52 Spring 2017 LOCALadk Magazine
LOCALadk
While Matt and Rich field questions, on the other side of the
great camp a tribute of sorts is being made to another Belgian
favorite – chocolate. Non-brewers in camp smack their lips as re-
gional Adirondack favorite, North Creek's Barkeater Chocolates,
demonstrates chocolate making, complete with the opportunity
for everyone to try their hand at the craft.
For serious home brewers, though, Saturday afternoon is the
real climax they've been waiting for. This is when they set up at
tables in the camp's rustic dining room and await the evaluation
of their brews by the pros – Rich, John, Reed and Matt. The goal,
each later agrees, is in the word "evaluate." Evaluators are quick
to point out this is not a good or bad test. "Our goal," says Rich,
is to evaluate the home brew compared to the style the brewer
was seeking to put in the bottle."
As with the rest of the weekend's activities, the evaluation exer-
cise is all about "a sensory appreciation of specific styles of beer,"
says John. Reed adds, "We're not here so much to drink beer as
we are to better understand what we are drinking or brewing.
The beer may be drinkable but is it what the home brewer was
trying to make?"
Black flies or no, beer camp ends too soon for most. There's al-
ways more to learn about craft beers, home brewing, and enjoy-
ing the variety of beers available today. Because that leads to
more questions for beer enthusiasts, most sign up for next year
even before they leave.
Richard Kraus pours a sample