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mtigges

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Everything posted by mtigges

  1. As I noted in another thread, Tree's Midwinter Spiced Ale did not at all agree with me. So much so that I dumped it. Extremely sweet. Strange artificial tasting spices.
  2. mtigges

    Homebrewers?

    Interesting. I guess the only real concern is gas escaping through the plastic or the cap, but that's probably not a biggie. I doubt the plastic would affect the taste of the beer. I think the bigger problem with brewing in plastic (at least for secondary fermentation) is that the plastic is permeable to bacteria which can get in and skunk your beer. Glass doesn't have this problem. ← Actually, this incorrect on a couple of levels. Plastic is not permeable to bacteria, but it is permeable to oxygen. And oxygen is the number one evil of beer. The number two evil is UV light. It causes beer to become skunky (by breaking down certain compounds in the beer contributed by the hops). Glass does indeed have this problem depending on the colour. Brown is best, green is next, then clear. Both green and clear will skunk in minutes out in the sun. Hence the vast difference between a bottled PU and one from a keg. It's so prevalent in continental pilsners bottled in glass that brewers do it on purpose now to get that flavour. People have grown to expect it. The only issue with plastic re bacteria, is that it can be very difficult to sanitize if there are scratches. The bacteria will harbour in the scratches despite best efforts. The plastic is permeable to CO2 (the beer will lose carbonation) but not to a noticeable degree.
  3. Don't be sorry. That was a good post. Thanks! I've had infected beer that was awful. There was no question about it. However, I am wondering... Is an infected beer and one that "has gone bad" the same? I don't think so. For instance, a beer can merely be oxidised. The problem though is once it becomes oxidised then it is possible for a bacteria whose growth is otherwise inhibited to begin to grow and add other flavours. The other common way a beer can be off is for it to be light-struck. UV light will break down hop isomers into flavour compounds which result in a beer being considered skunky. See Corona. Of course some beers just don't improve with extended aging, I'm not really familiar with why that is though. I think it's probably the same with all beer, just the age range at which they're their best is dependent on the nature of the beer. Bigger beers like barley wines age better because they need to for the flavours to mellow out be harmonious. Interestingly there is a very strange way for a beer to become off. It's been debated for quite awhile wether it's true or a myth. HSA, stands for Hot Side Aeration. Some people contend that when the brewing liquor (strike or sparge), mash or wort is oxidised that this will result in similar cardboardy flavours given enough time as a regularly oxidised beer. I'm not sure, I can't say if I've ever had it in my beers, I don't worry about it. I'm not familiar with that beer - the style, but it sounds to me like it was infected. Acetobacter is a very common contaminating bacteria and results in sour flavour given hospitable environment. As mentioned above, a bad bottle and infection are not necessarily one and the same thing. Wether or not an entire batch is infected or just a portion of bottles depends on when the infection happened. It can only happen post-boil. And it is very unlikely that an innoculation of bacteria or wild yeast post fermentation will result in off-flavours (because of the alchohol, pH and lack of o2). Most breweries use caustic agents to clean and sanitize their equipment, and these chemicals are very effective, so it's actually quite difficult for them to be infected by dirty equipment. If an entire batch is infected, it's likely because the yeast they pitched was not pure enough. A brewer will tend to collect yeast from a fermenter, for pitching into a subsequent batch, and infection can grow through these generations. (It should be noted that many brewers (and not just homebrewers) use dry yeast akin to the bread yeast you buy, and it is well known that there is a certain percentage of contamination in these products.) For a single bottle to be infected it would have to be a problem with the bottle (obviously). Again most breweries are pretty good about cleaning bottles, in fact some sterilize them on the line, but few breweries have the equipment necessary to keep out all o2. This is where a bottle is in jeopardy. With all that said, most bottled beers are filtered, even most microbrews. However, few use a filter fine enough to filter out bacteria, it's mainly for clarity, but they will filter out all yeast. And the biggest breweries pasteurize, or irradiate to kill the beer (born on my ass). So, you'll never find a budmilloors that is infected. The best thing is to buy non-filtered bottled beer, or even bottle conditioned. The small amount of yeast present actually metabolizes the oxygen (in fact oxygen is a major requirement for yeast health at the onset of fermentation) which aids in inhibiting bacterial growth. Plus, it's healthier, and the b-vitamins aid in reducing hangovers. Victory is amazing. Grand Cru is one of those love 'em or hate 'em styles. I for one am always interested in trying them, but it's not a beery beer. Not one to toss back a few pints with friends. The local brewpub (across the street from work!) brewed one this year that is amazing. But I agree it's a challenging style.
  4. Ugh, what's an infected beer??? Well, on one level, all beers are (or were) infected ... by fungus, namely s. cerevisae. But there is almost a certainty that there are other organisms living in the beer. A small list of offending organisms: acetobacter pediococcus lactobacillae brettanomyces (or any wild yeast) the first three are bacteria, the fourth is a yeast. There are many more organisms that can inhabit beer. Most don't like beer after a healthy yeast population has fermented to a relatively dry level, too anerobic or an inhospitable pH. But some are ok. The affect of an infection is noticed on dryness, flavour, aroma, or all three. Some notable off-flavours which may be due to an infection are sour, horsey, butterscotch. The reason I say may be due, is in some styles those flavours are not out of style. In order of those flavours: lambics are sour, Oud Bruins can be horsey (any beer purposefully brewed with brett can be horsey), some lagers (low levels of diacytel distinguish some substyles of lager beer and are by some considered essential - though I disagree). Most infections which leave disagreeable levels of off-flavours tend to overwhelm the flavour profile of the beer. Styles that purposefully employ bacteria or other yeasts usually have a characteristic or a brewing technique which inhibits overwhelming levels of off-flavours. For instance, some Berliner-Weisse, another purposefully soured beer are brewed with bacteria but some are not. In the latter case the bacteria are added after fermentation of the monosacharides (by the primary yeast culture) is almost complete, since it is such a low gravity and dry beer, the bacteria are not able to overwhelm the beer with sourness. In the former case a sour mash is used, where a mash is allowed to sit for up to 2 days, allowing naturally occuring bacteria to sour the mash. In the subsequent boil, the bacteria are killed. Both are infections, but purposefull. One of my favourite local breweries had a bout of a lactic infection a year and a half ago. Many of their bottles were noticeably soured. Not good in an IPA. I have heard Redhook has an ongoing problem with diacytel resulting in butterscotch flavours. This may indicate an infection by wild yeasts, or some bacteria, but not necessarily. I have only tried Redhook IPA once, and there was some diacytel but not an overwhelming amount. Yeast produce diacytel during initial phases of fermentation, but in later phases they metabolize it, so diacytel in finished beer is not necessarily a indication of infection. Rising levels over time though certainly would be. Whew, that was longer than I intended, sorry.
  5. mtigges

    Making gravlax

    I suspect that the lax in gravlax/gravadlax actually means salmon in Norwegian, or another Scandanavian language. I have made it from both farmed and wild pacific salmon. From all species (coho, chinook, sockeye, even chum ... not so good). But I wonder ... couldn't a similar treatment be used on other fish? I suspect that char or some varieties of trout would work. Surely it's been done, and surely the vast collective wisdom of eG can enlighten me.
  6. Yesterday after pints of my homebrewed bitter I opened a 750ml bottle of Tree's Spiced Midwinter Ale. Tree is an excellent small brewery in British Columbia. Their Hophead IPA is one of the best in the province. But this... it .... well, the first beer ever that I have dumped, that was not infected. It was awful. 6.5% ABV but with a starting gravity well over 1.070 I'm sure. Incredibly sweet with enough wierd artificial like spice flavours to try to balance it, kinda mapley but also a bit like Karos corn syrup. So I opened a bottle of 90 minute IPA instead. Ahhh, Dogfish Head, if only you distributed here.
  7. What offer was that exactly?
  8. mtigges

    Duck: The Topic

    German style is my favourite. Stuffed with fresh tart apple bits (one apple) and dried fruits, figs, prunes ... whatever, onion, garlic. Salt, pepper inside and everywhere, sage, thyme inside too. Sew it up, poke the crap out of the skin. 325 for 1.25 - 1.75 hours draining the fat every now and then. Very delicious. Very easy.
  9. mtigges

    Homebrewers?

    It definitely is. My first batch was accompanied by a friend who was indoctrinating me. But it really isn't so bad as it seems. If you can make soup, you can make beer. Hopefully, I can speak for the group and say, please do.
  10. The great thing about it is that it is hard to overcook, but unlike salmon or tuna it really isn't very good undercooked. May favourite way of preparing it is to marinate it 24 hours (a local celebrity chef is known for 1/2 sake, 1/2 maple syrup, touch of soya. Then bake upside down on parchment. The nice thing about baking upside down is that it makes very convienient to pull the skin off, and the fat tends to go with it. Despite the luscious flavour of the meat, imo, the fat is very much not tasty. Very fishy. So try to get the grayish fat off the bottom. Then sauce it or don't. I actually like just a little bit of lemon - oo.
  11. So, I've taken a break from my homebrew, and tried some offerings that the season allows me to. Our choices here for interesting imports is usually quite limited. Innis & Guinne (did I spell it right?), a very clean pale ale which has been aged in wood. I don't believe it said what kind of wood. An interesting flavour from the wood, not tannic, a bit smoky, but it's o/w a bit of a bland beer so it was enjoyable but not outstanding. Rochefort 8, a very nice, smooth beer. Outstanding head. Plum and currant sweetness with just a touch of roast. Hid it's 8% very well. Bellhaven Wee Heavy. I liked it. A lot. Generally I go for more bitterness, but the complection of the maltiness is great. I've tried some local beers too if anyone else is in the greater vancouver area ... the limited release GI Octoberfest sucks. I was very surprised. Normally the limited release beers from GI are outstanding, but this one ... WAY too sweet. It's almost like he forgot the bittering hops. And I can say the same for Mayne Fireside. Haven't enjoyed them at all. At least the latter came in a nice swing top bottle.
  12. mtigges

    Homebrewers?

    A good choice of gift. Congratulations on quality thinking. You won't have to buy bottles. It will take about one month to two months (depending on the style of beer) to be ready, the last two weeks of that (at least) is in bottles, so there should be plenty of time to collect bottles between the giving of the gift and the task of bottling the first brew. As for what else to get ... I would suggest equipment. This amounts to a food safe bucket for the first stage of fermentation. A secondary fermentation vessel, usually a glass carboy, but IMO these are dangerous and should be avoided, get a milk crate to protect it and carry it around with. And some other sundries like hoses and stuff. I think the best bet is to post on a brewing message board and ask for advice about the most reputable shop in your area. I suggest either http://hbd.org/discus/messages/1/1.html?1087231765 or http://www.tastybrew.com/forum/ The thing about the packaged kits is that the freshness is suspect. There are two kinds of extracts, dry and liquid. And the liquid suffers over age. You want to get it as fresh as possible. The best way to buy it is from a store that repackages it from barrels. You know they're moving it and it's fresh. Dried extract can be a bit messy, but it doesn't have the same storage problems. Anyways, my advice is to go to a shop and ask the owner to put together a "kit" for you. There are lots of decisions still to be made, but the owner will certainly be able to steer you to good choices. Oh, and buy him a book. Perhaps "The New Complete Joy of Homebrewing" by Papazian, but a better choice is John Palmers book http://howtobrew.com/ which is generously available for free online, but he deserves to make some money. It's a great book. Have fun, Mark.
  13. Is it just me, or does La Regalade not receive enough kudos?
  14. I ride through there every day. Better bike lanes on the lower road by tartine (to keep this food related) and up to and along Pacific. A great deli/butcher where I could stop and pick up that days lunch would be awesome.
  15. Chromedome, I've never even heard of "Cannery Brewery", how odd. I'm curious about the porter though, so I will search them out at the local liquor store, or failing that there must be a local bar/resto that carries it. Thanks for the heads up. A recent "find" of mine was R&B Raven Cream Ale (R&B website here). R&B has been around for awhile, but they seem to have been through a recent retooling or something; someone spread a rumour my way that they were bought by Shaftebury, another local brewing company - who in turn is owned by the Sleeman Brewing Machine. Wickedly slow Shaftebury flash website. Shaftebury Cream is one of my favourites beers too. About the Tree, someone left a few bottles of Tree Hophead in our fridge after a party last Spring. To this day, there remains one bottle in there that everyone refuses to drink. IIRC Tree's "hook" is that it is 100% organic beer. And here is a link to their website: Tree Brewing Co. ← Cannery are a staple at most liquour stores in Van. The crappier ones won't have it, but all the good ones do. The porter is the first to be stocked and is indeed an outstanding beer. My vote for the best fruit beer ever. If you want to try the rest of their line, better than safe than sorry, visit the Cambie location. While you're there, if you are unfamiliar with the offerings from Old Yale, pick some of their beers up. Especially the Sergeants. It's the best IPA in the province, IMO. They had a bad spell about a year ago, with some heavily oxidized bottles, but as I understand, that's been cleared up. I don't know what the problem was. I got a couple badly oxidized bottles, and asked someone I trusted, he said he heard this. Also, Phillips from Victoria, try their beers too (just stay away from the maple cream, yuck, of course other people love it.). We have a great number of excellent microbrews here in BC, I wish they were more popular. I am actually not that big a fan of R&B. They are good, but a little bland. Their Kristalweizen is awesome though.
  16. This is a bit off topic, but I am compelled to comment. I really don't know if the Benriner is good or not. But, it appears to be a compromise. I subscribe to the attitude that pricey tools are almost always worth it. Assuming that there is a strong correlation between price and quality/functionality/efficacy. It is just so rarely worth it to buy a cheap tool. If it is so full of compromise that it becomes a chore to use, it is infinitely more expensive (since you never use it) despite the initial low cost. The above though is only a philosophy of buying tools. I have no idea about mandolins, I just know that they generally cost a LOT more than that. The Benriner might be that jewel in the rough - I don't know. But, I do know that I would think long and hard before buying a cheap tool. Mark.
  17. mtigges

    Really Fast Dinners

    My favourite fast excellent simple meal for two is as follows Start a rice steaming ... I like to add safron or anything for colour or flavour One whole bone in skin on chicken breast (both halves) Rip out the breast bone. S&P everywhere, if you have some jarred pesto or anything like that (but no sugary sauces) stuff under skin and rub everywhere. Oven safe pan, put some celery stalks on the pan, then the chicken, butterflied, breast down. 8 min or or so under the broiler. Turn. More until skin perfect. While chicken is cooking, throw some broccolini in the rice. Chop breast in two. Plate with rice and broccollini. N.B. This is an adaptation of broiled chicken as presented by Alton Brown on Good Eats.
  18. mtigges

    Worst Beer Ever Tasted

    (Me hysterically laughing, wiping tears from my eyes.) While you weren't brave or insane enough to try it MGLloyd I can think of but one man who would be undaunted at giving this a taste or two: none other than Tony Bourdain. After beating cobra hearts, "squeazle" and iguana, I'm sure he would find this to be a piece of cake. And I'm sure he would find that drinking it makes you very strong............... ← You know two. I'd drink it quite willfully. I'm willing to try anything beery. Of course yeast cultured from ... well you know, is an oft repeated joke in homebrew circles. She wasn't the first to think of it, though she may have been the first to actually do it.
  19. I've never tried eating chicken at MB (out of fear of incurring some kind of wrath) but yes, I did notice a difference. I used to live very close to the commercial drive MB. It seemed more like how the BWay one was originally. But still not quite as good as in the beginning. Mark.
  20. The spice joint on Granville Island. Can't remember what it's called though. Edited to add: The Pepper Pot?
  21. I've seen them before out in the open, in a glass jar. Not sure if they have any now though.
  22. mtigges

    Microwave

    I haven't had a microwave in years. Over ten probably. I don't miss it ONE bit. Useless piece of junk in my opinion. If all you're using it for is melting solids, what a waste. One centimeter of water in a small pot, and a small stainless mixing bowl ... double boiler, does the job way more efficiently (I'm guessing on that actually), it's certainly more enjoyable. Reheated foods from the microwave generally are unpalatable, except soups. Warmed up coffee no matter how you warm it is gross. Popcorn? Well, I'm not a big fan of imitation butter, but you could do it AB's way. But I prefer making popcorn on the stove top. Throw the silly things out and put some flowers there if you don't need the counter space. Sorry for my rant, but microwaves are really only good for one kind of kitchen, communal lunch kitchens at work. Carry on, Mark.
  23. That would be Tony Roma's. I ride by it every day. And now thanks to canucklehead I will wonder every Tuesday if I should lock up my bike for a couple hours.
  24. The best place for Mexican in North Van that I have found (though I haven't tried the place sanrensho mentioned) is in the Quay market. It's called Jalesco and is beside what used to be the wine store. They're a deli serving more food court style, but VERY GOOD. And they have an excellent selection of ingredients for cooking. Go there the next time you're in the Quay. I hope he doesn't mind me mentioning his name, but Ron Shewchuck recommended the place very strongly during his night at Barbara-Jo's. Mark.
  25. Waggott’s Seafood 604.925.4140, in the market at Park Royal I'm sure there's other places closer to you but that's the only one I know. ← A great shop and a helluva nice guy. WF has hurt him though, the last time I talked to him. I hope he stays. Anyways, I've seen jars at Urban Fare. I don't know if it's something you are willing to consider, but perhaps Keller wouldn't mind if you switched to Salmon Eggs? If you're truly concerned with expense. Or maybe even tobiko?
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