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» » Beverage IngredientsA wide range of information pertaining to ingredients used in the brewing process.
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When it comes to the raw ingredients in beer, hops get all the hype. Malt is increasingly shown the love, and water is universally respected. Yeast has its fans, and there is no underestimating its importance, but it doesn’t come up in conversation with brewers in the same way hops do.
There was a period of time, and it wasn’t too long ago, when craft brewers were urging other brewers to stay in the beer lane. Focus on the beer, don’t think about flavored malt beverages, or other liquids, some industry leaders said. Be beer manufactures, stick to the mission, they urged.
The use of genetically modified (GM) yeast in brewing is raising a debate, triggered in part by a California yeast supplier who has indicated that it can remove or add certain genes based upon flavor preference.
Craft brewers hated adjunct beers and told everyone willing to listen. They derided beers made with rice and corn, claiming they cheapened the industrial lagers they were used in. Opposition to adjuncts helped define an early era of craft beer. Then that all changed.
There is a regionality to food, from sodas, to chilis, BBQ and beyond. Finding local flavors that either go into or compliment a beer can help forge deeper connections with local drinkers and bring others into the fold.
One such brewery that is accomplishing this goal is Fullsteam in Durham, North Carolina. Founder Sean Lilly Wilson spoke to All About Beer editor John Holl about ingredients he has used, including pawpaw.
Pickle beer helped build Martin House Brewing. Located near downtown Fort Worth, the brewery recently celebrated its tenth anniversary, during which time it has grown to become one of the largest independent breweries in Texas and the largest self-distributor. The brewery makes the usual suspects, including an IPA, a Pils, and being the Lone Star State, a Bock of course. But it was a simple and unsuspecting collaboration with a location pickle brand that really helped Martin House grow.
Cool Cousin Brewing in New York had made a beer entirely from unmalted barley, instead creating wort by adding an exogenous enzyme cocktail in the mash. The process is ostensibly to save water and carbon dioxide in the brewing process.
There are endless ingredients available to brewers these days, from fresh fruits and herbs, to candies, salts, coffee, and more. Tea is a fascinating ingredient, but not often used by brewers. It can bring depth of flavors to nearly every style and the varieties in the tea realm bring unexpected character to the glass.
The Craft Maltsters Guild has selected the University of California Davis Conference Center in Northern California as the location for the 2024 Craft Malt Conference that will be held on February 23 and 24, 2024.
The Pacific Northwest is home to America’s most important hop producing region, one that locals work every day to promote and protect. Changes to the climate and concern over preserving the future viability of the storied agricultural land is leading farmers, brewers, and conservationists to team up to better inform drinkers of the importance of shielding its water sources.
Conservation begins on the land. As the craft malt space continues to make inroads with beer, many of the farmers are showcasing their sustainability efforts. This helps drive deeper connections with clients and customers and shows what small batch farming can really do when it comes to meaningful growth.
No matter how often we drink a beer, it’s not often we actually taste it. Our palates are the most critical instrument at our disposal, yet they are often underutilized or misused. How can you use lab techniques and instrumentation in conjunction with your senses to develop a quality assurance program for your brewery?
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Why do we crave sweetness?
In his classic book Sweetness and Power, anthropologist Sidney Mintz speculated that every human culture has a word for “sweet.” You might even say the “sweet tooth” is a universal human trait. Why do we crave sweetness? Scientists suggest it’s because our most energy-rich food sources, especially fruits, vegetables, and milk, are also rich in natural sugars. In other words, your sweet tooth is a survival mechanism.
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Australia’s United Malt, the world’s fourth-largest maltster, has agreed to a takeover bid from Malteries Soufflet, in a deal that could create the world’s biggest malt producer.
Working with Patagonia Provisions, the food and beverage division of the famed outdoor apparel company, Aslan Brewing in Bellingham, WA has brewed a beer with Kernza grain, a “regenerative perennial grain, has the potential to transform the brewing industry.”
As the craft brewing segment goes, so goes the allied trade. As craft beer begins to slow, it would be expected that suppliers of products and services to the industry will slow as well.
Learn the essentials of lager beer from one of Germany’s most respected beer institutes. Join Mathias Hutzler from the Research Center Weihenstephan for Brewing and Food Quality (Technical University of Munich) for a discussion of lager beer history and production methods followed by a presentation of modern lager yeast and fermentation solutions by Eric Abbott (Lallemand Brewing).
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High Country Hop, the annual celebration of the Australian hop harvest is returning in its ninth year with Firestone Walker brewmaster Matt Brynildson joining some of Australia’s top craft brewers. Brynildson will be the keynote speaker at the event’s technical symposium ahead of the festival.
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) 2022 National Hop Report shows that hop production for Idaho, Oregon, and Washington in totaled 101 million pounds last year, down 12 percent from the 2021 crop of 116 million pounds.
In the rafters and tucked away in various spots throughout the Embrace The Funk cellar in Nashville, Tennessee there are burlap bags of hops, aging away through the passage of time, waiting to be dropped into a coolship or used in a saison.