A Place to Gather and Talk
You have to admire a city where the rhythms of life revolve around excuses to tap a keg and raise a mug of good cheer.
Munich is one such city where the seasons are marked by festivities that involve a healthy amount of imbibing. Most of these beer festivals have their roots in Catholicism and are, more often than not, bound up with the arrival of spring, summer, autumn, and winter.
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Just a little less than two years ago, I posted a thing called “Murderer’s Rowâ€, a list of breweries that was intended to let visitors to the Pacific Northwest find some truly great breweries to work into their itineraries. Happily, this did exactly what I hoped: it got a TON of people from the rest of America interested in NW breweries and those people asked questions…Boy, did they ask questions.
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Music City Brewers club president Justin, and I, have been having fun arguing as of late. The latest topic was the 2015 v. 2008 BJCP Guidelines.
Let’s start with an apology…
  However, as a beer judge I’ve only done a little comparing: 2015 v. 2008 Guidelines. Most of that was between competitions, where one would use 15, the other 08.
There’s no need when assessing entries during competition.
There’s no need when studying to learn the craft of judging.
There’s no need when attempting to raise your score on a BJCP test: toss 2008 away. 2015 is the standard now.
  After our discussion I went home and started comparing. Continue reading “A Beer Judge’s Diary: 2015 Guidelines v. 2008”
Okay, I’m calling BS on this asinine list.
I’m not even going to link to the post which spawned this (alleged) listlet. I don’t want to give them any more free clicks, since the list is obviously blatant bait for that species of scaly, slimy little internet reptile. But you go ahead and google the name shown in the next paragraph and you’ll find it. Not that anyone needs to see it. This is called “Top 10 American Stouts Brewed in the USA†– not “in 2016†or “This Year†but BEST, period…which is bullshit. Oh, it says in the copy underneath that the results come from 2016 and from their three sources but that is the very definition of click-bait: write a provocative headline that will get people to come to your site and then – back-peddle furiously, so you can’t be accused of click-baiting.
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Happy Easter!
I was reading our threads bright and early this New Beer Sunday! Cheers to BA 
=)
In the old guidelines amber was used for the oktoberfest and the Vienna lager. I think I am not the only one who is comparing the new and old guidelines. The idea is that darker malt changes things.
@marquis from the thread –
https://www.beeradvocate.com/commun…s-a-hoppy-amber-red-…/
“That’s what comes of having too many styles by far and as a consequence trying to divide the beer spectrum into neat compartments which are wholly contrived.A modest variation in the speciality malts and the hopping rate doesn’t create a new style. Why not have just a handful of loose categories and judge them in strength bands?”
Let’s make it at least a Two Beer Sunday. Happy New Caramel Changes Everything Sunday
The new guidelines allow for some caramel where the old do not. That is a “significant” style change. The new guidelines say that “significant” caramel is inappropriate so that implies that some is ok. The old guidelines say no caramel no roasted scents or flavors. Basically I think the idea is that the color of the beer is where things can change.
The pour is hazy not clear. Off white head that is perfect and uniform . Lasts well. It is neither soapy nor creamy. Never fades completely to a thin layer on top. Slightly toasty. The brewer says ” unique hop.” It is . It is cool and melon like. Delectable and even a bit fruity but not so prominent that I would say it over shadows the malt. No freshness date, 5.9%.
First taste is caramel. Enough so that it is the first thing you taste. Enough hoppy mouthfeel to know they are there. Warms a bit. Earthy, breaddy and complexity from the malt. Carbonation is perfect. Soft generous bubbles. Not to sweet in the finish & the hops offer a generous bitterness. Not quite to style but enjoyable. Balanced but a bit bigger if you know what I mean. I am talking about how the caramel affects the mouthfeel and the finish. I wonder what the hop is? IMO they should put it in an IPA or a saison too. It’s enticing but not too exotic. It smells like new grass and a succulent coolness.
The caramel makes the mouthfeel heavier. Caramel can be so light as to smell yellow and bright or pale in color. This caramel smells a bit toastier and nutty. It also can be a bit sweet and get sweeter the more prominent it is. It keeps the mouthfeel from finishing dry but the hop bitter dries it enough so that it drinks well. I have even seen Vienna lagers that finished sweeter than this and were much paler like El Sully. Negra Modelo is no longer the model in the new style guidelines because it is too dark. The brewers notes for this beer were spot on and frankly I would have six more of these. 14 on the srm and finishes just sweet. I find the moniker amber to be a catch all word but I think this beer just crosses a line. It does fit the new style guidelines but not the old.
(Style questions)
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Since it’s Easter time, what style better to review than one who color is black as death, but revived by brewers a number of years back! If I were a commercial brewer perhaps a seasonal “Dead Easter Bunny,†or better, “Resurrected Rabbit?â€
This is such an anomaly for Ommegang. The color right: black as hell, almost no light shines through, thick, high viscosity/FG, brownish head. On the nose: heavy roast, some hops in the background. So far close to a perfect score, except a hint of…
Really? This is a classic beginning brewer mistake. I knew it when it first hit the palate: too much roasted barley. Too much roasted barley creates a harshness, an astringency that, here, is annoying. Yeah, it can be worse, but the balance here is off and the roasted barley is annoying, even as we polished off the bottle and the abv starts to hit.
Everything is right: mouthfeel is full and pleasing, except the same problem, the malt complexity and intensity is everything a RIS should be. Ommegang, if fault is found, usually plays it too safe.What happened here? Did someone slip and pour in the whole bag, or too many bags?
87/84 @ BA
97/64 @ Rate Beer
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This may be the shortest post in the history of The Pour Fool…because there is just absolutely nothing (well, okay, one tiny thing) I have to say that in any way contradicts the two previous posts I’ve done on the amazing DrinkTanks thermal growler. It remains the ONLY thermal growler out of the six others I’ve been asked to review that does everything it’s supposed to and even a bit more. And in this disposable age, when people routinely toss TVs and computers and even cars onto the scrap heap in far less than two years, what other product can make that claim?
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It’s been awhile. Blame Vienna. It’s not the first time I’ve done so over the course of the past eighteen months. Rather than sit here and tell you about all the cool stuff I’ve got in the works, I thought I’d dash off a quick post about my recent visit to Salzburg en route to the mountains around Zell am See. I’ll save Salzburg’s rich history for another day and head straight for the Wirtshäuser (taverns) and beer gardens.
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It’s been awhile. Blame Vienna. It’s not the first time I’ve done so over the course of the past eighteen months. Rather than sit here and tell you about all the cool stuff I’ve got in the works, I thought I’d dash off a quick post about my recent visit to Salzburg en route to the mountains around Zell am See. I’ll save Salzburg’s rich history for another day and head straight for the Wirtshäuser (taverns) and beer gardens.
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I’ll probably take some static about this…and I deserve to…
From this day forth, what we now call “craft brewing†and “craft beer†will no longer be referred to by that label, here. For a couple of years, now, I’ve been regularly harangued by people who claimed that “craft†is dead, as though that sort of thing happens summarily and closes the subject. It does neither. Millions of people call it “craft brewing†and will go on doing that. And I don’t care if random groups of trendies or even old farts like me decide “craft†is passé. I’m not calling it that anymore and it was not because somebody(s) argued me off it.
In fact, I was spooked off it…in the most direct possible way.
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