cdh

So do you think two parts water and one part ginger juice (from running ginger through a juicer) would approximate what it is that you let the wild yeast ferment? So the wild yeasts must bring the sourness too...

Are they still doing drinks on the roof of the Met Museum during the summer? That was very nice.

A pound of ginger to a quart of water? Egads, that's potent! And no lemon or other souring agent in there? And it is all raw ginger and no cooked ginger? And where does the fizz come from? I've made homemade ginger ale with a bit of lemon oil, a bit of lemon juice and a whole lot less ginger, some of it boiled and some of it not... I like being able to keep the sugar content under control. I carbonate mine is a soda keg...

Tabla in NYC does some interesting Indian inspired cocktails-- tamarind margaritas, lemongrass infused pineapple juice mixed with things, etc... Maybe your friend could try the same tricks but with Thai ingredients... the lemongrass infusion could be accompanied by lime leaf infusions too... Galangal-ale in place of ginger ale as a mixer... rambutan sours maybe... spicy pepper and coconut milk based cocktails... infuse the fresh green peppercorns into gin or vodka and play around to find something that works...

Here's a pointer to the mead making thread-- http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=49051&hl=

Cool new project. We've got a meadmaking thread around here someplace... I'll see if I can dig it out and get the mods to move this over there... would be good to breathe some new life into that.

Realized I'd not answered this question- and I think that the flavor that you call "grape soda" and I call "dried fruits" comes more out of the yeast and maybe using Special B than from the syrup. What you're talking about is the fruity esters that yeast produce when fermented at certain temperatures. In American brewing those flavors are regarded by many as mistakes, and many find them disgusting... I happen to like them, so I let my yeast ferment a bit warmer... but I don't expect hardcore hopheads to appreciate what I brew. To get those flavors, find an ester producing yeast, and ferment it in the 70s. Some of the fruit character will be influenced by the hops too... One of my favorite beers in the UK was Marston's Pedigree- a beer that definitely had that grapefruit character that ZGT is hunting for... but it contained no grapefruit by-products at all...

ZGT- If you used the Belgian wit yeast, don't dump the beers. Give them at least 5 weeks in the bottle for the yeast's natural sourness to develop. If you've got a good base of grapefruit flavor in the beer, as the yeast sourness comes online, you'll get what you're looking for. Don't dump the batch yet.

Ooooh. Very pretty coppery color. How dry and tart and peppery does the saison yeast leave that recipe? I've just tasted the most recent batch I brewed with the saison recipe and the 3822 yeast, and it is very nice indeed. Amazing how much flavor one little star anise added... and the Nelson Sauvin hops do, indeed bring a great wine-like character. I think it will be a winner after another few weeks of aging.

Here's a link to a great thread on a homebrew board about all the things you can do with a nitrogen tap system... for those interested, it would be a good read.

I can offer the perspective of a homebrewer of Belgian style beers-- There is indeed a massive difference between bottle conditioned beers and kegged beers. Over on the eGCI Q&A thread I described brewing a belgian strong dark style beer. I bottled half of it and kegged the other half. The kegged beer never dropped a certain earthy murky flavor that the bottles lost... I found myself preferring the bottled version quite a bit. I've never done a commercial head-to-head of bottled vs. kegged, though I could next time I find myself in Monk's or another of Phily's fine Belgian establishments...

The device that gets you that kind of head is called a stout faucet. Usually used with a nitrogen/CO2 mixture of gasses. I've heard reports that just CO2 achieves a reasonable facsimile of the effect you're looking for.

Well, the nitro head is very distinctive. Head retention is really helped by adding Carapils into a recipe, or wheat malt, or flaked wheat, or flaked barley. It's all about the proteins, and those are ingredients that bring them.

I'd not say Manhattan is pathetic in it's beer options... I've picked up all kinds of amazing stuff (e.g. New Glarus beers, Jolly Pumpkins, various obscure Belgians, etc) from the corner bodega nearest where I stay when I'm in town. It is a crap shoot, however. Nowhere consistently has a huge selection of beers, or even a consistent selection... but the good stuff is there... you just have to luck into it.

That kind of head means that the beer was served by means of a nitrogen tap system. You can get into the nitro game, but it isn't cheap...

Above are a couple of pictures of howthat Belgian strong I brewed back in February turned out. Now that we're 5 months in, it has settled down and become a very nice reddish beer that holds a tan head for a good long time. Its aroma starts out distinctly fruity, and that carries over into the beginning of the sip as well, however there is a dark, roasty undertone. On the palate, the beer is quite dry, with little sweetness backing a dried fruit character that predominates, with a low intensity bitterness in the background. A cakey-bready maltiness is hinted at as well. The beer's finish, however changes character entirely and the roasty chocolate malt character comes out in a lingering unsweetened-cocoa-powder finish. All in all, I'd call the experiment a success and encourage others to give it a try this winter when you can keep the fermentation temperatures down in the high 60'sF.

Not star anise (which is the fruit of an evergreen shrub). Just plain anise (aka fennel) comes in big bulbs with frilly foliage. Use it raw in a salad. Add some into a mirepoix. Stir fry it. Sweat it with some onions.

Must concur on the bacon and the Dirty Laundry. Both rock! The special Christmas edition of the Dirty Laundry with dried cherries in was particularly good.

So, how's the grapefruit brew coming? I'd love to hear how it turned out. I've got a riff on the 4 Grain Saison in the fermenter now with a few interesting changes-- 2 lb. Belgian Pilsner 8 oz. Flaked rye 8 oz. Torrified wheat 4 oz. Belgian biscuit 4 oz. Flaked oats 4 oz. Raw barley (Korean pressed barley) 4 oz. Rice flour Mash at 143 30 min, 148 45 min. Boil: 90 minutes 1.5 lb. Light dry malt extract 8 oz. Cane sugar 14 oz. Dansuker light syrup Whirlfloc at 15 .1 oz. Nelson Sauvin (11.25% AA, 75 min.) 1.5 oz. Styrian Goldings (3.8% AA, 75 min.) .25 oz. Nelson Sauvin (11.25% AA, 20 min.) .15 oz. Nelson Sauvin (aroma) Yeast: 3822 Ingelmunster Spiced with 1 star anise. I'm hoping that the sauvignon blanc character that the hops were named for shines through and the tart phenolic nature of the yeast plays well with the hopping. We'll see in a week when I keg this batch and give it a taste.

The only native US tea produced commercially is from South Carolina... Click here for more info. Having tried their stuff, it seemed to be a very run of the mill black tea. I'd not characterize it as distinctive or special. I'd love to hear that others elsewhere in the US are doing interesting cultivation of Camellia Sinensis... What exactly do you want to do with this loose tea you're looking for, anyway?

Since the topic is right before us, I was wondering if anybody actually knows what the bloody spots in the flesh do the its flavor? They look bad, and are acknowledged as a fault, but how do they affect the way the meat tastes? Do they add iron flavor? Do they promote mealy texture? Do they accelerate spoilage? What exactly makes blood spots so undesirable and renders meat containing them suitable only for pet food?

You beat me to the punch, Holly. I got the tour about a month ago, and have been meaning to go back with camera, but have put it off too many times... Isn't that thing the coolest? The fact that engineers figured out how to make something like that just astonishes me. The cows are happy, the cheese is good, and the farmers don't have to wake with the sun to milk the beasties (though probably to do other stuff). They told me that the machine will send messages to their phone if certain alarms are tripped, and that leads to some middle-of-the-night antics... Anyway, good photo evidence of a really cool feat of engineering... How was the cheese? Have they got the goat's milk stuff back in the line-up yet?

Great analysis, Bob! Keep us posted as more news fills out the story.

Sad indeed. I'd been intending to get down there some time... Guess it wasn't meant to be. Wonder where the chef will land next. Wonder what bar will be graced by Katie's excellent mixology next...

You might just try going to www.froogle.com and doing a search for it. You'll see some soapmaking-grade oil and some will say suitable for food use. Looks like it goes for around $1 an ounce.