A Place to Gather and Talk
No one would ever argue with the reality that war is tough, and that the men and women who elect to serve are a truly special breed. But it might come as some surprise that during World War II the British and U.S. governments believed soldiers were so vital that they were willing to go to great lengths in order to supply them with a substance they felt was incredibly important for their morale: beer.
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Pours bright and clear with a persistent white head that clings and never really fades completely. Nose is bready with a bit of richness from malt. Hop is cool and herbal; soft and subtle and that tells me this is not a pilsner. Light open scent from dms and a glimpse at a tangy spice rounds out the nose. Crisp, bready, dry. Clean no diacetyl.
A light openness from dms and hop spice offer the sweetness in this beer. Carbonation is perfect bubbly but does not bite. Lovely pepper form the hop to finish it. There is a light sweetness on the nose that is the hallmark of the style in the drink it is but a brief bit of nectar before an expert and almost moderate bitterness shows you more bread. Impeccable. Cheerful and well crafted.
4
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Maria Devan. Ithaca. Beer reviewer. Beer steward. Beer judge. Winter time liked to sled down the hill she lives on in a bathing suit. That last one is NOT true.
With the craft beer boom in full swing, we often hear about how much incredible beer is out there. The quality bar has been set pretty high as microbrewers continue to innovate and refine brewing practices. But what we don’t hear very much about is how common bad beer is out in the market.
Let’s be clear: Bad beer is not the same thing as “beer I don’t like.”  Not liking a beer is a matter of personal taste. When you judge a beer to be “bad,” you’re saying that it wasn’t brewed properly and it is exhibiting some fault. Faults can occur at any stage of the brewing process. They can be the result of poor quality ingredients, insufficiently sanitized brewing equipment, exposure to light, or any number of other factors.
The easiest fault for most people to pick up on is referred to as “skunking.” A skunked beer will have a pungent, skunk-like, or rubbery aroma. Skunking is the result of a chemical chain-reaction that occurs when light interacts with isohumulones, which are bittering compounds from hops. This chemical reaction can start in a matter of seconds and is most pronounced in hoppier beers. Once the reaction is in motion, there’s no stopping it. If you’re going to drink beer outside and don’t particularly enjoy the aroma of skunk, ditch the clear pint glass and stick to brown glass bottles or cans which can block light.
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The tightrope walker calmly stepped one step at a time, unlike our picture above; holding a balancing pole with buckets at each end. But as he delicately put one foot ahead of the other malt was dumped into one of the buckets. He had a rational, reasonable, hope that there wouldn’t be so much malt dumped before hops were added that he would fall, but more malt fell into the bucket anyway. He tilted to one side but continued to walk. Still hoping hops, then eventually yeast, would balance it out, more malt dropped. The tightrope walker found it close to impossible to stay on the tightrope as the fermentables piled up higher. Then the announcer declared, â€And now, ladies and gentlemen, with even more malt to come, we present our demonstration of IMPERIAL tightrope walking!â€
You could very well replace malt with hops in that tale, or simply take away the pole and make the rope as thin as the finest thread, and just as breakable. Continue reading “A Beer Judge’s Diary: Imperial, What???”
What do Four Peaks, Camden Town, and Breckenridge brewing companies all have in common? Announcements of their buyouts from Anheuser-Busch InBev all came within a span of less than a week. They’re just the latest breweries to be added to AB-InBev’s ever-increasing craft beer portfolio.
With AB-InBev on a microbrewery shopping spree, some American craft beer evangelists believe the buyouts have gotten a little out of hand. One such person is John Falco, the owner of Miami’s soon-to-be-open Lincoln’s Beard Brewing Company, who finally had something to say about it and wrote an open letter to AB-InBev with an offer to buy the corporation — for $26,000.
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Nose: Saison spiciness and hint of phenolics. Some orange, moderate pepper, Taste: roasted wheat. Some slight debittered dark malt sense.
This really is a “dark Saison,†and a damn good one.
Head was deep tan, even somewhat brown: reminded me of a malt shake. Foam, and lots of it with big bubbles too. Long lasting. Light side of medium body with light, but obvious carbonation. Slightest spicy bitter.
Silky on the palate, with a firm sense of bitter towards the back of the mouth. Very fresh tasting.
Pepper is really in taste rather than nose, as per 2015 guidelines. A very worthy quaff.
4.2
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Yes, to the left is a drawing of Ken Carman, done by bored demons. They did a HELL of a job, eh?
Hi everyone today I have Smistletoe from Smuttynose. I am not a big fan of the Christmas beer or what you would call the winter warmer so I was very happy to see that this beer is in a style I don’t see very often. Biere de Garde.
Happy Meet You Under the Smistletoe Sunday
Pours a peachy color pinkish. The color can range form golden blonde to reddish brown so I guess that’s ok. When I see a pink or off color beer I usually don’t find myself attracted to it. slight haze. Head dissipated quickly. The light does not show you the color that I wanted you to see but it’s a little pinkish looking and not as hazy as I had first thought.
Nose has a dry musty scent malty and herbal. Clean nose with no diacetyl. There is what I would call a brisk neutral scent at first and then the fruitiness starts to exhale gently with some spice as the beer warms.
Taste is very spicy. Soft sweet bread for malt. Fully fruity with a tartness in the middle. Crisp herbal and plenty of clean hop bitterness take over toward the finish with sweet herbs. Lingers like honey on a cracker or nectar from flowers. Syrupy sweet finish with lots of pepper that leaves a bit flat with all that spice sinking into the cloying sweetness. As I drank I found the sweetness tolerable but it is extremely sweet and definitely a slow sipper.
The bjcp says that this style of beer should have a cellar like or musty character form lagering which it does. It should lack the spicing and the tartness of the saison. I do not feel that it did. It should be rounder and fuller than the Saison but this is where it went sweeter rather than rounder.
Have a great day everyone and CHEERS!
3.5
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Maria Devan lives in Ithaca, NY. That’s Ithaca: home to Ithaca Brewing and Bandwagon. She writes about beer frequently, so that means she samples a lot of beer. The professor is jealous.
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