cdh

What I meant to say about the beers I brought was that neither of them was either bitter or hoppy. Both were variations on the witbier theme, so had a crisp tartness to them that works so well on a summer day. "People who don't like beer" are often people who don't like bitterness, and neither of my beers had much if any bitterness to them. The Blackened wit had a bit more of a hoppy thing going on with it, but it was more in the aroma than in the flavor... The ordinary wit was appropriately spiced with coriander and orange and devoid of hoppiness altogether. Neither came anywhere near 120 Minute IPA, or Wild Bill's Alimony Ale... they were at the opposite extreme of hoppiness... and yet were quite popular.

The wine note format seems just about right for these purposes, but the long term application will be different, insofar as wines are new and different every year, whereas beers strive to remain consistent. That means that more people can try an example of the product being reviewed and comment on the description, honing it down and coming to an agreement on the words being used and how they relate to the flavors. Wines change and improve with age and are subject to small runs, and each bottling will almost certainly be different from the last, whether because it has been in the bottle longer, or the juice is different. Beers generally (and there are notable exceptions) don't get better with time and are marketed accordingly, and each batch is calculated to be quite a lot like the last batch... thus making getting a relatively fresh example of any particular beer with decent interstate distribution not an arduous undertaking for anybody who might want to try it and comment. The important part of this project is that multiple people are tasting the same thing, and coming to a consensus on the description of that thing. With luck and some effort we'll get to the point where we can then start describing things which, like my homebrew, aren't getting widely distributed but everybody reading will still have a pretty good idea of what we're taking about. Of my homebrewed witbier, for example, I could say: Blonde with coppery hints and a white head. Tart, with wheat malt evident, and obvious coriander seeds and orange peel flavors. Little if any hop bitterness evident, no hop aromas. Long lasting on the palate. Now somebody else who had tasted it would chime in with their own observations, refining the description. Anybody who was at the NJ BBQ and tasted it care to chime in ? That's why I like the idea of giving lots of different beers their own thread in the great tasting project, and watching as the descriptions evolve and coalesce.

If you're automotively mobile and out in the 'burbs, there is a well stocked purveyor of subcontinental spices and such on 202 in King of Prussia hidden in the US Petro gas station between Allandale Road and Henderson Road. I believe the shop trades as Royal India, and their signage indicated they opened another branch out in Malvern somewhere or other.

What exactly does this mean? What rights and duties attach when Protected Designation of Origin is granted. In what jurisdictions? If this allows the Swiss to certify that certains cheeses are "real" Emmental, and conveys the exclusive right to use a certification mark, then that is great. If is makes it illegal for any other cheesemaker to use the word Emmental at all in relation to their cheese, then it is a terrible idea. Emmental has already slipped into a generic usage and has been there for years... trying to undo that with a wave of a legislative wand seems like naively wishful thinking at best.

Hello eGullet Beer Forum folks! The beer forum has been kinda slow lately, covering a few homebrew projects and a few beer events. Let's see what we can do about livening things up with some talk about what we've actually been drinking recently. Since we're now a Society for Culinary Arts and Letters, I think we're up to the challenge of writing clearly and meaningfully about the beers that we choose to drink. While the wine world is notorious for the verbosity of its descriptions, beer more often than not falls into the Tonto, Tarzan and Frankenstein school of reviewing: This beer GOOD!, or That beer BAD! Fire BAAAAD! Let's see what we can do about raising the level of discourse here about our favorite liquid bread substitute. I'm not the ideal person to kick this subject off, since I've been drinking mostly my own homebrew lately, so almost nobody here is going to have a chance to engage me on the merits of my observations, since nobody else can go pick up a bottle of the stuff. However, there has been an out of the way commercial lawnmower beer in my beer fridge recently that I'll start up a thread on. In this thread, we should engage in the meta-discussion about beer tasting and reviewing and what a beer tasting note should look like and include. I'll start with some of my own thoughts on the subject. Please argue with me if you think I'm wrong, crazy, both or otherwise. I think that a beer review should concentrate on the aroma and flavor of the brew in question. Lots of reviewers spend time describing the visuals... the head and how long it lasts, the lace left over after it subsides, the color. These should, as far as I'm concerned, take up no more than a sentence. Aromas are a tough subject to write about, since there really isn't structured vocabulary for describing things that the nose picks up. Everything here is an analogy to other things we expect people to know about. Just like in the wine world, with its leather and barnyard and violet descriptions, we're going to have to pick out a set of words to capture what we're taking about. That is why I think that each beer should have its own thread here. That way when tasting the same beer, we can work towards a standardized vocabulary that describes what we're experiencing. Hops aromas especially need some work to build a vocabulary that captures them. Saying "that is a hoppy beer" is really almost meaningless, since hops contribute so many different possible flavors. Some hop character is citrussy like grapefruit, while others are orangey or grassy, or sharp, or just really bitter. We must work The body of the beer should get some analysis, but in the context of what it does to the flavor. Is the body too thin for the malty sweetness that comes across on the palate? Is the body too thick to harmoniously coexist with the sharp hoppiness. Beer flavors go all over the place... at the NJ BBQ my homebrew contributions were intended to challenge people's conceptions about the nature of beer and show how broad the world of beers can be. Several "people who don't like beer" tried my offerings and discovered that they liked it, despite the preconceived notion that they wouldn't. Getting to the point where people can read a beer review and decide whether this is a beer they'd like or not should be the goal of this project. We should try to avoid numerical scales if at all possible (God forbid one of us become the Robert Parker of beer), for either summary purposes or for descriptions of specific elements of a beer. In homebrew circles there is a shorthand for how bitter a beer is-- how many IBUs does it have. I'd like to avoid pigeonholing this description as a simple numerical score, and describe the nature of the bitterness instead. I'd like to see descriptions put forth by one taster discussed and debated by others who have tasted the same beer... lets work through the meaning of the description and come to a consensus on what the words mean. Tastes are, after all, subjective. And beers do change over time. Even though they aim for constitency, they don't always hit that goal. Should one find a funky bottle of something, that would also be a welcome addition to the thread, since the odds of getting a spoiled bottle are something any potential beer consumer would want to know. Finally, I'd like to save the judgement for last, since it is the most subjective part of the review... when describing the flavor try to tell us about the taste, not whether you like it or not. After a description of the flavors and aromas, then let us know whether the combination worked for you or not. Too much tartness for so sweet a beer? Too bitter for your palate? etc... If several people write reviews of the same beer, it could be quite helpful to everybody, since what one person notices when they taste may be totally different from what another notices, even when they're tasting the same thing. Seeing what somebody else got out of the same experience could well broaden the perceptions of somebody who noticed something but couldn't put a finger on exactly what it was. I'll sign off for the moment, but would love commentary on your thoughts on the project.

Hey again Brooks-- Just noticed that Ivan is pointed right at you, so you've clearly got other things than yeast on your mind right now... Once the chaos subsides, let us know how you made out down there.

Welcome to eGullet, Phyllis. Thanks for reading and posting. I hope that you explore and enjoy the discourse on things culinary that we do here. Since you're the JBF's Director of Information Services, how about answering a few questions about how things work there so that we can proceed on a firm foundation of facts rather than rampant speculation? To get things started, what is the relationship between the Board and the membership in the Foundation's organizational structure? I've been a member for a couple of years and have never noticed an invitation to any board meetings or other organizational functions in any of the correspondence I've received from the Foundation. Who sits on the program committee, and how are they chosen? How would a plain old ordinary member who, in their travels, runs across a chef worthy of notice go about nominating that chef for a slot on the program calendar? Those are just the first few inquiries off the top of my head... I hope others with questions also chime in and we get a good factual basis established from which to continue the overarching conversation about the Foundation and its mission.

Hey Brooks-- How's that yeast hunt coming? Any progress on getting your guys in motion? My first 1.75 gallons is bubbling away and I'll probably rack it into something in the not too distant future... and I've got another 6 pounds of honey to play with, so if you've got a line on a good and proper mead yeast I'd gladly wait for it so that I can give it a try.

Yes... all that sounds nice. The library would be more useful if its opening hours and access policies were publicized, rather than just its existence. The Beard folks were actively soliciting applications for their scholarships over the past year... a full page ad in every publication that they sent for a while, separate postcards, etc... If one wanted to get into the application process for one of their scholarships, that would be easy. They should make accessing and using the rest of their facilities and programs equally easy.

The past few weeks in Pennsylvania have had quite a variety of weather, and on a particularly overcast morning when a low pressure zone was sitting on top of me, I noticed that my espresso turned out particularly delicious. The crema was thicker, there was more body, etc. I've since been paying a little attention to the correlation between the weather and the quality of the espresso I pull myself each morning. I think I have half decent control over the other variables like bean, grind and tamp... and I think there are differences from day to day. That observation, combined with my understanding that Seattle is often overcast and rainy, and is the world capital for high quality espresso made me wonder what, if any relation anybody else has observed. I'm almost tempted to put a barometer next to my espresso machine and take notes... if only there were an objective and quantitative method of describing the quality of the espresso. A neat thought, anyway... I'd love to hear ideas for experiments that might disprove this hypothesis.

Word. And another thought-- make the organization a little more transparent and comprehensible. And make it clear how one would get involved in the organization as a volunteer. And get over the whole Hamptons-venerating socialite-wannabe thing... show that the people running the place care more about quality than panache. Beard should be about the cutting edge... not the trendy. Let chefs with wild new ideas come and cook, and if their ideas catch on, then all the better...

Re the library-- what's in it, and when is it accessable by either the membership or the general public? I've been a member for a few years and never seen either the space, or its opening hours. Or is is reserved for those who know who to ask for access to it? As to the speculation about the House Purveyors' stuff not being in the house... well... there are lots of house purveyors whose stuff isn't readily visible in the house. If they've purveyed, then where is the stuff? And even some of the visible stuff is somewhat questionable... for example all of the Illy espresso pods by the coffee setup in the sunroom downstairs. Nobody I've ever seen there in dozens of dinners has ever consumed one espresso. Now I've never asked for one, but I've never been offered the option either. Those things don't stay fresh forever, and if, for lack of use, somebody takes them away where they'll get used before they go off, I can't say I blame them... but if that sort of practice is just the tip of the iceberg, then... hmmmm... grrrr.... I'm a member too... where's my swag?!

So... time to ask for a progress report from everybody. I've got about 1.75 gallons of water with 3 pounds of honey dissolved in it fermenting now with a witbier yeast in my stainless steel brew kettle. Pulled out a spoonful yesterday to taste, and it is quite tasty already, though has long way to go fermentation wise... still quite sweet. How's everybody else doing?

Hmmm... following up on the Boston Globe article with a little google work, it appears that there are only four dairies in the world outside of the USA certified as Interstate Milk Shippers... which means that any and all Greek yogurt from Greece is an illegal alien in the USA. Here are the foreign certified dairies: http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~ear/imssl-fr.html Now what is it I'm being protected from by this governmental regulation again? Also, anybody out there have a cite to the USC or CFR where one could peruse the actual language of the law that the FDA is trying to enforce?

Ah... I know a few people who might be called "break for steak" vegetarians... And people who insist only on eating "happy meat" from beasts who are known to have lived a cruelty free life... which necessitates a mostly vegetarian diet.

Went into my local TJ's the other day to pick up some stuff, amongst that stuff was intended to be some of the wonderful Total greek yogurt that I've become hooked on over the past couple of years. When I looked in the fridge there were no signs of any Total products, and no evidence that they'd ever been there... not even a price label on the shelf. The shelves were newly rearranged and stocked with lots of domestic yogurt and no Greek yogurt. Grrrrrr... Bewildered, I picked up the rest of the stuff I'd come after and checked out. I asked what the deal with the missing yogurt was, and the cashier told me that it had been pulled because it had been being imported illegally, and had been busted. He said it should be back in 3 or 4 months after it got its paperwork in order. I can find no corroboration to this tale with a few web searches, so was wondering if others have noted the absence of Total yogurts from their store shelves. I'm wondering if it is a USDA thing, or a Penna. Dept. of Ag. thing, or if the story was apocryphal. I can think of no reason for the store to voluntarily pull the product, since the cashier himself said that it was one of their top sellers... I certainly hope that it returns quickly... but I'd like to know just what I'm being protected from by its removal from the market.

Hmmmm... tripe sandwiches? Where can one find one that's worth the trip?

Carolyn- You work for a winery, right? Any chance of nabbing a jar full of the lees? That would do the yeasty job, I'd imagine, provided they'd not been killed off with sulfites or such before you grabbed them. Everybody seems to be advocating wine yeasts for fermenting mead, so you're likely to do quite well with what you've got readily to hand.

Now that I think of it, in my several years of membership at Beard, there has been no information at all about how one would get involved in the organization and running of the place. A non-profit that is not desperate for officers and staff is somewhat suspicious, now that I think of it. Paying somebody too much somewhere along the chain of command.

Another question: What is the opinion here on open vs. closed fermentation? This first batch I think I'm going to try an open ferment, i.e rubber banding a clean dish towel over the top of the vermentation vessel rather than putting on an airtight lid with an airlock. I know that the behavior of the 3499 yeast is extraordinarily vigorous and should do a good job of keeping a blanket of CO2 over top... We'll see how this experiment turns out.

I got the brewing started yesterday, but in a smaller quantity than planned, and with a different strategy... 1.5 gallon batches, with differences between them. First difference that seems worth exploring is the yeast. Anybody have any thoughts on using ale yeasts in making mead? I decided that since mead is so simple and easy in ingredients and procedures, that it would be a great medium to experiment with different yeasts to emphasize their inherent characters. I had some belgian wit yeast slurry sitting around in the fridge left over after my last brewing project, it seemed like as good a start as any since the Wyeast 3499 (from whence came the slurry's ancestors) description indicates that it is an alcohol tolerant strain, and it seems to produce some acidity on its own, and since mead recipes call for added acid, I figure that using a yeast that makes its own might be beneficial. So I got the jar of yeast slurry out, shook it a bit and tossed in a couple tablespoons of corn sugar and some more water and waited for it to show signs of life. Then I made up a 1.5 gallon batch of mead wort out of 3 pounds of honey and some water with a bit of tea added. Tossed my fizzing yeast in, and am awaiting activity.

Well... I thought that funky freezer odors got absorbed into oils quicker than other things... judging by some duck fat that spent a year hidden behind other frozen things, fats do certainly absorb freezer funk. And ziploc bags are not proof against freezer funk, I've found. So I'm looking to build as many barricades between my basil and what's out there as possible.

I went down to my garden yesterday with a pair of scissors and pruned my basil pretty aggressively. I brought the trimmings up to the kitchen, washed them, de-stemmed them, blanched them, and ran them through the food processor with a little bit of olive oil. I poured the chopped leaves and oil into an ice cube tray and froze it into a bunch of cubes. I popped the cubes out of the tray and put them into a ziploc freezer bag and squeezed as much air out as I could. Now I'd like any advice on how to make the cubes last longer and better in the freezer. My idea is that a layer of water ice surrounding the cubes would give them some protection from the ravages of a winter in the freezer... now the question is how to get it there? Anybody have any good suggestions for enrobing a frozen cube of basil with water ice? Any other ideas for protecting the cubes?

Or with one of the local breweries, for that matter. I'd love to see them team up with Yards or somebody like that. I was thinking more along the lines of the co-venturer selling the gelato on the dessert menu at their restaurant, not just supplying the brews... But maybe the beer gelatos would go over well enough to sell in Capogiro's display case too... I think it would be cool to be able to finish off a meal at Monks with a glass of beer and a dish of beer gelato...

I think that I'll aim for a 3 gallon batch with 12 pounds of honey... not sure which honey I'll use yet... the Trader Joes stuff @ $2 a lb is tempting, but must check out the honey pricing and selection at my local homebrew shop.