True or False: ”Skunky” beer actually contains the same chemical compound as a skunk’s spray?
According to Alan Marnett, who posted an explanation at BenchFly a while back, the answer is a resounding “Yes.” Here is an excerpt:
So where does it come from? Unfortunately, the source is the main ingredient that gives beer great taste- hops. In brewing, the blossoms of the hops flower are added to balance the sweet taste produced by the malt. Among a number of compounds present in hops is iso-humulone. Upon exposure to light, iso-humulone is hydrolyzed producing an active electrophile. Nucleophilic thiols present in the brew then react with the electrophilic fragment to give the odorous 3-methyl-2-butene-1-thiol.
To prevent beers from “skunking”, manufacturers bottle the suds in brown glass, which filters out the wavelengths responsible for the hydrolysis reaction. Some brewers have also attacked the problem by hydrogenating iso-humulone, which yields a light-stable derivative that is amenable to bottling in clear glass. But as with any synthesis, an extra step usually just decreases your yield and increases your cost, so that’s why we see most of our cherished brews in brown bottles. More…
Keep your delicious beer out of the light and you can avoid the dreaded skunked beer flavor.
So now that you know what happens when a beer is “light struck,” consider the old wives tale about that day-old keg from the kegger that sat out over night in the heat. Re-refrigerating beer that was left out shouldn’t cause a “skunky” taste. But that’s not to say it won’t be affected some other organic elements in the brew, especially unfiltered home brew.
So take care not only to keep light away from your beer, but also try to ensure you don’t allow wild temperature swings where you store your beer.
“You can’t be a real country unless you have a beer and an airline. It helps if you have some kind of football team or some nuclear weapons, but at the very least you need a beer.”
Multiple choice quiz today: What is “Dry Hopping?”
A…Adding hops to the beer after fermentation
B…Adding hops to the beer before the onset of fermentation
C…Using less thatn 1 ounce of hops in the brew
D…Using 3 or more ounces of hops in the brew
These are home grown hops which ended up in a harvest ale back in 2010
We all know that hops are essential to beer…don’t we? Without hops, or some bittering agent, beer would be malty sweet, without balance and probably nearly undrinkable. Even in times of past when hops weren’t available, things such as juniper berries and other natural bittering agents were used. John Palmer probably says it best in Chapter 5 of How to Brew:
“Beer wouldn’t be beer without hops – hops provide the balance, and are the signature in many styles. The bitterness contributed by hops balances the sweetness of the malt sugars and provides a refreshing finish. The main bittering agent is the alpha acid resin which is insoluble in water until isomerized by boiling. The longer the boil, the greater the percentage of isomerization and the more bitter the beer gets. However, the oils that contribute …”
You can read on about hops with Palmer, but the gist is that they give beer it’s balance. Thus, there are tons of unique ways to use hops during brewing and fermentation. But the specific answer to the question above is A. Adding hops after fermentation brings a special hop characteristic to the beer, unique to not only the beer style, but the hop flavor and aroma. ”Dry-hopping” is a great way to unlock the unique individual flavor and aroma of a specific hop…you can even experiment with the same beer style dry hopped with various hop varieties to learn about individual hop characteristics.
Don’t be mislead about the terminology though: All hops are “dry” before they become “wet” in the boiling beer or conditioned finished product. It’s kind of like the “triple hops brewed” Miller Lite television commercial phrase: There’s nothing special about triple-hopping a beer; almost all styles have three hop additions, and for those that don’t, it doesn’t make them any less quality or tasty. However, there’s less marketing involved in the “dry hopping” terminology, as its primary purpose is to identify in a particular beer that hops were added POST-fermentation.
Time for a quiz: Which is the oldest still-operating brewery in the United States?
A … Yuengling
B… Brooklyn Brewery
C … Boston Beer Company
D … McSorley’s
Ok. I know Brooklyn’s logo looks old; let’s call it classic. Designed by a master of New York design, Milton Glaser (think “I heart NY” imagery), the logo evokes that old world class which was stomped out by prohibition. Brooklyn Brewery is amazing, but it surely isn’t the oldest still-operating brewery in the U.S.
Sam Adams Utopias may be the "biggest," i.e. most alcoholic, commercial beer in this country.
Who knew that the Boston Beer Company (SAM) was traded publicly on the NYSE? I sure didn’t realize that, but it makes sense I guess. Sam Adams, I think the flagship of the company, is responsible for an enormous amount of craft beer lovers rebirth into the good stuff. In fact, it’s still one of my go-to beers if the rest is macro-brews. But while the Boston Beer Company may very well be a staple of Breweries in the U.S., and they very well may brew the most alcoholic beer in the U.S. (this is a guess by the way), it isn’t the oldest brewery either.
I’ll be honest, I’ve never heard of McSorley’s. But now that I’ve searched for it…holy cow, established in 1854? And they finally started letting women enjoy the “sawdust strewn floors and history patched walls” in 1970. Sounds like an interesting place! But not America’s longest operating brewery by a long shot.
That leaves us with Yuengling (pronouned Ying-Ling for “young man” in German). Apparently, David Yuengling emigrated from southwestern Germany and around 1829 established the Eagle Brewery in Pottsville, Pennsylvania. In 1873 his son Frederick changed the name. So there you have it, America’s oldest still-operating brewery!
Many think Yuengling to be a macro brewery, which is quite false. Thus, the title could be America’s oldest still-operating CRAFT brewery, for all intents and purposes. TheStreet.com’s columnist, Jason Notte, is a devoted fan of the craft brewery and has many great craft beer articles with a penchant for being opinionated, but with a reporter’s flair for knowing and living his facts.
Yuengling isn’t yet available in Indiana, which doesn’t surprise me nor make me crave it any more than anything else. It’s an okay lager. The bigger issue is probably the back story about how this brewery has hung in there over the years. That is something for which I can raise my pint (Currently a Bells Expedition Stout) . Cheers!
True or False?: Trappist ale and Abbey ale are the same?
Don’t look now, but they are not!
Both are strong, fruity , earthy beers that go well with lab or wild game, but what distinguishes Trappist ales is that they are brewed within the walls of one of seven Trappist monastic breweries (six in Belgium, one in the Netherlands). Check it out for yourself: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trappist_beer.
By law, no other brewery can label as Trappist. These “authentic Trappist products” cannot be sold for profit; any financial gains must be used for charitable purposes. I think I can come up with a new charitable purpose! LOL…
I got a beer-a-day calendar for Christmas this year and thought the blog would be a nice place to promote of the of the interesting concepts brought forth. There is no intention of copyright infringement, just enjoyment from the beer lovers out there. I would cite the calendar publisher, but they have nothing to cite on the calendar pages! Too bad for them.
The beer at Oktoberfest flows freely, and often ends up soaking customers. Leather-tough lederhosen makes sense in an Oktoberfest tent. (Christof Stache / AFP - Getty Images) Click image to follow to MSNBC story...
Oktoberfest is not only a beer style…it’s an event. It’s an event which captures the World’s attention, if only for a brief moment during the year. I don’t really know the history behind it – I know, shame on me really, but I find the excitement behind this particular beer festival unbelievably cool.
MSNBC had an entertaining piece on what it’s like to be an Oktoberfest waiter. It isn’t a pretty picture, but certainly gives a sense of humanity, perhaps even a barbaric quality, to the yearly ritual which never quite makes it in to the Romatic’s version of the event.
Tuxedo Park Brewers has its own Oktoberfest celebration: Fauxtobefest! We’ve been doing Fauxtoberfest! (pronounced Foe-toberfest, not Fox-toberfest) for five years now. We have the custom glasses to prove it. It’s always a killer event, with great food, intriguing company, and of course more beer (and styles) that you can possibly drink…and still remember what it all tasted like!
Your custom 22oz glass will come emblemized with this logo!
People often ask where the namesake originated, so here’s the secret in all of it’s geeky beer glory: We wanted a real Oktoberfest lager for our first major fall party back in 2008. We only had six weeks to brew, ferment and condition the beer, of which we also wanted roughly 15 gallons (which seemed large at the time). Well, a real Oktoberfest is made with lager yeast, and lager yeast firstly needs to ferment at a low temperature, secondly takes a much longer time to generate alcohol and do its natural work, and thirdly generally lagers like to sit in cold storage to “lager” for a while. We had neither the time, nor quantity of yeast to make this happen, so we used a hybrid steam style yeast, similar to Wyeast California Lager, to produce a clean tasting, quickly fermented, FAUX-Oktoberfest. Thus we named the beer Fauxtobefest! The exclamation point simly illustrates how awesome this event can be!
Here we sit, Tuxedo Park Brewers Supply, as blog virgins awaiting the affirmation of the Internet and our customers. Soon wilst thee find education, humor (hopefully) and (most certainly) the lack of experience at operating a blog! But don’t worry, stop by the store and you’ll find a wealth of experience in home brewing and zymurgical supply from Adam, Jason & Brent at Tuxedo Park Brewers Supply in Fountain Square, Indianapolis.
Ok. I know 
That leaves us with 
