Hops

[stellabella]

i went to two pubs in atlanta the other night, the brick house in decatur and then the james joyce pub near agnes scott. i had rogue brutal bitter and sweetwater exodus porter.

i love a pint of well-hopped real ale, but the pasteurization process seems to do something to the hops flavor that makes it too acrid for me--i readily accept that this is my own prejudice, but i wonder if anyone else notices a difference in the hops, and if it is real, what happens?

my husband told me i was full of it--he said that we drink lots of really well-hoppped ales in england. i know what hops tastes like, though, and i like a well-hopped beer, but what i am complaining about is a really sharp acridness that seems to overpower the beer.

[AdamLawrence]

I wonder whether the form in which the hops are used is the key? Most of the best UK breweries use whole, loose hop flowers, but there are also pelletised hops (which are used by a number of still reputable producers), and I think there are other processed hop products. Were these places brewpubs? I know the market in the US is different, but in general over here, I avoid brewpubs, because I find there beer way inferior to the output of normal breweries (Although this is an over-generalisation, probably based on too many crap pints in Firkins in years gone by - I've never seen the attraction of that chain).

But I agree with you, SB - pasteurisation kills a substantial proportion of the flavour of fine beer.

cheers

Adam (who is coming towards the end of Dry January, and looking forward to a pint. And some red wine. And a large G&T. And possibly some port)

[beerguyjim]

If you're saying the two beers you had suffered from pasteurization, I would say that it's unlikely that either of them was pasteurized. Very few microbreweries pasteurize. (Anchor is a notable exception.)

[ranitidine]

What is the rationale for pasteurizing beer? I know that for milk and fruit juices, it's to prevent bacterial infection. But is that a consideration in an alcoholic beverage? I do know that unpasteurized apple cider will turn hard. Is there a fear that beer will become more alcoholic or turn vinegary? I would love to know.

[rstarobi]

What is the rationale for pasteurizing beer?  I know that for milk and fruit juices, it's to prevent bacterial infection.  But is that a consideration in an alcoholic beverage?  I do know that unpasteurized apple cider will turn hard.  Is there a fear that beer will become more alcoholic or turn vinegary?  I would love to know.

The pasteurization kills off the yeast - which preserves the flavor, and prevents it from continuing to mature. Unpasteurized beer will still have live yeast in the bottle, maturing its flavor.

For macrobrewers, uniformity of taste is a goal, thus they almost always pasteurize, to keep their beers tasting the same. Microbrewers either don't have the resources to do this, or are more willing for their beers to evolve into something interesting over time.

[stellabella]

rogue brutal bitter and sweetwater exodus porter.

rogue is in oregon, sweetwater in atlanta. the brick house is just a pub, not a brew pub--nothing brewed on site.

beerguyjim, i just don't know. i only know that the brutal bitter looked so promising, but the hops tasted wrong.

[ranitidine]

rstarobi--Thanks for the info. Are the unpasteurized brews the ones that are cloudy in the bottle?

[Stone]

Probably, the ones with the yeast sediment on the bottom. If you're going to pastuerize, you usually filter out the dead yeast.