Bacon Beer and Beer Fridge Quandry

Tar Bowel · Post by **Tar Bowel** » Thu Jan 30, 2003 9:57 pm

Maybe the Bar Towel gurus can swing some help on a few personal issues I've developed the past 2 months.

1: What was that German beer called that tasted like bacon fat? It was in the LCBO about 4 months ago and I feel as if I missed a true flavor experience by not having it. Does anyone know how to get beer tastin like pig lard? (Besides taking porky and chucking him in with the wort and decocting the bastard*Can I say Bastard?*)

2: I need a fridge that will hold 2X58L kegs to put into a bar. Anyone know of any contacts on used equipment or have anything themselves?

Thanks, you guys are the best bunch of beer geeks I have ever seen!

Prosper long and live!

Josh Oakes · Post by **Josh Oakes** » Fri Jan 31, 2003 3:10 pm

There is no beer that tastes like bacon. There are smoky beers, but they do not have salt, pork or fat flavours. Smoke and bacon are not the same thing.

DougShoemaker · Post by **DougShoemaker** » Fri Jan 31, 2003 4:40 pm

Hi Tarbowel,

I believe the beer You were thinking of was the Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier Marzen, which a lot of people say smells like smoked ham. Don't know if there are any LCBO locations with any left. Can't hurt to try.

Hope this helps, Cheers, Doug

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: DougShoemaker on 2003-01-31 16:41 ]</font>

esprit · Post by **esprit** » Fri Jan 31, 2003 5:50 pm

Another fine examples of a smoked beer is Rogue Smoke and Smokeless Joe might still have some available.

DougShoemaker · Post by **DougShoemaker** » Sat Feb 01, 2003 12:19 am

Yes Peter,
I was there tonight and enjoyed a bottle of the Rogue Smoke Ale. Quite a nice example of the style. Smokeless Joe's also have the Pauwel Kwak which is a nice treat too.

Cheers, Good Hunting, Doug

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: DougShoemaker on 2003-02-01 00:20 ]</font>

Tar Bowel · Post by **Tar Bowel** » Sat Feb 01, 2003 1:07 am

Thanks Doug! Sorry I refered to the beer tasting like bacon, It's just that about four different people came up to me in awe of this beer that tasted a lot like bacon. I know you don't actually use swine! Come now. I jest, surely.
I was down in the cooper st LCBO and found myself the rogue irish stout. When did this guy come out it went ubder my radar.

No MacAuslin vintage ale left at the store (have two sitting in my fridge), but picked up two more rogue chocolate stout. It's funny that it's chocalate but there is none on the ingredients list. (Snicker)

I've been filling myself full of various stouts and porters of late, judging them, judging people while they drink them and I must say.....the Oatmeal Stout I had on tap at the Only(Like ten new lines?),holy mother it is so good on draft (Yeah nitro!).

But how do you get beer to taste that much like bacon.

No word on Fridges lads?

Kent · Post by **Kent** » Sat Feb 01, 2003 1:34 am

For fridges of that size (bar coolers, standing coolers, and keg dispensers) you would be best to check a few commercial restaurant equipment dealers. (yellow pages "restaurant equipment and supply") Many deal in used equipment as well and quite often supply a limited warranty on referbs. Best bet is to call around, but if your in the metro TO area, be prepaired for a very rushed conversation, these guys are usually very busy with their commercial clients.

If you don't have any luck, private message me and I should be able to steer you in the right direction.

esprit · Post by **esprit** » Sat Feb 01, 2003 10:07 am

Tar Bowel, those few bottles of Wild Irish on the shelves at Queen's Quay were part of the lab case, that is, they take one bottle to send to lab and the remaining bottles are sent to Queen's Quay, usually a number of weeks in advance of the actual release. You'll all start to see Wild Irish hitting store shelves in about 2 weeks.

joey_capps · Post by **joey_capps** » Sat Feb 01, 2003 10:14 am

To turn your question around, it might be better to ask how they get bacon to taste like a smoked beer

The smokiness results from a process of kilning the malt over a fire. Here is Michael Jackson's explanation from the second edition of his Beer Companion:

"When grain is malted, it has to be dried to arrest its germination at the optimum point, and traditionally this could be done only by wind (in an open attic) or over fire. In the latter method, the grains are spread out on a fine mesh in a kiln, and a fire is set some distance beneath, so that warm air passes through--so does smoke. Once, many whiskies and beers must have picked up some smokiness in this way. In modern malting, an enclosed source of heat warms the air. It is the difference between heating a house with an open fire or with radiators." (236)

The Bamberger Rauchbier, to which you refer, is kilned over a fire using wood from the beech forests of the area.

The chocolate taste to which you refer in the Rogue stout comes from the use of chocolate malt, which gets its chocolate flavour also from the kilning process.

Cheers, Joe.

DAN-D-MAN · Post by **DAN-D-MAN** » Sat Feb 01, 2003 1:50 pm

Hey Tar Bowel!

Have you considered a retro beer fridge instead!? These won't hold 2x58.6L kegs, however the larger ones will hold 2x30L or one 58.6L keg. So perhaps two retro fridges will fit your bill.

For my home, I bought an old retro fridge (with the rounded corners) from the 1950s that I found in the classifieds and converted it into a beer fridge. You can get the conversion kits from a draft equipment retailer. I spray painted the entire fridge with a concrete look and even spray painted a chalkboard on it so that I can always update the fridge with what's currently on tap.

This can be done relatively easy by yourself. Or, if you want, I can put one together for you at a reasonable cost. Send me a message if you're interested and we'll discuss particulars.

I put up a website of the before and after pictures of my fridge to show the progress.
http://www.beeronboard.com

esprit · Post by **esprit** » Sat Feb 01, 2003 3:00 pm

Hate to contradict you Joe, but Rogue Chocolate Stout is in fact flavoured with chocolate, in fact, the U.S. label clearly states MADE WITH IMPORTED CHOCOLATE.

Tar Bowel · Post by **Tar Bowel** » Sun Feb 02, 2003 7:23 pm

Thanks for everyones responses. You guys (Is there a single female here? hmm?) are a great help and a wonderful resource of true beer knowledge.

Espirit why does the canadian bottle have the chocolate listed as an ingredient. I feel lucky to enjoy that wild irish before the rest of you beer demi-gods.

Daniel-The-Maniel, thanks for the fridge offer! I feel afraid about getting a retro fridge, as I my never leave my housse and I may spend all my time travelling across ontario picking up micro kegs. I need a fridge for a restaurant installation.
Thanks.

Hey smokeless joe, do you have any of the afore mentioned elusive bacon, I mean smoked beer?

Thanks for the detailed info on the smoking malt process. Oh.

I have heard rumors of making beer with bacteria instead of using yeast (dripping from the ceiling).

What's the deal?

Answers to these action packed questions, and more information on tasty beer .......on the next episode of bar towel!

joey_capps · Post by **joey_capps** » Sun Feb 02, 2003 10:18 pm

Peter: If I'm wrong, go ahead and point it out. I was going by Tar Bowel's comment that chocolate wasn't listed on the ingredients. Didn't have a bottle in front of me.

Tar Bowel: You've mentioned bacteria. Do you, perhaps, mean wild yeast (as in lambics)? Don't think bacteria can convert the sugars into alcohol? Am I wrong?

Joe.

PRMason · Post by **PRMason** » Mon Feb 03, 2003 8:46 am

I'm not 100% positive, but there is no bacteria I know of that can convert sugar into alcohol and CO2. Lactobacilus does show up in beer sometimes, but it is not the fermenting agent, rather it is an infection that ruins the beer.

Lubiere · Post by **Lubiere** » Mon Feb 03, 2003 5:53 pm

Lactobacillus transforms sugars to lactic acid and other acids. From a micro jargon standpoint, it is still considered fermentation, but in this case its a lactic fermentation (the same as in sausages, sauerkraut, yogourt, etc...). In beer, it is, most of the time, a contaminant, but it is innocuous.