paul o' vendange

Sam is right. In fact, as I posted elsewhere, Miller led the way in developing reduced isohumulone extracts and hydrogenated versions of these isohumulones, thereby ensuring they could package its, em, beer, in clear bottles. However, they are not alone. Many breweries, including craft breweries, use additives of one kind or another, including foam stabilizers and other compounds in modest amounts. Some of this is due to the potentially adverse effects on head retention of filtration and other processes. Additionally, post-fermentation, any addition of oxygen is considered more deleterious than the addition of anti-oxidants such as Sodium Erythorbate. Many breweries, such as the one where I worked, dry hop with agitation and during that process air is indeed introduced, so, to ensure shelf stability, some additive would be used. Hell, even on the packaging line, bottles are bathed in CL02 or peracetic acid and these are not rinsed away, but as they are below sensory thresholds no one worries about it. Paul

That's so funny - just looked up on the dictionary, and indeed it is usually considered essentially the same as salt pork. Our local butcher carries it as pure fatback - sheets or cubes, off the pig, which is how I have always bought it. Unsalted. Never knew otherwise, interesting to find out. Paul

I have not known fatback to be salted. Paul

Why, whatever for?

Count me in. Formerly of Goose Island Brewing Company. Moving out of Chicago to a rural area, where, finally, I can take "Ugly Betty" out of mothballs. She is called so as I am a lousy welder, but she is a workhorse. Two tiered, three converted kegs, 3 burners totalling 510K BTUS. Brew in 12 gallon lengths. Have my own micro lab as I enjoy running quality control on my beers, as well as capturing, storing and using many yeasts. Opening a restaurant, which is the reason why my course on homebrewing here has been put on hold, but looking forward to brewing again (and posting the Q/A on homebrewing). Cheers, all. Paul

Two things: I love the lighting. In fact, if you extended it by hanging either a pheasant (plumage on) or rabbit, or a pig's head, for that matter, I may very well go over the deep end. Secondly, if Joel Robuchon can win his audience by mashed potatoes and green salad, then certainly, a humble bowl of your "just soup" may provide worthy testament! In fact, I am semi-ripping you off as we speak. Lunch will be a root vegetable soup, topped with leftover duck confit; salmon with a horseradish crust and avocado vinaigrette, and a just-finished pain de campagne. Cheers, Paul

Wow. I have just spent the last 1/2 hour in delirium. My wife, son and 2 dogs are just looking at me with the utmost concern as dad mumbles "mon dieu, mon dieu - Nous sommes perdu ici..." as I cry into my morning mug. Absolutely stunning. Very generous of you, too, Lucy. Paul

Sounds like you were using a magret, off the Moulard duck. Did you score it? Whatever type of duck breast I use (Muscovy, Pekin, Moulard), I score generously - about 20 each way, maybe 1/8" apart, in hatching 45 deg. Serves me well, watch my flame, try to get a nice brown skin in 10-12 minutes, then light "kiss" searing on the other side for a medium rare. Scoring like this should allow a more ready rendering...with the magret, fat comes pouring off in buckets, immediately. With the magret, I score like this first then cut the lobe in half, so each serving is roughly 8 oz. Then cook according to the above, tent and rest, and serve. Your port-currant sauce sounds great - tell me a bit about it? Paul

Like I had it at Stuckey's, in L.A. A big ass single ball in the center of the bowl. Just matzo meal, good chicken broth. Working any number of bistros in the Valley, come home late at night, needing some serious comfort food - sitting alone at the lunch counter, ask for the same thing nightly - including a Kaiser roll. She's undoubtedly long gone now, god bless her, ancient then; called me darlin, asked how I was, told me the kaiser would be extra, 'that ok?' every single night...a mantra between us, a goy and my Jewish gramma. Thanks for the memory. It was heaven. Paul

In a "healthfood/breakfast joint" ? Ditto. As an entrepreneur, I have a problem with "standard wisdom says..." anything. If you want something, you do it. If there's a roadblock, find a way around it. If you listened to the standard advice from anyone, you would likely not even start, much less succeed. Go in eyes open, but not so equivocating that the angst and decision making stymies action. At some point, simply take action and don't look back. Plenty of voices out there to say, "no, don't do it"; especially as regards the hackneyed wisdom contained in "don't - it WILL FAIL!!!!!!!!!!!!!," I find absolutely useless. And in light of this person's intended operation, let's get real and allow that it may succeed, despite the firestorm of negativity. However, trysts over tea may indeed pose an irreparable threat. Be afraid. be very afraid. Paul

I used to make a cassoulet with a rich brown ale I brewed, and a mustard-herb-breadcrumb crust. Never tried the gingerbread but know, hearing it, it would be wonderful. Thanks. Paul

You will find that brewers and beer drinkers are generally a friendly lot. The only numbskull is the one who puts on airs - By its very nature, beer is a convivial drink, so sidle up to the bar (or farmhouse, or monastery, or what have you) and join for a tipple or two! Paul

I will go against the grain and say, if you've researched it, and want to do it, do it and don't look back. I am going to presume you're your own person, and you asked for some good literature on how to do it (can't help there), not the folksy-streetwise party line of how tough it is. It is tough, but if you want it, get it and make it your own. Paul

Slightly off thread, but with Theakston on the Ommegang. Great company, great ale. I enjoy their Ommegang, which they list as a "burgundian" brew. Rich, off-red, wonderful. And, as Theakston says, cheap. Paul

I would think the Porter would be great; as would Summit's Porter, or Bell's line of dark ales. I think that in addition to the lower bitterness, the roast notes from the roast barley and roast malt go well. I don't know about Sierra's Porter, but I know in my own brewing I am fond of using Northdown or Northern Brewer in my strong dark ales, as do many breweries I know of. By my taste, these hops have a wonderful roast fruit (think: baked plums) character, which I like in my big dark ales (i.e., "Black Stag Imperial Stout," a winter warmer, at 9.6% alcohol). Hadn't occurred to me, but this fruit character would be great with the flamande. Enjoying the discussion. Paul

You beat my clicking, Carolyn. If this were poker, I'd say "Fold." I'm sorry for your loss, as well. Paul

13 years old. Catered party for 20. Multi-course meal. Fresh on the heels of Jacques Pepin's La Technique, a wunderkind in the making. Dessert: Crepes Suzette. Boil the butter/grand marnier, pour entirely too much in to the chafing dish. Light. Explode. Forelocks and eyebrows have that certain roast-flesh bouquet. Panic, and reassure at the same time, "everything's fine, everyone," while I drip flaming butter across the host's table and floor. Of course, this was preceded by, at 8, I think it was, a flaming broiler full of lamb chops, panic again, throw the flaming foil into the trash and splash it on the kitchen curtains...almost fry the kitchen, all before 10. Cheers!

Mnebergall, you're fine, I'm the loser; I stand corrected. Stella Artois is indeed a lager, and the largest "Belgian" brewery. I guess I put it out of my radar. My mind was on carbonnade, and what I prefer to go with it, and I spaced. I must also admit my bias: to me, Stella Artois is to Belgian brewing what (sorry, fans) Budweiser is to American brewing. In my humble view, a non-distinct, characterless product, made by a behemoth (Interbrew, increasingly, the owner of the world's once-finest independent breweries). Apologies to all who may love it, I just see the once proud independent breweries going under to the "family" called Interbrew, and I don't like it. And with a country so populated by distinctive, smaller breweries (many of them in a 600 s.f. farmhouse or the like), I can't see using anything but craft Belgian ale in the food. My $0.02. Under any circumstance, Cheers. Paul

Mnebergall, the Belgians do not make lagers or pilsners (a type of lager) generally (I can't think of a single brewery, actually). They make ales, meaning beer brewed with top-fermenting yeast. They also use wild yeasts and bacteria in their ferments. To the point at hand. One reason Belgian ales are specified is due to the generally low level of hop bitterness in most Belgian ales. Many traditional Belgian brews use hops which have been stored for a length of time - aged - to reduce the level of bitterness: alpha acids (humulone, co-humulone, and ad-humulone) are the bittering component in hops; they are very volatile, and aging strongly reduces their presence in hops. Sierra Nevada, the quintessentially aggressively-hoppy, American Pale Ale, is hopped on orders more than just about any Belgian ale, even more so when you are talking Belgian dark ales (i.e., "Bruin"), which are generally less bitter still. Not that that is a bad thing - I love what hops can add to food. But not what I would think is a substitute for a recipe calling for Belgian ale. Paul

Mike, booze and college students is indeed a problem - twas ever thus. But I think the marketing gurus were doing a public service, in a way. These kids can't afford a six pack of craft beer. But they can afford maybe one single serve. I don't think too many of the college students are buying 4 of the 22's (in truth, they're probably buying a 22 of Rogue Imperial IPA and a 30-pack of Goebbels, but that's another story). Paul Beans, nice link, thanks.

I know when I was planning on our own brewery, our talks with retailers led us to strongly consider the 22 oz. for a certain demographic - the college age beer fan. In the U.P., where we were going to do it, people are nuts for 22 oz. beers - e.g., Rogue's lineup - as they can't spring for a 6 pack of craft ale, but can for a 22 oz. Paul sorry - should specify for non-U.S. comrades - "da U.P." is the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, a remote paradise of snow, big trees, and hearty folks.

Not to put too fine a point on it, that's marketing BS. It's unlikely anyone would be able to pick "Angus" out of a lineup of equivalent graded meat - it all looks the same once the skin's off, and any of the other traditional ("British") breeds such as Hereford or Shorthorn provide the same approximate level of marbling and fat cover. There's currently a lot of research going on to identify genetic markers for tenderness and marbling, and from the preliminary results, there's not a significant genetic difference between Angus and the other two. This is all interesting, and timely for me. I am considering this very thing for my own startup. I have never used Highland beef, but from discussions with other chefs and with our purveyor, fits some nice quality parameters I am looking for. Will have to see, of course, cook with it and see how our guests take to it. Also looking at Longhorn. Nice discussion. Paul

Mayhaw, mostly 100% agreed. Bud has an amazing amount of care in what they do, and a regimen to back it up (and, with Miller, has had a lot to do with the leading edge of brewing in this country, as with Miller's dedication to producing light/skunk resistant isohumulone and hop products). By my taste, just wish it were devoted to something of what I would feel to be deeper character and flavor, but each to their own. A minor quibble - I have never understood nor have I bought the argument of a "finer" bubble of C02 by any process. CO2 of a given purity is just that - C02. No method of artificial or natural carbonation can alter that. In solution, it is not a bubble. Out of solution, as induced by the cap popped off, or tap drawn, it will have the same physicality regardless of the method used to put it there. The things which alter the bubble size have to do with the length the bubble travels to the surface (or the length of run on the beer line), or the serving temp, rather than the manner in which the CO2 is introduced. I have found "creaminess" in lower CO2-volume beers, or, of course, nitro pours, but have never detected any difference between beers of like CO2 volume, regardless of the method. My thunks. Paul

No question, Bud's QC is bar none the finest in the world. It occurs to I've never really thought of diacetyl as a "green component," in the same way I've thought of acetaldehyde as "green" - acetaldehyde being a precursor to EToH, and diacetyl and VDK/diacetyl being chains of other reactions, but I can see why it would be considered so - produced as it usually is by inadequate crash cooling and lagering regimens (esp. among ales). Actually, I have rarely found diacetyl in any lager save spoiled ones; I am more apt to find sulfur (again, absent an incomplete conditioning regimen) as typical lager yeasts produce a tremendous amount of sulfurous by-products. As with all things, what is anathema to some folks is a plus to others. In most of my brewery experience, VDK/diacetyl has been considered an absolute curse, indicative of poor cellarmanship and "dirty" ale. I personally enjoy a touch in the ales I brew - a richer, rounder complexity, esp. among my strong ales. Just a touch, though, e.g., I consider Redhook to be too much a "butter beer." C'est la vie. Sorry to hijack the thread - interesting discussion, though, Mayhaw. Paul

The "green" character is probably due to acetaldehyde. Though Bud denies it, the beer has long been associated with beyond-threshold levels of the compound; it is quite often present in krausened beers, which if I'm not mistaken Bud is. It has a "green apple" aroma and mild taste, in minor quantities. As to the "day old - fresh" idea: water is indeed fresh after a day. Doh! (Sorry, couldn't resist - my glasses are craft-ale colored)... Paul