Category: Front Page

The Professor held off on the other 3 columns: for any homebrewer knows without yeast there is no beer. Plus yeast could be argued to be THE most important, and the most underrated ingredient. Try a Belgian Abbey Ale vs. an American Pale, for example. Hops can vary in both, and malts. But if you switch the yeasts you may have switched the styles.-The Professor

Written by Andy Ingram for azcentral.com and The Republic

There are four basic ingredients in beer. In previous installments of the Beer Buzz I’ve covered three: malt, hops and water.

I’ve held off on the fourth ingredient, yeast, because of the sheer scope of the topic. The amount of information on the science of fermentation is vast and, honestly, it would probably bore anyone with even a passing interest in microbiology.

So let’s take a simpler look at what yeast is and what it does for beer and brewers.

For centuries, before the invention of the microscope, yeast was a largely unknown ingredient in beer. What was known was that during each fermentation a light-colored, creamy substance was produced and was taken from the tops of fermenting beer and added to the next batch.

Some stories go that the substance, which caused the beer to ferment, was simply referred to as, “God is good.”
Continue reading “Beer Buzz: Yeast Key to Good Beer Making”

Written by Joe Palca for NPR.org

Scientists in California think they’ve figure out why flies like beer. That may sound a bit trivial, but in fact it could lead to new ways of combating plant and animal pests.

That flies like beer is well known. “The attraction of flies to beer was first reported in the early 1920s,” says Anupama Dahanukar. She’s part of an inter-disciplinary program involving neuroscience and entomology at the University of California, Riverside. She’s been studying how flies recognize chemicals, so answering the question of why flies like beer is actually quite relevant to her research.

It’s not a simple question. Scientists are only just beginning to understand the basics of smell and taste in humans, so research on flies has been extremely helpful with that.

Since flies are well known to like sugar, it could just be that flies like beer because they can detect some residual sugar in beer. But Dahanukar suspected that might not be the case. So she planned an experiment. She would give the flies a choice between beer and sugar water, and see which they preferred.
Continue reading “Beer Or Sugar Water? For Flies, The Choice Is Pale Ale”

A light hearted look at homebrewing for Thanksgiving- The Professor

From the AHA: no author mentioned

The Dawn of Beer & Civilization

In the beginning, there was beer. It was good. Well, maybe not that good, and maybe not quite at the beginning, but there are some who argue that agriculture and civilization came about because people wanted beer. In any case, people were brewing beer in small batches 12,000 years ago, at about the same time and geographic locations where people started to transition from nomadic lifestyles to agriculture.

Ancient Sumer Brew

Beer was so important to the ancient Sumerians that they actually had a goddess of beer named Ninkasi—yep, that’s right, a goddess, in Sumerian society, women were the primary brewers.

Beer in the New World

Fast forward to the year 1587 in colonial Virginia; Europeans produced the first homebrew made from corn in what would become the United States.

Thirsty Pilgrims

In 1620, pilgrims from England landed at Plymouth Rock, well north of their intended destination. Who could blame them? They were out of beer, so they had to get off the boat and brew. In fact, beer was deemed so important that one of the first buildings constructed at Plymouth was a brewery. Remember that when preparing your next Thanksgiving dinner.

The Wisdom of the Colonists

During North America’s colonial period, homebrewing was a common household task. Back then, people had a distinct distrust of water, but thankfully water could be transformed into beer, which not only tasted better, but, unlike water, beer was not hospitable to pathogens. Oh, and in colonial America, as with the ancient Sumerians, women did most of the brewing.

We Hold this Homebrew to be Self-Evident

Did you know many of the United States’ founders were homebrewers? George Washington and Thomas Jefferson were both homebrewers (although, in the case of Jefferson, his wife Martha did more brewing than he did).

When Homebrewing Is Outlawed, Homebrewers Will Be Outlaws

When the United States enacted Prohibition in 1919, making beer and wine at home became an illegal activity. Despite their new status as outlaws, few homebrewers took to wearing cowboy hats and six-shooters.

Celebrating the 21st Amendment with an Outlaw Brew

In 1933, Prohibition came to an end with the passage of the 21st Amendment. However, a clerical error resulted in the absence of the two very important words “and beer” from the statute that legalized home winemaking. Homebrewers would have to wait several more decades to shed their outlaw status.
Continue reading “History of Homebrewing”

Written by Norman Miller for metrodailynews.com

Inspiration for the weekly Beer Nut column can come from many places.

It can be a new brewery that made its debut in Massachusetts, or it can be something I read about a particular brewery, or it can even be something that I pulled from my head.

Or, it can be a single sip of a fabulous beer that blew my mind. That is the case this week. I recently took a sip of Courage Imperial Russian Stout and immediately said I have to write about this beer.

The Courage Imperial Russian Stout is a legendary beer in England, but it had not been brewed since 1982, until this year.

The Wells & Young Brewing Company, the largest brewery in England, purchased the Courage line of beers in 2007 from Scottish & Newcastle (brewers of Newcastle Brown Ale).

Wells’ head brewer, Jim Robertson, who used to brew Courage, brewed the new version, which debuted in the United States Sept. 30.

In 1982, I was 8 years old, so I have no way to compare the 2011 version of Courage Imperial Russian Stout to the original version. But what I can tell you is it is one of the best stouts I have ever tasted.

The beer itself is dark as night, with a strong espresso-like taste. There are also hints of chocolate and smokiness. It also has a lot of fruity flavors such as berries and pears.

At 10 percent alcohol by volume (ABV), it is a big beer, but it has no alcohol burn at all. It is one of the best imperial stouts being brewed today and worth seeking out.

The only negative is the cost. An 8-ounce bottle will cost you nearly $8. I typically do not recommend a beer that costs $1 an ounce, but I will make an exception for this beer. It is too good to miss.

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HERE

Note: this article doesn’t mention many worthy French beers, but does mention some Americans hardly, if ever, see across the big pond.- The Professor

Posted at enjoyfrance.com. No author credited.

We are know that the French have very discerning palates. For decades we have enjoyed the marvelous cuisine that has come from this wonderful land. We have enjoyed the fine wines that for centuries the French have produced. In more recent times French beer too has made its mark on the world and I for one really do enjoy a glass of very cold beer on a very hot afternoon. I am very fond of a drink they call ‘panache’ which is beer or lager mixed with fizzy lemonade, it is not only a really nice drink but extremely refreshing too.
Continue reading “Beers of France”

Written by Steven Armstrong for blogs.laweekly.com

As often happens in life, collegiate eccentricities lead to post-baccalaureate vocations. For one Harvard dropout, late-night computer programming led to multi-billion dollar “facebooking.” And for three Loyola Marymount graduates, a low-tech stovetop experiment grew into a high-tech commercial brewing operation. But while Chris Enegren, Matt Enegren, and Joe Nascenzi — the three guys behind Enegren Brewing Company — may not be printing money like Mark Zuckerberg, they are producing some high quality beer. And enjoying their product doesn’t require a breach of your personal privacy, either. All it takes is a few bucks, a fifty-minute drive up to Moorpark, or a jaunt down to Library Alehouse on September 14.

It all began about eight years ago when Chris Enegren, then a sophomore studying mechanical engineering at Loyola Marymount, bought a Mr. Beer homebrewing kit and brewed his first batch of beer on a dorm room stovetop. The next year, Chris moved into a house on Fordham Street, and immediately graduated to a ten-gallon all-grain brewing system he’d built from the remains of a college keg party.
Continue reading “More L.A. Craft Beer News: Enegren Brewing Company”

Written by Louis McGill for the Knoxville News Sentinel and knoxnews.com

Standing on his back porch on a crisp Saturday morning, Dennis Collins stirs a giant, boiling pot. The scene is reminiscent of an old monster movie, complete with a mad scientist. The steam flowing out has a sweet scent similar to baking bread.

While other Knoxvillians are watching football, Collins, an engineer and member of the Tennessee Valley Homebrewers club, is taking part in an activity older than the pyramids: brewing beer.

For some, brewing beer at home can prove economical. Collins claims to be able to brew two cases of craft-quality beer for under 20 dollars. However, as in any hobby, getting to that point requires some investment.

The pot he stirs is filled with wort, a sugary liquid extracted from malted barley and other grains, which serves as the basic building block of beer. It was extracted from the grains earlier that morning through an elaborate setup that he built involving a modified cooler and a pair of converted kegs.

“Homebrewers are very inventive,” Collins said. “They invent wonderful things.”

While the hobby languished in obscurity for decades after Prohibition it has been legal in the United States since 1978.

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Written by Molly Ryan for bizjournals.com

The second annual Houston Beer Week, taking place this week, is celebrating craft beers from around the world at more than 30 Houston bars, restaurants and secret, undisclosed venues.

“It’s a week long celebration,” said Cathy Rascoe, the festival organizer. “Think about it like restaurant week, with beer.”

The festival kicked off Nov. 19 with the Monsters of Beer Charity Festival in Guadalupe Plaza Park. According to Rascoe, the festival drew in hundreds of visitors to sample beers from around 50 breweries.

During the week, the festival continues at night at various Houston bars and restaurants. At these events, attendees can purchase tickets to, for example, talk with Ash Rowell of Duff Beer at The Ginger Man on Wednesday night or attend a formal beer dinner at Vic & Anthony’s featuring beers from the North Coast Brewing Co. on Nov. 18.

The locations of some events, such as a 10-course beer dinner made by chefs from Catalan and Beaver’s, are undisclosed until hours before they start.

Continue reading “Houston Beer Week Showcases Emerging Brew Enthusiasts”