[TheForge] blacksmiths and beer

[Phlip]

 "Jeff Harding" <jharding@kconline.com> skrev:

> Phlip;
>
>    I'm not sure everyone is drawing the distinction between,
> "Distillation"... AND   "Fermentation".  Seems some comments are not
> separating the two.  Perhaps you should again, explain the difference.
> :o)

OK, but you were making a good start in the next paragraph ;-)

Now guys, I'm not an expert at this, because it's just not something I do,
but I'd suggest not drinking the brews or distillations of anyone who knows
even less about the subject than I do- it could be dangerous.

Essentially, what is happening is that you are starting out with an
assortment of ingredients, usually plant type, which have sugars in them.
Most of us are familiar with the sweetness of grapes and other fruits, or
honey or cane sugar, but there are other plants which have sugars in them
too, even if the flavor doesn't predominate- roasted grains such as corn or
barley or rye, for example..

You wet this down, and either add yeasts from commercial producers, or let
the wild yeasts get into the product and start working. Unless you happen to
brew in an area where you're lucky in the native wild yeasts (there are such
areas) you get a much more predictable result using commercially produced
yeast.

Yeast definition-  Any of various very small, single-celled fungi of the
phylum Ascomycota that reproduce by fission or budding and are capable of
fermenting carbohydrates into alcohol and carbon dioxide.
(http://www.academicpress.com/inscight/02271998/yeast1.htm )


What happens is that the yeasts eat the sugars and the carbohydrates, and
produce alcohol and carbon dioxisde as a result of their life cycle. Once
the percentage of alcohol gets too high for them to tolerate, they die off,
and you have a brewed product. From there, you usually strain and/or filter
the solids out and bottle or keg the product.

Usually, as it is just brewed, it's a little rough in flavor. Most producers
age it a bit, and give the esters and other chemical byproducts and flavor
elements a chance to mellow out.

>     I'm sure you know, natural fermentation stops at 14%, that's when
> the alcohol kills the yeast. BUT...14% is a stiff drink, if you're
> going to have more than a couple.

As a general rule, you're right, supposing there's enough sugar in the brew
to feed the wee beasties ;-) I have heard, however, that they've developed a
couple of new strains of yeast which will take that up to 20% or slightly
better. As a general rule, though, 14% is a high percentage.

As a side note, some of the "fortified" wines, such as sherries or ports,
actually have _distilled_ alcohol added to them after they're brewed- that's
why they call them fortified.

Beers tend to be weaker than wines because there are fewer sugars for the
yeasts to convert. The bitter taste in beer actually (should) come from
hops, which is a plant discovered in the later Middle Ages, which, when
added to a beer, helps it not degenerate further- it has antiseptic
qualities in addition to its flavor elements. Technically, an un-hopped beer
is an ale, although with the names we moderns give things, there's no
telling what you're actually getting.

Distilling, OTOH, usually  involves heating the mixture, and removing the
alcohol by evaporation, so it's more concentrated. It can also be done by
freezing the brewed product, and pouring off the liquid- alcohol freezes at
a lower temperature than water does- it also boils at a lower temperature,
so that allows someone who is careful to seperate the two liquids.

Either method has its advantages as far as the flavors you produce- there
are esters and flavor elements produced in the brewing process which either
are removed or remain, depending on which process you use, and someone who
knows how can produce truly excellent product, depending on which method
they use. As examples, corn whiskey is usually produced by heat
distillation, applejack by freeze distillation.

BOTH METHODS OF DISTILLATION ARE UNLAWFUL!!!!!!

Treat this information accordingly.

> By the way... mead sounds a little
> sweet for my tastes, is it fairly sweet?>
>    Jeff   ><>

It can be, depending on the sugar balance, the yeast strains used, and so
forth. But, I don't like sweet drinks either, or so-called "soda pop" wines.
My drinking preferences go towards the dark beers and ales, like Guinness
Stout, or dry red wines such as a Cabernet Sauvignon. The only hard liquor I
really like is a good single malt Scotch, the peatier and more iodine
flavored, the better (although I get in moods where I prefer lighter
beverages).

The thing I liked about the meads I had this year was that most of them were
pretty dry. None of them were as good as Ateno's mead, but most of them were
quite acceptable. The two bottles I was given that were too sweet, quickly
found homes in the coolers of some campmates who do like the sweet meads.
It's like anything else- depending on which techniques and materials you
use, you'll produce a wide variety of results.

Phlip