Brewing Ingredients

burgermeister · Post by **burgermeister** » Wed Oct 01, 2003 9:05 am

Hopefully one of you brewers out there will know where I can find this. Somewhere burried in the back of my head is information about some sort of Canadian government regulation that lists the 105 (or maybe 150) ingredients that can legally be incorporated into beer brewed in Canada. I'm looking for a list of what those ingredients are and hopefully a bit about the ingredient's purpose (foaming agent, preservative, etc...)

Anybody know where I might find such a list? I'm pulling together a short speech about brewing in Ontario and would like to encorporate this info.

Thanks

Cass · Post by **Cass** » Wed Oct 01, 2003 9:41 am

I was always curious about this myself.

Not sure if this is it, but it might be a start. Scroll down the page to the beer section.

http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/f-27/c.r.c ... 24097.html

burgermeister · Post by **burgermeister** » Wed Oct 01, 2003 11:55 am

On 2003-10-01 09:41, Cass wrote:
I was always curious about this myself.

Not sure if this is it, but it might be a start. Scroll down the page to the beer section.

http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/f-27/c.r.c ... 24097.html

Don't know if it's the massive 105 (150?) item list I've heard of, but I think it will do for the purpose at hand. Going to give a little speech to a small group out in Mississauga and try to convince them to do a wee brewery tour thru the east end of Oakville. Can hit Camerons, Black Oak, and Trafalger all within a stones throw of each other. Thanks.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: burgermeister on 2003-10-01 11:56 ]</font>

the.brewer · Post by **the.brewer** » Wed Oct 01, 2003 10:20 pm

Try contacting Frank Heaps via Steamwhistle.
He was always big on publicising this list of ALLOWABLE ingredients, while Upper Canada was in business. Be careful, though, this list has almost nothing to do with the ingredients that were actually in use by breweries in recent years, including the majors. Even his beloved Upper Canada was using more from the list than the revered four (malt, water, hops and yeast) because the list also included such items as filter media.

JerCraigs · Post by **JerCraigs** » Wed Oct 01, 2003 10:56 pm

keep in mind that Trafalgar has moved to a new location in Oakville. Not sure of the exact address.

burgermeister · Post by **burgermeister** » Wed Oct 01, 2003 11:11 pm

On 2003-10-01 22:20, the.brewer wrote:
... Be careful, though, this list has almost nothing to do with the ingredients that were actually in use by breweries in recent years, including the majors. ...list also included such items as filter media.

Thanks Michael, I'll try and follow up with Heaps. It's more curiosity than anything else at this point - some more research I suppose (I seem to do a lot of that lately)in preparation for this little speech in a couple weeks.

Steve Beaumont · Post by **Steve Beaumont** » Thu Oct 02, 2003 9:51 am

If I can add my two cents, burgermeister, I'd suggest that in giving a speech about brewing the important items should not be the list of allowable ingredients -- which, as Michael points out, is a little misleading -- but rather two common practices engaged in by the big breweries which are not followed by most craft breweries.

The first is the large-scale use of adjuncts. As most everyone on the bartowel knows, I'm sure, adjucts are anything added to the wort beyond the basic malt-water-hops. Small amounts of these adjunct can yield very positive taste results, as in flavoured beers or strong, Belgian-style ales. However, when cheap sugars such as those from corn grits or syrup are used for up to 30-40% or more of the wort, then you necessarily have a lessening of the true beer character.

The other practice worth mentioning is high gravity brewing. Simply, this is the brewing and fermenting of a beer to strength of 7-8% or more, and then watering it down at packaging to the desired alcohol content. This practice is followed by virtually all major international brewers and is, in fact, the way that they can extend product lines so easily. Want to make Wildcat Strong, Wildcat and Wildcat Light? Simply brew a single beer and add varying amounts of water!

burgermeister · Post by **burgermeister** » Thu Oct 02, 2003 12:39 pm

On 2003-10-02 09:51, Steve Beaumont wrote:
The first is the large-scale use of adjuncts.
The other practice worth mentioning is high gravity brewing.

Thanks Steve. These are both elements of what I'm putting together. My intent is not to do any major brewery bashing (well, at least not much;-). Rather I want to convince a relatively small audience that they owe it to themselves to let their tastebuds experience what some of the smaller brewers essentially in their own backyards have to offer. Get them away from the bland and ordinary and into something more interesting. I'll let you know how it goes.

JWalter · Post by **JWalter** » Thu Oct 02, 2003 10:56 pm

Here here Burgermeister! Well done! This all goes in line with what we were discussing a few months back, grass roots work, we all need to make a concerted effort to "Convert" the uneducated each year!