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Beer

Michael Jackson

Jackson, Michael;

Beer (Eyewitness Companions)

Dorling Kindersley Publishers Ltd, 2007, 288 pages

ISBN 1405320281 9781405320283

topics: |  beer


Rather brief on history and the chemistry - see Ian Hornsey's magesterial
History of Beer and Brewing for those technicalities;
this sensuously styled book gives itself exclusively to the enjoyment of
beer.  With descriptions such as
   Golden; resiny hops and flowers in the nose; highly
	carbonated cappuccino-like head; bitter-resiny-dry
	palate, becoming even drier in the finish.  [TRIPEL, by Chimay]
one seems to have gone one better than the "nose" of wine tasters.

Nearly two-thirds of the book is a paean to the main brands of beer,
organized by brewing regions and their leading breweries.

 

Belgian beers


Flemish Reds:
reddish-brown brews produced in about 10 towns in Flanders.  Their sharpness
is daring to the point of being vinegary. These beers usually gain their
colour from Vienna malts.  Their tartness achieves its thirst-attacking
potency during long periods of maturation (sometimes more than two years) in
fixed wooden tuns, in which acid-producing bacteria are likely to be
resident. The most famous brewery in this style, Rodenbach, has about 200 of
these tuns, some containing more than 500 hectolitres (11,000 gallons) in 10
halls – it is perhaps the most unusual brewery in the world.

Saisons:
These summer seasonal beers were originally the refreshers and restoratives
of the farming folk of Hainaut in French-speaking Belgium. After almost
vanishing two or three decades ago, they have now become fashionable, and are
also being made in other Frenchspeaking provinces and in Flanders.

Duvel: after the flemish word for "devil".  Duvel’s glasses are engraved
inside, which releases more bubbles into the traditional billowing head. 8.5%abv

Abbey beers:
in Belgium, six Trappist abbeys own breweries, and the products of these
establishments do have a family relationship [e.g. Chimay Trappist brewery at The
Abbaye de Nôtre Dame de Scourmont - home of Dubbel]. In their early days,
they would have each produced dark ales at three different strengths. This
approach derived from THE understanding that one batch of grain could be
mashed three times, producing a strong ale, an everyday brew, and a small
beer.  (This custom is reflected in the English pub name "The Three Tuns".)
This typical range has been refined over the years, and is now likely to
include both pale and dark beers. Often the pale brews are identified as
"blonde", and the dark brews will be of middling strength, about 6.5%abv.
The strongest brew, the triple will usually be bottle-conditioned, and also
by far the most characterful. Many of these beers are made with pale or
dark candy sugars that often impart a rummy character, and almost all are
topfermenting.

Doubles and Triples: running water through the mash-tun three times produces
the strongest beer in the first run—around three times as strong as that from
the third run, hence the term "triple".  Midway comes the "double", from the
second run. Before widespread literacy, beer casks were branded with an iron
to indicate the potency of the contents. The most common motif was a
Christian cross—single, double, or triplicate.

Bière brut:
new champagne style: introduced in the early 2000s by rival brewers in the
small town of Buggenhout, to the northwest of Brussels.  The old-established
château brewery of the family Bosteels has a bière brut called Deus. The
revivalist brewery of the family De Landtsheer has several variations on the
theme in its Malheur range. These beers are top-fermented, then
bottle-conditioned with Champagne yeast cultures.
Many beer-lovers feel that, in their interplay of delicacy and gently fruity,
spicy complexity, these brews have more character than most Champagnes.

German brews

helles (yellow) lager : hell ~= yellow; 4-4.5%
Bock: simply indicates a strong or extra-potent lagered beer. ~ 6.5%
doppelbock:
eisbock: water freezes before alcohol; so flavour gets stronger. (also eiswein)

Pilsener, pilsner, Pils

the world’s most famous and ubiquitous lager style - after the world’s first
bright, golden beer, a style invented 1842 in the city of Plzeň, which is in
Bohemia then a province of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.  now, with Moravia,
it forms the Czech Republic). The golden beer was made possible by a
refinement in malting, in which direct heat was replaced by warm air. Its
brightness captured the imagination of drinkers at a time when mass-produced
glass was replacing stoneware and metal drinking vessels.

The pilsner brew was not only bright; it was also delicious, thanks to the
quality of barley malt from the Hana region of Moravia and hops from
Bohemia’s Žatec, or Saaz region. The Saaz hops imparted an especially fresh,
herbal aroma and a firm but elegant finish that defined the style.

The original brewery is identified on Czech labels as Plzeňský Prazdroj, and
elsewhere by the German Pilsner Urquell.  A sister brewery, Gambrinus, makes
a similar beer that is a little lighter in body and palate.

India, too, has a large and thriving brewing industry, dating back to the
early days of the British Empire, when breweries were built to slake the
throats of the troops. Kingfisher and Lal Toofan are two of India’s
best-known beers.  Potential for growth: India alone has a population of more
than 1 billion, but consumes less than a litre of beer annually per head.
	[as opp to 90 lit per head in Belgium, which, as Jackson laments, is way
	 down from 133 l/h in the 1970s]

Contents

Introduction 10

from grain to glass 22

Introduction 24
Grain 26
Water 30
Hops, herbs, and spices 31
Yeast 34

beer styles 36

Introduction 38
Belgian wild beers 40
Beers made with wheat 42
Some Belgian classics 45
Porters and stouts 48
Ales of the UK and US 50
German ales 53
Lager beers 54

enjoying beer 58

Introduction 60
Beer-hunting 62
Know your beer 64
Beer and food 66

great brewing nations 70

	  (list of breweries inserted)
Introduction 72
Czech Republic 74
	Plzeňský Prazdroj ; Bernard ; Budweiser Budvar ; Budweiser Burgerbrau ;
	Eggenberg ; Gambrinus ; Herold ; Kozel ; Krušovice ; Ostravar ;
	Pilsner Urquell ; Platan ; Radegast ; Regent ; Staropramen ; U Fleků

Germany 80

  Munich and the south 82
	Altenmünster ; Andechser ; Apostelbräu ; Auerbräu ; Augustiner ;
	Ayinger ; Bürgerbräu Bad Reichenhall ; Deil ; Reinheitsgebot ;
	Wilhelm ; Erdinger Weissbräu ; Fürst Wallerstein ; Griesbräu zu Murnau ;
	Hofbräuhaus München ; Hofbräuhaus Traunstein ; Kaltenberg ;
	Löwenbräu ; Aventinus ; Prösslbräu ; Riedenburger ; Riegele ;
	Schlossbrauerei Herrngiersdorf ; Schlossbrauerei Unterbaar ;
	Schneider Weisse ; Spaten-Franziskaner ; Thorbräu Thurn und Taxis ;
	Unertl Mühldorf ; Weltenburger Kloster ;
  Karlsruhe and the southwest 94
	Badische Staatsbrauerei Rothaus ; Bergbrauerei Ulrich Zimmermann ;
	Binding ; Bischoff ; Engel Bräu ; Fürstenberg ; Grohe ;
	Hessische Löwenbierbrauerei ; Hirsch Brauerei Honer ; Hoepfner ;
	Ketterer ; Schnitzer Bräu ; Waldhaus ;
  Cologne and the northwest 99
	Dortmunder Actien Brauerei ; Früh ; Füchschen ; Gaffel ; Hövels ;
	Pinkus Müller ; Schlösser ; Stefanus ; Uerige ;
  Hamburg and the north 103
	Einbeck ; Asgaard ; Astra ; Einbecker Brauhaus ; Flensburger ; Hütt ;
	Jever ; Lübzer ; Privatbrauerei Iserlohn ; Rostocker ;
	Stralsunder Brauerei ; Veltins ;
  Berlin and the east 107
	Apoldaer ; Bayerischer Bahnhof ; Berliner Bürgerbräu ;
	Berliner weisse ; Berliner-Kindl-Schultheiss-Brauerei ; Braugold ;
	Bürgerliches Brauhaus Saalfeld ; Feldschlösschen ; Forsthaus Templin ;
	Hallesches Brauhaus ; Hammer Bräu ; Hasseröder ; Kneipepur ;
	Köstritzer Schwarzbierbrauerei ; Meissner Schwerter ; Papiermühle ;
	Radeberger ; Reudnitzer ; Rhön-Brauerei Dittmar ; Rosenbrauerei ;
	Talschänke ; Ur-Krostitzer ; Wernesgrüner ;
  Nürnberg and Franconia 115
	Bamberg ; Brauerei Michael ; Distelhäuser ; Drei Kronen Memmelsdorf ;
	Fässla ; Huppendorfer Bier ; Knoblach ; Kulmbacher AG ; Maisel ;
	Kellerbier ; Schlenkerla ; Schneider – zur Kanne ; Spezial ;
	St Georgen Bräu ; Staffelberg-Bräu ; Trunk ; Tucher ;

Belgium 120

  Flanders 122
	Achel ; Alvinne ; Anker ; Bavik ; Bosteels ; Cnudde ; Contreras ;
	De Dolle Brouwers ; De Graal ; De Koninck ; De Ryck ; Deca ; Duvel ;
	Gaverhopke ; Kerkom ; Malheur ; Pakhuis ; Proef ; Regenboog ;
	Rodenbach ; Roman ; St Bernardus ; Slaghmuylder ; Strubbe ;
	Van den Bossche ; Van Eecke ; Verhaeghe ; Westmalle ; Westvleteren ;
	Liefmans ;
  Brussels and Brabant province 134
	Affligem ; Cantillon ; De Block ; De Cam ; Domus ; Drie Fonteinen ;
	Haacht ; Lefèbvre ; Lindemans ; Mort Subite ; Oud Beersel ; Palm ;
	Sint-Pieters/Zenne ; Triest ;
  Wallonia 139
	Abbaye de Rocs ; Achouffe ; Augrenoise ; Binchoise ; Blaugies ;
	Brootcoorens ; Brunehaut ; Caracole ; Du Bocq ; Caulier ; Cazeau ;
	Chimay ; De Ranke ; Dubuisson ; Dupont ; Ellezelloise ; Fantôme ;
	Géants ; Grain d’Orge ; Orval ; Oxymore ; Rochefort ; Rulles ;
	Silenrieux ; Silly ; Vapeur ;

British Isles 146

  England 148
	Adnams ; Archers ; Badger ; Banks’s ; Batemans ; Bath Ales ; Bathams ;
	Big Lamp ; Black Sheep ; Brakspear ; Butcombe ; Cains ; Camerons ;
	Coniston ; Crouch Vale ; Daleside ; Durham ; Elgood’s ; Everards ;
	Exmoor ; Fuller’s ; Greene King ; Hambleton ; Harveys ; Hawkshead ;
	Highgate ; Hog’s Back ; Holt ; Hook Norton ; Hop Back ; Hydes ;
	Jennings ; Kelham Island ; Lees ; Marston’s ; McMullen ; Meantime ;
	John Smith’s ; Melbourn Brothers ; Moorhouse’s ; Mordue ;
	Newcastle Federation ; North Yorkshire ; Oakham Ales ; Okells ;
	O’Hanlon’s ; Palmer’s ; Ringwood ; Robinson’s ; Rooster’s ;
	Samuel Smith ; Shepherd Neame ; Springhead ; St Austell ; St Peter’s
	; Tetley ; Theakston ; Thornbridge ; Thwaites ; Timothy Taylor ;
	Wadworth ; Wells & Young’s ; Woodforde’s ; Wychwood ; York ;

  Scotland 168
	Belhaven ; Broughton ; Cairngorm ; Caledonian ; Harviestoun ;
	Inveralmond ; Orkney ; Williams ;

  Wales 171
	Brains ; Felinfoel ; Tomos Watkin ;

  Republic of Ireland 172
	Beamish ; Guinness ; Kinsale ; Murphy’s ; Smithwick’s ;

Other European countries 174

The Netherlands 176
	Budels ; De Bekeerde Suster ; De Hemel ; De Schans ; Grolsch ; Gulpen ;
	Heineken ; Hertog Jan ; Jopen ; Lindeboom ; Mommeriete ; Sint Christoffel ;
	Snab ; Texelse ;

Eastern Europe 180
	Aldaris ; Apatinska Pivara ; Beogradska Industrija Piva ;
	Bere Romania ; Brau-Union Romania ; Cēsu Alus ; Dreher ; Eldebrewery ;
	Heineken Hungary ; Kalnapilis ; Karlovačka Pivovara ; Laško ;
	A. Le Coq, ; Heineken Slovensko ; Okocim ; Saku Õlletehase ; Sun InBev ;
	Svyturys-Utenos Alus ; Topvar ; Union ; Zagrebačka Pivovara ;

Austria 186
	1516 Brewing Company ; Edelweiss ; Forstner Biere ; Gösser ; Märzen ;
	Schloss Eggenberg ; Schwechater ; Stiegl ; Trumer ; Zipfer ;

Switzerland 190
	Altes Tramdepot ; Biervision Monstein ; Schützengarten ; Sternen ;
	Turbinenbräu ;

Scandinavia 192
	Aass ; Ahlafors ; Brøckhouse ; Ceres ; Finlandia Sahti ; Gotlands ;
	Hansa ; Jacobsen ; Jämtlands ; Krönleins ; Mack’s ; Olvi ;
	Sinebrychoff AB ; Stadin Panimo Oy ; Thisted ;

France 196
	Annoeullin ; Bailleux ; Castelain ; Deux-Rivières ; Duyck ;
	La Choulette ; Ferme-Brasserie Beck ; Fischer ; Gayant ; Lancelot ;
	Mor Braz ; Pelforth ; St Sylvestre ; Thiriez ; Warenghem ;

Grand Duchy of Luxembourg 200
	Beierhaascht ; Cornelyshaff ; Simon ;

Italy 201
	Almond 22 ; Babb ; Barley (Sardinia) ; Beba ; Bi-Du ; Birra del Borgo ;
	Birrificio Italiano ; Il Birrificio di Como ; Cittavecchia ;
	Grado Plato ; Lambrate ; Le Baladin ; Montegioco ; Panil (Torrechiara) ;
	Piccolo Birrificio ; Troll ; Turbacci ; Unionbirrai ; Zahre ;

Southern Europe 207
	Damm ; Simonds Farsons Cisk ; Sociedad Central de Cervejas

USA 208

Northeast 210
	Allagash ; Berkshire ; Blue Point ; Clipper City ; D. L. Geary ;
	Dogfish Head ; Flying Fish ; Harpoon ; High Falls ; Iron Hill ;
	Lion (Pennsylvania) ; Long Trail ; Magic Hat ; Old Dominion ;
	Ommegang ; Samuel Adams ; Straub Brewery [free beer on "eternal tap"] ;
	Otter Creek ; Penn ; Saranac ; Shipyard ; Smuttynose ; Southampton ;
	Stoudt’s Brewing Co. ; Tröegs ; Victory ; Yuengling ;

South 221
	Abita ; Atlanta ; Boscos ; Carolina ; Dixie ; Highland ; Pete’s ;
	Real Ale ; Saint Arnold ; Shiner ; Sweetwater

Midwest 225
	August Schell ; Bell’s ; Boulevard ; Capital ; City Brewery ;
	Goose Island ; Great Lakes ; Huber ; Lakefront ; Leinenkugel ; Miller ;
	Olympia ; Pabst ; Rolling Rock ; Schlitz ; New Glarus ; New Holland ;
	Schlafly ; Sprecher ; Summit ; Three Floyds ;

Mountains 232
	Avery ; Big Sky ; Boulder Beer ; Breckenridge ; Coors ; Flying Dog ;
	Four Peaks ; Great Divide Brewing ; Left Hand ; New Belgium ; Uinta ;
	Utah Brewers ; Wynkoop

Pacific Northwest 238
	Alaskan ; Bridgeport ; Deschutes ; Elysian ; Fish ; Full Sail ; Hair
	of the Dog ; Hale’s ; Mac & Jack’s ; McMenamins ; Pike ; Pyramid ;
	Redhook ; Rogue ; Widmer

California and Hawaii 243
	Alesmith ; Anchor ; Ballast Point ; Bear Republic ; BJ’s ; Firestone
	Walker ; Gordon Biersch ; Kona ; Lagunitas ; Lost Coast ; Marin ;
	Mendocino ; Port/Lost Abbey ; Russian River ; Stone

Other countries of the Americas 250

Canada 252
	Amsterdam Brewing Co. ; Big Rock ; Brick Brewing ; Creemore Springs ;
	Dieu du Ciel ; Le Cheval Blanc ; Fat Cat Brewery ; Ferme Brasserie
	Schoune ; Granite ; McAuslan ; Moosehead ; Niagara Falls ; Russell ;
	Spinnakers ; Steamworks ; Unibroue ; Vancouver Island ; Wellington
	Brewery

Caribbean 257
	Antigua (Wadadli) ; Carib ; Cuba ; Desnoes and Geddes ; Jamaica

Latin America 258
	Blumenau ; Antares ; Barbaroja ; Buller Brewing Company ; Cervesur ;
	Eisenbahn ; Moctezuma

Asia and Australasia 260

Japan 262
	Baird Brewing ; Echigo Beer ; Hakusekikan ; Hitachino Nest ;
	Isekadoya ; Kinshachi ; Minoh Aji Beer ; Otaru Beer ; Sapporo ;
	T.Y. Harbor ; Yoho Brewing

Other countries of Asia 266
	Asia Pacific Breweries ; Boon Rawd ; Hong Kong S.A.R. Brewing Co.  ;
	Lion Brewery (Sri Lanka) ; Multi Bintang

Australia 268
	Bootleg ; Cascade ; Coopers ; Gage Roads ; Holgate ; Knappstein ;
	Little Creatures ; Lord Nelson ; Malt Shovel ; Matilda Bay ; Foster’s
	; Moo Brew ; Mountain Goat ; Redoak ; Scharer’s ; Wig and Pen

New Zealand 272
	Dux de Lux ; Emerson’s Brewery ; Galbraith’s Alehouse ; Mac’s ;
	Monteith’s ; Shakespeare Brewery ; Steam Brewing Company ;
	Tuatara Brewing Company ; Twisted Hop

Africa 276
	East African Breweries ; Maroc ; Mitchell’s ; Namibian Breweries ;
	Nigerian Breweries ; South African Breweries

Glossary 280
Index 282
Acknowledgments 287

some terms from glossary

°BALLING: Measure of fermentable sugars in wort and therefore of potential
	final alcohol content. Scale devised by Czech brewing scientist Carl
	Joseph Napoleon Balling. Later refined as °Plato.

BOTTOM-FERMENTING: Term describing yeasts of the Saccharomyces carlsbergensis
 	strain that are used to make lager. During lagering (storage) the
 	yeast sinks to the bottom of the brew, producing a clean-tasting
 	beer.

GOSE Distinctively salty style of wheat beer native to Leipzig.

GRIST Ground malt (or other grains) which, along with warm water, forms the
	basis of wort.

IBU Acronym for International Bitterness Units, a standard scale of
	measurement for determining the bitterness of beers.

IPA India pale ale; a robust, heavily-hopped beer originally made to
 	withstand export by sea to India from Britain. Now also produced in
 	the USA.

LAGER Family of bottom-fermented beer styles. Examples range from black beers
	(such as schwarzbier) to the more familiar golden pilsner.

RAUCHBIER A German style of lager made from malt that has been smoked over
	beechwood fires. A Franconian speciality.

SOUR ALES, SOUR BEER Ales originating in Flanders that typically undergo
	ageing of 18 months to two years in oak tuns, during which they gain
	a sharply thirst-quenching acetic character.

TOP-FERMENTING Descriptive of ale yeasts of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae
	strain, which produce a thick foam at the top of the fermentation
	tank.

TUN A vessel in which mash is steeped.

VIENNA LAGER Bronze-to-red lager with a sweetish malt aroma and
	flavour. Pioneered by Austrian brewer Anton Dreher.

WORT An infusion containing fermentable sugars that is produced by the
	mashing process. The wort is filtered, boiled, and cooled before
	yeast is added to initiate the process of fermentation.



amitabha mukerjee (mukerjee [at-symbol] gmail) 2012 Apr 20