Subject: Digest for the period 5/4/2005 - 5/5/2005 Date: Thu, 05 May 2005 01:01:14 -0400 Table of contents ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Guinness and American lager (George de Piro) 2. Re: Gunniess here and there (Annie Johnson) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: George de Piro Date: Wed, 04 May 2005 08:33:35 -0400 Subject: Guinness and American lager Hi all, Dave Houseman correctly points out that there are two versions of Guinness, but the distinction between the two can no longer be made by referencing the packaging. Draft Guinness, previously available only in kegs or cans, is also put in bottles with widgets. I guess that would be the distinction: with or without widget! Dave also goes on to praise the industrial brewers of American- style lagers. He commends them, as many do, for their consistent quality: ---- "The art and science that these mega-breweries exhibit in creating the same beer,year-in, year-out from malt and hops that vary crop to crop, from water available in different cities and yeast that can mutate on them. Frankly when mowing the lawn on 90+ oF days, American Standard Lagers, and Coors specifically is pretty damn refreshing." ---- Perhaps I've just heard this too many times, but I can't remain reticent about this sentiment. Firstly, it is easy to make consistent beer when the most variable ingredient - hops - is at or below taste threshold. The bland, pale malt they use is not as difficult to produce consistently as high-dried malts, either, and it's taste is barely noticeable in the beer. Maintaining yeast cultures is far from difficult; many homebrewers do this as a sort of side-hobby. Water is easily treated in the modern brewhouse to allow for consistency despite geography. Rice and corn are both relatively bland. One must also remember that each batch of a mega lager may not be within specification, but since they brew sooooo many batches of the same product, they are able to blend batches for consistency. This is not difficult as much as it is a logistics problem for smaller brewers. There is a difference between crafting beer and cranking out product. The mega brewers have industrialized the brewing process to the detriment of American beer culture; to them, beer is a commodity. Consistency alone does not make beer good, and it really isn't even terribly impressive. On an even more subjective note, I prefer water on a hot day. Alcohol doesn't really slake thirst, and if I am going to drink anything that can possibly harm my liver, it had better be damn tasty! Have fun! George de Piro Brewmaster, C.H. Evans Brewing Company at the Albany Pump Station 19 Quackenbush Square Albany, NY, USA 12207 (518)447-9000 www.EvansAle.com Brewers of Kick-Ass Brown: Twice declared the Best American Brown Ale in the USA at the Great American Beer Festival (2000 & 2002)! ********************************************************************** * JudgeNet - the beer judge digest * * Send plain text only, no HTML, MIME, encoded text or attachments * * Manage your subscription online: http://synchro.com/judge * * Send subscription requests & changes to judge-request`at`synchro.com * ********************************************************************** ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Annie Johnson Date: Wed, 4 May 2005 11:46:37 -0700 (PDT) Subject: Re: Gunniess here and there Actually Guinness is available in the bottle in bothe FES style and Dry Stout, complete with the widget. On my most recent visit to Ireland, I had the chance to drink a few Budweisers and did notice some difference in taste. To me, it tasted much like Harp lager. Big frothy head and a creamy texture. I enjoyed drinking it on the few warmer days of the trip. MGD was also availbe throughout the country and I learned that Murphy's brews this locally for Miller-SAB. I had a few in the can (tall boys sold in 4 paks) and it tasted like MGD like you'd get at the corner liquor store. As far as Guinness went, I did not notice a big difference. However, when my Irish relatives visited here in California last year, and more specifically Jack's down at Fishermans' Wharf, San Francisco, CA - they thought the Guinness was as good as it was back home in Dublin. You can take that for what it's worth. Cheers! Annie J. --------------------------------- Yahoo! Mail Mobile Take Yahoo! Mail with you! Check email on your mobile phone. ********************************************************************** * JudgeNet - the beer judge digest * * Send plain text only, no HTML, MIME, encoded text or attachments * * Manage your subscription online: http://synchro.com/judge * * Send subscription requests & changes to judge-request`at`synchro.com * **********************************************************************