From: arf@ddsw1.mcs.com (Jack Schmidling)
Subject: Re: Great idea but....
Keywords: Pathetic snivelling
Organization: The World's Greatest Brewery
Date: Fri, 4 Sep 1992 14:00:55 GMT
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 Article 5544               Re: Great idea but....      
 korz@cbnewsc.cb.att.com        algis.r.korzonas at AT&T
 
 >For those of you that have not had the "pleasure" of tasting js's beer,
 I feel the above statement is clouded by ego.  I am an AHA/HWBTA BJCP
 Certified judge and have tasted js's beer.  It is relatively flavorless
 except for a mild grassy aroma/flavor (possibly cis-3-Hexenal, which has
 a relatively low flavor threshold: 0.02 ppm), which I must attribute to
 poor grain storage or a mild bacterial infection, perhaps during mashing.
 
 EGO?  I am just your basic ole beer drinker... no ribbons, no credentials and 
 the only time I tasted your beer was the night I delivered your MALTMILL.  I 
 had the feeling that you were new at brewing and as I am not about to insult 
 a coutomer, I smiled and said something pleasant.   However, judging from an 
 article in the Chicago Tribune, I would expect you to be an expert on wierd 
 flavors.
 
 BTW, I wonder which of my batches of beer "it" was that had "possibly 
 cis-3-Hexenal" in it and also wonder how you can judge all my beer based on 
 such a small sample AND whether you think we should judge all your beer by 
 those described in the Tribune article.
 
 BTW, again... just how does one get bacterial infection during mashing.  Most 
 of us do this at or above pasturization temperature and then boil afterwords.
 
 >  Therefore, don't bother to throw a tantrum here, Jack.
 
 Tantrum?  I will let the reader decide who is having a tantrum.
 
 >  Don't flatter yourself, Jack, and think this is in response to your 
 posting of the Trib article -- Steve Hamburg has already pointed out that the 
 article was not completely accurate.
 
 Yes, he pointed out that it left a few details out (all your excuses and 
 ribbons) but YOU are responsible for YOUR beer and YOUR excuses are no more 
 valid than mine.  Unless you wish to tell us that someone else made that 
 beer, it appears that you are as capable as the rest of us of making lousy 
 beer.
 
 But, it would be a shame to deprive the readers of that classic on Who's Who 
 in Chicago brewing.  So just to make sure everyone knows what we are talking 
 about, here are a few excerpts.....
 
 Discussing the Chicago Beer Society, the article says:
 .................
 
 "On a recent evening, club members shared 25 different beers they had brewed. 
 Chris Campanelli got raves for his deliciously rich imperial stout.....
 
 "Al Korzonas, though, had a bad night.  About his bock beer, he said, the 
 consensus among club members was that it was "within style" but had several 
 flaws, not the least of which was that it smelled like home hair-perming 
 solution.
 
 "His second offering smelled and tasted something like bananas.  This was an 
 interesting concept, except it was a mistake, Korzonas cheerfully conceded.  
 The problem, he said, had something to do with brewing at too high a 
 temperature and inadvertntly setting off a chemical change that created 
 banana-like flavor."
 .....................
 
 Glass houses?  Stones?
 
 js on another topic...
 
 >>I hate to sound pompous, but I agree for another reason.  Most of the beer 
 I have tasted in brew pubs is not very good.  Until I really started
 making good beer, I never had a bad one in a brew pub.  Now I usually
 conclude that mine is better.   As I now pure culture my own yeast,
 >this could be the final trick.
 
 >Jack is being unjustifiably pompous.
 
 Unjustifiably pompous?  From the brewer of hair-perming solution and Bananas?
 
 >  Obviously, Jack, you don't like beer. The more flavor, the worse it tastes 
 to you.  I suggest that you enter your beer in a sanctioned competition -- 
 you will get some constructive feedback from impartial judges and if you 
 follow their suggestions, you can brew good beer.
 
 If all the "judges" are as "impartial" as you, it would be a real turkey 
 shoot, wouldn't it?
 
 >  Then, perhaps you will have earned the right to compare your
 beer to other beers in a favorable light.  Otherwise, just stick to the
 Kingsbury-Near-Beer-clone you brew and Bulmer's  Woodpecker Cider, and
 leave your self-proclaimed beer expertise out of public forums.
 
 We all can and do make excuses for our lousy beer and most of us can take it 
 in stride.  But you, my friend, are truly pathetic.   The next thing I expect 
 to hear from you is that you trashed your MALTMILL and converted one of those 
 Italian pasta makers, to really show me.
 
 js
 
 p.s. You should have let it lie.  There's more folks, I just need to clear it 
 with from my sources.
 
 jjs