30 September 2005

Alton Brown on Beer

Thanks to the fine folks over at FARK, I ran across a site called Brian's Belly.It's a food and beer site. However, the most important thing is that he had an interview with Alton Brown. As a whole, it was a pretty interesting interview. What was interesting enough to be posted to this blog is Alton's comments about beer, reprinted below:

"The difference between someone who really appreciates beer and a beer snob is that someone who really appreciates beer will learn, understand and accept a wide range to the exclusion of nothing. Someone that learns and then uses their knowledge to exclude other things I see as a snob. Okay, if you don't like Bud don't drink Bud, but don't drink Bud because it's not hoity-toity microbrew. A lot of people in this country will drink a Foster's not realizing that in Australia, Foster's is held in lower regard than Bud is here. I don't how many times at home I've had sushi and Bud for lunch. When you taste something like Budweiser--which is mostly rice--and start tasting other beers like it, i.e. Japanese beers, you realize that they actually go well together.

"When I want to taste complex beer with a heady aroma, that's finely crafted, I'm not drinking Bud. You know what, I'd rather have a Bud than a Diet Coke for God sakes! I know that after mowing the lawn on a Sunday afternoon that a Bud tastes better than a Samuel Adams, it tastes better than an Anchor Steam, it tastes better than a Red Hook ESB, it tastes better than a Sierra Nevada, it tastes better than any of a hundred different regional microbrews I can name... all of which I like... but I really just want something kind of beer-like, you know (laughs)."

Well said, AB. Well said.


posted by hiikeeba at 19:52 1 comments

28 September 2005

A Personal Announcement!

For those of you visiting this homebrewing blog and noticing a distinct lack of homebrewing articles, I have a short story to tell. On Sept. 21, I broke my right ankle and have been unable to do much besides sit around, type, and, being uninsured, watch my medical bills pile up.

This morning I put my unlucky sandals up on eBay to raise some money to pay my medical bills. Other people have sold sillier items for more $$, so I figure, "What the heck!" And, since I'm tired of begging you people to donate to me, now you can actually buy something from me! Or, alternatively, you can help me out by spreading the word! Tell everyone you know about the auction, especially those folks that are super generous.


posted by hiikeeba at 10:12 0 comments

Beer Quotes, Part 4

"Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy."
-Benjamin Franklin

"The easiest way to spot a wanker in a pub is to look around and find who's drinking a Corona with a slice of lemon in the neck."
-Warwick Franks

"They who drink beer will think beer."
-Washington Irving

"One of the hallmarks of the baby boomer generation is that it doesn't live like the previous generation. It hasn't yet given up jeans and T-shirts or beer."
-Ron Klugman, SVP, Coors Brewing

"I am a firm believer in the people. If given the truth, they can be depended upon to meet any national crisis. The great point is to bring them the real facts, and beer."
-Abraham Lincoln

"We old folks have to find our cushions and pillows in our tankards. Strong beer is the milk of the old."
-Martin Luther


posted by hiikeeba at 07:08 1 comments

26 September 2005

The Good Eats Beer Show

I have mentioned the Good Eats beer show before. I found a link to a transcript of the show.

I especially like the beer family tree in the show.

    ------------------ BEER -----------------
  /                                                      \
  |                                                      |
ALE                                               LAGER
  |                                                      |
BARLEYWINE                     PALE-AMERICAN
  |                                    DARK          |
  |                                                      |
BELGIAN-FARO             DOPPELBOCK-BOCK
  |          FLANDERS      HELLESBOCK    |
  |          LAMBIC          WEIZENBOCK    |
  |          TRAPPIST                              |
  |                                     LIGHT-GERMAN
BITTER-ORDINARY              DARK         |
  |         SPECIAL                                 |
  |         X-SPECIAL                OKTOBERFEST
  |                                                     |
BROWN ALE                                  PILSNER
  |                                                     |
PALE ALE                                 RAUCHBIER
  |                                                     |
PORTER                              VIENNA LAGER
  |
STOUT - DRY
  |         SWEET
?????


posted by hiikeeba at 06:20 0 comments

24 September 2005

Beer 101

As much as I would like to, I won't cut and paste the article. I'll retype it!

Kidding.

Here is a single excerpt:

Is there a proper way to drink bottled beer?

Put it into a glass. It drives me nuts when people drink out of the bottle or can. If you had a fancy wine you wouldn't take the cork out and drink it straight out of the bottle.

posted by hiikeeba at 15:40 1 comments

22 September 2005

Fake Heineken Ad

 fake heineken Beer ad

In honor of Hurricane Rita now pounding towards Texas, here's a parody Heineken ad I found on the web! Duck and cover, folks. This one is gonna sting!


posted by hiikeeba at 07:33 1 comments

20 September 2005

Buffalo loves its beer!

Here's an article that looks at the beers Buffalo, New York loves. Surprisingly, LaBatts comes out on top, mainly due to price. In second place, Coors Light!


posted by hiikeeba at 06:18 0 comments

18 September 2005

O, to be in Munich now that Oktoberfest is here!

Beer and boobs.  Life is good at Oktoberfest!

Prost, ladies!

I told you beer was sexy.

Oktoberfest in Munich kicked off yesterday. The 172st Oktoberfest lasts from September 17 until October 3. Some six million people are expected to visit 14 enormous tents, each capable of holding up to 10,000 people at a time, drinking some 1.453 million gallons of beer in the process.

Yahoo! News Oktoberfest slidewhow.


posted by hiikeeba at 15:54 3 comments

Asahi brews "Taste Changing" Beer

Asahi Brewing company has announced that it will produce Asahi Yeast Draft. It will be a bottle conditioned beer, meaning that after primary fermentation, the beer will be bottled with a bit of yeast, and will ferment a second time in the bottle.


posted by hiikeeba at 12:28 0 comments

16 September 2005

History of Brewing, American Beer Styles

Much of this post I gathered from Fred Eckhardt's The Essentials of Beer Style. If you are interested in trying to copy one of these beers, here are your targets.

Notice the '81 and '87 Budweiser stats. Eckhardt noted that as Anheuser-Busch lowered the IBUs, making their beer less bitter, their share of market went up.

Beer

Original Gravity

Final Gravity

Alcohol by weight

IBU or hoppiness

Color

’81 Budweiser

1044

1008

3.7

15

2

’87 Budweiser

1044

1008

3.7

10.5

2

Coors

1044

1008

3.6

14.5

2.5

Miller High Life

1046

1010

3.8

15.5

2.5

1896 average

1052

1015

3.8

28

N/A

Bud Light

1036

1011

2.6

N

2

Coors Light

1035

1001

3.5

9

1.5

Miller Lite

1031

.998

3

19.5

2.5

Samuel Adams Boston Lager

1050

1017

3.5

35

3

Labels:


posted by hiikeeba at 08:20 0 comments

14 September 2005

25% alcohol?

A German brewer has brewed a beer that is 25% alcohol. He said he fermented it for 12 weeks. The last time I brewed a big beer, I had to ferment it for 6 months.


posted by hiikeeba at 07:59 0 comments

12 September 2005

Frank Home Brewery - Bellville Texas - 1870-1918

One of three breweries in Austin County, the Frank Brewery lasted until the beginning of Prohibition. Fred Frank ran the brewery from 1872 until 1877. From 1877 to 1879, the brewery was known as the F. J. Frank & Bro. Brewery. From 1879 to 1880 it was the F. Frank Jr. Brewery. In 1880 Henry Frank was in charge. In 1882, Herman Frank took over. Originally, the Frank brewery produced top fermenting beer, or ale, but switched over to the more popular lager style. The brewery first appears in the Federal Tax records in 1872, but the 1870 Census listed a brewery in Bellville.

The brewery was started by Fritz Frank who had been a brewer in Germany. He made his living selling his beer in the predominantly German community. A "mom and pop" operation, the Frank Brewery was never large, but it was certainly long lived. It is one of five breweries in operation in 1875 that lasted until 1918. The brewery was located on the Frank farm about two miles north of the courthouse. When Herman Frank, Fritz's son took over the brewery, he also operated a racetrack on the farm to promote his beer.

When Prohibition closed the brewery, the Franks buried their clay beer bottles, mostly made in England or Scotland, in the old vat. The land has since passed out of the Frank family's hands, and there is no trace of the brewery today.

Labels:


posted by hiikeeba at 06:00 1 comments

10 September 2005

The new Oktoberfest "Frock"

Oktoberfest Frock

Doreen Anders and Andreas Landinger, from Munich, have designed a more comfortable alternative to lederhosen. "With all that beer flowing at the fest you need to make sure your belly is free to take it in," said Landinger. They based their design on Scottish kilts, but they don't use tartans. They use colors that compliment the blue and white Bavarian flag. And according to one website, come in an artifical leather, like lederhosen.

I already have one kilt. I wouldn't mind an Oktoberfest version.


posted by hiikeeba at 15:04 2 comments

08 September 2005

New England Beer Fest on October 29 in Boston, MA!

Taste the regional beery flavors of New England at one of the most respectful and educational beer fests on the planet at the New England Beer Festival sponsered by The Beer Advocate.

* Sample 125+ beers from a unique line-up of 30+ New England craft brewers.
* Learn more in our Beer Forum with Guest Speakers in panel-style discussions.
* Enjoy delicious food by the Sunset Grill & Tap and artisan waffles by the Waffle Haus.
* Meet some 250+ BeerAdvocate.com members, and thousands of other beer lovers!

Tickets are on sale NOW!

posted by hiikeeba at 06:54 1 comments

05 September 2005

The History of Oktoberfest and the Beer

by BeerAdvocate 09-18-2002
First published in: Boston's Weekly Dig / 09-26-2001

The official sign of fall, for us, is the beginning of Oktoberfest! This festive celebration was established in October of 1810 by Prince Ludwig of Bavaria (crowned as King Ludwig I) in celebration of his marriage to Princess Therese of Saxony-Hildburghausen. The unusual thing was that the general public was invited to share in his celebration. At the time, such a thing was unheard of – nobles rarely associated themselves with the general public – however, some 40,000 Bavarians attended the celebration in Munich on what is now called Theresienwiese (the Teresa Meadow). Almost 200 years later, year after year, the celebration is held at the same location. "Wies’n" (the local term for the celebration, derived from Theresienwiese) is truly a Bavarian event that has become a celebration of life not only for Barvarians, but for all Germans and now the world, with some form of Oktoberfest happening in many cities and breweries.

Although major amounts of beer were had at the very first Oktoberfest, the event was initially built around its horse race and state agricultural show. The horse race has since been dropped, however the agricultural show continues and the festival has taken on many carnival characteristics. Oktoberfest now lasts 16 days, beginning in mid-September and ending on the 1st Sunday in October, with major Munich breweries sponsoring the event, up to 6 million attendees packing into mega beer halls and over 5 million liters of beer consumed every year. For information on this year's Munich Oktoberfest, go to http://www.oktoberfest.de. For more information about Oktoberfest in Fredericksburg, Texas click here.

The whole beer association/craze of Oktoberfest didn't really happen until 1818, with the introduction of food and beer stands. The common Munich Oktoberfest beer served at Wies’n contains only 4.5% alcohol by volume, is dark/copper in color, has a mild hop profile and is typically labeled as a Bavarian Märzenbier in style – an amber lager with bottom fermenting yeast at 45º-55ºF. There's confusion as to the origin of the style; however, it mostly likely came about hundreds of years ago, before refrigeration and before the first Oktoberfestbier. Beers brewed during the winter were kept in cold storage over the Spring and Summer months so that they'd keep. Some were also brewed to contain higher levels of alcohol to also help preserve. The label Märzen (March) soon signified beers brewed during the last months of Spring. These beers were then consumed over the Summer months when brewing was impossible due to the hot weather and bacterial infections.

Spaten, Paulaner, Ayinger and Hacker Pschorr are all exceptional must-tries, as they tend to be close in all aspects of flavor, smell and color. Usually reddish amber in color, very fragrant of deep-toasted malt, smooth, with the use of noble hops that make the beer spicy and herbal yet sweet and grainy. Domestic versions run the gamut, from being very close to their respected origins to brewing ale and calling it "Octoberfest Ale." Sam Adams, Harpoon, Brooklyn Brewing, Saranac, Beck’s and Pete’s are good examples of the former, more traditional lagers. Some breweries, however, simply brew an ale and call it an Octoberfest beer ... what’s up with that? Otter Creek and Wachusett Brewing just blatantly brew ale and slap "Octoberfest" somewhere on the label. Not to say these ales are bad, but these brewers have some guts to claim to be brewing one of the toughest beer styles when they're not.

For more info on these beers and beers in general, visit http://beeradvocate.com/beer/style/29/, as they will be reviewing Oktoberfestbiers throughout the season. In the meantime, pick up some Oktoberfestbier (or ale) while they are around. Then celebrate your existence! You have an excuse! Celebrate beer! Prost!


posted by hiikeeba at 16:52 1 comments

02 September 2005

Homer Simpson on Beer

Mmm. . .Beer.

Alcohol is my way of life and i aim to keep it!

I'm gonna drink a lot of beer and stay out alll night!

I would kill everyone in this room for a drop of sweet beer.

All right, brain, I don't like you and you don't like me - so let's just do this and I'll get back to killing you with beer.

To alchohol, the cause of and solution to, all life's problems.

Bart, a woman is like a beer. They look good, they smell good, and you'd step over your own mother just to get one!

And now one from Marge:

Now Homey, you're getting over-stimulated. Let's go home and get some beer in you and then it's right to bed! - Marge Simpson


posted by hiikeeba at 07:50 0 comments