I have an uncle who lives in Germany who, like most Germans, believe that they have a handle on Beer. That's all a matter of taste, I think. Let me know if you agree.
My uncle had come to visit several times from Germany over the years, and I was always anxious to go to Stoddard's, or the LGBC (Los Gatos Brewing Company) with him to show off a few American wares of beer. Well, we did frequent these places, and I have to tell you that Claus was not very impressed with the taste of the Ales. "Too much hops," he said. Now, saying that to a guy who has been to and enjoyed the Hop Fest in Pleasanton CA where 20 IBU's--a high hop content in beer, is a commonplace, I was inclined to disagree.
As an American, I am somewhat biased and believe that we Americans like to think of ourselves as improvers or inventors of ideas. After all, the airplane, phone, Internet, to name a few were invented in the good old USA. I was a bit taken a back at the "too much hops" comment even though we did not invent the IPA as you will see.
But then I realized that he had his perspective too. In Germany, they use a semi-modified grain a lot when they brew most of their beers. What I mean is, the barley is only allowed to germinate just a bit before drying it up and making it ready to brew, and most of the seed is still a seed. They take great care in carefully converting that very starchy grain into a sugar. Being a bit proud of this accomplishment, I believe that they then want to keep it as--pardon the expression "virgin" as possible, and only adding to the finished beer a few hops so as not to deter the flavor of this care-taking conversion of malt. A lot of their beers end up being quite good.
So, where did all the hops come from? The stereotypical hoppy beer is the IPA (India Pale Ale). Well, India around the early 1770's, became a semiofficial agency of the British government. And the British soldiers were allowed to consume a decent amount of ale per day. So, how did Britain bring the ale's over to India? They had to stow it in their ships. The problem was not carrying it into cooler regions of India, but the hot, tropical ones. In short, the heat created a problem with the beer and a concentrated form of beer needed to be created in an attempt to keep it stable; then added together with water again. After several techniques were attempted over the years, it was discovered that high alcohol and high hops were key in preserving the golden ware across the sea. There is a great deal of history involved, but again, the short of it was introducing hops and a boost in the alcohol (concentrated wort) that made it all possible.
The IPA proved itself as a viable market to both the troops and nationals alike. In Germany, it is felt that adding too many hops allows for error compensation--covering up the true nature of the beer, according to Claus. So, although Claus may not like the hops in many of our brews, we do.
"He was a wise man who invented beer"--Plato
My uncle had come to visit several times from Germany over the years, and I was always anxious to go to Stoddard's, or the LGBC (Los Gatos Brewing Company) with him to show off a few American wares of beer. Well, we did frequent these places, and I have to tell you that Claus was not very impressed with the taste of the Ales. "Too much hops," he said. Now, saying that to a guy who has been to and enjoyed the Hop Fest in Pleasanton CA where 20 IBU's--a high hop content in beer, is a commonplace, I was inclined to disagree.
As an American, I am somewhat biased and believe that we Americans like to think of ourselves as improvers or inventors of ideas. After all, the airplane, phone, Internet, to name a few were invented in the good old USA. I was a bit taken a back at the "too much hops" comment even though we did not invent the IPA as you will see.
But then I realized that he had his perspective too. In Germany, they use a semi-modified grain a lot when they brew most of their beers. What I mean is, the barley is only allowed to germinate just a bit before drying it up and making it ready to brew, and most of the seed is still a seed. They take great care in carefully converting that very starchy grain into a sugar. Being a bit proud of this accomplishment, I believe that they then want to keep it as--pardon the expression "virgin" as possible, and only adding to the finished beer a few hops so as not to deter the flavor of this care-taking conversion of malt. A lot of their beers end up being quite good.
So, where did all the hops come from? The stereotypical hoppy beer is the IPA (India Pale Ale). Well, India around the early 1770's, became a semiofficial agency of the British government. And the British soldiers were allowed to consume a decent amount of ale per day. So, how did Britain bring the ale's over to India? They had to stow it in their ships. The problem was not carrying it into cooler regions of India, but the hot, tropical ones. In short, the heat created a problem with the beer and a concentrated form of beer needed to be created in an attempt to keep it stable; then added together with water again. After several techniques were attempted over the years, it was discovered that high alcohol and high hops were key in preserving the golden ware across the sea. There is a great deal of history involved, but again, the short of it was introducing hops and a boost in the alcohol (concentrated wort) that made it all possible.
The IPA proved itself as a viable market to both the troops and nationals alike. In Germany, it is felt that adding too many hops allows for error compensation--covering up the true nature of the beer, according to Claus. So, although Claus may not like the hops in many of our brews, we do.
"He was a wise man who invented beer"--Plato
The Latin name for Hops sounds like a character out of Harry Potter!
ReplyDeleteEither that or the guy had too much IPA at the time.
ReplyDelete