From: Bryan J. Maloney (jacobus@sonata.cc.purdue.edu)
Date: Mon 08 Aug 1994 - 14:35:26 EEST
Well, the Loonies could mix gin with naturally-occuring mineral water, with fruit juices, with water, with fruit juices and water, with herbal extracts, etc.
And for whomever said unhopped brews cannot be laid up--please explain the fact that they were regularly laid up in England in pre-hops times for a year or so. You would not get malt vinegar from this practice unless you laid them up for a long time AND you got a specific bacterial infection of the brew. Also, you cannot in any reasonable way claim that there was no knowledge whatsoever of practical cleanliness. Otherwise, ropiness, sourness, etc. would not have been written up in pre-hops manuscripts as flaws to be avoided. They didn't know the precise mechanism for the batch going bad, but they knew that if they kept things clean they had a better chance of a good batch--for whatever reason.
Also, to claim that only two modern brews are laid up is just showing off ignorance. Hardy's Ale is one of the small class that is designed to FERMENT IN THE BOTTLE. Chimay's ales also are meant to do this. However, ALL beers, ales, what have you, are and always have been laid up for some time. The first lay-up is to permit the yeast to settle out after the major fermentation is over. The second is to permit the yeast from the kraeusening to settle out. Then, the beer can be stored for several months to a year before you must drink it. If it is not exposed to air in this time, an un-infected brew will keep for a year or more. Modern beers are ALL laid up for at least a month or two before you EVER drink it. Many are laid up for five to six months to age sufficiently to drink. Ever had a green beer? (And I don't mean the colored stuff they serve on Saint Patrick's Day, either.) Beer has to age for a while after the yeast is settled, believe me. This aging is usually no more than a few months, but some beers are improved by years of aging.
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.7 : Fri 10 Oct 2003 - 01:36:15 EEST