Professor Good Ales

By Ken Carman

 I didn’t take any pictures this year, but my cousin Joyce did, so I decided to edit this and add them in. (Later info came in, Dorothy Joyce’s daughter actually took them. Probably the weird angles had to do with WAY too much beer? A joke.) Hence the second posting. She is standing there with a beer she was serving. I was grateful she walked around and helped. Next year I may shift this event until the Twitchell Lake people come up towards the end of September, or even Columbus Day because we were competing with a chicken dinner this time and next year. That’s an event that I’ve been going to since I was a kid, but it was always on Saturday. I have to ask Mark Franey and do some footwork asking others.

Joyce Lovelace
 I was going to post a picture of Mark Franey, who made it again, but I forgot for some reason the site dumped all pictures last year. He always does a great job and whatever animal he chooses for a hat that day helps too. I think one year a helpful beaver undam-ed a tap.
 There’s a dirty joke there, but I’m NOT going to use it!
 There is one of him here from cousin Joyce’s stash.
 My cousin Joyce, her daughter and husband: Dorothy and John made it again, as well as friends Lisa and Matt. They tented in my yard, Joyce stayed at Norridgewock along with her grandson. Max, JR.

How most of our tasters made it to this quaint railroad town with no roads going to it!

 Mark has many beers including, but not limited to, a light ale with various fruits like cherry. We started out with a simple brown ale. I introduced the London Brown Braggot I brewed in Eagle Bay this year. Immediately everyone who tried it morphed into John, Paul, George and Ringo. Pete Best and Stuart Sutcliffe showed up but since they were Beatles rejects we fed them to the Stillwater shark with just a light coating of Gray Poupon. I served two beers from Nashville breweries and Marcy, NY. Jitter Juice was a fruit coffee beer. I don’t remember the other two.

Mark in chair.

 One beer from Empire had lavender in it was an unremarkable ale, but the lavender was interesting. One quaffer said he’d never had a good beer by them. I’d rate this as not bad, but not great.
 Last year I listed this affair as the 11th. I think it is actually the 13th.
 It was a good time for all.

 We joined Music City Brewers around 1998. I can’t remember

for sure, but I think Tom Vista aka/Hop God, aka/Hop Tyrant, aka/Hop to Wit… yes, I made that last one up, was already a member. Either that or shortly after he joined. We were faced with a loud, boisterous, opinionated hop fanatic whose voice echoed in the acoustically horrendous beer hall known as Boscos. (And they didn’t even use Boscos’ chocolate syrup! SHAME!)
 Coming from a family filled with loud, boisterous, opinionated people I was suitably impressed. Tom doesn’t just add color to the club, he’s worked his garbanzos off in past competitions and provided lots of direction. Like his passion for hops. Continue reading “A Beer-y Good Story: Hop to Wit”

Profiled by Ken Carman

 I had to write this after I got home, had supper and did several other things, so apologies in advance for anything I missed. The delay immediately caused one snafu: I had thought it was named “Martini,” but with a little research I am sure it was Manhattan Ale. Which makes more sense: only because Martini made no sense at all. Manhattan? Well, the ingredients are similar, but not the same by any means. No problem with that: whatever it takes to make a great quaff. This is what they did and beyond.
 It looks like 10W-40 in a glass: sure as hell doesn’t taste like it. No head, slight carbonation at best: it doesn’t need either. The abv and bourbon barrelling probably took care of that.
 If you’re looking for a high grav sipper with lots of flavor, this is it. Closing in on almost but not quite light brown, this dirty amber brew has great clarity. Nirvana for a high gravity lover. No head: with the barreling, the gravity, the surface tension due to that gravity, I wasn’t expecting much. Light carbonation: doesn’t need much. Heavy carbonation would ruin the experience.
 The aroma is like the flavor: light rum barreling, way in the background caramel, extremely light hopping: so light it’s hard to discern. Perhaps just a hint of herbal, but not enough to label. The flavor follows aroma plus MA finishes confusing. Slight dry and slight sweet at each sip it is complex and exciting, yet demands you do so slowly: which is good because this could really kick you into Never Neverland. Came in an 8oz glass: praise the beer gods because it was my one drink before I popped over the hill to home.
 No Munich, maybe a hint of Maris Otter and caramel malt(s), otherwise this is pure pale and a hell of a lot of it. Hint sweet. The bourbon barrel is more evident in flavor than aroma, but that’s not all that hefty either. It’s a supporting actor to the star of the “heft:” malt. Any malt not pale stays mostly off stage. Maybe a hint of pilsner? Aftertaste/finish is, of course, sweet malt, and a hint of bourbon. The cherry, orange peel and coriander are way off stage. They just provide a great background. Coriander close to absent.
 If I had to blindly guess the style: American Strong Ale. If not that: Barleywine: a bit more Brit than American due to low hopping. But I lean more towards a barreled American Strong. (I found out after I typed most of the review I was right.)
 Mouthfeel is full, malty, vinous; like a glass of hefty wort. The alcohol is obviously high but not hot, not intrusive: it lingers like a maid or butler off to the side or to the back of the stage while the basic malt is in the spot light. (At 14.1 that’s brew TALENT!) Hint of caramel at best. I’m wonder if the mash stuck on this one it’s so malty.
 Thanks to Matt and Screamen Eagle for this delightful quaff. I’ve had a lot of great beers at this 50 tap Inlet brew mecca, but this may qualify as one of the best. The highest rating I’ve EVER given a beer, and I’m a somewhat high grav pro having run a high grav mostly competition for 5 years and a beer tasting focusing in on high grav since 2006. BTW, I probably will NEVER give a 5, just like giving a 50 in a competition may never happen. To get there I need to die and go to the perfect afterlife!
 This brew is exquisite.

 90 at Rate Beer, 70 for style. 4.04 out of 5 at Beer Advocate. 3.88 at Untappd. American Strong Ale. 14.1abv. Here is what ST says about it…

 Introducing Manhattan Ale, inspired by the ever timeless cocktail. We brew this ale with cherry juice, orange peel and coriander then age it to perfection in bourbon barrels. It’s a midtown metamorphosis that harmoniously brings our two passions to life in one glass.

4.8

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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