Introduction to German Beer

The Widmer yeast is Wyeast 1010 and the assumed origin is Zum Uerige. According to one of my professors who worked at Uerige, the origin of the yeast before that was a Kolsch brewery but he wasn't sure which one. There's a berry like ester that I get with the yeast that reminds me of Muhlen, but other than a similar flavor profile, I have no evidence to say that it is the origin of the strain that we now call American Wheat yeast. I can say though that I love brewing Kolsch with it and that Muhlen was my favorite Kolsch while I was in Cologne and that it has all the qualities that I enjoyed in that beer.

I haven't found a strain that has that wine like ester and flocculates well. Years ago I brewed a 5 gallon Spotted Cow "Clone" using Wyeast 2565 and I got it to drop very bright with gelatin.

 

Drool.

 

So it's an Alt yeast, not a Kolsch yeast?

 

Check out @honkey 's next sentence after the one you quoted.

I know you're spitballing, and I'm just having a bit of harmless fun... but oddly enough, Mühlen Kölsch is made with a bit of wheat malt. Things going full circle?

 

Ah -- got it, thanks. TL;DR.

(and I'm impatient on my phone )

 

I'll start up a thread, been meaning to do it for a while now. The only question is do I put it under Beer Talk where it will get buried after a week or in the Europe/Germany forum where it will die a slow, unnoticed death?

 

Yes. In my travels I suspect much more decoction mashing around Cincinnati - one of my favorite regions for craft beer. Whenever I screw up my infusion mash and resort to decoction mashing to correct temperature, the resulting beer is always better. But, like most brewers, I’m prone to laziness (and claims it is unnecessary) and usually skip it. Cheers!

 

Some American brewers are becoming more savvy and doing this too now.

Notch for example open ferments. Definitely noticeable in a good way.

 

There have been a few folks discussing the aspect of open fermentation. One reason a brewery may choose to open ferment is that is method will result in increased esters. I discussed this in my article Fermenting Beer:

“Head Pressure

Commercial brewers typically use cylindroconical vessels (CCV) to ferment their beers and those tanks are capable of holding pressure. Some homebrewers also have this capability via unitanks or kegs. Fermenting under pressure results in reduced esters and reduced higher alcohols (fusel oils). If a brewer is looking to achieve extremely low levels of esters as in lagers then fermenting under pressure may be desirable.

Conversely some commercial breweries will ferment their beers in open fermenters in environmentally (approaching sterile) controlled rooms. Examples of beer styles which are sometimes (often?) fermented in open fermenters are Hefeweizen, British Ale, Czech lagers,... Both the shape of these fermenters (sometimes wider than taller) and the ability to completely outgas carbon dioxide with no head pressure increases the production of esters. Homebrewers can open ferment using plastic buckets without placing the lids on the buckets (either totally off or partially on top). It is critical to locate the fermenter in a clean place with no exposure to pets, small children, fruit flies, etc.”

https://www.morebeer.com/articles/Fermenting_beer

Cheers!

 

It's just coming full circle to a certain (small) extent. Some of the earliest craft brewers have been using open fermentation - Anchor and Sierra Nevada.

 

In a past thread Bill Manley (formerly of Sierra Nevada) discussed open fermentation:

“We ferment Bigfoot (and several other of our beers) in open vessels for several reasons.

A.) It produces a different flavor profile than closed tanks (not better or worse, just different.)

B.) Open fermentation causes less stress on yeast than a closed tank does. Shallower and wider tanks, as opposed to taller narrower tanks reduces hydrostatic pressure which lets the yeast develop better with less stress. The less stressed yeast is, the better the harvested cells are for re-pitching. We do Kellerweis in open fermentation for this reason. The yeast ferments well with less stress so we can re-pitch and keep the big ester and phenol profile.

C.) Related to point B. The yeast is less stressed so can work on higher tolerances. Bigfoot is boozy and bitter and hostile to yeast. In the open fermenters, the yeast easily plows through the fermentable sugars and won't hang-up or stall while finishing the beer to a (relatively) dry finish.

Anyway, I hope that answers your questions.

Cheers!

-Bill”

Cheers!

 

A sticky note in either forum with a link to the discussion thread would be the ideal way to go. That allows the thread to stay active and quickly reachable. Which forum may depend on Todd's thought and whether he would approve the sticky note at all.

If we can't get approval for a sticky note at all, then the Beer Talk forum is my suggestion. Those of us who know about the thread can always do a search for it, or perhaps if there is just occasional activity, it will be busy enough so that it will never get any deeper than page 2 or 3.

 

Over the years, there have been numerous websites with both US and Imported beers' date codes, but they've all been abandoned by their owners - I'm sure people can find them, hopelessly outdated with a Google search. Now, why they're abandoned I don't understand.

One guy who posted here on BA a lot (don't recall his screen name or anything else except his location in Canada and his website was FRESH BEER or something like it) had a couple of date code sites, and I would occasional give him info and corrections, etc. He stopped, I think, when he said it was too expensive and I suggest (being the cheap bastard I am ) to find a "free" host, like Google Sites or whatever name it's going by these days.

Anyway, I think the date code format should be on the Brewery's page here on Beer Advocate, either a separate line "DATE CODE:" or added under "Notes", with the actual source of the info ("Brewers website", "Email from Importer's Mid-Atlantic Rep" etc) noted as well.

But, then, that's up to Todd and the Mods... since it's one more thing for them to handle.

 

I've wanted that. BeerAdvocate is a good beer consumer resource site... and that would just make it a better one in a very clear way. Things like the top 250 list (to pick just one example) clearly matter to some people, but tweaks to things like that don't impact me at all. The tweak that you describe would make a difference for me. Not that I matter at all, but something that matters to me matters to others too.

 

I’ve thought about adding it to the notes section of a beer too but that’s only one beer from that brewery. So yes if it could automatically go to every beer for that brewery it would be great. I like the thread idea but threads get derailed quite often. Case in point, but hey we’re still on German beers.

 

Dovetail in Chicago, too. They decoct, open ferment and lager in horizontal tanks. Their Helles is amazing. What I'd call a suicidal beer - it just threw itself down my neck.

Proof to me that process plays a huge part.

 

It's hard for me to say because I've mostly visited small breweries. But, having seen the photos of conicals at larger breweries, I suspect you're right.

 

Yeah, his name is Patrick. Not sure aboot his screen name.

https://sites.google.com/site/freshbeeronly/u-s-beer-list

Patrick St-Amand.

 

Go to Munich. Find Augustiner gravity served from a cask. And wonder at how incredible a simple beer can be.

This sums up my love of Augustiner:

http://barclayperkins.blogspot.com/2011/06/simply-perfect.html

 

I think the best piece I've ever written, too.