Bill Poster

I thought Wiess was the Cologne spelling for white.. ?

It 'only' takes a small group of regarded producers to join together to introduce an association. this will increase sales for those Brands and attract more to come on board at the detriment of those who give rum a bad name for the aim of profit gain. Maybe someone v. respected in the field needs to implement the plan.. Ed?

One is a wheat beer, one is a white beer. But with several European countries producing variations of both(weizen, witt etc), plus the close relationship of the styles, it can be confusing! Some Weiss(wheat) biers have flavours and a cloudy white colour similar to a white beer.. Do these styles overlap or are they an entirely different category?

The people behind 42 Below vodka have juste launched Seven Tiki. Its a 2 yr white rum aged in oak barrels and comes in a funky bottle. Seven Tiki website

I would hope Tony finds a way of putting out a programme showing his experience. I can understand his reluctance to do it tho, politics and cooking are tricky to mix; like lemon juice and cream.

Zacapa is a truly great rum, but i always had the gut feeling the taste was 'manipulated'. After reading the above, how does the consumer trust they are drinking what the product attests it is? An interesting article i found http://66.249.93.104/search?q=cache:K4tqBs...uk&ct=clnk&cd=1

I had a bottle of Badger's First Gold yesterday. Very nice Ale type beer with a strong but not overly hoppy taste.

Partial to Baileys and a fantastic coffee liqueur (forgot name)from Santa Teresa.

A good Pilsner, such as Radegast from Czech. I am also partial to a Leffe or 6 when the mood takes me

Snowy, until there is an Internationally recognised system/mark with set criteria, Rum will never be fully accepted as a premium spirit. Rum has an image problem. a large proportion of of drinkers still think Captain Morgan and Bacardi are as good as rum gets. Until a group of top distilleries get together and start a recognised mark of quality then this will continue, though I believe Santa Teresa rums to be accurate in their descriptions and methods, and a good ambassador for Rum.

Santa Teresa 1796 and Bacardi 1873 are using the Solera method; Is this a cognac method and how does it work exactly? Also, the dates on Solera rums; what does this indicate??

Macoucherie from Dominica do a white unaged rum. Pure cane Fire Water.

I read about smoked beers (from germany, USA and Gottland) and wanted some feedback from the forum. They are brewed using Peat Malts(smoked under the kiln using beechwood i think), usually a ratio of 30-40% of the total malt used.

Thanks Matty for the advice, Yes, I have to try something like cream ale for my first experiment. I will buy some kit in a couple of weeks. Maybe a Cream Ale would work in London. The main events beers are japanese lager beers, Urquel and other Pilsner types. As for beers, only Duvel has any events exposure. Question for someone; if i were to ferment 3 batches of beer/lager(1 a day), could I combine the 3 for secondary fermentation?

Most things in the Uk are a nightmare. If I wanted to distill spirits it would be next to impossible to get a license. Then you have to deal with bonded warehouses etc. But because of the tradition of homebrewing, and the Campaign for Real Ale, the law is fairly relaxed on microbreweries. Obviously meeting the requirements is'nt easy, you need an Industrial Unit(I have)or licensed premises(pub or bar) and no previous bad history with customs excise for starters. I apply for a license through my local magistrates court(have to research criteria). Duty on a bottle of 330ml beer or lager works out at 20- 30p depending on strength. Pretty bad compared to europe but compared to Uk spirit duty (1 bottle 40% spirit duty is equiv. to about $9 in uk!!!) it is okish. Getting ahead of myself again

Cdh, your're quite right.. I saw the Brumas as a way to make it easier for me to cope. It looks after the temperatures which would be one area where I would mess up. Also my lady would'nt want lots of ugly containers lying around so this might a prettier option. It is a bit expensive tho. I realise that there will be plenty of mistakes to be made.. As for cool storing lager after brewing, a large fridge and/or make a small sealed space (to hold up to 50 crates) in the studio with air con. its a basement so it would be ideal. I have access to a cool cellar if needed. I have a job as an events manager and I thought, if I could get my lager/beer to a good standard, I could supply under licence to parties. I have a friend doing this in japan, he has his own small brewery and the beer tastes like s**t but noone seems to mind(I did!) I've got so ahead of myself that I even designed labels!

Isn't irish moss used to give a head to the brew?

Tried a lager called Brooklyn Lager, very nice label design, not much of a head but a good taste(not what i call lager though). Local names for beers seem very popular in Nyc and Tokyo; this idea can take off in London

cdh, matty, what do you think of the Brumas home brewery? Yes its expensive but is it worth me buying one seeing as I'm a novice? The only drawback is it only does 20 litres. Are there any similar 'pilot' breweries which are slightly bigger and as easy to use?

Thanks everyone for your advice(taken). I have just seen a german home brewery, the smallest on the market(makes 20 litres a time), with copper brewing pot and electronic control(semi automatic). I think it is called Brumas, and it retails at 1500 sterling.

Hmm.. Its all SheenaGreena's fault, her Pilsner thread got me thinking! I would ideally like to make something of a cross between a good czech Pils such as radegast and belgian Leffe

Thank you for all the info..yes I am getting a bit ambitious..Just read all that 4 times..ok.. I have access to a cellar, and I can buy a cheap tall fridge. Agreed, don't want to use anything plastic when brewing; My local Balgladeshi supermarkets sell some of the largest steel cooking pots you ever saw, holding approx 30 litres. If I DID use the hops I suggested, but with the malt and yeast you suggested, what would I get? The reason I ask is that I was reading about a 'Pilsner' called Tikka Gold- a very interesting product made in the UK, which uses a complicated mix of malts and hops.

Looking at brewing kits and microbrewery plants, and it seems hard to fing anything between the two(in the UK). I would like to buy something which will produce around 50 litres a time. I am a beginner; I want to make a strong pilsner, maybe using 20%Kent Goldrings and mainly Saaz(or UK equiv.)and a little chinook. Also some rice. Yeast will be belgian, for higher abv. Malts I am not sure about; any suggestions on what to order?

Skunked beer smelling like weed..Dunno but have you ever tried hemp/marajuana beer? I tried some in Copenhagen..not bad at all.

Thanks Tongo, Interesting read. I would like to know more about the different yeast and hops characteristics(how nerdy am I); if you know of any reading sources please could you post? Regards Will