From: korz@cbnewsc.cb.att.com (algis.r.korzonas)
Subject: Re: Great idea but....
Organization: AT&T
Date: Tue, 1 Sep 1992 19:06:52 GMT
Summary: Don't believe a word he says.

In article <1992Aug23.034153.9218@ddsw1.mcs.com>, arf@ddsw1.MCS.COM (Jack Schmidling) writes:
> Last night we went to Atlantic Rest and Pub in Chi to sample some
> real Brittish beer.  I even brought an empty bottle and cork to bring 
> home some for a yeast culture.
> 
> We had a glass of Watney's and  it was real fruity and not much to my liking.
 
So, obviously, you don't like Ales, but just for the record, Watney's Red
Barrel is not one of the best.  Their Cream Stout is better, but still not
a four star beer.
> 
> Then we had a glass of Newcastle Ale and liked it even less.

So, obviously, you don't like Northern-style Brown Ale.
> 
> Finally we had a glass of Woodpecker cider and liked it a lot.
> 
> Needless to say, I didn't bother bringing home any beer for yeast but I
> learned a few things.  I now know what people mean when they talk about
> ale being fruity but have no idea why mine is not.

It depends on your yeast and your fermentation temperature -- higher
temperatures create more esters which give ales (and fruit, incidentally)
their fruity flavors and aromas.

> I also learned that 
> whatever I am doing, it makes beer better than any I have bought since
> getting back into brewing.  I should qualify that as being since starting
> to make all grain and culturing yeast.

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.
It is not bad, but by no stretch of the imagination can it be classified
as good.  I feel that if js feels his beer is good, then I can't trust
his opinion of anything beer related.

I'm not a regular reader of r.c.b since the machine on which I get my
news feed is very overloaded, slow as extract syrup and thus painful
to work on.  Therefore, don't bother to throw a tantrum here, Jack.

What lead me to log in to this machine was a related post by js, that
was forwarded to me by a regular r.c.b. contributor, which inspired me
to set the record straight.  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.

Here's the article:
>In article <1992Aug20.142113.6843@uc.msc.edu> cush@msc.edu writes:
>>In article <1992Aug17.110338.58206@cc.usu.edu>, slk6p@cc.usu.edu writes:
>>
>>Well stated...I agree with everything you say.  It makes me think that we
>>may be missing a point here:  often we defend practices by saying "the micros
>>do it...".  In this case, we often say " the micro breweries re-use their
>>yeast...so why don't we?"  Case in point: I was at Summit Brewery two weeks
>>you suggest above drastically reduces the cost of the yeast per brew.  I would
>lay odds
>>that if the micros could use 'new' yeast in each batch for little cost, they wo
>uld do
>>so.
>
>I hate to sound pompous, but I agree with you 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.
>
>js

Jack is being unjustifiably pompous.  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.  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.

Al.

Newsgroups: rec.crafts.brewing