"Ironic is the fact that the more interested I get in beer, the less I drink of it. In my younger days I drank a lot, but was not ready to learn about good and great beer."
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FEATURING seven revolving shelves which accommodate 504 bottles, this novel electric beverage refrigerator display unit measures only 37 inches in diameter, saving floor space while advertising many brands.
Source: blog.modernmechanix.com
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.
I love beer and computers, so this test to combine the two, is funny in my world. Other than rebuilding a PC case into a kegged beer dispenser, I have not thought about putting beer inside a PC. The guys over at Toms games (a part of Tom's Hardware) are doing fun stuff with small real world application potential. Shelton Romhanyi compares the PC cooling properties of three beers: Coors Light (US), Guinness (Ireland) and Franziskaner Hefe-weissbier (Germany). The result is in the video.
View the funny video here: tomsgames.com
The slogan of Danish brewery Ølfabrikken is "Life is too short for crappy beer" and the beer they make are far from crappy.
The sad fact is that beer can be ruined by wrong storage and serving. So here is a list of things to avoid making a good beer bad.
My interpretation of the post by Al: Life Is Far Too Short To Drink Cheap Beer - 9 Ways To Maximize Your Beer Value
Keep out of sun
Beer’s number one enemy is light. Brown bottles do the best job of protecting the content, followed by green ones. What only few people realize is that green bottles are not much better than clear ones at protecting the beer within.
Keep it cool
While heat won’t affect your beer the same as light, it can cause it’s own issues. For one thing, greater chance of oxidation. Oxidized beer tastes like cardboard. It can cause other off-flavours as well. You should store your beer in a cool, dark place.
Buy locally
Less transportation means lower transportation costs, meaning more money can be put toward the ingredients of the beer. A shorter travel distance also means the beer is more likely to be fresh. And, of course, has had fewer opportunities to encounter light and/or warm storage. Legend has it that Guinness drinkers can guess how far they are from the brewery just by tasting a Guinness anywhere in the world. While this is an exaggeration, there is some truth to is. Always sample the local beer when you are out of town, and you will know what I am talking about.
Use a glass
A large part of our sense of taste comes from our sense of smell. If you can’t smell the beer while you’re drinking it, like drinking it from the bottle, you’re missing most of the flavour. Beer glasses should be hand-washed with a minimum of soap. Soap kills the head of any beer. Actually, baking soda would be a better option or even just hot water and a ultra clean towel. Your beer glasses also shouldn’t be used to drink anything else.
NOT too chilled
When too cold the aromas of the beer are not present or very weak. You want to maximize the aroma to have the best flavour. This seems to be missed by all cafe owners in Denmark. Serving temperature is usually below 5 degrees celcius. The proper temperature is different in the varies styles of beer. Here in Denmark you can count on it being too cold, and you can hold the walls of the glass with both hands. This won't work with double walled glasses.
Pour like you mean it
Again with the aromas. When pouring, do not dribble the beer down the side of the glass. Pour it down the middle. You want to “break the carbonation” and release the aromas. Usually aim for about two fingers’ width of head.
Find your style
You’ll never know unless you try. If you’re having more than one style in a single sitting, start with the lightest and finish with the heaviest. This will keep your tastebuds from being overwhelmed. I once drank a ØLFABRIKKEN 100 GRAM IPA early in the evening. I could taste just about nothing the rest of the evening.
Food is good with beer
There is a school of thought that says that beer pairs better with cheese than wine. That’s not all, of course. Chocolate mouse is great with a robust porter, while Danish herring is a nice mix with a crisp and cold pilsner.
Socialize
Beer should be shared. Beer is social. Be a member of a beer organisation, or a brewing club or the like. Beer enthusiasts are nice people and remember that life is too short for crappy beer.
We have lost a great beer personality. Michael Jackson (Born 27 March 1942 – Died 30 August 2007) was an English writer and beer journalist.
Michael Jackson was the author of several books about beer and whisky. Not surprisingly he was called The Beer Hunter, as he went around the world hunting for great beers.
Michael Jackson became famous amongst beer lovers when he published 'The World Guide To Beer'. A book that has since been translated into more than ten languages and is still considered to be one of the most fundamental books on the subject. One of my favorites is the Pocket Beer Book, which can be tucked away in your pocket as you do your own beer hunting.
Although he travelled around the world and discovered different beer cultures, he was especially fond of the Belgian beers. He was appointed to an honorary officer of the Ridderschap van de Roerstok in 1997 for his important contribution to the international success of the Belgian beers. This honor had previously only been given to brewers. His books reflects beer culture from all over the world.
I have just recently discovered that he was suffering from Parkinson's Disease. Michael Jackson died in his home the morning of August 30, 2007 at the age of 65.
He gave me and many other a language for describing beer and taught so many of us to speak it.
Our beer community has lost a good friend and beer hunter.
Evidently the logo of Brooklyn Brewerry is so good that it is worth copying. In the effort of staying current, a supermarket has taken the logo of Brooklyn Brevery as a template for their own logo. The copy is hard to tell from the original. Despite that fact, the supermarket owner claims that the two are not alike at all.
Brooklyn Brewery is currently trying clear up the 'confusion' and will probably use legal means, if kind requests are not met.
On the positive side, it is kind of a compliment.
Does this kind 'brand copying' happen often?
I like to make fun of Coors. That is mainly because if their war against beer served at temperatures where you can taste it.
So this former Coors brewer, Tony Vieira, has started his own brewing company, Naked Lion Brewing, in Memphis, with his beer brewed at City Brewing in Wisconsin. Vieira started in the brewing business in 1989 when he worked in Budweiser's research brewery, doing experiments on beer.
The first beer, Copper Flask, is described as “a full-bodied lager that uses a sour mashing process similar to the one used to make some whiskeys.” The Vieira family chose the company name because lions are featured prominently throughout brewing history. For example, Lowenbrau, a Munich brewery, features lions on its labeling. Its name means "lion's brew," a reference to when it was first brewed in 1383 at The Lion's Inn in Germany.
Tony Vieira, who has an MBA from Vanderbilt University, financed the $500,000 start-up himself to maintain equity in the company.
I am somewhat curious abut the serving temperature of the new Copper Flask.
Imagine having beer-XML available on your phone. Apple used WWDC as the stage to announce a third-party development solution for the iPhone. Up until then it had been closed. What I need is the ability to get access to all my recipies on the go. "Why?" You might ask. The answer is simple; I can not remember all the details of my beers, and would like to have a readable copy with me. Jobs claims that a working knowledge of modern web standards is all we'll need to code up custom iPhone goodies to our hearts' content. Cheers to beer on the iPhone, if it is true.
What beer applications would you like for mobile computing?
The new beer from Ølfabrikken this summer is a tribute to the breweries favourite hop variety – the Amarican Columbus hop.
It is a copper coloured beer of 5% vol. with clear notes of grape fruit and pine. After fermentation the beer is dry hopped with even more Columbus hops, that intensifys the hoppiness of the beer.
The strong hop aroma combined with the moderate alcohol content and a semi bitter and dry finish makes the beer refreshing in the summer heat, and still have som caracter.
Try to catch it – it has just been released and will hit the broader Danish beer shops within a week.
In response to Knut Alert's Beer Blog: Tougher times ahead for Danish micros.
The shops have been expanding the selection of beers during the last couple of years, but now the selection is shrinking again. This only leaves space in the shops for beer that can be sold quickly. Well it is obvious that the shops will stock beer they can actually sell. This fact leaves a great deal of pressure on the small breweries. Now we see some of the prices are dropping long before the small breweries even break even.
Meanwhile Carlsberg is adding to the pressure by introducing new beers and brands such as Kongens Bryghus, Semper Ardens og their new micro brewery Jacobsen. These new beers and brands makes people come back to good old Carlsberg.
Since the start of The Danish Beer Enthusiasts ale.dk small craft breweries have emerged all over Denmark. Unfortunately the market for special beer has become saturated, not unlike the IT bubble that burst around 2000 with countless companies trying to get your attention and money.
According to dot-com theory, an internet company's survival depended on expanding its customer base as rapidly as possible, even if it produced large annual losses. The phrase "Get large or get lost" was the wisdom of the day. At the height of the boom, it was possible for a promising dot-com to make an initial public offering of its stock and raise a great amount of money even though it had never made a profit. In such a situation, a company's lifespan was measured by its burn rate; that is, the rate at which a non-profitable company lacking a viable business model runs through its capital.
There is so many small breweries and although the market has expanded by approximately seven percent, there are too many now. The curve follows the dot-com in the sense that we have seen a lot of hype and a whole lot of new small companies followed by some consolidation of the market and the death of the breweries with the least successful distribution. This summer will probably be the final breath for some small Danish breweries.
Back then in the good old IT days, I talked about first provers taking over the scene from the first movers. Yes – we will see small Danish breweries go bankrupt, but new ones will immerge to take their place. The marketplace dictates who lives and dies.
Some will survive and be a success because they make great beer, while other will survive on marketing and economic skills alone.
May the good beers stay with us.
Scientists from Aarhus University is working in making Danish beer even more Danish.
Beer is experiencing a renaissance in Denmark and there a lot of new breweries has been created. Even though the beer has been produced in Denmark, the hops have been imported over the last century. In other words does Danish beer not have a unique Danish hop flavour.says Senior Advisor Gitte Kjeldsen from The Faculty of Agricultural Sciences at University of Aarhus (DJF).
Coors is often the source of funny and stupid inventions. I have reported on them before (in Danish). If all goes according to plan you can soon look to the mountains on the bottle, and find out whether or not your beer is ready to drink.
The Golden-based Coors Brewing Co. has launched its new Coors Light Cold Activated Bottle. When the beer hits the correct temperature, mountains on the label turn from white to blue. As part of Coors' plans to market the concept nationwide, it has announced the "World's Most Refreshing Happy Hour." Company "ambassadors" will work with retailers to promote the new bottle.
Coors Brewing Company executives, employees and distributors are joining forces to build awareness and trial of the company’s latest innovation, the Cold Activated Bottle. Mountains on the label turn from white to blue when Coors Light is at the optimal temperature for cold refreshment. In cities all over USA, Coors ambassadors will be working with retailers to engage consumers and encourage trial of the Cold Activated Bottle.
When drinkers choose Coors Light, they're looking for refreshment. The Cold Activated Bottle is designed to ensure that drinkers experience the coldest, most refreshing beer possible.
On May 18, we are celebrating our newest innovation by inviting consumers to come out and raise a cold one for the World’s Most Refreshing Happy Hour.
Ølfestivallen this year was bigger and better than ever (amazing how Danish Beer Enthusiasts can achieve that year after year). The selection was broader and better than ever, and also for weird combination.
At the Mybeer booth I made a detour from beer. Ultraprés was served warm in small 2cl glases with a shot of whipped cream. It was sweet and the experience had noting to do with beer, ewww. Their own tagline is "don't take our word for io, ask someone who have tried it" - I just wish that I had. It was not unpleasant, but totally wrong.
Although the experince at Mybeer was bad, it has nothing to do with me not liking sweet beer. One of the good ones was Quadrupel 11% vol. from Ølfabrikken. This is an intense beer is brewed with pilsner malt and caramel syrup and with a belgian yeast. This beer is special and is only served at special occasions, after being stored for at least a year. Although my expectations were high, they where all met at the Ølfabrikken booth.
While being totally in the sportligt for brewing excellent beer Mikkeller did not excite me as expected. I tried a couple of beers from them. For instance their X Hop Juice 2007 IBU a hoppy ale with 5% vol. Probably the most hoppy beer in the world, and so what? While I HAD to try it, it was fun, but not an interesting beer apart from the fact that it had a teoretical IBU of 2007. That said, Mikkeller make great beer, and the brewer also works for Ølfabrikken (Note: Ølfabrikken is restructuring so who knows who works there today).
Greenland Brewhouse served musk ox saussage on toast. A very pleasant experience together with their Artic Ale a nice barley wine with 9% vol. although it would go better with good cheeses.
Pssst! Don't tell anyone... but I liked the Radler served at Gourmetbryggeriet. In the mountains of Germany and Austria, the bicyclists (Radler in German) need a good refreshment, and a little energy after a long climb up a mountain road in the blazing, humid weather, but they also need the soberness and strength to return home, down the long, steep hills. From these excursions has developed the concept of a beer and lemon-lime (actually Zitronenlimonade in German) mixture in Germany and Austria, the Radler and the Russ, basically the same as the Shandy in England. The Radler is a normal Munich "Helles" or a pilsner-style beer such as Zipfer mixed with 1/2 lemon-lime soda, and the Russ is a mixture of 1/2 Weizenbier, such as Edelweiß Hefetrüb, and 1/2 lemon-lime soda, - refreshing, relaxing, and enjoyable. At the Gourmetbryggeriet booth it was served with 70% beer and 30% lemonade.
This years Ølfesival in Copenhagen has left so many impressions that I do not know where to start.
Getting right on track with a craft brew story: Housebrewer, an all grain beer brewing machine
I met Morten Steen Pedersen from Housebrewer a company so new that they do not even have a website yet (will probably be www.housebrewer.com). Morten who is the software delveloper for the project, showed me the machine. It is supposed to be aimed at cafés, restaurants etc. Housebrewer brews all-grain beer and therefore is able to brew the full range of beers out there. It measures 60x60x100 cm and has a batch size of 25 liters. The materials are stainless steel and glass, so that you actually can watch the brewing process, and all the ingredients while it brews. Unlike my set-up Homebrewer has very little manual work involved. Just add the ingredients in the different compartments and turn it on - out comes the chilled wort ready for fermentation.
Morten promised that a future version of the software would support BeerXML.
The price is approximately 1.600€ so this machine is not to be confused with anything you can buy on TV-shop (or that crappy beermachine.
From ale.dk:It is a great pleasure for the Danish Beer Enthusiasts to observe that it takes exactly 6 years to create a tradition to make a Beer Festival in Copenhagen.
The Danish Beer Enthusiasts are therefore very pleased to invite you to the 7th Beer Festival in Copenhagen which again this year will take place in Valby Hallen.
As usual the guests will get an opportunity to taste a great variety of beers together with several novelties never presented in Denmark before. We expect more than 70 exhibitors and a range of more than 1000 different beers at the festival.
At the festival you will get an opportunity to experience the diversity, try the range of the Danish breweries beers, try rare beer types from Danish and foreign breweries and also try the beer’s good qualities together with food.
Welcome to the Copenhagen Beer Festival in Valby Hallen.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Press Officer Marttin Stuart Nielsen, marttin.nielsen@ale.dk, or on phone +45 2880 8010
See you later.
According to www.ale.dk half of Ølfabrikken has been bought by Gourmetbryggeriet.
To my surprise, one of the two owners, Martin Larsen, has chosen to sell his part of Ølfabrikken to Gourmetbryggeriet in Roskilde (yes, the city with the big music festival). The sale should not reflect trouble in management, but rather a wish to get more capital for expansion.
With the deal comes a lot of exiting future plans for Ølfabrikken. One being the planned movement to the present facilities of Gourmetbryggeriet once they have finished building their new brewery.
Christian Skovdal Andersen, the remaining owner, says that the movement will not mean any alterations to the beer nor to it's quality. However alterations to the brewery have to be made to facilitate the brewing style of Ølfabrikken.
Cheers Christian, and good luck!
"Mmmm … beer." As popular as beer is, however, it often has gotten a bad rap as a calorie-loaded beverage that only serves to create paunchy beer bellies and alcohol-fueled lapses in judgment. But beer has less calories than most types of milk.
But that negative image may begin to fade. Recent research shows an indication that beer could be used as a possible disease-fighter.
It turns out that beer hops contain a unique micronutrient that inhibits cancer-causing enzymes. Hops are plants used in beer to give it aroma, flavor and bitterness.
The compound, xanthohumol, was first isolated by researchers with Oregon State University 10 years ago. Initial testing was promising, and now an increasing number of laboratories across the world have begun studying the compound, said Fred Stevens, an assistant professor of medicinal chemistry at Oregon State's College of Pharmacy.
Earlier this year, a German research journal even devoted an entire issue to xanthohumol, he said.
What Stevens and others are discovering is that xanthohumol has several unique effects. Along with inhibiting tumor growth and other enzymes that activate cancer cells, it also helps the body make unhealthy compounds more water-soluble, so they can be excreted.
Most beers made today are way too low on hops, however, and so don't contain much xanthohumol. Here's to hop-heads and your health!
Source: ABCnews
While the prizes has risen over the last year, they may rise even more.
The warm and dry weather is killing crops. German farmers already are complaining about devastation from the dryness.
"If there is no stable rainfall in the next ten days, we are facing a crop failure for barley, wheat and sugar beets," Michael Lohse, a spokesperson for the German Farmers' Association, told the most recent edition of Focus magazine. He warned of rising beer prices later in the year.
So this hobby of mine may just get a lot more expensive, but to be honest, I use more money on equipment than on grain. I just brew and drink too little.
The turbo tap poors a complete pint of beer in just under 2 seconds with just the right amount of head. It's unique, patented system taps in to a bars existing beer lines and pulls the beer out in record time.
Though they sell mostly systems for pro they also offer home systems for sale.
Video1 – the inventor tells about being an entrepreneur.
Video2 – speed test of a normal faucet compared to TurboTap.
This is an amazing device that attaches to any normal beer faucet. It can pour a beer four times faster than the common faucet. You also yield more beers off every keg, with less beer going to be foam. It pays for itself, this thing is revolutionary in the world of beer drinking and sales. For more info go to TurboTap.com
Really funny video about those not so great moments you can have. Thanks to beer, all will be well.
© Nanobryg
