Michael Jackson - Interview Preview

This is a condensed version of the full 5 part interview of Michael Jackson conducted by Daniel Shelton on August 7, 2007 in London. This is probably the last interview ever made.

A 90% increase in beer consumption

Lower taxes combined with better distribution has increased the beer consumption in India with 90 per cent since 2002. According to the local news agency, PTI, it is primarely in Rajasthan, Haryana and Punjab that the increase has become apparent.

Danish Carlsberg have entered a joint venture to build a new brewery in Rajasthan. They will start brewing in 2008.

Despite the increase, India is not at place with big consumption of beer. In fact quite the opposite. On average, people in India consume less than one litre beer a year.

Support the employees of Nørrebro Bryghus

The union 3F is still in conflict with Nørrebro Bryghus. They want to force Nørrebro Bryghus to sign a collective bargaining deal with 3F. The stupid part is that the employees already have an agreement with Kristelig Fagbevægelse that they are quite satisfied with.

Today in the paper the employees wrote:

Dear 3F: please let us do our job

So now Kristelig Fagbevægelse are requesting that 3F:

• respect other unions and their right to make collective bargaining
• use their energy to get collective bargaining in workplaces that have none (appox 75% of the catering business)
• to stop harressing workers, that already have collective bargaining with Kristelig Fagbevægelse
  

I deeply respect the unions and what they have done for the overall working environment. But with this so-called conflict 3F is inly showing off muscle and is not representing the employees at all. In fact it looks like they are fighting only on their own behalf and no one else. Shame on you.

Support the employees at Nørrebro Bryghus with your signature here: http://www.krifa.underskrifter.dk/

Heimdal bankrupt

It saddens me to find out that the micro brewery Heimdal Bryghus has filed for bankruptcy. I like the beers and I like the people involved. So unless the miracle I am hoping for happens, this might be the first Danish micro brewery that will cease to exist since the beer revolution began some years ago.

Heimdal Bryghus never got to be a brick-and-mortar company. There was not yet a brewery and the beer was brewed on a couple of other smaller breweries. The company was run as a private limited company, that sold shares in the company to those interested. This sale was to finance the physical brewery at some point. I looks like that will never happen now :-(

Cheers Heimdal

Carlsberg can still surprise

Having just visited Carlsberg, i must admit that there was some surprises for me. The first surprise was that we were served really interesting beer.

We were shown around by Jens Eiken who is the brew master at Jacobsen Brewhouse. The group quickly found their way down in the cellars of Carlsberg. Here we tasted vintage beer. The first one was a vintage Påskebryg from 1964 that was quite yummy. It has a lot of the qualities of a god port wine. Surprisingly enough there was a fizzy sound when the bottle was opened. Small frothy white head that mostly diminished. Some strange stuff around the opening of the bottle. The aroma was light bread and nutty notes with a hint of caramel. Still very malty overall impression with just a hint of alcohol.

The cellars are in fact an entire underground city below the area where we find Carlsberg today. You can reach the entire Carlsberg facilities under grund.

The tasting later on included a couple of Black Label beers that were very interesting and good. Black Label means that they are somewhat experimental and therefore almost impossible to get hold of. Kudo to the brewers and developers at Jacobsen Brewhouse.

The black label both challenged and surprised me and that in it self was well worth the visit. The fact that it was Jens Eiken showing us around was also a great positive. Having a guide that both knows the how and why, with the guts to tell it like he sees it, was quite refreshing.

Off topic note: Still all the Carlsberg websites are totally crap - 100% flash and they take over your browser and makes new windows and re-sizes them. Stupid web developers (or is it the marketing guys?)!

Elder Flower Brown Ale

Sometimes it pays off be nice. I just gave away a piece of brewing equipment that was collecting dust in the corner to a fellow brewer, and I got a couple of elder flower brown ales in return. You just have to love this hobby.

I have seen people arguing with Hare Krishna because they insist that they are not selling you the cookies, but rather giving you them, and you in return give them some money.

It sure felt better to give away something someone else could use AND getting a gift yourself, than just selling it for two beers.

Spicy brown ale bringed wings

When I got the newsletter from whitelabs.com this morning it struck me that I have been neglecting to share beer recipes with you. Luckily JoAnne included one in the newsletter. The recipe is not in metrics this time, but I'll let it slip :-)

An easy recipe from Cooking with beer by Lucy Saunders.

• ½ cup brown sugar
• ½ cup kosher salt
• 24 ounces brown ale
• 5 pounds chicken wings, cut into three sections, small tips removed
• 1 cup butter
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• ¼ cup minced fresh jalapeños (or a mix of habaneras and jalapeños)
• ½ cup (or more) hot pepper sauce
• ½ cup Sriracha or Asian sweet-hot chile sauce
• Pinch ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon finely ground black pepper
• 24 bamboo skewers, at least 10 inches long, soaked in water
• 2 tablespoons black or toasted sesame seeds for garnish (optional)
  

Mix brown sugar, salt and ale in a large gallon bowl and whisk until dissolved to make a brine. Place wings in bowl and stir to coat. Cover and chill for 1½ up to 8 hours.

Melt butter in large skillet, and add garlic and jalapeños. Sauté over low heat until jalapeños are tender, about 6 minutes. Add hot pepper sauce, Sriracha, cinnamon and pepper. Mix well and simmer 3 minutes. Place in blender and purée until smooth.

Prepare grill. Drain wings from brine, pat dry with paper towels and thread on skewers, 3 to 4 pieces per skewer. Keep pieces of similar sizes together so chicken will cook evenly. Place skewers on grill over indirect heat or use a grill basket. Cook 25 minutes or until very brown and crispy, turning every 5 minutes. Arrange cooked wings on platter, spoon prepared chile sauce over evenly and sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Makes 6 servings.