK BEER! If that’s your desire grab your heine and lick it dry! Isn’t there a bit irony when a nickname is so apt? Scribe used to be a big fan of the darker version. Maybe Scribe just has more taste these days? Hey, it twere the 70s. Anything related to disco is tainted by mere location.

Corn… DMS. Weak body. A slightly sour sense. Weak urine color. What’s to complain about?

EVERYTHING.

Image from Zoice.com

   If you think about this one, what exactly would make you want to buy or drink this beer? What does it say good about the beer? What might this beer taste like? “Pssst! Seems this might be a case of attempting to use sex to sell beer that probably backfired in a somewhat smelly way.” (The “psst,” like the ad, was a too little odiferous, perhaps?)

Why Does Nose Grease Tame Beer Foam?
By Joshua M. Bernstein

From Chow.com

Continue reading “Nose Beer”

Recipe from Cooks.com

Written by Carolyn Smagalski

 Holiday Turkey with Cranberry-Beer Dressing Recipe

Historically, brine is a solution of sea salt, to which is added sugar and aromatics.

Master chefs on large estates created these brine solutions to preserve meats for extended periods, much like villagers did with smoked meats or salted fish. Brining awakens flavors in turkey, and allows spices to penetrate the fleshy parts of the bird. As an old-fashioned Thanksgiving tradition, brining the bird in cranberry and beer is a treat that will gain a memorable place in the halls of Holiday lore.

Holiday Turkey with Cranberry-Beer Dressing

Link

Without intent, I have collected well over 1,000 beer bottles since the early 70s. When something finally had to be done about the cheap paneling in this old modular, I had a choice. Tear down the walls while, oh, so carefully, replacing the often rotted 1X3s. Or: cover them with… The Bottle Collection.

Written by Ken Carman

Continue reading “From the Bottle Collection: Helenbock”

The Professor will provide an occasional odd story: recent or from history, related to beer. This one is from http://ibnlive.in.com. The Professor hopes it was a beer at least worthy enough of losing ones job over.

Bogota: A dead man’s family had to wait for hours at a cemetery in Colombia, as the hearse driver went to have a few beers, leaving the vehicle carrying the corpse outside a motel.

Continue reading “Beer Related Stories”