0 Comments

Oct

19

Streaking! (or Science is Fun)

Posted at 10:29 pm by Patrick under Home Brewing

After looking at the piles of science gear on Sean’s kitchen counter (petri dishes, test tubes, autoclave, etc.), we decided to finally take the plunge and start culturing yeast. Before we go headlong into creating a big yeast bank, though, we thought it best to get a refresher course on the basics of creating cultures.

Sean’s friend from the climbing gym, Bobbie, is a biologist by trade and usually deals with things that are way more infectious than saccharomyces cerevisiae. Here, she’s giving us the remedial class on streaking agar plates for growing yeast colonies. With any luck, our plates will yield enough single WLP400 colonies to make plenty of wit beer yeast slants for use next summer.

Add this page to your bookmarks
[Bloglines] [del.icio.us] [Digg] [Furl] [Google] [Squidoo] [Technorati] [Email]
1 Comment

Oct

19

Food Pairing: Terrapin Big Hoppy Monster + Turkey Burger

Posted at 1:15 pm by Patrick under Beer Photos, Food Pairings

Food Pairing

Had lunch with Gary today at the Brick Store, arguably the best beer bar in Atlanta. Since Terrapin has released its fall seasonal, Big Hoppy Monster, I had to give it a try. It is a bigger (closer to 8% abv), maltier and hoppier version of the beer of the same name that’s been on tap at 5 Seasons Brewing for a few years. The balance of hops/malt skews leans toward the hops and has a spicyness that is a good match (or kick in the pants) for the somewhat bland turkey burger.

A word to the wise: it’s also a quick way to make your afternoon unproductive if you have more than one at lunch!

Add this page to your bookmarks
[Bloglines] [del.icio.us] [Digg] [Furl] [Google] [Squidoo] [Technorati] [Email]
0 Comments

Oct

19

I Fear No Beer: How True

Posted at 1:28 am by Patrick under Beer Culture

This is absolutely true for me, with one exception: Adelscott from France. I’ve had it a couple of times, first on draught in Paris in 1998. It is made from smoked whisky malt, and is a unique taste experience. I think my first impression was, “It tastes like someone took a malty beer and vigorously dunked a smoked salmon in it. Then he poured that beer through a bag of peat moss.”

I had it again in 2003. Thinking I might have written off because of a lack of palette maturity, I found a 500ml can of it during a trip to Europe. Unfortunately, it was precisely as bad as I recalled it being. While some people seem to enjoy it — proceed with caution.

Add this page to your bookmarks
[Bloglines] [del.icio.us] [Digg] [Furl] [Google] [Squidoo] [Technorati] [Email]