Hops are the female flower bunches of a hop species and are used essentially as a flavoring and stability agent in beer, to which they give a bitter sour flavour. Hops are also used for various purposes in other beverages and herbal medicine. Hops started to be cultivated on an on-going basis around the 8th or 9th century A.D. in Bohemian gardens in the Hallertau district of Bavaria and other parts of Europe. But the 1st documented use of hops in ale as a bittering agent is from the eleventh century.
There are plenty of ‘hop-heads ‘ out there and I'm actually one of them. I am not sure what it is that makes hops so appealing. But there is little doubt that hops charm many ale buyers. Perhaps it's the intensity of the flavor, or maybe it's the complexity of tastes offered by hops that's so enjoyable. Either way, the scent is nice and frequently similar to other things we enjoy like pine and citrusy fruits. Hops and hoppy ales are just a great thing.
I don't wish to get too far ahead of myself here and begin sending the impression that hop driven beers are the pinnacle of the ale world. Indeed so many great beers and beer styles exist that one would be hard pressed to select the absolute best. I am nevertheless keen on hop driven beers and find my palate ever delighted by the variety of hoppy tastes being produced in America and elsewhere.
Hops are one of several ingredients in beer that contribute to a level of complication that easily rivals the complexity found in wine. Wine, being made from grapes and yeast, is an awesome drink. Wine offers amazing differences of depth and intricacy, and extraordinary variations in tastes all from grapes. Ale has hops, malts, and lots of other ingredients that brewers play around with to enormously increase the capability for intricacy.
Hops are my current focus though and to get a sense of what they can offer to a beer, pay attention to the scents and flavours that alter so significantly between your fave IPAs. Mikkeller, a labeler/recipe producer, has a line of beers that is particularly fascinating and quite exciting… the single hop beers. Each beer is made with only water, malts, a single hop variety, and yeast, to show off what each hop variety brings to the kettle. I have thoroughly enjoyed sampling these ales and pitting hop varietal against hop varietal. I may also have to start mixing many of them together!
There are many hundreds of IPAs to enjoy, most of which show the brewer’s preferred fusion of hops. Try the single hop brews for some field research on which hops hit your palate just right. Soon you'll be able to tell who’s brewing with what and why you like their stuff so much!
Tim Bush found his way to Colonial Spirits, a Concord liquor store, in 2002. It was ale that brought Tim to Colonial Spirits and ale that let him make a meaningful contribution to the store. At this point ale is only a little part of what Tim does, however he enjoys ale now more than ever. Tim’s Beer Blog is where Tim shares his many thoughts on the topic of ale.
Filed under beer, beer recipe, home brewing, home brewing beer recipes, home brewing supplies by jamesjohn
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Ever walked into a pub and been confused by the choice of beers on offer? If so, here’s a quick guide to the various types available in UK pubs.
The first thing to know is that, generally speaking, beer in Britain means ale or lager, and the difference between them is in how they are brewed. Basically, ale is brewed at a higher temperature, takes less time to make, and is top fermented (yeast ferments at the top of the fermentation tank), and larger is brewed at a low temperature, takes longer to make, and is bottom fermented (yeast ferments at the bottom of the fermentation tank). In addition, lager is cold conditioned (stored near freezing for between one and six months) after fermentation.
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Filed under beer by Hance McGhie
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Over the last several years you’ve probably heard the term “Man Cave” being used more and more to describe an area of the house designated specifically for the male who lives in the house. This area could be an extra room or garage, or even the shed out back. This space is meant for the man to use as a refuge from his everyday life.
It could be an important ingredient in a marriage for a man to be able to escape the pressures from his wife, kids or just general tension of any kind. Getting away by himself to recharge is all that is needed. The place he chooses can be made to suit his own tastes, holding things that make him happy and bring him a measure of peace.
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Filed under beer by Dave Rokiki
A bar is a perfect spot for guests to gather around and get acquainted with each other. You can build your own bar in a room where you normally entertain guests or install one in your patio for summer pool parties.
You can actually build a portable bar that can be used indoors in many rooms and push it outdoors when the weather calls for it. Bars are usually made from wood or bamboo. The bamboo particularly lends itself to a tropical island bar style. Another good idea is to build a bar as a counter in the room used for entertaining and then use it for all sorts of things like a bar, a buffet table or just an extra table.
Filed under Beer News, Wine-Spirts, beer, beer dispensers by Dave Rokiki
Finding authentic liquor and beer brand shirts is hard to find in a store and on the web. I searched the internet far and wide only to come up with over priced, remake tshirt. T-shirt of your liquor and beer display your pride and love for that particular liquor drink or beer. Every one knows someone that drinks beer or liquor, so even if you don’t drink, liquor & beer t-shirts make great gifts especially with the holidays and people looking for last minute gifts. I found an online store that has a wide selection of liquor and beer shirts and merchandise that anyone has been looking for. LiquorGear.com has beer brands like Corona, Guinness, Miller Lite, Coors Light, Budweiser, even the items from Nascar, just to name a few. They also have the following liquor brands like Jack Daniel’s, Captain Morgan, Crown Royal, Patron and the list is growing and getting larger. LiquorGear.com not only carriers shirts but they also carry neon clocks, bikinis, jackets, beach towels, flask, bottle openers and new selections all the time. I will show you on how to make this process easy to do.
1.) If you want to shop online for t-shirts or any other brand name liquor or beer gear offered in their original product line, the first palce I would suggest going to is that compnay’s website, for example Heineken.com or CaptainMorgan.com. It will be a little more expensive, just like any other brand name. This is similar to shopping on JVC or Sony’s website directly.
2.) If you want to save money, visit www.liquorgear.com They have a wide variety of authentic gear. All their Jack Daniel’s Mercandise, Crown Royal Merchandise, and all other liquor and beer merchancdise is officially licensed. They also have free shipping for orders over $75. LiquorGear.com is always coming out with new products from almost all major liquor and beer brand merchandise. They are easy to deal with and offer a return policy.
3.) Ebay offers liquor and beer shirts and merchandise but you will have to watch what you buy because some things are not licensed and printed on by a house computer. Also you can find some hard to find items as well like items that was made for special promotions and marketing.
4.) A few things to look for when looking for authentic product is the website zoom feature. Also a lot of items come with a halogram sticker and a tag that has licensed merchandise on them.
Learn more about beer shirts and liquor shirts. Liquor Gear site where you can find out all about beer t-shirts and what it can do for you.
Filed under beer by Leo Ballay
Once fermentation is finished, you must transfer your beer to a bottling bucket. After the beer has been transferred to the bottling bucket, you will need another plastic hose connected to a bottle filler to fill each individual glass bottle with your home brew. Needless to say you’ll need bottles and bottle caps for your home brew. Each and every bottle must be cleaned with a brush and sanitized before bottling your beer. The final step in finishing your bottling process is to attach the bottle caps to the bottles. Anyone can be a homebrewer and brewing beer at home is easy! Build your home microbrewery using this home brew setup as a guide!
Filed under beer, beer recipe, home brewing, home brewing beer recipes by Steve Pavilanis
One important thing to remember when making beer at home is that all of the items used are sanitized. Some of the ingredients that are needed to make beer at home are malt extract, sugar and brewers’ yeast. After a person has perfected the process of making beer at home other ingredient can be added to change the flavor of the beer like licorice, molasses and herb teas. The items that many people may already have in their house that can be used to make beer at home are a large pot or roaster, 10 gallon plastic pail that is usually used for food, 12- 2 liter plastic bottles. Additional items that are necessary and might not be everyday household items include a siphon hose, hose clamp and hydrometer. Homemade beer has a long life-span and like many wines gets better tasting when it ages.
Filed under beer, beer recipe, home brewing by Tom Faygo
When purchasing a starter kit for making your home brew, you should ensure that it has at least the following items: a fermentation bucket, something to extract the beer from the fermentation bucket i.e. a siphoning tube and of course the key ingredients of the brew: yeast and malt extract. Mix your ingredients as per the instructions on your kit in the fermentation bucket.
Filed under beer, beer recipe, home brewing, home brewing beer recipes by Hayley Drinker
Many people today prefer to use home brewing plastic equipment because it is cheap and affordable plus it is the trend. However, experienced home brewers keep away from plastic equipment as much as they can because plastic gets scratches easily. Home brewing is not very common and therefore you might buy ingredients that have stayed on the shelves for a long time. The brewing will not turn our right if you use such. If you let in air into the wort, you are going to have your beer tasting stale.
Filed under beer by Mike Zimmerman
There are two main beer styles – Ale and Lager. Ale beer is made by using only high quality fermented yeasts which are fermented at temperatures higher than those at which the lager beer is fermented. The beer you probably drank until now was lager. Lager is probably the most drank beer in the world. A good beer tradition results in a unique beer style and taste which makes the experience of drinking the beer even more enjoyable to the customer.
Filed under beer by Jason L. Freemen
At some point in germination, barley’s nutrients are made into sugars. The malted barley is now ready to be made into beer. Hops are another ingredient utilized in beer. They supply the bitter flavor frequently associated with beer. Yeast is a single-celled microorganism. There are a couple of classifications of yeast used in beer making. Ale yeast floats near the surface of the beer during fermentation, so it is termed top fermenting. Conversely, lager yeasts are bottom fermenting, and normally ferment more slowly. They normally ferment at approximately 50 degrees F (10 degrees C). Hops, yeast and barley are the three core ingredients that you’re going to have to purchase if you’re intending to brew beer at home.
Filed under beer, beer recipe, home brewing, home brewing beer recipes by Greg Holmes
Home brewing is becoming more popular during the economic downturn. Craft brewing has a long history, which archeological evidence. Mashing is the first stage. You crush the malted grains and soak in warm water to create an extract of the malt. The fourth stage is fermentation. Cover and leave the home craft brew and let it ferment. What remains is how to package your home brew After it has been brewed, the beer is normally a finished product. Many craft brewing enthusiasts choose a long conditioning period for various strong beers like barley and wines
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Filed under beer, beer recipe, home brewing, home brewing beer recipes by Emily Goodman
The origins of beer can be traced back to the Sumerians who occupied southern Mesopotamia (modern day Iraq) in 6000 BC. Weihenstephan – founded in 725 AD Benedictine Weihenstephan Abbey in southern Germany has the oldest, functioning brewery in the world (built 1040AD). Augustiner – the Augustinian Brotherhood started brewing Augustiner beer in 1328, 600 years after Welhenstephan. The brewery soon moved to Neuhauser Strae. Stella Artois – a world renowned brand with global appeal, Stella Artois (Stella) is the most famous of all Belgian beers.
Filed under Beer News, beer, home brewing, home brewing beer recipes, home brewing supplies by Janis Bellingtom
Only the Czechs and the Irish consume more beer per capita than the people of Germany. Water and hops are the only other ingredients used in most modern and classic German beer. Among the top fermenting brews are the Altbier, a darker brew that has a rich taste. German bottom fermenting brews include Helles, which is a pale beer with a malty taste, and Schwarzbier, a dark lager that has a taste similar to chocolate.
Filed under beer by Greg Holmes
If you want to drink beer that’s perfectly chilled, why not consider buying a beer cooler. If you have a beer cooler, you won’t have to drink warm beer every again. Beer coolers are quite popular right now. Many people love drinking cold beer and are tired of drinking warm beer. With a beer chiller, you never have to worry about that. Look online to buy your beer cooler – there are quite a few stores that specialize in speciality beer products like beer coolers.
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Filed under beer by Jason Tanner
Oktoberfest is the worlds largest fair taking place every year in Bavaria. You can also throw your own Oktoberfest party using the following Oktoberfest party ideas:
1. Get some cardboard to make your invitations. Cut out shapes of lederhosen, beer goggles, beer glasses, beer kegs, beer steins and bratwurst. Remember to say on your invites that they will be charged an admittance fee if they fail to dress up!
2. For costumes, the guys are expected to wear lederhosen leather shorts. They are truly horrible but very funny. Get some braces to hold them up! Also you’ll need some knee height white socks and a hat with a feather in!
3. For the ladies, you should consider dressing up in a traditional alpine peasant girl costume. This includes a tight bodice and a lacy blouse.
4. The Bavarian flag is of blue and white, so get plenty of decorations including balloons in these colors.
5. To make your venue look like a traditional brau haus bier keller, you need long wooden tables and benches. If necessary fix them together, but they should be in a long line!
6. Cut out bratwursts, lederhosen, beer glasses and beer kegs from cardboard and hang them from the ceiling. If you’re ambitious, you can also hang gingerbread men up too.
7. Dont forget the German flag to hang on the walls and miniature versions for the tables. It may not be pretty, but its traditional!
8. Consider hiring out a brass band to play traditional beer hall music. This of course is budget dependant!
9. You should make some of the many famous German dishes such as; garlic bread, weiner schnitzel, sausage stuffed mushrooms, pretzels, sauerkraut, nuremburgers, meatloaf, bratwurst, black forest cake, apple strudel and gingerbread.
10. Finally on to the beer! Germany makes the best beer in the world! Get in a wide variety of German beer as people will be wanting to sample many different kinds of beer. Make sure you have plenty of glasses and even beer steins.
We hope you have found some useful Oktoberfest Party Ideas here as well as inspiration for your party! We also have many more Oktoberfest Party Ideas to help you with your party preparations and enable you to throw the best Oktoberfest party possible that your guests and yourself will remember forever!
Filed under beer by Damian Jackson
Ale yeast is said to be ‘top-fermenting’ since the yeast cells tend to accumulate (’flocculate’) at the top. Lager yeast migrates to the bottom of the tank during fermentation and so is called ‘bottom-fermenting’. In the case of ale yeast, some interaction with oxygen takes place during fermentation. Ale yeast ferments quicker, a few days to two. Temperature ranges vary, though, and can easily be in the higher range. Many ale yeasts have a full-bodied, fruity aroma and taste. Wheat beer yeast goes into this ale-style brew, where it helps produce a fruity, intense character.
Filed under Beer News, beer, beer recipe, home brewing by jamesjohn
The character of the malts, hops and the brewing process in total contribute to the feel of the brew in the mouth. Carbon dioxide bubbles interact with receptors on the tongue and influence whether the brew feels thick or light, creamy or thin. Brews run the gamut from metallic to astringent to warm and gentle. Often the aspect focused on most, flavor is rightly so the center of the beer tasting experience. Research suggests there are over a 1000 identifiable flavors in a given brew. Of these, professional tasters can identify around 100 distinct flavors.
Filed under Beer News, Wine-Spirts, beer by jamesjohn
Start with a clean, dry glass for each brew being considered. Appearance, aroma, mouthfeel, flavor and aftertaste all play a part in the experience, along with more subtle aspects. Humans are visual creatures. What they see strongly influences their subsequent perceptions. A glass of dark brown with a creamy brown two-inch head will create another. But, blind taste tests often produce surprising results. Many have identified their favorite brew as dull or even distasteful aroma.
Filed under Beer News, beer, beer dispensers by jamesjohn
Beer tasting professionals have developed practices over decades that can easily be used by anyone wanting to maximize their tasting experience. Begin with a fresh brew. Use a clean, air-dried glass. Cotton and paper particles can introduce unwanted character, can interfere with head production and oils and dirt can interfere with aromas and alter head retention. For extra foamy brews, pause mid-way then finish. Experience the aroma.
Filed under Beer News, Wine-Spirts, beer by jamesjohn
Which glass looks best for beer presentation is largely a subjective issue. For the utmost in tasting, hand-wash your glass in warm water and rinse well. Allow to air dry. Hand towels, and especially paper towels, can introduce bits of cloth or paper.
Purists will avoid frosting the glass, since that can change the temperature and introduce moisture into the brew. The Weizen is named for Weizenbier (wheat beer), a Bavarian brew. The traditional English serving glass is the Pint Glass (or Becker), a tall, round, tumbler-shaped container with thin walls. The Stange is a traditional German-style, a straight cylinder used to serve delicate beers. They function well to concentrate volatiles, leading to a heady aroma. Malt and hop complexity is easier to judge using these fine serving vessels
Filed under Beer News, beer, beer dispensers by jamesjohn
Even so simple an act as pouring a glass of beer is surrounded with controversy. When the glass is half-full, (not half-empty, there are no pessimists among beer pouring specialists!), tip the glass upright and continue to pour into the middle.
Gentle pouring down the side of the tilted glass helps keep the foam down to moderate height. Steepen the angle or pour from a higher distance for thicker foam. For those who want the maximum that a beer offers, pour some of the settled yeast out of the bottle into the glass. See, nothing about pouring escapes controversy!
Filed under Beer News, beer, beer dispensers by jamesjohn
With the mashing process of malted grain completed, certain duties have been relieved in order to continue the beer brewing process. It is at this stage commonly that the amateur home brewer can enter the process of beer brewing with readily available liquid malt extract in a can. Whether the raw ingredients of barley grain are more difficult to come by, or the brewer wishes to bypass the elementary level of mashing, these canned syrups which just require the addition of water can certainly make the whole brewing process more convenient to the average consumer brewer.
Brewing beer has its basic fundamentals, although they are not entirely a set of rules which must be adhered to precisely. Manipulating each part of the brewing process can result in various outcomes, and in changing these, a brewer can determine the characteristics desired in the brew.
More on All Good Things Come to Those Who Wait for the Fermentation
Filed under Beer News, beer, beer recipe, home brewing by jamesjohn
Interested in expanding your horizons, as far as your beer consumption is concerned? Learn about the different beers out there and how they are made. Beer has been in our midst for as long as anyone can remember it is one of the most common alcohol beverage to be consumed in the world. But its worth a thought as to how beer is actually made.
