thanks for that basic synopsis
Well, thank you, I'm still catching up to some of the confusion I've been perhaps sowing. Some terms used in the UK and the USA are a little different. I hope to not sow further confusion but straighten out some of the terms I have used.
Back in the old days you used to get this wonderful aroma whenever you opened a bottle
Real beer is actually the easiest thing to make. That aroma you used to smell was the brewed malt and natural hops smell. I posted on this subject before.
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But live beer is not so easily controlled during distribution and point of sale. Skill is needed right through the distribution process. All sorts of regulations can make things difficult. Hence "artificial beer" that's easily manufactured and distributed.
I am not a "real beer" snob btw, as a production engineer myself, I take a professional pride is seeing a process through manufacture right to the point were the consumer takes over. Budweiser, for example, make a highly reproducible product and have a professional team and support service in place right up to the time you pop that cap. When you drink a cooled bud, it nearly always comes out with the same expected taste. Trouble is, for us purists, it is tasteless!
Real beer needs even better looking after. Bars and Pub's need to be skilled in delivering the product. A favourite lager of mine is "Grolsh". Sure it's a foreign lager with a fancy name, but it's manufactured here by computer in British "mass manufacture" breweries. In cask (keg) form it is just magic. Trouble is the delivery lines have to be clean and the lager in demand, otherwise it can taste 100 times worse then bilge water. The barman has to know how to keep the lines clean, wash them, rinse though properly, and if it's not selling, run it now and again. Failure on keeping the beer in good condition means even less sales.
Pilsner Lagers should keep in the bottle indefinitely. I could imagine if exposed to tropical heat over time they could degenerate.
A "Partial Mash" in America means using some grains in a "grain bag" and then using some malt extract. In the UK it means using a diastaic malt extract where you allow enzymes to convert sugars at 66 to 69 deg C. No grains.
The purchase of a good temperature controlled boiler in the USA is more popular (you guys typically have more money and less taxes) so brewing a full mash in a "grain bag" is more normal. Unless you have two boilers though, sparging with hot water then becomes more of a task.
Here in the UK, we typically only can afford one boiler, so use a separate Mash tun made from two 5 gal primary fermentors (one with 100's of 1/8 inch holes drilled in it, pushed inside the other, the combination insulated) to "Mash out" then use our single boiler to deliver 170F water to sparge with. It works well. No need for "grain bags".
Anyway, drinking beer is all about having some laughs too. On this thread I made some posts where I tried some "Czech" Budwieser. It is marketed in this country by the same name and has a similar typing style and presentation. (btw UK is the only place where "Budvar" can sell as "Budwieser" It's been a 100 + year long legal process) Anyhow, I remarked that it tasted good, and a good new addition to the "Budwieser range". -g- I have since learned "Budvar" is perhaps the pinnacle of real beer in existence! -g- Casting doubt even on Pilsner Urquell!!!
I do like the subtle taste of those lagered Saaz hops. Kentish top fermented beer is brutish by comparison but has it's place in life. I just love all of them -g- |
