Beer Taste

[4OZGLOVES 10+ year member]

Youngs double chocolate FTW.

 

[mrogowski 5,000+ posts]

I would...

Ok, you asked for it... //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

What makes Lager a Lager is not only the type of yeast used, but how the beer is "conditioned". Once all of the sugars are consumed by the yeast, the temperature is increased from its fermentation temperature (~38-45*F) to around 55*F. At this temperature, the yeast consume most byproducts such as fusels (fusels are said to be the major cause of hangovers). This "cleansing" of the beer results in the nice fresh crisp profile folks are used to tasting.

After a few days at ~55*F the yeast begin to "drop out" of suspension and end up at the bottom of the fermentor to be harvested for future batches. They don't die but just hibernate until there is another source of food supply present. From there, the beer is brought down to near freezing (~32-34*F) which it conditions for 30-60 days.

You can always tell a Lager that has not been properly conditioned by the presence of "leftovers" in the flavour profile. Lagers that have not gone through a proper rest period at 55* will have the taste of butterscotch to it, or perhaps an oily-like feel in the mouth. Lagers that have not spent enough time at the low temps would have a "green" taste to them, almost like tasting a wine that hasn't aged enough.

 

[jco1385 5,000+ posts]

i heart beer //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/fyi.gif.9f1f679348da7204ce960cfc74bca8e0.gif

 

[mrogowski 5,000+ posts]

While Lagers are the preferred style of millions for the last couple of hundred years, I personally enjoy ales, simply because they offer a much wider variety of style choices and flavours.

Ales are fast brewed compared to Lagers since they require little time to condition. I use this statement loosely as certain styles do in fact require many months of conditioning in order to blend their flavours properly. For the most part however, companies can crank out a general ale in two weeks or less. This obviously makes things a bit more profitable.

The saying goes, "Brewers make wort, yeast makes beer." Wort, pronounced 'wert' is simply the sugary extract that is made up by the malting process for the yeast to consume. The yeast consume the sugars and poop out alcohol. Doesn't yeast poop taste good? //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/yumyum.gif.0556df42231b304b9c995aefd13928a8.gif

 

[mrogowski 5,000+ posts]

So flavour profiles are largely dependent on the kind of water used and the type of yeast strain. Since beer is over 90% water, you can bet that if horrible tasting water is used, you would end up with crappy tasting beer. There are a wide variety of yeast strains available, each one imparting its own flavour profile. Brewers would select a certain yeast strain based on the style of beer they are making.

For Lagers, it is clear that yeast strains should impart very little flavour at all. There are of course, exceptions to this rule readily apparent in certain German beers like Munichs and Bocks. For ales though, anything goes.

 

[pioneerpimp 5,000+ posts]

quit copying and pasting!

 

[mrogowski 5,000+ posts]

I can go on and on about styles and flavours of ales, but I won't bore you too much. It is interesting to note however, that some of the oldest brew companies still use the same yeast strain from when they started making their products. So to put this into perspective, there are a small number of breweries in England, Belgium and Germany who use yeast that is over 200 years old!

Using the same yeast over and over for 200+ years has allowed the yeast to mutate into its own strain, imparting a flavour that is unique to the brewery itself. IOW, unless you hijack the yeast, you will never be able to successfully clone a beer from any of these age-old breweries.

Some examples of English brands who would have very unique tasting beers would be from Adnams, Charles Wells, Okell, Scottish & Newcastle and Samuel Smith.

 

[mrogowski 5,000+ posts]

quit copying and pasting!

//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/confused.gif.e820e0216602db4765798ac39d28caa9.gif

 

[jco1385 5,000+ posts]

I can go on and on about styles and flavours of ales, but I won't bore you too much. It is interesting to note however, that some of the oldest brew companies still use the same yeast strain from when they started making their products. So to put this into perspective, there are a small number of breweries in England, Belgium and Germany who use yeast that is over 200 years old!
Using the same yeast over and over for 200+ years has allowed the yeast to mutate into its own strain, imparting a flavour that is unique to the brewery itself. IOW, unless you hijack the yeast, you will never be able to successfully clone a beer from any of these age-old breweries.

Some examples of English brands who would have very unique tasting beers would be from Adnams, Charles Wells, Okell, Scottish & Newcastle and Samuel Smith.

check out my collection from the past couple months. this is just since i thought about making a list of some of what i've tried. i'm always down to try a new beer. some of these are just random (there are some crap beers in there too...) but it's a good collection IMO.

see it HERE

tell me what you think (btw, i'm more of an ale guy myself also //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif)

 

[mrogowski 5,000+ posts]

Probably one of the most unique styles or methods of beer making that I've come across in my years of research has got to be the small breweries in Begium, who are known throughout the world for producing a style of ale called 'Lambic'.

Brewers in certain parts of Belgium would not use yeast strains specific to their brand, but rather rely on a process called "spontaneous fermentation". After the malting process and boil, they would cool the wort down to room temperature and then open the doors and windows. They would leave the wort overnight and wait for the airborne bacteria to infest the wort and start the fermentation process.

Whatever forms of bacteria made it into the wort would leave their own flavour profile. This would result in varying differences in beer flavours in the different parts of the region. So, you could taste one beer in a small town and travel 20 miles to taste a beer in a neighbouring town and the two would be different, only because of the variances in airborne bacteria.

Some Lambics are a turnoff for many as their flavour profiles can be quite extreme. By extreme I'm referring to a horse-like flavour, or one of hay or straw. Some are uniquely sour which could also lead to a negative taste. Needless to say, Lambics are probably one of the most complex styles out there, and you would be silly not to try at least one of them.

 

[jco1385 5,000+ posts]

you has quite teh knowledge. i just drink them //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

and Belgians are good. i currently have a 12pk of stella in the fridge.

oh, i also collect beer glasses/mugs and bar glasses (short glasses).

 

[mrogowski 5,000+ posts]

check out my collection from the past couple months. this is just since i thought about making a list of some of what i've tried. i'm always down to try a new beer. some of these are just random (there are some crap beers in there too...) but it's a good collection IMO.
see it HERE

tell me what you think (btw, i'm more of an ale guy myself also //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif)

Yes, nice collection thus far. I had the pleasure of trying Rogue Dead Guy Ale recently. They did a nice job of maintaining balance between crystals and hops. Quite good.

 

[blackdragonaudi 10+ year member]

Actually, its the opposite. Lagers are supposed to be clean and crisp with a proper balance of hop flavour, finish and malt. They are supposed to be had very chilled - 35-40*F and be refreshing. The granddaddy of them all is the Pilsner which has all the same characteristics of the above but with a more forward hop finish. Pilsner Urquell is *the* prime example of an age-old lager using the famous Saz hops from Germany.
Ales on the other hand lend themselves to all sorts of different flavour profiles. They go from lean to thick, light to heavy, balanced to bold with flavours from citrus to pine, banana to bubble gum and chocolate to coffee. Best served at ~55*F, some of the finest ales should be a proper balance of malt and hop bitterness, hop flavour and hop finish. Some of the finest ales would provide you with delicate additions of yeast leftovers (poop) adding to the complexity of the flavour in an almost 3-dimensional fashion.

If you didn't know, lagers and ales differ from the type of yeast used. Lagers use "bottom dwelling" yeast where the yeast prefer to thrive at low temperatures. Ales on the other hand are made from "top dwelling" yeast - yeast that prefers room temperature or slightly below.

I can go on and on, and will if you want me to...

Yes please do your making a lot of sense and I want to know more about it all. Something about sitting at home listening to good music and drinking something good makes me happy.

 

[jco1385 5,000+ posts]

dead guy is very good, yet quite expensive at ~$12/6pk

 

[mrogowski 5,000+ posts]

you has quite teh knowledge. i just drink them //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif
and Belgians are good. i currently have a 12pk of stella in the fridge.

oh, i also collect beer glasses/mugs and bar glasses (short glasses).

Yeah, well, brewing beer was fun, and acquiring knowledge on the subject was interesting. But now I'm like you, I just drink them. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif