Mmm. Beer.

[badseed1980]

Great Saveur article about lambic.

http://saveur.com/article.jsp;jsessionid=E36D50F71CC8B3EA7E3E1C3EA97ECC1A?ID=8728&typeID=100

Comments

[mizdarkgirl.livejournal.com]

Mmmmm... Lambic!

[badseed1980.livejournal.com]

They don't mention Boone Gueuze, one of my favourites. That shit is da BOMB.

[badseed1980.livejournal.com]

Oooh, I was meaning to ask if you were a beer snob! If you really like a good beer, I should take you to Sunset Grille and Tap. 112 beers on tap and about 400 in bottles. Good food, too.

[badseed1980.livejournal.com]

I was the same way for about a year after moving to Brighton. Then one day, my friend brought me there and I was blown away. I brought my dad home a beer menu from there. He's the one who gave me my love of good beer. He almost drooled. I brought him and my mom and sister there for my graduation. My parents loved it, but my sister was annoyed that they didn't have more sweet mixed drinks. She doesn't like beer. *facepalm*

[ex-lark-asc.livejournal.com]

Cantillon gueuze is just *gorgeous* chilled in summer. I hate cheap beer but the nice stuff I can really make an exception for, kriek and lambics.. very glad I have some beer-buff friends to educate me :)

[badseed1980.livejournal.com]

I hate cheap beer too. It was the main reason I gave up on fraternity parties in college. I just couldn't stand there guzzling that swill.

I will have to try the Cantillon when I see it. I know a few places around here that may well have it. *plots*

[quepid.livejournal.com]

That really sounds like a nice beer.

[badseed1980.livejournal.com]

Oh yes. It's not a beer for pussies...very intense, distinctive flavour. VERY tasty, in my opinion.

[quepid.livejournal.com]

Yeps its probably not easily duplicated either due to the yeasts and bacteria being isolated to that particular environment.

One of the things that I find amusing is that two vinyards using the same strain of grapes and identical weather can yield two totally different products simply by the particular yeast that does the fermentation. It can make the difference in a delightful product and one which is shit. It is one of the reasons in the past that regional wines differed so much (along with weather and varietals).

[badseed1980.livejournal.com]

You are a brewer, right? :)

I can't wait to start brewing, myself. I intend to begin with mead and then move on to beer. My boyfriend pierceheart as well as most of my close friends already make lovely mead, so I have teachers available!

[quepid.livejournal.com]

I make mostly mead, but yeah I love brewing and am fascinated by all the products which come from fermentation such as yogurt etc. The hardest thing about brewing is waiting to drink them.

Hey check out my website for a really handy collection of a conglomeration of online brewing recipes called "The Cat's Meow". It has literally thousands of recipes for everything.

http://www.quepid.org/brewing/

[badseed1980.livejournal.com]

Wow! Nifty! I will have to pass that along to my brewing friends and give you due credit. :)

[pierceheart.livejournal.com]

right on the bacteria portions . . . the yeasts have been cultivated, supposedly, but bacterial culturing is not common . . .

S. Cerevisae bruxellonsis I think is one of the strains.

[quepid.livejournal.com]

Yeah S. Cerevisiae bruxellensis, Brettanomyces Bruxellensis (now cultured wild yeasts found in Belgium breweries), and quite a few others species.

I personally believe that some of the best brews made use non-cultivated (wild) strains of yeasts and perhaps some bacterial contributions as well. When everyone starts using pre-packaged cultivated yeasts and brew in the exact same way as others with the similar ingredients their product tastes sorta like everyone elses. They are of course inherent dangers of relying on a wild yeast as you can have bacterial growth (spoilage) or a particular unsavory product being produced by a different strain of yeast. A gamble some are not willing to make when it comes to brewing in large quantity.

I know in France a few of the old vintners have an undisturbed lineage of yeast that is specific to their product and thus their products flavour. I am not sure if in France they are allowed to patent their particular yeasts. I do know they guard these lineage descendent yeasts very strongly because it is their particular wine's taste trademark so to speak. So they are cultured but only for private use.

[quepid.livejournal.com]

On another note, this time on moonshine hehehe.

One of the things a few moonshiners did in my region to make a different tasting product was to leave their grain in a mine for a period of time prior to brewing. Each moonshiner would use a particular mine, and could have a different tasting product due to each mines indigenous microflora.

Bread was treated similarly and some of these mine yeasts produced a sourdough very similar to the flavour produced by Saccharomyces francisco.

[badseed1980.livejournal.com]

My goodness, the zymurgy flying around has my head spinning! I can see I will have a lot to learn eventually once I've mastered the very basics of brewing. :)

[quepid.livejournal.com]

hehe I love zymurgy, microbio, and botany ;)

You won't suffer with any lack of help when you do start brewing :)

[badseed1980.livejournal.com]

I love zymurgy because it's the last word in most dictionaries. Yes, I am a Scrabble fiend.

[quepid.livejournal.com]

I never thought of that but yes don't think there are many words that begin with Zz lol. You do have an eloquence with words :)

[badseed1980.livejournal.com]

Why, thank you! :D

[pierceheart.livejournal.com]

I used to have this dream of culturing yeasts from good unpasteurized brews.

Also, I got into the habit of making a one gallon batch of beer, bottling it without getting rid of sludge, and using that as yeast paks, if I kept it refrigerated. Sometimes kept sludge from first racking, too, same way.