Re: [CH] OT Beer

Jim Graham (spooky130@cox.net)
Tue, 3 Jun 2008 17:49:24 -0500 

Ok...one last post from me on beer for a while...sorry.  I'm trimming
a lot of what I'd intended to include...I'll provide links where I do
major trimming, for those who may wish to read further.


On Tue, Jun 03, 2008 at 05:04:05PM -0400, Byron wrote:
> Commercial Examples:  Pilsner Urquell, Budweiser Budvar (Czechvar
>   in the US), Staropramen
> 
> Pilsner Urquell, the orginal "Beer of Kings" was started in 1492

Make that 1842.  See excerpts from the BJCP Style Guidelines and a
Brewing Techniques article below.

---------------------------  CUT HERE  ---------------------------
http://www.brewingtechniques.com/library/backissues/issue5.3/urquell.html

The History and Brewing Methods of Pilsner Urquell

Divining the Source of the World's Most Imitated Beer

by Peter A. Ensminger
Republished from BrewingTechniques' May/August 1997.

[....]

The first Pilsener, brewed in 1842 Bohemia, was a lager unlike any
other. Its brilliant clarity, golden color, and light body made it
an instant success in a world that was accustomed only to dark,
heavy, cloudy beers. Its popularity soared. Within a couple of
decades it was being exported around the world. 

[....]

The Birth of a Brewery and New Brewing Tradition Pilsner Urquell's
brewery began as a collective facility operated by several of
Plzen's independent brewers, who designed it specifically to brew
the new lager style.

[....]

The Plzen brewery first sold Josef Groll's clear, light-colored
lager in 1842. The beer acquired the name Pilsner Urquell (urquell
is German for "original source"), in honor of the language of the
ruling Austrian Empire (14)

---------------------------  CUT HERE ---------------------------

> Budweiser (like politics, by passing other rules) tried to bypass
> the Reinheitsgebot law

...which applies in Germany.  and has nothing whatsoever to do with
Budweiser Budvar.  That said,

---------------------------  CUT HERE  ---------------------------
Link:  http://www.bjcp.org/2008styles/style02.html

BJCP Style Guidelines

2B. Bohemian Pilsener

[....]

History: First brewed in 1842, this style was the original clear,
light-colored beer.

Ingredients: Soft water with low mineral content, Saaz hops,
Moravian malted barley, Czech lager yeast.

[....]

Commercial Examples [list trimmed]:  Pilsner Urquell, Budweiser Budvar
(Czechvar in the US)

---------------------------  CUT HERE  ---------------------------

> Budweiser (and most commercial brewers) has adjuncts, which is not 
> acceptable under German law.

Reference to back up that claim?  Budweiser Budvar does not use any
adjuncts, nor does any beer that fits the style guidelines above.

Now...A-B added a *LOT* of adjuncts to the American beer named
Budweiser (in the US).  But then, A-B's Budweiser is not a Pilsener.
A-B's Budweiser falls under "1B. Standard American Lager" ... in
fact, it's one of the commercial examples of the style.
Link:  http://www.bjcp.org/2008styles/style01.html

Btw, the original version of the Reinheitsgebot did not allow yeast
(they didn't know about yeast back then).  See "Reinheitsgebot and the
Fifth Ingredient" by Martin Schiller and Jim Busch, in the May/June 1993
issue of BrewingTechniques.  Article is online at the BT archives at
http://www.brewingtechniques.com/library/backissues/issue1.1/schiller.html

Quote from said article:

      The German beer purity law written in 1516 states that
      only three ingredients should be used to brew beer: malt,
      hops, and water. The world did not know of the existence
      of yeast until some 300 years later when Mitcherlich,
      Pasteur, and Buchner discovered the role of these living
      chemical microfactories in fermentation (1). Today, malt,
      hops, water, and yeast are the ingredients of pure beer.

It still only applies in Germany, though it is a good rule of thumb for
making good beer (but if taken as an absolute, rules out weissbeer---an
exception was made there---or other great styles, like Rye Porter,
Oatmeal Stout, Rye Stout, and so on).

> This says ONLY malt, hops, yeast and water can be used.

See above.  Yeast was added later.

Ok, that's it...unless someone really twists my arm and forces me to
post more on this topic, I'm done.

Later,
   --jim

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