You know what would be great? To compare 21st century beers with those of the past. See how grists have changed, gravities fluctuated, hopping rates jumped about, and all that crap. Just one problem: getting hold of modern records.
Then I had my thought. It's not a great one. Just the best I could come up with today. Why not ask brewers to send me information about their beers? I'd be happy to publish it anonymised. And not pass on recipes.
Any of you brewers out there fancy sending me details of your brews?
Might I suggest you contact the brothers at St. Sixtus in Westvleteren for their recipes and brewing notes. I don't know if a commercial brewery would be willing to part with a recipe, too much danger of the competition using it as a starting point, especially their flagship beers. But I've been wrong before.
ReplyDeleteI'll bite , if your kind in return ..
ReplyDeleteHere is the English IPA I won a gold medal at the 2007 GABF ;
Now before you Brits have a heart-attack , Chinook is only used as a dry hop, and being a related cousin to the english Petham cultivar, it adds a nice sweet like aroma which is not at all catty or grapefruit like.
Brew Type: All Grain Date: 5/16/2007
Style: English IPA Brewer: Christopher Bowen
Batch Size: 5.00 gal Assistant Brewer:
Boil Volume: 5.72 gal Boil Time: 60 min
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00 % Equipment: My Equipment
Actual Efficiency: 69.96 %
Taste Rating :
Best of show at the 2007 Great American Beer Festival - ProAM catagory, Silver medal at the AHA regional , Gold medal at the Kona Homebrew Festival 2008
Ingredients Amount Item Type % or IBU
10 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) UK (3.0 SRM) Grain 86.13 %
14.1 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 7.58 %
6.4 oz Amber Malt (22.0 SRM) Grain 3.45 %
5.3 oz Wheat, Torrified (1.7 SRM) Grain 2.84 %
1.25 oz Chinook [12.00 %] (Dry Hop 10 days) Hops -
2.00 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] (60 min) Hops 33.1 IBU
0.50 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] (30 min) (Aroma Hop-Steep) Hops -
1.50 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] (10 min) (Aroma Hop-Steep) Hops -
1.00 items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 min) Misc
1.00 tsp Yeast Nutrient (Primary 3.0 days) Misc
1 Pkgs Thames Valley Ale (Wyeast Labs #1275)
Beer Profile Estimated Original Gravity: 1.062 SG (1.050-1.075 SG) Measured Original Gravity: 1.058 SG
Estimated Final Gravity: 1.015 SG (1.010-1.018 SG) Measured Final Gravity: 1.010 SG
Estimated Color: 11.0 SRM (8.0-14.0 SRM) Color [Color]
Bitterness: 33.1 IBU (40.0-60.0 IBU) Alpha Acid Units: 10.0 AAU
Estimated Alcohol by Volume: 6.10 % (5.00-7.50 %) Actual Alcohol by Volume: 6.26 %
Actual Calories: 257 cal/pint
Mash Profile Name: Single Infusion, Mash Grain Weight: 11.61 lb Mash PH: 5.4 PH
Grain Temperature: 72.0 F Sparge Temperature: 168.0 F
Sparge Water: 2.04 gal
Mash In Add 3.63 gal of water at 163.7 F 152.0 F 90 min
Mash Out Add 1.45 gal of water and heat to 180.0 F over 2 min 180.0 F 10 min
Carbonation and Storage Carbonation Type: Corn Sugar Carbonation Volumes: 2.4 (2.2-2.7 vols)
Estimated Priming Weight: 3.8 oz Temperature at Bottling: 60.0 F
Primer Used: 3.5 Age for: 2.0 Weeks
Storage Temperature: 58.0 F
A thought just struck me - I know it must be catching :-) Whilst reproducing a beer from current brewers' records would clearly lead to a writ from their solicitors, a beer based on historical records might as well given the complex history of takeovers. If for example someone decided to market a Barclay Perkins Pale Ale based on nineteenth century brewing records, Heineken who own the brand name (via Courage and Scottish and Newcastle) could presumably take them to court as well.
ReplyDeleteMatt, I would be surprised if Heineken still owned any Barclay Perkins trademarks. After all, they sold off the Courage brands.
ReplyDeleteYes, you're right Ron, I didn't spot that deal. I think the basic point still stands however.
ReplyDeleteMatt, it's surprising how many trademarks big brewers let lapse. Things like, say, Barnsley Bitter.
ReplyDeleteAlan, maybe it's trying to exclude peas.
ReplyDelete