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The British Brewer: Hop Bursting

hopsAs those of you who read this blog will know I have been talking about a technique called hop bursting recently. I first tried it back in Nov 2009 whilst brewing my Dog Fish Head 90min without really knowing how the technique worked. I came across it again last week when I brewed Northern Brewers 115th Dream Imperial IPA, which shipped with over 1 lb of hops.  How can you add 1 lb of hops to a 5 gallon brew and it not taste disgusting? I was curious and wanted to find out more, especially given how clean the bottom of boil kettle was where the hops had settled while cooling.

First up lets quickly review the big hop post I did a few back. First thing to remember are the Alpha Acids, these cause bittering and are not very water soluble so require an hour of boiling to fully extract. Then there are the Beta Acids, these are water soluble and actually evaporate if left too long in the water. Beta acids provide the hop aroma and flavour.  The more the beta acids evaporate the less the aroma which is why we have flavour additions with 10-15mins of a boil to go and aroma at 0 mins.

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Profile: Blue Dog Sparkling Mead

5.9 abv
Made by Blue Dog Mead, Eugene, Oregon

bdog mead

Profiled by Ken Carman for professorgoodales.net

Beer-Profile1-258x300Beer judges judge mead. This type of entry is one of the reasons it is not a favorite table to be on, competition time.

Applish nose with an effervescent bubble tingle. Not much else.

Clarity good with bubbles rising. Head foams up fast with pinpoint bubbles. Goes away faste. Almost clear with a slight yellow tinge.

Light, smooth, yet tingle, on the palette, with bubble tingle. Slight dry sense but sweet lingers too.  Sparkling.

We must ask: “Where’s the honey?” I would call this semi-sweet bordering on sweet.  You have a slight apple-ish taste, but the honey sense is missing.

Carbonated apple water. Can does list “apple,” though promo material I read does not. Vanilla? Not really. They really need to be a little more forward as to the vanilla and the honey: both in recipe and telling the consumer. And they need to be more forward as to apple in telling the consumer, but either less in the recipe, or no more, depending on how a revised recipe balances out. This is not balanced, in my opinion.

Balance would be great, for a lightly carbonated, very light, apple fermented product. Not cider, really. How many clear, light on the palate, watery, very thin apple ciders have you had? Yup, too many out there and, for me, too many thin, watery, very clear meads.

Bear in mind,this is a commercial example, yet honey is gone, apple too high… in fact when would that kind of “balance” EVER appropriate in a Mead? Seems they could do better than this.

Welcome to the new PGA rating system: one beer “Don’t bother.” Two: Eh, if someone gives it to you, drink. Three: very good, go ahead and seek it out, but be aware there is at least one problem. Four: seek it out. Five: pretty much “prefecto.” This mead was rated…

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Brettanomyces, a Funky Yeast, Makes Flavorful Beers

Chad Yakobson, 28, founder of Crooked Stave Artisan Beer Project, checking on the progress of his beer in his Denver warehouse.
Chad Yakobson, 28, founder of Crooked Stave Artisan Beer Project, checking on the progress of his beer in his Denver warehouse. Picture from article lined to, and by Benjamin Rasmussen for The New York Times

Written by Daniel Fromson for The New York Times

A creature is lurking here in Chad Yakobson’s warehouse, inside the oak barrels where he ages most of his beers. Its name is Brettanomyces, and it’s a cousin of the domesticated yeasts that humans have brewed with for thousands of years. Often called wild yeast — a reference to its natural habitat (fruit skins) and to its volatile temperament — “Brett,” as it is widely known, can lead to unpredictable fermentations and gushing beer bottles, aromas politely described as funky, and fear. Most brewers work hard to keep it out of their tanks by sterilizing every piece of equipment.

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Beer Profile: Worthington’s White Shield

Image courtesy beerlens.com
WhiteShield02-resized

Profiled by Tom Becham for professorgoodales.net

Beer-Profile1-258x300If you take a careful look at the labels on a bottle of Worthington’s White Shield, right away you know you’ve come across something special. It states that the beer is an India Pale Ale, but also says that it is bottle-conditioned, and carries a stamp from CAMRA (the UK organization “Campaign for real Ale) declaring it “real ale” (pretty much the same meaning as bottle-conditioned).

So, a bottle-conditioned, old school English IPA? Count me in!

But first things first. Understand that if you are an American Hophead IPA Lover, you will be disappointed by this beer. English IPA’s are notoriously milder on the bitterness side of things compared to their American brethren. As well, they tend to be lower in alcohol content, as well (White Shield clocks in at 5.6% ABV, while most American IPA’s START at 6.5%). The flavor of most English IPA’s comes across more like an America Pale Ale in both bitterness and malt backbone.

So, keeping that in mind, how does White Shield stack up?

Well, the color upon pouring is a pale amber, with the thick fizzy head typical of abottle-conditioned beers. Thin trails of carbonation keep rising to the top of the glass, probably for far longer than it would take for you to down a bottle of it.

The aroma is sublime, with an herbal/earthy hop aroma (I’m guessing East Kent Goldings, with perhaps a bit of Fuggles, as well) wafting out over an undertone of toffeeish malt. None of it is overwhelming, and it all melds seamlessly.

The taste is well-matched to the aroma, with a more aggressive – but still mild by American standards – hop being most prominent. It is slightly flowery, slightly herbal, and… has another note I can’t quite identify. The caramel-y malt backbone is obvious throughout, and has slight notes of Asian pear on the mid-palate.

The finish is short and clean, as is typical of English ales.

All in all, this is a masterwork of the subtle art of English brewing. It won’t blow you away with flavor, but if you want a well-balanced offering that will go well with food and that you can drink for a whole evening without getting drunk, and also being able to enjoy the flavor, White Shield is an excellent choice. An added bonus is that the crown cap is about the coolest one out there.

Welcome to the new PGA rating system: one beer “Don’t bother.” Two: Eh, if someone gives it to you, drink. Three: very good, go ahead and seek it out, but be aware there is at least one problem. Four: seek it out. Five: pretty much “prefecto.” This beer was rated…

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U.S. Justice Department Sues to Block Merger That Would Unite Budweiser and Corona

bud

Written by Don Cazentre for syracuse.com

The U.S. Justice Department today filed a lawsuit to block brewer Anheuser-Busch InBev from completing a takeover of Grupo Modelo, the Mexican brewing company that makes Corona among other beers.

Anheuser-Busch InBev already has a 50 percent stake in Modelo. The maker of Budweiser, Bud Light and other brands wants to spend $20.1 billion to purchase the remainder.

The Justice Department is concerned the proposed new company would violate anti-trust laws, and could lead to higher beer prices.
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Curing the Beer Tax That Ales Tennessee

Written by Jason Morgan for craftbrewingbusiness.com

“Nothing is certain but death and taxes,” as the old saying goes. But for small craft brewers trying to make it in a growing, competitive niche industry, new taxes could mean certain business death. Just ask Linus Hall, who opened Yazoo Brewing in 2003 to booming sales and national acclaim. Though his business continues to grow, Tennessee’s excessive tax policy is choking down the company’s business opportunities, including employment growth.

Yazoo_brewing_beer_tax

“I want to hire more people and invest more money in my business, but because of the tax, it makes it more difficult to do so.” — Linus Hall, owner of Yazoo Brewing.

“I want to hire more people and invest more money in my business, but because of the tax, it makes it more difficult to do so,” Hall said. “We’re growing, but just not as fast as we could have to keep up with consumer demand. The margins are just too small because of the 17 percent tax.”
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New Film About History of Beer in Brooklyn

Rheingold worker watches thousands of gallons of foaming beer gush onto the floor of the plant went down the sewer as company officials prepared to close the 119-year-old brewery in 1974. width=
Courtesy Robert Walker/Robert Walker/The New YorkTImes

Written by Mark Morales for The New York Daily News

A new documentary is taking Brooklyn back to it’s beer brewing roots.

The 50-minute film “Brewed in Brooklyn” gives beer history buffs a crash course in Brooklyn’s boozy past, from the first brewery that opened in the 1800’s all the way to present day home brews.

“At one time [Brooklyn] was the beer capitol of the United States, if not the world,” said filmmaker John Weber, 55. “It went from having roughly 50 breweries at the turn of the century to zero in 1977. It just seemed like such a great story to tell.”

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How Jimmy Carter Sparked the Craft Beer Revolution

j-carter

Posted by Caleb at kegworks.com

beer historyAll of this buzz about Obama’s beer had me and a few coworkers thinking; while we’re down with Obama and his sweet honey homebrew, he’s merely a participant in an age-old tradition of making beer in the comfort of one’s own home. In fact, he doesn’t even do it himself. He has the White House kitchen staff doing the bulk of the brewing.

Our 39th President, Mr. James Carter, is the true homebrew hero; he and a lesser known man by the name of Alan Cranston, a veteran democratic senator from California. How so, you ask? Well, on October 14, 1978, Jimmy Carter signed the bill H.R. 1337, which contained an amendment sponsored by Alan Cranston. That amendment created an exemption from taxation of beer brewed at home for personal or family use. Essentially, it lifted regulations imposed by Prohibition laws over 50 years previous.
Continue reading “How Jimmy Carter Sparked the Craft Beer Revolution”