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Tag Archives: Beer
When “ale” did not mean “beer”
“Ale” and “beer” have not always been synonymous. Used to be ale didn’t have hops, for one thing.
Zythophile (a favorite read of mine) offers up a lengthy article on when the two terms merged. It’s not as simple as many think.
Why weren’t stout and porter called ales? This is a reflection, 200 years on, of the origin of porter (and brown stout) in the brown beers made by the beer brewers of London, rivals of the ale brewers for 500 years, ever since immigrants from the Low Countries began brewing in England with hops.
Zythophile: The long battle between ale and beer
40 Random Beers Ratings
Of the 40 beers I received for my birthday I’ve tracked thus far how each has rated against the unofficial Hop-Talk beer rating scale. I am a bit behind on my posts, so the snapshot below is probably from mid-February.
The highest score is a 5, which we have never officially given to a beer, but some have come close. Of the first round, Clay Pipe and the very odd style Sam Imperial Pilsner were the tastiest. (to me)
I will catch up with updates and point out which bubble to the top, and which fall to the bottom.
Click to read
Beer is Green
Beer is greener than you might have known. E-Fuel, the maker of the EFuel100 MicroFueler ethanol maker has teamed up with Sierra Nevada to use the left over yeast from the brewing process, called trub, pronounced “trube”, to test the invention. I love it, yet another reason to pour another pint. 
E-Fuel last year unveiled its $9,995 home ethanol machine which ferments a mix of water and sugar into ethanol. Ethanol is mixed into gasoline at 10 percent. Flex-fuel cars can run on E85, an 85 percent blend of ethanol and gasoline.
Sierra Nevada every year generates 1.6 million gallons of “bottom of the barrel” beer yeast waste, which it now sells to farmers as feed. The MicroFueler will be able to raise the alcohol content in that mix to 15 percent and remove water.
(via CNet News)
Session #23: What I will NOT miss from 2008
I don’t want to put a downer on it all, but 2008 was not one of the best years I’ve had. I could swing this as a “looking forward to 2009″, but let’s face it… this is just a “buh-bye” to 2008. For this Session, I’ve put together a top 5 things I will not miss from 2008.
So, a special thanks goes out to Beers and Firkins for sponsoring this session:
Specifically, what will you miss about 2008 (feel free to list your tasting notes, if that item is a particular beer) and what do you expect will excite you most in 2009 , in the “Beer World”? (again, if that is a beer, what about it is special and worthy of being excited about?)
Let’s get on with the list…
5) Imperial Race – I enjoy beer… so much, I like to have a second, or even a third. So what is it with this “mine is bigger than yours” competition? I can’t drink a 12% bomber! Let’s make big beer, big taste, and less alcohol.
4) Elusive Real Porter – Just so you know, I’m still looking. They’ve only gotten thinner from what I’ve tasted.
3) Poor Quality Control – I hate getting spoiled beer. Whether it is the distributor’s fault for hanging on to year old beer, or contract brewers not holding up their end, or the originating brewer not taking quality control measures…. I REALLY hate buying a nice beer that tastes like cardboard my cat just coughed up .
2) Wheat Beer Sprawl – Good man, people… does every brewer have to make 3 varieties of wheat beers to satisfy the gateway drinkers? Make one, and make the rest real beer!
1) Price of Hops / Shortage – While there is no way to predict where the price of hops will be going, it only went up in 2008. Let’s hope it doesn’t go up any further so I can have the hops I love so much.
2009… Here I come!
Like it Skunky
I have a friend who actually prefers his beers with that skunky taste. Not overpowering, but likes those easy to drink, slightly skunked, European imports in a green bottle.
Not me, man. I don’t find that skunky taste easy to drink.
He also can’t stand IPA’s… way too much hops for him. But, this is not a put down and I don’t hold it against him. Truly, this friend of mine is a world traveler, enjoys fine wines, and fine food. So how can he be like this about beer? Because as I’ve already pointed out… you can’t be wrong.
LEGO beer-pouring robot controlled by iPhone
Am I a beer geek, or a geek who loves beer? Both, I guess.
Here’s an interesting mash-up of technology: LEGO Mindstorms, iPhone, and Pownce.
Primitive, yes, but geeks love to make iterative improvements to things. A year from now someone will have something really impressive.
(via Switched)
Green Flash
I found a new candy store, Oliver’s, the Brew-Crew. It’s not actually new, but new to me and convenient to my new job. It has a bigger selection and carries selections of brews that I have not been ale to find in a long time, like Clipper City Gold Ale, and brews that I have not even had a chance to try yet. Yeah for me! My one complaint is that not everything is labeled.
In my first visit I could not stop myself and bought about $100 worth of six packs. (hey… it will last me a while and looks good in my beer cellar) So, I’m looking at the receipt with cryptic codes for each six pack and the price they rung up at, all about $7.99, $8.99, $9.50, and then there was one for $13.79! Oh crap! Which six pack did I pay $13.79 for? The code was something like GRFL IPA. So I’m looking through my beer rack and figure out it must be Green Flash West Coast IPA.
This beer had better be good. I hate it when I try something new and it is disappointing and if this one is disappointing at $13+, I’m not going to be happy at all.
Long story short, it is fantastic. It pours a golden straw color, classic for an American IPA and the hop aroma is powerful and puts a smile on my face. The beer tastes even better than it smells.
So, every time I have a glass of Green Flash I say to myself, “it was worth every penny.”
George Will: Beer is essential
In his Op-Ed piece in the Washington Post two weeks ago, George F. Will used the (at the time) as yet unaccepted offer from InBev for Anheuser-Busch as seen in Investor’s Business Daily as a lead-in to meander from beer as a staple, to beer as essential to civilization, to beer and its role in natural selection.
The story asserted: “The [alcoholic beverage] industry’s continued growth, however slight, has been a surprise to those who figured that when the economy turned south, consumers would cut back on nonessential items like beer.”
“Non what“? Do not try to peddle that proposition in the bleachers or at the beaches in July. It is closer to the truth to say: No beer, no civilization.
The bulk of the piece discusses the research in The Ghost Map: The Story of London’s Most Terrifying Epidemic — and How It Changed Science, Cities, and the Modern World
He concludes that beer is very much essential.
George F. Will – Survival of the Sudsiest
I only had two problems with the article. One, the mugs of Budweiser in the accompanying photograph look so…weak. Okay, sure, it was appropriate to include A-B’s flagship beer, but my goodness it looks like it has no flavor at all.
The other issue I had was that Mr. Will unfortunately perpetuated the beer urban legend that Ben Franklin said that “Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.” It just ain’t so.
Grape vs. Grain
Charles Bamforth, the Anheuser-Busch Endowed Professor of Brewing Science at the University of California – Davis has written a book with the idea of illustrating that beer is just as sophisticated, complex, and valuable as wine.
Mike Dunne recently interviewed Professor Bamforth about the book.
Arguing the merits of beer versus wine
Here’s one of my favorite quotes from the interview:
Are you sure you want beer to be seen as more sophisticated than it is?
“I don’t want to alienate the existing market, but I want to make the point that there are many beers suitable for many occasions. When I go into a restaurant I would like to see a good beer list as well as a good wine list.”
Yes! I’m getting really tired of going to restaurants and being presented with a long list of wines with poetic descriptions and a beer list that usually reads “Bud Light, Coors Light, Miller Lite, Heineken, and Corona Extra”. That may be why I’ve been dragging my family to brewpubs more often. (That and kids eat free on Sundays.)
