Big Foamy Head: Big Foamy Head
By admin, 17 years ago

Show 68 - Ale Asylum Beer Show

Join us as we enjoy beers from Madtown's up-and-coming Brewery and Brew Pub - The Ale Asylum. Hint for the unlearned, Madtown is an alias for Madison, WI. Limited availability in bottles, but always available in growlers and pints from the pub. It's beer that's «fermented in sanity.»

Class and culture abound during this show. Well, class and culture as defined by the BigFoamyHead hosts!

Book readings? Yes! We read an excerpt from Charlie Papazians book «Microbrewed Adventures.»

Movie Information? Of course! We celebrate the opening of Black Snake Moan - «everything is hotter down south.» This movie was filmed in Memphis and set in Stanton, TN which is about 40 miles from the beer studio. You can hear the sounds of the cicada, frogs and crickets throughout the movie that is synonymous with the midsouth in the summer time.

Art? Indeed. We have a discussion on some of the folk art which is featured in the liver stretching exercise preshow video. We also talk about the art of brewing and beer competitions.

More class and culture? Of course! We delve in to Haiku, the ancient Japanese form of poetry. Rub your eyes and wake the kids!

The movie inspired us to dig out some of the older blues tracks... including one of the original versions of Black Snake Moan and a cover of Memphis Minnies «Tricks ain't walking.»

That's not enough you say? Okay, we're starting something new - promoting interesting blogs! This week we recommend Beer Haiku and The Opinionated Beer Page.

Still not enough? We have a great news segment with Rick Lyke.

Beers we sampled this show...

Seek Asylum. Listen here!

6 comments

#1. Brew Bubba 1, 17 years ago

Dick, you have too much time on your hands finding all your awesome information. Rick, we're glad you didn't break out in your rendition of «Midnight at the Oasis.» You guys made me look forward to my next trip to Madison. Thanks for another great show!!!
Keep brewing,
CB

#2. Administrator, 17 years ago

Thanks Craig! Although in the interest of time, we're not above making up facts... We didn't have all this culture planned, but the planets aligned, etc. Apologies to everyone about the tardiness of the videos - they're coming, just lots of technical fubars.

#3. Rick, 17 years ago

Great show, still working through it but needed to comment a bit on homebrew to probrew and judging in general...

Always take the beer judging with a grain of salt. If you get a sheet with few notes and NO tips for improvement, then the judge notes are incomplete. However, if you get a sheet back that is filled in and includes tips for improvement, the judge probably knows a thing or two. Finally, remember that all judges are mandated to judge based on style guides. There are a lot of very good beers that are entered into the wrong categories. This is a common problem with beers that have overlap in style - porter/stout pale ale/ipa/amber american wheat/bavarian wheat, etc... It is common to have a wonderful pale ale submitted as an IPA, sadly if the beer is low in hops or uses the wrong variety of hops, we have to ding it.

Regardless, look for the tips in your notes that tell you how to improve the beer you submitted - could be simple stuff, could be more detailed, but that is one major reason homebrewers should submit beers for competition - the prizes should be secondary.

Here is what a score sheet SHOULD look like -
http://www.bjcp.org/examscore1.pdf
http://www.bjcp.org/examscore4.pdf

Regarding pro brewers. I have seen nothing that indicates good homebrewers make good pro brewers. I also know that good pro brewers don't make for good breweries. I know of a place in Oregon that is has their beer brewed by a man with four weeks of brewer training from the previous owner/brewer. This guy makes GREAT beer and has taken to developing his own new recipes. I am certain the experience is good, don't get me wrong. As added point to this - the best home brewers I know stopped submitting beers for competition years ago. They don't need, nor do they seek the ribbons and accolades that come with winning competitions. The 'top' home brewers in the country, the ones with the most ribbons, often are simply those who brew the most beer and submit it for competition. That doesn't impress me all that much.

OK, I think I have said enough. What? I said too much? Yeah, I do that.

Oh, that opening song was kick ass. Great stuff guys, you're doing a great service.

#4. Administrator, 17 years ago

Thanks for the sample BJCP sheets! It was an interesting read. I also appreciate the view point of a BJCP judge such as yourself. The points regarding Pro's, homebrewers and homebrewers entering contests make perfect sense to me. Feel free to write away - we appreciate the feedback and it helps provide content to the site! Win-win.

#5. Groucho, 17 years ago

Great show guys. You have been in a groove these past few eps... Keep this up, and you will be on a radio station somewhere! Is that a good thing?

G

#6. CAmes, 17 years ago

If you guys ever want to get out to Washington, first round at Fred's Rivertown Alehouse is on me.

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