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Date: Sun, 1 Sep 1996 00:30:06 -0600
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Subject: Lambic Digest #926 (September 01, 1996)
Lambic Digest #926 Sun 01 September 1996
Forum on Lambic Beers (and other Belgian beer styles)
Mike Sharp, Digest Coordinator
Contents:
Re: Noble hops - is time all it takes (Espourteille, Francois)
Re: Noble Hops - is time all it takes (Brian Bliss)
Re: Lambic Digest #925 (August 30, 1996) (Mike Sharp)
Re: Lambic Digest #925 (August 30, 1996)
Cookbook: Everybody Eats Well in Belgium Cookbook (Mike Sharp)
Re: Noble hops (Ed Westemeier)
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----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 30 Aug 96 11:15:31 EST
From: fespourteille at mmt.com (Espourteille, Francois)
Subject: Re: Noble hops - is time all it takes
On Thu, 29 Aug 1996 19:06:42 Richard Loll wrote:
I understand that what makes hops appropriate for Lambic style brewing is
age - it takes away some bitterness I guess. Is this accurate? I have some
1+ year old Tattenger and Northern Brewer pellets which I'd like to use up,
but am concerned about their potency.
Most lambic brewers use three year old hops, by which time almost all
the biterness is gone (refering to alpha acids, some beta acids are
probably still there but they are a minor constituent). Hop aroma is
also gone and the hops have a cheesy smell. You could use hop
pellets, but they were probably more resistent to oxydation than hop
cones. For future reference, if you have hop pellets that are past
their prime and you want to use them for lambic, crush the pellets
into a powder to speed up the oxidation (then wait a year). You can
probably use the tettnanger, but I would be cautious about the
northern brewer (they are a lot more bitter, usually, than the tett.)
Also, when you brew with old hops, make sure you have a long boil to
get raid of the cheesy aromas the hops will bring to the wort. 90
minutes is a minimum, two to three hours is standard.
Good luck.
Francois.
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 30 Aug 1996 11:48:51 -0600
From: rransom at msu.edu (Richard Ransom)
On Thu, 29 Aug 1996 Richard "Ric" Loll (rnjloll at ite.net) wrote (>):
>I understand that what makes hops appropriate for Lambic style
>brewing is age - it takes away some bitterness I guess. Is
>this accurate? I have some 1+ year old Tattenger and Northern
>Brewer pellets which I'd like to use up, but am concerned
>about their potency.
Hey Ric;
As I understand the process, Lambic brewers age their hops for quite some
time to reduce both the hop bitterness and aroma by (primarily) oxidation.
They store their leaf hops in burlap bags for something like 3 - 5 years (!)
at ambient temperature before using them in brewing. They also use a great
deal of hops for their antimicrobial (or, more accurately, _selective_
antimicrobial) action, but don't want the high bitterness and aroma that
using a large quantity of fresh hops would entail.
In your case you will find that pellets age somewhat slower than leaf hops
due to the smaller surface area, and you've also probably stored them in a
refrigerator which also slows the aging process (and may introduce a nasty
I-stored-this-too-long-next-to-the-onions odor). If you are into producing
Lambics by the traditional methods, you probably want to begin aging some
_leaf_ hops now so you can get in a batch or two before the turn of the
millenium. However, aging hops in the traditional fashion is probably not a
big issue for most homebrewers, since Lambics are: 1) primary fermented in
shallow open containers exposed to wild microflora, 2) aged for an
incredibly long time (1 - 3 or even more years) in oak casks, and 3) blended
to form the final product. Finished Lambics are about half new (1 yr) and
half old (2 - 3 yrs), and the long maturation demands a high degree of
selective microbial growth, hence the requirement for a lot of low
alpha-acid hops. If you're going to make a homemade "Lambic" using sealed
fermenters, pure yeast and bacterial strains, and short maturation, I
suspect that using your year-old hops at a normal rate (for fresh hops)
would be quite adequate.
For more information on the Lambic process (but not a lot of useful
information for the brewer) read the recent article on Lambics in
_Scientific American_. Particularly good for its profile of the populations
of microbes in the maturing beer.
And you can always tip an Orval to support the endangered brewers of Belgium
instead of trying to do it yourself...
Father Barleywine
+++++++++++ ++++++++++ ++++++++++ ++++++++++ ++++++++++ ++++++++++
Richard F. Ransom D.O.E. Plant Research Laboratory
Visiting Research Associate Michigan State University
rransom at msu.edu East Lansing, MI 48824-1312
ph. (517) 353-4886 fax (517) 353-9168
+++++++++++ ++++++++++ ++++++++++ ++++++++++ ++++++++++ ++++++++++
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 30 Aug 96 12:59:01 CDT
From: Brian Bliss <brianb at microware.com>
Subject: Re: Noble Hops - is time all it takes
> I understand that what makes hops appropriate for Lambic style brewing is
> age - it takes away some bitterness I guess. Is this accurate? I have some
> 1+ year old Tattenger and Northern Brewer pellets which I'd like to use up,
> but am concerned about their potency.
yes, time is all it takes, but pellets don't "age" nearly as well.
in fact, if you've stored them in a sealed bag in a fridge, they probably
haven't lost nearly enough of their bittering power to use in a lambic.
you'll need to crush them up, spread them out in a fine layer in a plate,
and let them age some more. If they still smell bitter, they are not
aged enough.
ditto for hop plugs, but I've found that the plugs lose a lot more of their
bitterness when stored properly (for non-lambic beers) than pellets do,
so plugs that you just happened to have laying around for a few years
might work fine; pellets probably won't.
if you nuke them for a minute or two in a microware every week or so,
it should help speed up the process.
bb
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 30 Aug 96 12:44:06 PDT
From: msharp at synopsys.com (Mike Sharp)
Subject: Re: Lambic Digest #925 (August 30, 1996)
This was accidentally sent to the lambic-request address.
--Mike
- ----- Begin Included Message -----
Date: 30 Aug 96 08:03:13 EDT
From: "Larry D. Gray" <102335.447 at CompuServe.COM>
To: subscription requests only - do not post here <lambic-request at lance.colostate.edu>
Subject: Re: Lambic Digest #925 (August 30, 1996)
Content-Length: 780
Rick: I used 12-year-old (yes, twelve) Kent and Saaz hops in my now almost
2-year-old lambic (which has gone through at least six different pellicles).
Either potency was there or potency was absent; it is hard to say. The Brett,
Kleckera, Pedio, etc. are there. Hops are not evident. Bitterness is fine.
So, I think the rumors are correct: use aged hops (somehow, little or no aroma
and flavor; somehow, whatever bitterness is there balances whatever sweetness
remains). If you think your old hops are "too potent", bake them in an oven
with "not-too-intense" heat until they start to turn brown and then place them
in direct sunlight for a couple of days. By the way, have you ever smelled
12-year-old hops? The proverbial "cheesy" is not even close! Regards, Larry
Gray
- ----- End Included Message -----
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 30 Aug 96 13:25:50 PDT
From: msharp at synopsys.com (Mike Sharp)
Subject: Cookbook: Everybody Eats Well in Belgium Cookbook
Back in July I received a review copy of
Everybody Eats Well in Belgium Cookbook
by Ruth Van Waerebeek
with Maria Robbins
Workman Publishing, New York, 1996
ISBN 1-56305-41-6 (paperback)
0-7611-0106-3 (hard cover)
336 pages
>From the jacket:
250 recipes from a rich culinary tradition. The crispiest fried
potatoes, moistest roast chicken, plumpest garlicky mussels and
heartiest beers. Plus fabulous Belgian waffles, breads and lush
desserts.
About the author:
Ruth van Waerebeek is from the medieval city of Ghent, where she
learned Belgian cuisine from her great grandmother, her grandmother,
and her mother. She chefed at two leading restaurants in Ghent
before traveling around the world. Currently she teaches French
and Belgian cooking at Peter Kump's New York Cooking Sheel.
Since July my wife & I have been experimenting with various recipes
and we can't be more pleased with the results. Since the arrival of
this book there hasn't been room in the kitchen for any other.
We have yet to be disappointed.
This book contains:
Europe's Best-Kept Secret
general introduction
Appetizers, Salads, and Small Plates
Herring salad, pork liver pate with prunes, country cheese
with herbs, etc.
Soups
potato buttermilk soup, tomato soup with spiced meatballs,
spinach soup with sorrel, etc.
Fish and Shellfish
mussels, mussels, mussels, Waterzooi of Scallops, Waterzooi
of Fish, Eels in green herb sauce, etc.
[one favorite is Mussels with Dijon Mustard Vinaigrette]
Poultry and Game
Poached Chicken with Veal Dumplings and Rice, Waterzooi of
chicken, Checken Braised in Beer with Belgian Endives,
Braised Partridge with Cabbage and Abbey Beer, etc.
Meat
Steak-Frites, Beef stewed in red wine with pearl onions and
muchrooms, Veal stew with dumplings, mushrooms and carrots,
Roast pork with onions and mustard, etc.
Cooking with Beer (!)
Flemish beef stew cooked in beer, Veal chops in beer with
mushrooms and chervil, Belgian meatballs braised in beer
with endives, etc.
Vegetable and Fruit Side Dishes
Belgian endives Flemish style, Braised escarole, gratin of
peal onions, casserole of wild mushrooms, Applesauce, etc,
Potatoes
The one and only truly Belgian fries, Potato and leek pancake,
Mashed potatoes with winter vegetables, mashed potatoes with
leeks, etc.
Waffles, Pancakes and Breads
Waffles, waffles, waffles, Flemish rasin bread, flemish
cinnamon buns, etc.
Desserts
<yum> you'll just have to trust me...
Basics
Bechamel sauce, mayonnaise, sherry vinaigrette, etc.
I received my review copy from VanBerg & DeWulf. They are stocking the
book and they can be reached at 607-547-8184 for more information.
You should also be able to order this book through just about any
competent bookstore.
--Mike
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 30 Aug 1996 18:39:23 -0400
From: Ed Westemeier <hopfen at iac.net>
Subject: Re: Noble hops
On 8/30/96, Richard Loll wrote:
> I understand that what makes hops appropriate for Lambic style brewing is
> age - it takes away some bitterness I guess. Is this accurate? I have some
> 1+ year old Tattenger and Northern Brewer pellets which I'd like to use up,
> but am concerned about their potency.
Do it.
The aging (assuming they're aged in poor conditions, such as room
temperature and not in a sealed container) greatly diminishes the bittering
power. Lambics are basically light wheat beers, so you don't want much
bittering.
The hops in a lambic are there almost entirely for their preservative
qualities, not their bittering capability.
So, really, any old hops are just fine. Your lambic, assuming you pitch the
right beasties in it, will get its character from the fermentation
byproducts, not from whatever old hops you used.
In other words, RDWHAHB.
Ed
- ------------------------------------------------
Ed Westemeier E-mail: hopfen at iac.net
In wine, there is truth.
In beer, there is strength.
In water, there is bacteria.
- ------------------------------------------------
------------------------------
End of Lambic Digest
************************
-------
