Strong Scotch ales like Traquair House were around long before Scotch whiskey became a popular beverage. In fact, one can think of single malt whiskey as nothing more than Scotch ale that’s been distilled.
From: 365 Bottles of Beer for the Day
Historical records suggest that the Babylonians made sixteen kinds of beer, using various kinds of barley, wheat, and honey. Beer was even included in the Egyptian Book of the Dead, where the varieties listed include “beer of truth” and “beer of eternity”.
Samuel Adams Black Lager is made in the traditional German lager style called Schwarzbier. This style is characterized by roasted yet smooth malt flavors, balanced with moderate hop bitterness.
From: 365 Bottles of Beer for the Year
[Old Dominion Brewing Company’s] Oak Barrel Stout is made with seven different malts and two kinds of hops, then aged with fresh vanilla beans and toasted oak chips to achieve a bourbon-barrel character without actually being aged in bourbon barrels.
From: 365 Bottles of Beer for the Year
Bock beer gets a lot of its malty flavor from compounds called melanoidins. These are formed when sugars from the malt are heated and browning or Maillard reactions take place. Traditional German bock brewers use a mash technique called decoction mashing to encourage the formation of melanoidins.
From: 365 Bottles of Beer for the Year
German brewers using traditional methods are not allowed to add sugar to their beer, even for carbonation. Instead, they take wort (in this case it is called Speise) from the boil, cool and store it, then add a measured amount back to the fermented beer to create the necessary carbonation in the bottle.
From: 365 Bottles of Beer for the Year
Crystal malt provides sweetness, body, and color to beer. Barley malt is frist steeped in water, and then held at a temperature that optimizes enzyme activity within the barley grain. These enzymes convert malt starches into sugars. When all starch has been converted, the crystal malt is heat-dried in a kiln. The higher and longer it is kilned, the darker the sugars become, allowing for several grades of light, medium and dark crystal malt.
From: 365 Bottles of Beer for the Year
Saint Boniface of Mainz (680-754) was also known by the names Wynfrith or Winfrid. He roamed from his original home in what is now Devonshire, England, so souther Germany, leading the life of a holy teacher and traveler. He was known for founding several monasteries, and eventually became a patron saint of Germany and of brewers.
From: 365 Bottles of Beer for the Year
Oktoberfest beers are also Marzenbier in Germany, as they are traditionally brewed in March, lagered throughout the summer, and enjoyed at the beginning of the next brewing season, for Oktoberfest.
From: 365 Bottles of Beer for the Year
The oldest recipe ever found was written on a 4,000-year-old Mesopotamian clay tablet. It is a beer recipe.
From: 365 Bottles of Beer for the Year
