populist things and impossible questions

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I swear to Crom that as soon as I clean out some kegs and get a day to myself there will be another brew day writeup, citizens – maybe even some how-to pieces – but for now, some gentle pontificating.

Recently, Collin at Brewed for Thought wrote about the problematic notion of “best” breweries or beers, as promulgated by those “Top 10” clickbait lists you see everywhere:

“The whole reason we have 3000 breweries in this country is because we, the beer drinking public, have rejected the Highlander, there-can-be-only-one conception of breweries.”

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recap: NHC 2014

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To be honest, I worked a lot and didn’t get out much, but what I did see of this year’s National Homebrew Conference was great – a little more intimate than Philly, I picked up a couple new books to read; there was lots of interesting homebrew (see beet juice Berliner Weisse in the slideshow, and a 14.5% October beer shared at the banquet) and a lively local beer scene. It was a privilege to meet some of you blog readers in meatspace and share a beer.

brew day: Wies’n-Märzen

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Wiesen/Wies’n

Among several words that are confusingly similar to the non-German speaker, this one means “meadow”. It implies a beer brewed for a carnival or festival (an Oktoberfest beer may be described as a Wies’n Marzen) or a rustic speciality.

– Michael Jackson, beerhunter.com

 

“There is a popular myth that there is one distinctive style of beer brewed for Oktoberfest – but historical evidence shows there have been many changes in the beers served at the festival … in the first 60 or so years the then popular Bavarian dunkel seems to have dominated … up until World War I, Bock-strength beers dominated the Wiesn. For decades reddish-brown Marzenbier ruled the tents, but … since 1990 all Oktoberfest beers brewed in Munich have been of a golden color … with medium body and low to moderate bitterness.”

– Conrad Seidl, The Oxford Companion to Beer

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reader question: British ale fermentation techniques

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Reader and Berliner Weisse brewer Scott hit me with this recently, and it was too chewy to not repost here:

So I recently came across this thread on Homebrew Talk ( http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f163/british-yeasts-fermentation-temps-profiles-cybi-other-thoughts-221817/).

Anyway, my initial question has less to do with the subject of the thread (ferm temps) but more to do with something one of the responders noted.   His premise was that for lack of a better term “head pressure” during fermentation didn’t allow full expression by some of these British yeasts.  He advocated an “open” or “semi-open” fermentation.  I was wondering what your thoughts on this subject matter?  Would a closed environment have an off affect than an open free release of gases environment?

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