Brewed by the full moon

We made several tests and noticed that the fermentation was more vigorous, more active," explained Roger Caulier, the owner of Brewery Caulier, which began in the 1930s when his grandfather started selling homemade beer from a handcart.

"The end product was completely different, stronger, with a taste lasting longer in the mouth," he said.

The full moon speeds up the fermentation process, shortening it to five days from seven, which adds extra punch to the beer without making it harsh, according to connoisseurs.

The finely balanced, gold-colored beer is 10 percent alcohol by volume, extremely strong by most European or U.S. standards but not uncommon in Belgium, where traditional monk-brewed beers frequently hit 10 or 12 percent.

"It goes down very well, no problem at all," said Joseph Francois, a journalist and beer expert who has tasted the brew.

Brewery Caulier, which uses methods dating from the 1840s and is well-known for its artisanal beers, plans to produce about 12,000 bottles of its full moon beer, called Paix-Dieu (Peace-God), which go on sale on October 31.

The idea came to Caulier after he visited a friend in Alsace, a winemaking region of eastern France, who told him about how he planned his entire production schedule according to the lunar calendar.

Caulier began experimenting and eventually came up with a nine-step process that includes using two types of hops and involves a two-week secondary fermentation process inside the bottle, not unlike the technique used to produce Champagne.

"It gives the product greater fame, a bit like for great vintage wines," he said.

"It could lead to collectors checking the differences between one vintage and another because there could very well be differences between every batch."

Being from a three-generation brewing family, Caulier is fascinated by the science behind the process. But he doesn't discount the mythical aspects of full moon beer either.

"Many farmers are convinced that the moon influences the quality of some of their products," he said.

via Reuters, thanks

Brewed by the full moon

“We made several tests and noticed that the fermentation was more vigorous, more active,” explained Roger Caulier, the owner of Brewery Caulier, which began in the 1930s when his grandfather started selling homemade beer from a handcart.
“The end product was completely different, stronger, with a taste lasting longer in the mouth,” he said.
The full moon speeds up the fermentation process, shortening it to five days from seven, which adds extra punch to the beer without making it harsh, according to connoisseurs.

The resulting beer is 10% alcohol, which is not unusual in Belgium.

We made several tests and noticed that the fermentation was more vigorous, more active," explained Roger Caulier, the owner of Brewery Caulier, which began in the 1930s when his grandfather started selling homemade beer from a handcart.

"The end product was completely different, stronger, with a taste lasting longer in the mouth," he said.

The full moon speeds up the fermentation process, shortening it to five days from seven, which adds extra punch to the beer without making it harsh, according to connoisseurs.

The finely balanced, gold-colored beer is 10 percent alcohol by volume, extremely strong by most European or U.S. standards but not uncommon in Belgium, where traditional monk-brewed beers frequently hit 10 or 12 percent.

"It goes down very well, no problem at all," said Joseph Francois, a journalist and beer expert who has tasted the brew.

Brewery Caulier, which uses methods dating from the 1840s and is well-known for its artisanal beers, plans to produce about 12,000 bottles of its full moon beer, called Paix-Dieu (Peace-God), which go on sale on October 31.

The idea came to Caulier after he visited a friend in Alsace, a winemaking region of eastern France, who told him about how he planned his entire production schedule according to the lunar calendar.

Caulier began experimenting and eventually came up with a nine-step process that includes using two types of hops and involves a two-week secondary fermentation process inside the bottle, not unlike the technique used to produce Champagne.

"It gives the product greater fame, a bit like for great vintage wines," he said.

"It could lead to collectors checking the differences between one vintage and another because there could very well be differences between every batch."

Being from a three-generation brewing family, Caulier is fascinated by the science behind the process. But he doesn't discount the mythical aspects of full moon beer either.

"Many farmers are convinced that the moon influences the quality of some of their products," he said.

via Reuters, thanks

Know your beer chart

Is there much more to say.

Ancient Nubians Made Antibiotic Beer

A chemical analysis of Nubian mummies dating back 1,600 years indicates that the ancient Nubians brewed beer with tetracycline, an antibiotic. Chemist Mark Nelson recently published an article arguing that this activity was intentional:

Nelson found large amounts of tetracycline in the bones tested from the ancient population, which lived in the Nubian kingdom (present day Sudan) between 250 A.D. and 550 A.D. and left no written record.
“The bones of these ancient people were saturated with tetracycline, showing that they had been taking it for a long time,” Nelson said in a press release August 30. “I’m convinced that they had the science of fermentation under control and were purposely producing the drug.”[...]

This study was co-authored by George Armelagos, who asked graduate students to try to brew this type of beer:

To make sure that making the antibiotic beer was possible, Armelagos had his graduate students give it a try.
“What they were making wasn’t like a Bud Light but a cereal gruel,” Armelagos said. “My students said that it was ‘not bad,’ but it is like a sour porridge substance. The ancient people would have drained the liquid off and also eaten the gruel.”

Fried Beer

Ever since the inauguration five years ago of the Big Tex Choice Awards at the Texas State Fair, food vendors have been deep-frying the impossible in their pursuit of the Most Creative and Best Taste awards.

As the Dallas Morning News reports, the Fried Beer was the result of a painful process of trial and error for creator Mark Zamble. His initial efforts kept exploding once they hit the fryer, and he kept getting burned. Zamble has already applied for a patent and trademark for Fried Beer, which appears to be a pocket of pretzel dough filled with its signature beverage

iPad Keg-o-meter

This is both dorky, yet pretty awesome. I'm on the fence.

Beer Can Carrier - Rambo Style

If you remember the movie swordfish, this is the beer can version of a bomb belt.

The Hops Holster Can Ammo Pack($30) includes 12 insulated holsters and each one can hold a single 12-ounce can.

"Next time you're tailgating, camping or attending a BYOB party you can avoid those long, thirsty walks back to the cooler or the fridge by keeping a plethora of your favorite canned beers right on your chest. Warning:Wearing this holster may result in your friends using you as a human pack mule that exclusively carries beer"