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Brian started diving into the world of craft beer in 2004, tracking all of the beers he tasted online, with notes. He picked up homebrewing in 2008 and began judging in 2010. Taking pride in the opportunity to give feedback to brewers of all sorts, he has progressed through the BJCP, attaining the rank of Master in 2013. He formerly acted as an Associate Exam Director for the BJCP, as well as an exam administrator and proctor, and presently holds the rank of Grand Master IV, as well as Mead judge. To him, the most important aspect of judging is to know your limits and learn how to recognize them and expand them. To achieve that end, Brian has judged in over 100 competitions in 12 states and counting, including the Great American Beer Festival, and visits innumerable breweries. He also helps organize a few competitions each year, including the role of judge coordinator for the Festival of Wood & Barrel-Aged Beer (which you may know as FoBAB), the largest of its kind in the world.
Tears of My Enemies - Vanilla Barrel Aged by Monday Night Brewing is being judged as a 33B Specialty Wood-Aged Beer, an Imperial Milk Stout with coffee, vanilla and cacao nibs, all aged in a barrel used to age vanilla extract (presumably).
In the glass it's an opaque deep brown-black... Read More
Tripel Decker by Clocktown Brewing Co. is being evaluated as a 26C Belgian Tripel. The beer is a deep, faintly hazy golden color with a low head that falls relatively quickly into a ring of white bubbles. The nose is an interesting mix of sharp ethanol, big crackery pilsner malt and high yeast... Read More
Key Lime Cider by 3 Daughters Brewing is being reviewed as a C2B Cider with Other Fruit. This cider pours a pale straw color with a thin fizzy head that dissipates and a fair amount of haze. On smelling the cider, it's clearly a lime one! Reminiscent of key lime pie, there are some faint floral... Read More
An oddball beer that was given as a witbier, but with the option as a Trappist Single. Given that it's a Trappist beer and obviously a Belgian, Chimay Dorée by Abbaye de Scourmont was judged as a 26a-Trappist Single. It is worth noting that spicing is not typically appropriate in this style, per... Read More
Deepfake Non-Alcoholic IPA by Flying Dog Brewery is a difficult one to review, so I'm evaluating it as a 21B Specialty IPA with a non-alcoholic aspect. On the nose, it's initially juicy and orange juice-heavy, with grapefruit lingering. Beyond this, however, I'm getting a buttery/butterscotch... Read More
Pickerel by Moniker Brewery is a Japanese Rice lager that I'm evaluating as a 1B American Lager. Into the glass it pours a pale straw color with the faintest of hazes and a persistent ring of fine white bubbles. Certainly looks the part.
The nose is quite interesting and almost perfumy... Read More
