for the longest time I didn't like Guinness - now I'm lovin' it!! 
even bought a 12 pack last week :love:
even bought a 12 pack last week :love:
I either lost or acquired a taste bud..
- Thread starter Acadian
- Start date
You're just maturing in your beer drinking tastes.
Now that you have had an epiphany, pm me and I will send you some Guinness stickers...Acadian said:for the longest time I didn't like Guinness - now I'm lovin' it!!
even bought a 12 pack last week :love:
Newcastle sucks :devil:
Hah, who knows. Guiness is pretty bland so it could go either way. 
ya it actually is! still pretty good thou!Tenchiro said:Guiness is pretty bland
Just what I was going to say!LordOpie said:
Serria Nevada has some excellent offerings.
That for me? I love 'em all. I need to update my avatar. Its a perfect Guiness/Harpoon Hiberbian Black-and-Tan, but the Harpoon is too dark for it to show up. Need to do it again with Harpoon IPA. The colors show up much better.LordOpie said:
Is that a Scotch?LordOpie said:Black & Tan is like Talisker and Coke
Sierra Nevada =
IPA's =
X 10
IPA's =
ExactlyAcadian said:Sierra Nevada =
IPA's =X 10
IPA's are best sucka! Myabe 2nd best to a nice Porter.
sorry for the ignorance, but is an IPA the same as a Pale Ale? i had the Sierra Nevada Pale Ale and couldn't stand it. ugh! had some sort of IPA in Whistler, and it was quite tastey. lately, i've been diggin' Hoegaarden.Acadian said:Sierra Nevada =
IPA's =X 10
IPA's are on the bitter side, but I have grown to love them. Makes Bud taste even more watered down now.
do not fear the hop. it is what makes beer taste good.
The mass usage of hops came from greed. Hops is a preservative. It enabled brewers to brew lower alcohol beers that required less grain which increased profits.
Or so the story goes.
Or so the story goes.
I read that hops are a natural preservative, but don't they also boost the alcohol content? Maybe I'm confusing 2 diferent aspects of IPA's. I believe that IPA's were originally brewed in England for the purpose of exportation to India. Increased alcohol content and hops kept the beer fresh longer, but I do not know if the increased alcohol is a result of the Hops.BikeGeek said:
How about a little clarification? Looks like I'll be reading some more of my Great Book of Beer.
That could be true but for me a good beer has plenty of both.BikeGeek said:
Alcohol is a result of the yeast eating the sugars. I'm not sure how much if any sugar comes from the hops.
I like hops too, but for me a little goes a long way. I don't like hops to be the only thing I'm tasting.
I like hops too, but for me a little goes a long way. I don't like hops to be the only thing I'm tasting.
I think that the sugars produced by the mash provide the alcohol. Problem is, mash is sweet. Hops are bitter and used to balance out the sweetness. Or something like that. I'm going to read about beer.BikeGeek said:
So, if yeast consumes sugar and the by-product is alcohol, does that mean that we're drinking yeast pee? 
I can do that. I've got Michael Jacksons Beer Companion (2nd edition) right here at my desk.....Repack said:
referencing IPA's:
"Beers to be shipped across the world were made to high gravities.....so that they could slowly ferment on their journey.....They were also extremely heavily hopped, so that the magic flower could protect them against infection by wild yeasts."
Hops and ETOH content are independant - you can have a very hoppy low-alcohol beer - like a Fosters bitter, and you can have a very non-bitter high alcohol brew, like a Chimay Grand Reserve. They are associated with each other because of IPAs and this current micro-brew trend of pairing high hops & high ETOH.
Alcholol in beer is always the product of yeast eating sugar. The rest is all flavoring.
-Mackie (dreaming of his 3 Philosophers waiting at home).
You going to be in Tahoe this weekend? If so, we shall share a pint of Guinness goodness.Acadian said:for the longest time I didn't like Guinness - now I'm lovin' it!!
even bought a 12 pack last week :love:
For those who say Guinness is "bland," you must open your minds. I love Stone Ruination, Arrogant Bastard, and Double Bastard for their super-hopped in your face notes. I also enjoy Chimay and Rochfort 10 for their alcohol and yeast ester tastes. I like Guinness for its mouth feel, its perfectly balanced roasted malt and very mildly hopped taste. It's such a delicate, smooth brew.
Thats the same book I was talking about! Just pulled it out, but hadn't had a chance to read it.Mackie said:
But does a true IPA have more alcohol to also act as a preservative, or does alcohol not act as a preservative, as someone else mentioned/implied? Thanks for doing my research for me!
The hops act as the preservative.Repack said:
Ya gotta keep the book right above your desk at work. Lets the coworkers know your priorities.Repack said:
The ETOH levels is beer generally don't do much to retard spoilage - open a bottle & leave it on the counter for a week & you will see what i mean.
Or walk into a bottle redemtion center that doesn't clean up oftenMackie said:
From the North American Brewers Association on the history of IPA:
In the late 1700's Hogdson was the most popular ale brewer in London. With easy access to shipping from the capital, Hogdson was in position to supply beer to homesick English colonists around the world. Of these, none felt so removed, nor thirsted more for the pleasures of English breweries, than the troops garrisoned on the sub-continent of India. Hogdson rightly believed it a huge market waiting to be tapped, but how could beer survive the trip around Africa?
Hogdson used three brewing methods to ensure his ale weathered the journey. First, he knew hops were a natural preservative. Indeed, it was this property that first motivated brewers to use hops. Hogdson reckoned an increased hopping rate would help in transit. Next, he took advantage of another natural preservative in beer, and he brewed one with an exaggerated level of alcohol. Finally, he used abundant dry hopping as an additional preservative, and he rightly thought it wouldn't harm the taste because it would mellow during the long voyage. He couldn't have guessed better, the measures not only ensured Hogdson's modified Pale Ale arrived intact, the recipients considered it an improvement.
Fact or fiction?
Another interesting note, for me anyway, was that there is a difference between Pale Ales and IPAs. I had always assumed they were one in the same and avoided both out of my dislike for the extra hoppy IPAs.
In the late 1700's Hogdson was the most popular ale brewer in London. With easy access to shipping from the capital, Hogdson was in position to supply beer to homesick English colonists around the world. Of these, none felt so removed, nor thirsted more for the pleasures of English breweries, than the troops garrisoned on the sub-continent of India. Hogdson rightly believed it a huge market waiting to be tapped, but how could beer survive the trip around Africa?
Hogdson used three brewing methods to ensure his ale weathered the journey. First, he knew hops were a natural preservative. Indeed, it was this property that first motivated brewers to use hops. Hogdson reckoned an increased hopping rate would help in transit. Next, he took advantage of another natural preservative in beer, and he brewed one with an exaggerated level of alcohol. Finally, he used abundant dry hopping as an additional preservative, and he rightly thought it wouldn't harm the taste because it would mellow during the long voyage. He couldn't have guessed better, the measures not only ensured Hogdson's modified Pale Ale arrived intact, the recipients considered it an improvement.
Fact or fiction?
Another interesting note, for me anyway, was that there is a difference between Pale Ales and IPAs. I had always assumed they were one in the same and avoided both out of my dislike for the extra hoppy IPAs.
Especially when it's on the net.Mackie said:Then again, if the same fiction is repeated often enough, it becomes true.
From what I learnt in my limited brewing experience is Hoppy beers not only last longer but actually need to age a bit to get the best flavor. Dry hopping also does not seem to add as much bitterness but provides the beer with a nice flowery aroma and gives the beer more of a complex layered flavor.
nah...I don't race and it's a race weekend and I stay away from Tahoe during race weekend. Not worth the 3.5 hour drive.El Jefe said:
Plus 1) I might have to work 2) my bike need repairs that might take longer than a week.
I still have to say that hoppy beers are bad!! I tried and tried, but I still just don't like em'
I'm siding with Bikegeek. That is also what I have heard. Shame on me for almost believing that alcohol did not act as a preservative.
But the 5-8% in most beer does not do doodly-squat to most bacteria.In fact, a 7% ETOH solution can provide an adequate medium to grow bacteria in.Repack said:
70% as a preservative, sure, but not 7%.
That's why they pour whiskey, not beer on bullet wounds in those old cowboy movies!
(ok, I made that last part up).
Makes sense.Mackie said:But the 5-8% in most beer does not do doodly-squat to most bacteria.In fact, a 7% ETOH solution can provide an adequate medium to grow bacteria in.
70% as a preservative, sure, but not 7%.
That's why they pour whiskey, not beer on bullet wounds in those old cowboy movies!
(ok, I made that last part up).
Even the part about the whiskey. I guess that they didn't want to waste the 'shine!
That does nothing against wild yeasts, which can often tolerate 3x the alcohol level of commercial yeast strains.
The only batch I brewed that was ever ruined was a very lightly-hopped barleywine already at 10%. A nasty white colony of bacteria took up residence on the surface. I decided not to try it.Mackie said:
Before hops grew popular, herbs and spices were used as preservatives, mainly to allow the beer to last through the winter. It's interesting that seasonal winter brews still often go that route.
Gruit is yummy. There's a brewery in NJ that is brewing with a medieval gruit recipe. I wish I could remember the name. It was flavored with several herbs, but the only one I remember is rosemary. It was a lot better than it sounds.fonseca said:
edit: I found it. It has Yarrow, Sweet Gale and Wild Rosemary in it.
