Month: February 2015

Malt extract tends to get a bad rap. Some assume brewing with grains will automatically create better beer, which isn’t necessarily the case.

Sure you have more control over the brewing process and access to additional ingredients when undertaking the mash, but that is not to say that delicious, award-winning beers aren’t made with extract. Just take a look at past National Homebrew Competition winners.

Much of this stigma surrounding extract may stem from the fact that it is the standard entry-level brewing process. But, perhaps the beer you deemed sub-par was not due to malt extract, but rather amateur brewing processes or malt extract past its prime.

The point is, malt extract does not automatically knock a homebrew down a notch below mashed brews. In fact, many grain brewers use extracts for starter wort, to hit an undershot gravity, or compensate for fermentables in a high gravity batch.

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Written by Franz Hofer for A Tempest in a Tankard

Imperceptibly but steadily the arid ranchland terrain of dry gullies and crevices rises to meet the horizon as I leave behind a limitless expanse stretching eastward as far as the eye can see. A few hours pass before I crest a small hill, and there, spread out before me in the distance is the spine of the continent soaring to majestic heights. Tucked up against the Front Range palisades that form the entry to the Rockies, Denver and other erstwhile frontier settlements beckon with a cosmopolitan flair that belies their one-time reputation as a collection of cow towns.

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This might surprise you, but the monks who toil away making your favorite Belgian dark strongs and tripels aren’t typically quaffing their high-gravity creations. With strict schedules of religious observance, brewing and other daily tasks, the monks need to keep an even keel.

Instead, they brew a special light ale called patersbier (“Father’s Beer” in Dutch) to drink for sustenance, while leaving them fully capable to take on the day’s endeavors. If monk’s mowed their monastery yard (do they?), this would be the Belgian equivalent of a lawnmower beer.

Patersbier is also known as enkel, meaning “single” in Dutch. The style likely came about when monks did an additional sparge of a mash to extract leftover sugars. Once collected, it is brewed as its own beer and turned into a highly sessionable beer. This long-practiced brewing technique is known as parti-gyle.

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If there is one thing that we all go a bit crazy for, it’s oak matured booze. Even if you’re not a big spirit lover, odds are good you’ve indulged frequently on other such oaked products like balsamic vinegar and Worcestershire or Tabasco sauces. For those who have discovered the world of a well-aged whisky, tequila, brandy, rum or fortified wine, it’s an appreciation easily bought by a bottle carrying buzz terms like extra añejo, solera, single barrel, cask strength, sherry finish or paradise. But what do we really understand about the influence of the oak barrel?

Anyone who has ever attended a whisky masterclass might have had further terms like vanillin, tannin, lignin, lactone, alligator char, conditioning – and something about ‘greedy angels’ – all thrown at them by an overtly gregarious brand ambassador. It’s a language few understand and while the science may be more than a little confusing, the results are anything but. As age statements are being removed more and more from bottles of Scotch [see: The Oak Conundrum], understanding oak selection and cask finish is becoming more and more important.

Despite archeological evidence placing the art of the ‘cooper’ as far back as 100BC, the wooden cask has evolved little over the last two millennia. The ‘why’ lies not in the latency of technology but rather its modern rebirth as the best tea bag in the world.

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PGA Note- according to brewer Wayne Wambles they are “not selling.”

Dear Joey,

In helping run LetsPour.com for three years, I had a lot of opportunity to experience CCBC’s beers and to talk with you and your staff about how to get Cigar City out to all the millions of people who wanted some. I found my dealings with everyone there to be refreshingly direct and BS-free and, of course, the beers were just to die for. For my birthday in 2010, my boss flew to Tampa and brought me back a case of assorted CCBC stuff, which remains one of the top three gifts I’ve ever received. All of that is why I’m writing you today.

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MURFREESBORO – An 18-year-old will be able to taste but not swallow beer in a college beer manufacturing class if a bill sponsored by Sen. Bill Ketron becomes law.

“You cannot consume it,” Ketron said during a phone interview.

The Republican senator from Murfreesboro is also known for his legislation that will enable grocery stores to sell wine if municipal referendums pass, such as voters in Murfreesboro and Smyrna approving them in November.

In addition to Ketron’s support, state Rep. Steve McManus, a Republican from Cordova in the Memphis area, is also sponsoring the legislation pertaining to beer tasting.

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