OnTap Magazine

BREWER'S DOZEN I remember when I was fighting this cause, and I claimed I could prove in a blind tasting which beer came from a can because it would have an inferior flavour. That was the day I got schooled. Cans do not allow any light to hit the beer, they cool faster and they’re easier to store and transport. People often say that canned beer tastes like pennies, but cans should not give the beer a metallic flavour, as the cans are lined with a protective coating to ensure that the beer does not touch the metal. The metal taste may be coming from the outside of the can, where a metal dust or something else may have landed during production or transfer. Or it might just be in your mind… As with everything, there are truths, lies and a whole lotta grey in the middle. Before you just accept something, ask around, chat to home brewers at your local club or on an internet forum or visit websites like Brulosphy.com. And, if you cannot get a real answer, get a few mates together and become MythBusters… or TruthProvers. 1 2 M Y T H S 10 BOTTLES ARE BETTER THAN CANS 1 2 M Y T H S 11 LIQUID YEAST IS BETTER THAN DRIED YEAST 1 2 M Y T H S 12 BEER SHOULD BE SERVED ICY COLD One South African brewery who will remain nameless actually claimed in marketing materials that their beer did not cause hangovers. When questioned, the brewer said that their beer does not cause hangover if consumed in moderation. Well, DUH! “Ever since I started drinking only my own homebrew I have not had a hangover”. That is amazing! But I do have a big question: Are you drinking less because you are now thinking and enjoying the product, as opposed to simply slamming it down? Sad fact: if you consume too much of any alcohol there is a good chance that you will have a hangover. Even worse is that, as you get older, the odds of getting a 1 2 M Y T H S 09 HOMEBREW OR CRAFT BEER DOES NOT GIVE YOU A HANGOVER There is a lot to be said in favour of this argument: the “confirmed” viability, the greater variety, and the obvious beer geek cred. But it can add a lot more steps to a brew day and it adds a few more openings for infections to creep in. Liquid yeast is also quite expensive, not always easily available and it has to be kept cold during shipping/storage. Dry yeast has been a favourite for many years and most home brewers will have a few packets in their fridge at all times. Although there is not such a large variety, you can make almost every style of beer using what is carried by most home brew stores. New studies say that it is fine to just add the contents of the packet to your fermenter, so no rehydration step is required, which makes it incredibly easy to work with. If you treat your yeast and your beer right, you will make great beer from either version. teaspoon of raw garlic, eaten as is, would taste pungent and to most, unpleasant. But add that same teaspoon of garlic to a roast dinner or a pot of pasta and it will have quite a different effect. IBUs are similar. The perceived bitterness depends not only on the hop additions, but also the malt backbone. A low-ABV lager with IBUs in the 30s would seem very bitter as there’s not much to prop up the bitterness. A 100-IBU Russian Imperial Stout would have so many other flavours to balance out the bitterness, you would scarcely guess the IBUs were so high. hangover are higher, and the severity of the hangover is also higher. The good news is that you are not dead, even though you might feel like death is the better option at the time. Who doesn’t appreciate that ice cold beer after a hot day in the sun? You can still see some of the ice flakes on the outside of the glass, that brilliantly clear body, that frothy head. Perfection! Yes, perfection for a certain type of beer: the type of beer that is not known for aroma or flavour. Something served at near 0°C will have a lot less aromas than something stored at 5°C, or 10°C, because aromatics are volatilised at higher temperatures. So, if you have a beer that is there to quench a thirst and very little else, then serving it ice cold is just fine. If you have a beer where you want to show off the hop aroma, but keep the thirst- quenching aspect, serve it at 5°C. If you have a complex, higher ABV beer that you want the drinker to sip, serve it at around 10°C. THOUGHTS FINAL 54 | Autumn 2019 | ontapmag.co.za