cdh

Great article if for no other reason that any publicity is good publicity. Rum is fine fine stuff when well made... glad for the NYtimes pointing that out. Few of their reviewed rums are available in Pennsylvania, at the moment, but I'll keep an eye out to see if that changes. Interesting that they're finding interesting white rums... in my limited experience, it has always been the aged rums that were particularly interesting. But then again, white tequilas are spectacularly flavorful, so white rums could as well.... I remain a fan of Bacardi 8, a very nice aged rum... but will look out for interesting white rums to try if they make it to my shelves.

Mine have a strange gritty texture, which wouldn't be so great in desserts, I don't think... Don't know what to do with them.

I agree with Sam. Why wouldn't a Sidecar topped with soda just be a Sidecar Fizz? I thought the nomenclature rules were that X topped with soda became an X Fizz.

I agree that all brewing is a bit of fun. While I love the idea of the Creative Commons license, and applaud those who chose to use it, I have to look a bit funny at projects that misuse it. Beer is not valid copyright subject matter, and treating it as though it were confuses the issue. The recipe is not, at its core, valid copyright subject matter either. And these kids pretty clearly don't have a patent on their beer that they could be licensing under the Creative Commons either. So, while this project brings together two things I really enjoy- brewing and open source licensing, it does so in a way that I can't wholeheartedly support because it confuses too many issues... both zymurgical and legal.

Neat marketing angle... but calling it an open source beer really means nothing. The net is chock full of beer recipes, and there is no intellectual property law that would lock them all up in any way similar to what the default options of copyright do to software. This is just another beer recipe that is out on the net. Have a look over at hbd.org sometime if you're in need of inspiration for brewing recipes. Nobody over there will try to collect royalties if you brew their beer either. Problem with a one size fits all recipe is that one size generally can't. Ingredient availability is not uniform unless everybody mail orders from the same spot... and consistency will only be maintained so long as that shop keeps their stock the same, and fresh. The Danes' idea of a caffeinated beer sounds kinda scary, looking at the recipe... and guarana is fine as a Red Bull flavoring, but not so much as a beer adjunct... As to the applicability of the creative commons license to beer, I'll just say it is a category mistake and leave it at that. As to their recipe, it is woefully incomplete, and incapable of producing consistent product based on what they reveal. Really, brewing beer is not hard... not nearly as hard as coding decent software. OSS coders win a much bigger tip of my hat than OS brewers.

Moldy seals? Just don't keep them in a damp basement. Lots of otherwise clean stuff grows mold in damp basements.

Hmmm... What Powell said has a certain ring of truth in it, I think... if from nothing other than a marketing perspective. Look at the situation as a marketing problem: 1. Supermarket produce is pretty, but pretty bland and lacking in character. It costs what it costs. 2. Organic produce is less pretty, but sometimes better flavored, and certainly has character. It costs more than the pretty supermarket produce. How do you sell people on the idea that they should buy the less pretty more expensive organic produce? You can't give everybody a taste to show them the difference. You can tell them that organic produce is grown in a way that is better for the world, that doesn't pollute and doesn't support the giant chemical companies that make all the fertilizer and pesticide that are used on the pretty supermarket produce. You can tell them that all that pesticide left a residue on the pretty supermarket produce... then you can ask them if they want to feed their children pesticide residue, and whether they want to support pollution and giant chemical businesses. There is a ring of overbearing moral superiority in there, don't you think? While those are not the only selling points for organic produce, they undeniably are points that have been used to sell it. I think that is what Powell is on about.

Maybe a Trenton redux--- Delorenzo's vs Rome?

Congrats on the formal induction into the non-profit fraternity! I'll know whether I can come a bit later in the summer when client development/proper employment gets sorted out. Sounds like a blast. If I do come, the beer I've brewed will be ready just about right on time for the event... any word on the donation-in-kind status for us homebrewers?

I did indeed receive the samples and have had the chance to taste the four green teas you sent over the weekend. Two were quite good, and two I had trouble getting much flavor out of. The quite good were the Daughter's Ring and the BiLuoChun. I'll do a proper tasting and post notes sometime soon. I wasn't getting much flavor or aroma from the Silvertip or the Steamed Green. Both produced a fine mouthfeel, but the flavor was too subtle, I think. Maybe it was my brewing technique? I use a YiXing teapot, and water at about 80C, with steeping times between a minute and 1.5 minutes. Any suggestions would be welcomed.

You're right that there is a tradition of dogmatic received knowledge amongst food lovers today, but I doubt that you'll find the fanaticism and zealotry that spilled so much blood over the past 1500 years in our midst. Let's hope it stays that way.

What do you mean by "hand powered frother"? Is it one of those glass cylinders with a screen like a french press that you agitate? I've never used one. I've also seem whisk-like things called frothers too. Please focus our attention on the device you're interested in. I've only used the steam jet on my espresso machines. I find that cold cold milk in a cold cold steel pitcher froths best with the steam jet.

Hmmm... 100 miles, eh... I don't know if it would work today or not... Living in southeastern Pennsylvania 50 years ago it would have been easy... the NJ coast is within 100, as is the Chesapeake bay... Lancaster county produce... plenty of local dairy and beef and poultry... Today I don't know how much commercially available stuff from those locales is in my markets... We do get very local stuff in one particularly long-established supermarket... but local seasons for produce are short... I don't know that there is a constant supply. Even if stuff is grown around you, you may have to strike up unheard-of commercial relationships with the growers... which would be much easier if you have the PR aspect of writing an article about what you're doing. Many wouldn't want the headache of retail sales to everybody walking in off the street. Neat idea, though.

Busboy's comment strikes me as right on. What Jack's original post was observing and talking about is more dogmatism than religiousity. While dogma comes hand in hand with religion, dogmatism alone is not religion. While food is one of life's great pleasures and provides from comfort to ecstatic sensory pleasure, it doesn't approach the metaphysical. Nobody here has talked about the waffle that created the world, or the karmic habaneros that will afflict the wicked when they're least expecting it.

Just an update on the project: After two weeks the little walnuts I used had come nowhere near to turning the solution dark, much less black. It was a very pleasant bourbon colored liquid, which didn't seem right. So I picked another handful of walnuts off of the tree that had two weeks more maturation on them. Now the liquid is darkening, though is still not going to pass for motor oil. A question for other nocino makers- Are your walnuts English or Black? My walnuts are Black, and much rounder than the oblong things pictured here... Do we know whether one or the other type makes a better nocino?

Here's a good article on brewing soft drinks that should get you going in the right direction. http://byo.com/feature/547.html

Hate to hear that the other homebrewing threads here have scared you with complexity... but homebrewing is not quite as simple as meadmaking is. Your easiest bet is to find a pre-hopped extract kit, where the only challenge is dumping it into some hot water and stirring it. That takes the complexity down almost to meadmaking levels. The complexity comes back when you do the hopping yourself... and when you choose specialized yeasts... and if you choose to start with grains rather than malt extract syrup. All of those are options... but not required. What level of involvement and hand-holding are you looking for? Plenty of brewers are here to help you if you get flummoxed. Just ask. I'd second Bob's soft-drink suggestion. Try making your own ginger ale or root beer. A big part of the fun is the self-carbonating effect the yeast have on it. Nothing more magical than sealing a bottle of flat stuff and having it become all fizzy in a week.

What is his business model? Is he looking to be a brewpub selling on premises, or is he looking into bottling and getting distributed? Brewpubs seem to be doing reasonably well in southeastern PA... we have several Iron Hill locations that each brew on site, two Sly Fox brewpubs, the Independence brewpub in Center City PHL has been in business for a while, the Rock Bottom in King of Prussia brews on site and, while it has changed ownership, it still is there and brewing. You do raise an interesting question: Has the brewpub thing made its way north? I can't think of any brewpubs in PA to my north, and I'm at the northern fringes of PHL's sphere of influence (though the Ship Inn in Milford, NJ is up close to Easton latitudes, though just across the river.) My homebrew shop has recently opened an outpost in Bethlehem, so that is a sign of interest in small batch beer in the Lehigh Valley. Lew Bryson's PA Breweries book would probably answer my question about brewpubs north of the PHL burbs... really should pick that up.

Thanks for explaining the color scale for me. These things are not well explained by western tea marketers. Where does the color scale come from? Some green teas look greenish when brewed, most white teas are much lighter in color than any others, and pouchongs do look yellowish... but oolongs don't look blue and teas like darjeeling (which looks to be less than 100% oxidized) don't appear red in the cup. Who started the color coding tradition? As to pricing, there are many price points. Some teas seem to be good value, while others just do not. The teas I'd mentioned strike me as good value for money, but that is becuase they are fresh and well kept when I buy them. I've bought other oolongs at similar price points and have been disappointed and found them bad value for money. I just didn't enjoy the Ten Ren Ten Lu tea that they advertise as quite special. So, tea pricing really depends on the quality of the tea... which I'd have to taste to judge. So samples are really essential.

In my cider experiment, I found that it is a live product and keeps evolving. About 3 weeks in it is perfect-- lightly fizzy, tart, wonderful. After that, it seems that acetic beasts took hold, bringing in a vinegar-y aspect that kept increasing. In the end, I kept a pint of the vinegar that resulted, but it certainly wasn't pleasant drinking. So, make it in small batches, and consume it quickly... or enjoy some homemade apple cider vinegar.

Wow! Interesting selection of tea varieties you propose. I've never heard of blue tea... Could you explain it? The rest make sense to me... White- unprocessed tea leaves steamed and dried straight off the bush. Green- minimally processed tea that is crushed and heated, but not given time to oxidize. Yellow- tips and buds processed like green tea. Red (and Black)- tea leaves crushed and allowed to oxidize before drying. As to my personal preferences, I like the very lightly oxidized Pouchongs and Oolongs. I like Ten Ren's 2nd Grade Pouchong, which goes for about $60 per pound. I also like the Anxi Oolongs from Gray & Seddon teas, which go for about $30 per pound. I buy all my tea loose. I love to try new and different types of teas, but the lightly oxidised oolongs are my favorites so far. Ten Ren's second grade Pouchong Gray and Seddon's oolong page

Sounds good! Do be prepared to wait for months before it clears. Do you intend a sparkling or a still mead?

I'm a huge fan of Pimm's... It is a standard thing I serve at parties in the summertime, and lots of people love it. I have no idea what it consists of, other than gin... and I don't really care all that much. All I know is that it makes a low effort bowl of punch at a party. My recipe is: 1 cup Pimms 1 cup Vodka (optional, depending on how heavy drinkers your guests are) 2 liters ginger ale 1 orange sliced into wheels 1 cucumber sliced into rounds Add all to a big punch bowl with a giant lump of ice in the middle, put in the middle of a large lawn with a croquet course set up, and you can keep 20 people happy for an hour or two. Have never run across the Plymouth fruit cup, so can't comment on it. Try the Pimms... you'll like it.

#17 sounds like Migas, which you should be able to find in abundance in TX.

Who cares about the conventional wisdom? If we're smarter than the conventional wisdom, then it to our advantage to keep it that way. Let others think EW is a low-end spirit... and it's price will stay pleasantly low. We'll know better, but who else? Who cares?