the session

Session #45: The taste of wheat

The SessionBeerTaster.ca is hosting the 45th gathering of The Session, and the topic is #45: Wheat Beers. Not sure how the turnout will be, given little gathering in Boulder this weekend, but head on over to BeerTaster.ca for the wrapup.

I could write a book about wheat beers. Wait, I already have. Making it all the more difficult to pick one beer to write about, or even a type from a particular region.

So instead, a little about wheat itself, what it contributes to wheat beers, what it tastes like. But don’t expect a definitive answer. As German brewing literature indicates, wheat by itself has little influence on esters and other fermentation by-products. It’s yeast quickly changes that.

I asked the question many times over in researching BWW and never walked away with anything definitive. Bob Hansen, manager of technical services at Briess Malt & Ingredients Company, had a pretty good answer, saying, “Wheaty, earthy. It is different, but you’d be surprised how non-different it is. You can use wheat to make a pilsner.”

Steven Pauwels at Boulevard Brewing in Kansas City said he likes the character unmalted wheat adds. “It brings a crispness that’s hard to describe. A little drier, makes a beer more drinkable,” he said.

Darron Welch, brewmaster at Pelican Pub & Brewery in Pacific City, Oregon, views wheat as a facilitator. “I think it has a bready flavor,” he said. “Because it is foam positive it changes how yeast brings other flavors into play.”

And Jean-Francois Gravel of Dieu du Ciel! in Montreal, who provided a recipe for wit beer, added: “To me, wheat has a very delicate bready flavor with some acidity or refreshing tartness. I think the barley has more pronounced grain flavor and a sweeter perception. If you eat raw wheat and malted wheat you will see the difference of texture right away because the malted wheat is more crumbly and easy to crush. But the flavor difference between the unmalted and malted wheat is very subtle. The malted wheat will have a bit more . . . malty flavor.”

Did I mention I’m brewing a wheat wine on Sunday? Not sure what session that might be ready for.

Session #44 recapped; Session #45: Wheat

The SessionThe Beer Wench has posted her recap of The Session #44: Frankenstein Beers. And BeerTaster.ca has picked the topic for #45: Wheat Beers.

Before I use the opportunity to delivery a plug you had to know is coming, here are the details: “We wanted to get back closer to the roots of the Session and pick a topic which was simple and yet gives a wide range of interpretations so we chose, simply (or perhaps not so simply), Wheat Beers.”

Feel free to hit fast forward because here comes the not-so-subtle advertisement: Hope I can find a good book to help me prepare for the Nov. 5 gathering. (Given that the Beer Bloggers Conference starts that day do you think there will be a record turnout or that everybody will be too busy drinking beer in Boulder?)

The Session #44: Frankenstein and lust

The SessionThe Beer Wench has asked us to write about “Frankenstein Beers” for today’s 44th gathering of The Session. I’ll be brief because I must get back to my research on what the best time to add Rosa Solis to the boil might be. I’d like to maximize the stirring up of lust.

Does a beer brewed with wheat malt, oat malt and beans sound like a Frankenstein beer? How about if once fermentation begins the brewers add the inner rind of a fir tree; fir and birch tree tips; Cnicus benedictus, a bitter herb used to stimulate appetite; flowers of Rosa Solis, an insect-eating bogplant, said to stir up lust; elder flowers; betony; wild thyme; cardamom; and pennyroyal (which turns out to be dangerously poisonous).

According to Martyn Cornell’s Amber, Gold & Black: The Story of Britain’s Great Beers that that wouldn’t be at all new. It’s a seventeenth century recipe for Mum from one of those boring old British brewers, a beer that apparently took inspiration from something an equally staid German brewer invented in 1492 and called Mumme. A poem written in about 1725 described Mum as “bitter as gall/And as strong as six horses/Coach and all.”

“There’s very little that’s new in the world,” Ron Pattinson, groundkeeper at Shut up about Barclay Perkins, answered via email when I asked him about this for an article that appeared in American Brewer. “It’s indicative of the poor grasp of beer history that modern brewers believe they are breaking new ground when, in reality, they’re following a well-trodden path. High OG, heavy hopping, long barrel-aging; all of these were commonplace 150 or 250 years ago.”

When I asked him to pick the “original” extreme beer he wrote, “Well Danziger Joppenbier is hard to beat. It was around since at least the 1700s. It was like Mumme, but even weirder.” Curiously, although the beer was brewed in Danzig most of its sales were in Britain, where it was spelled Jopenbier.

Randy Mosher, author of Radical Brewing and Tasting Beer, came up with the exact same answer. “The weirdest one I’ve run across is Danziger (Gdansk) Jopenbier, a . . . beer that started as a malt syrup at over 50 °Plato (not a typo, fifty), fermented spontaneously with a variety of oxidative yeasts and possessing a lot of sherrylike qualities,” he replied.

So Danziger Joppenbier, with flowers of Rosa Solis. I’d love to provide some tasting notes. As soon as somebody brews it.

Session #43 recapped; Session #44: ‘Frankentstein Beers’

The SessionThe Beer Babe has posted the wrap up for The Session #43.

So it must be time to announce the topic for The Session #44 on Oct. 1.
Ashley Routson of Drink With The Wench titles it “Frankenstein Beers,” and offers some explanation.

Many craft brewers are like Frankenstein. They have become mad scientists obsessed with defying the laws of brewing and creating beers that transcend style guidelines. These “Frankenstein Beers” challenge the way people perceive beer. They are freaks of nature — big, bold and intense. The ingredients resemble those of a beer and the brewing process might appear to be normal, but some aspects of the entire experience are experimental, unorthodox and insane.

So . . .

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to write a blog post on “Frankenstein Beers.” There are no rules about how to write about this topic — feel free to highlight a Frankenstein brewer, brewery, beer tasting notes . . . or just your opinions on the concept.

To take it to the next level perhaps a “Frankenstein beer” created on a “Frankenbrew system.”

Don’t forget The Session #43 today

The Session Beer Babe is hosting The Session #43 today: “Welcoming The New Kids.”

I’m posting this and hitting the road, but I look forward to reading everybody’s essays thoughts (reworded in deference to JayZeis) when we return.

A lot of driving between now and Monday evening, perhaps a photo or two to Posterous (because it’s easy), and a tweet or three.

Have a good weekend, and remember why Monday is called Labor Day. Definitely one for us beer drinkin’ folks.