Correct. you can't lump in a 'Steinbier' either!
And forget Raftman.
Rauchbier is definitely a taste to aquire, it is really like tasting smoked meat for the first time and nor knowing what to make of it. My reli's say you have to put back a FEW in a sitting before it will ever 'taste right"! None of this cautious, nervous sipping, get Bavarian for this one and make an event of it diving right in with some good Holzofen bread (Prague Deli) with select cold cuts and cheeses.
Prost!
J
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Aventinus
Is that how Budweiser gets its' Beechwood aged taste?Responsible Drinker wrote:People tend to equate the definition of Smoked beers with Rauchbiers, which is a bit like refering to every type of pasta with the term spaghetti. People might know what you mean, but it's just not right! (or calling any beer a lager, which requires a specific processing technique).
For a true Rauchbier, all (100%) of the malt needs to be dried over an open beechwood fire. It is this specific method of malting the barley that distinguishes it from different styles. This technique has been used for centries!
ie. You can't use a small portion of peat-smoked malt in the grist & call it a Rauchbier.
To my knowledge they actually float little chunks of beechwood in the 'aging' beer to emulate wood barrel ageing to an extent (ha ha ha!) but this does not entail smoking the wood, because any smoke in AB Budweiser beer would definitely stand out a little too much.Gunny wrote:Is that how Budweiser gets its' Beechwood aged taste?Responsible Drinker wrote:People tend to equate the definition of Smoked beers with Rauchbiers, which is a bit like refering to every type of pasta with the term spaghetti. People might know what you mean, but it's just not right! (or calling any beer a lager, which requires a specific processing technique).
For a true Rauchbier, all (100%) of the malt needs to be dried over an open beechwood fire. It is this specific method of malting the barley that distinguishes it from different styles. This technique has been used for centries!
ie. You can't use a small portion of peat-smoked malt in the grist & call it a Rauchbier.
That would really be like installing a supercharged Chrysler 426 Hemi in a Kia.
In Beerum Veritas
-
Rob Creighton
- Bar Fly
- Posts: 851
- Joined: Mon Jul 28, 2003 8:00 pm
- Location: Dundas, ON
The beechwood starts out in strips about 2" wide and 14 to 16" long. I was a brewery grunt during the trials back in the '70's in London. We coated the bottom of the tank with cleansed chips that we soaked/sanitized in a machine Labatt purchased from a Chinese laundry in Vancouver (I'm sure the procedure has improved since then).
When fermentation finished and the beer was transferred, we evacuated the CO2 from the tank, got in and pitch forked the chips coated with yeast into barrels. The weight of the barrels increased dramatically and I was probably in the best shape of my life. We dead-lifted the 200 lb barrels up stairs, down corridors and then above our heads into the laundry machine. As the chips were reused and washed, they began to break down and eventually they were scrapped (3 uses?). The value of yeast settling onto wooden chips is part of the argument but is much more evident in high alcohol products in wooden barrels (particularly if they have been soaked with whiskey).
It certainly adds value to the product and preserves the quality perception argument they cling to. I think it was a pain in the butt.
When fermentation finished and the beer was transferred, we evacuated the CO2 from the tank, got in and pitch forked the chips coated with yeast into barrels. The weight of the barrels increased dramatically and I was probably in the best shape of my life. We dead-lifted the 200 lb barrels up stairs, down corridors and then above our heads into the laundry machine. As the chips were reused and washed, they began to break down and eventually they were scrapped (3 uses?). The value of yeast settling onto wooden chips is part of the argument but is much more evident in high alcohol products in wooden barrels (particularly if they have been soaked with whiskey).
It certainly adds value to the product and preserves the quality perception argument they cling to. I think it was a pain in the butt.