Beer tasting: Yay! Beer taxes: Boo!

My husband, Alan Carmichael, tasting the first beer of the evening.

I am basically a wine drinker. But I can enjoy a really cold Miller Lite from time to time. Heavier beers, craft beers, I’m usually not so crazy about.

That’s why I was a little surprised to have had such an enjoyable — and tasty — time the other night when our friends Dawn and Richard Ford accompanied Alan and me to a beer tasting at the University of Tennessee Visitors’ Center. Organized by the UT Culinary Institute, this is this second one we’ve attended under the expert guidance of Carol Costello, who heads the Institute’s wine and beer education program. This one featured the beers of Blackstone Brewing Company in Nashville. When Blackstone first opened in 1994, it was the first brewpub in Nashville and the third in Tennessee. In 2011, its owners invested $4 million and built a brand new state-of-the-art brewing and bottling facility in Nashville’s West End area. In Knoxville, Blackstone Beers are distributed by Cherokee Distributing, a great Moxley Carmichael client.

As he shared the history of Blackstone and gave a virtual tour of the brewery, co-founder Kent Taylor offered these insights:

• “Knowledgeable people drink good beer,” he said. That’s why he is committed to educating people about beer and beer making.
• Beer is made of only four ingredients: malted barley, hops, water and yeast.
• Beer is 95 percent water. “If you have bad water,” Taylor said. “You have bad beer. In Nashville, we have almost perfect water for brewing.”
• “If beer is not bitter, it’s not beer,” he asserted. Hops are the ingredients that give beer its bitterness.
• “The number one rule in beer: Drink it today!” Taylor said.
• Do not leave beer in a hot car!
• Keep your beer out of light. “Light causes ‘skunky’ beer,” he said. How quickly can that happen? Within 10 minutes!
• When tasting and comparing different beers, try to notice three things: What happens at the beginning when you sip it. How it lays on the tongue. How it finishes. Also remember that the bitter-sensing taste buds are at the very back of the tongue. Therefore, beer tasters have to swallow the beer in order to fully taste it.
• “British hops are more subdued, just like the people,” Taylor said. “American hops are more aggressive, like Americans!”

These photos will show you what a fun event this was. But I wanted to mention one serious thing. Tennessee’s beer taxes are very messed up. In fact, Tennessee has the highest beer tax rate in the country, mostly because taxes are charged on the price of beer rather than on the volume sold. There is an effort in the state General Assembly this year to reform the beer tax. Click here for more information about that.

Nashville's Blackstone is a restaurant, as well as a brewery.

I loved the colorful labels on the six beers we tasted.

It was a sell-out crowd, with 120 folks in attendance.

This is our fearless leader, Carol Costello. "I could have sold 200 more tickets," she said of the popular non-credit course.

Malted barley is a main ingredient in beer. Different types of barley produce different types of beer. This was the lightest colored barley we were shown.

Barley number two

The darkest barley of the night

Hops are introduced in pellet form. They give beer its bitterness. "Do NOT eat these!" we were warned.

Everyone who tours Blackstone is given a pair of beer goggles. Even though our tour was a "virtual" tour, we still got the goggles!

The first four beers we tasted were Chaser Pale, upper left; Nut Brown Ale, upper right; American Pale Ale, bottom left; and St. Charles Porter, bottom right. I was surprised that I liked the Nut Brown Ale the best.

Dawn Ford giving one of the beers a try.

Blackstone co-founder Kent Taylor proposing a toast.

Richard Ford getting in to the spirit of the evening.

This is Chef Tyler White who supervised Pellissippi State culinary students in preparation of our dinner. Many of the dishes featured beer, such as cheddar ale mac and cheese, pork marinated in ale and simmered for six hours, and mesculan mixed salad with orange ale vinaigrette.

Wild mushroom stuffed chicken roulade

Poutine-style mashed potatoes. Poutine potatoes normally means french fries served with a cheese and gravy sauce. But, Chef White said, "I refused to make french fries for 120 people!"

White pizza

Cucumber salad

This beer is called "Adam Bomb."

Adam Baker, left, and Kent Taylor. Adam also works at Blackstone. "Adam Bomb" was named after him.

Maris Otter is the name of this beer.

Carol gave Kent and Adam each an apron from the UT Culinary Institute.

I always have to take a picture of Carol's earrings because they are so clever. These are little palm trees.

Oh, my God! Brownies made with porter for dessert!

Candyce Goschy selected the other dessert: pastry cream and fresh fruit.