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Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2005 6:23 pm
by tupalev
Your opinion and all Gary, but the general consensus amongst beer drinkers I know who tried it thought that Beer Bistro experiment was bloody awful. Opinions, opinions....

Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2005 7:03 pm
by Belgian
Jon Walker wrote:
Belgian wrote:Purism in beer is a slight myth, as brewers always blended non-BEER flavorings in beer (forget combining 'pure' beers) esp. those Belgians with their fruits herbs and sugars so all bets are off for 'purity' where legendary style is defined by distinctions. Every great beer is a recipie of at least various malts etc someone concocted at their own discretion, not beholden to some cosmic law or holy commandment. That person was no less human than you or I. That's my opinion.
This topic isn't so much about purism "in" beer as it is about purism "with" beer. Someone making "beer cocktails" is an entirely different thing than a brewmaster developing a beer from various ingredients. I think you sort of missed the point of the thread...
This thread was partially about the validity of blending beers. The parallel I had made to brewing was not an absolute, but I thought useful given some views. So that's my opinion.

Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2005 7:17 pm
by esprit
I'v read this thread a number of times and I just don't get what the argument is about. I am in the camp of "blend if you like" regardless of whether it's crappy beer with good beer, crappy beer with fruit, good beer with good beer or good beer with fruit. Why do you even have opions about this (yeah, I know, it's a beer website and it's all about opinons)? I'm of Ukrainian descent and vodka is our national beverage. In Ukraine they look at you like you're an idiot if you try to put something in vodka...is that to say that a vodka martini or a screwdriver or a Caesar are an abomination? Seems to me that this thread is about people venting about whatever and has little to do with any real issue. Bottom line is if you enjoy experimenting, go ahead...if you don't, don't...and stop passing judgement on anyone who feels to the contrary. I love Bartowel but sometimes it's gets really dreary when we launch into these silly point-counter point arguments...Jane, you ignorant slut!...for those of you old enough to remember.
On the same topic, try a blend of Rogue Chocolate Stout and Mort Subite Framboise...I'm not a big consumer of either and I'm also not a dessert nut but this is ambrosia! For those of you who do not approve, don't do it and don't comment 'cause none of us cares. A forum is not necessarily a venue for people to express opinions merely for the sake of expressing opinions.

Oh yeah Esprit, screw you....sorry...the evil twin at work.

Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2005 7:22 pm
by esprit
I've been trying to dry out and avoiding beer altogether for the past couple of weeks so the posts you read are all influenced by Canadian Club and coke only. Just noticed that the tthread was about Gunns and Roses or maybe Inher and Gone (can't find the "back key") so what the hell was I raving about blending for? Sorry for getting off topic but I think someone steered me there...somewhere down the crazy river.

Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2005 7:35 pm
by old faithful
That's interesting that in Ukraine vodka traditionally is not flavoured. In Russia of course, flavouring vodka with a myriad of spices, fruits and other flavourings is legion. But as you say (and I did too) each to his own. I am not trying to say if you don't like blending you are out to lunch; I am trying simply to justify my own view of it. Just tonight (I didn't plan this) I open a bottle of the very good St. Peter's Old-Style Porter and I see on the back label a statement that it is a blend of an old and young ale. This won't guarantee that the beer is good and I never said blending guarantees quality; as it happens this blend IS particularly good though, it is a medium-bodied porter with light lactic tangs, of good savour.

Gary

Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2005 7:55 pm
by lister
esprit wrote:On the same topic, try a blend of Rogue Chocolate Stout and Mort Subite Framboise...I'm not a big consumer of either and I'm also not a dessert nut but this is ambrosia!
Thank goodness I saw this tonight! Davisville LCBO finally got the fall lineup in. I've got a backup plan now if I find the Rogue none-too-nice.

As for the Innis & Gunn, I just finished that now. Interesting. I don't mind it and I'm even bordering on saying that I like it. Not enough to have every other day but once every couple of weeks.

Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2005 9:57 pm
by Beer Wench
Looks like I missed the boat on the Innis & Gunn.... my local LCBO doesn't have any left.

I also missed my chance to stock up on Deuchars IPA a while back, also from Caledonian, when it was available at the LCBO. Blimey, you have to be quick don't you! There must be a lot of Scots in the area. Deuchars has to be my favourite bottled ale (apart from the bottle-conditioned ales, of course, which I savoured during a recent trip to the UK), and I hear that it won another major international award at Munich earlier this month. If anyone happens to hear of it being available again at the LCBO, I would be very interested to know.

Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2005 6:57 am
by Gunny
esprit wrote:I'v read this thread a number of times and I just don't get what the argument is about. I am in the camp of "blend if you like" regardless of whether it's crappy beer with good beer, crappy beer with fruit, good beer with good beer or good beer with fruit. Why do you even have opions about this (yeah, I know, it's a beer website and it's all about opinons)? I'm of Ukrainian descent and vodka is our national beverage. In Ukraine they look at you like you're an idiot if you try to put something in vodka...is that to say that a vodka martini or a screwdriver or a Caesar are an abomination? Seems to me that this thread is about people venting about whatever and has little to do with any real issue. Bottom line is if you enjoy experimenting, go ahead...if you don't, don't...and stop passing judgement on anyone who feels to the contrary. I love Bartowel but sometimes it's gets really dreary when we launch into these silly point-counter point arguments...Jane, you ignorant slut!...for those of you old enough to remember.
On the same topic, try a blend of Rogue Chocolate Stout and Mort Subite Framboise...I'm not a big consumer of either and I'm also not a dessert nut but this is ambrosia! For those of you who do not approve, don't do it and don't comment 'cause none of us cares. A forum is not necessarily a venue for people to express opinions merely for the sake of expressing opinions.

Oh yeah Esprit, screw you....sorry...the evil twin at work.
Rabbit, is that you?

Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2005 9:21 am
by dhurtubise
Jon Walker wrote:If you re-read my posts you'll see that at NO point did I say mixing shouldn't be allowed, I merely suggested that I didn't put much stock in the practice. Mix away! Let the cat pee in it if you think it might give you that "special something" the brewer missed. But I have to totally shoot holes in your notion that adding fruit to finished beer is akin to the brewer doing it. Ask anyone who has actually brewed a fruit flavoured beer when the fruit gets added...do you think they just chuck it in after fermentation and just before bottling? The point is that the flavour and subtleties of the fruit are PART of the brewing process, not an afterthought.
.
For what it's worth, fruits are almost always added once the primary fermentation is done to avoid the scrubbing action of a violent ferment (removes several of the fruit flavours). Of course, fermenation of the fruit sugars will occur at this point which makes it a vastly different process then just adding fruit to a finished beer - though there is nothing wrong with that if it tastes good.

Many of the fruity lambic and wit based beers often unfairly debased on this website must add fruit juice after the beer has been pasturized or filtered since most of the fruit flavours not usually present in a finished fruit beer brewed in the way that I described above (eg. high level of sweetness) are still in the beer. I happen to like these beers. Both the Belgian PĂȘche and the Chapeau Exotic were well crafted (in my opinion).

About the hop oil and extract - good idea. I think I will start doing this as I really hate going to these weddings where there is nothing but Molbat products. The hosts acutally think they are giving people choice by providing Labatt Blue AND Molson Canadian. A couple of drops of hop oil and/or diluted hop extract would fix this problem.

Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2005 11:07 am
by Belgian
esprit wrote:On the same topic, try a blend of Rogue Chocolate Stout and Mort Subite Framboise...I'm not a big consumer of either and I'm also not a dessert nut but this is ambrosia! For those of you who do not approve, don't do it and don't comment 'cause none of us cares.
Yes, it's boring. No offense anyone.

CHOCOLATE STOUT

Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2005 11:10 am
by Belgian
lister wrote:I've got a backup plan now if I find the Rogue none-too-nice.
I think you'll live through it! :D

Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2005 1:19 pm
by esprit
rabbit? Who is rabbit? Oh yeah, that foul-mouthed lout who used to visit this site...thank God we've seen the last of him..........

Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2005 2:44 pm
by mustang3
Esprit, would you say equal parts mort subite and rogue chocolate stout?

Re: CHOCOLATE STOUT

Posted: Wed Sep 21, 2005 10:41 am
by lister
Belgian wrote:I think you'll live through it! :D
I did. I liked it more than Young's but that's like picking a preference of broccoli over asparagus. After managing to suck down half unadultered I topped it up with Mort Subite Frambroise which made things more pleasant though nothing of the likes of ambrosia.

Re: CHOCOLATE STOUT

Posted: Wed Sep 21, 2005 12:00 pm
by Belgian
lister wrote:
Belgian wrote:I think you'll live through it! :D
I did. I liked it more than Young's but that's like picking a preference of broccoli over asparagus.
I bet stouts just aren't your thing. Just as killer IPA's aren't something I can tolerate for very long, something in the hops I guess.

Ever tried any Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier from Bamberg? I'd love to see the reaction to that one. They say 'you have to drink a few to get the taste.' That seems to apply to many beers for me.

http://www.schlenkerla.de/
(Or from LCBO.)