Beer Ageing and Flavour Change with Time

It's mid-week and it's time for some technical insight. Research in the 1970's into the stability of beer flavours led to this chart (attributed to Dalgliesh, 1977) which gives an indication of the beer ageing process. Bitterness drops off over time as the sweetness increases and oxidation starts having an effect after approximately 3 months, when the beer starts tasting stale and papery. There is a link between the temperature that beer is kept at and the rate of quality decline.  Refrigerated beer may be expected to last somewhere between 300-600 days before it starts tasting stale but this drops off exponentially with increasing temperature.  At 25 to 30 degC don't expect your beer to last much longer than a couple of weeks.

Beer is a delicate product and should be consumed as soon as possible after it has been produced. It should be handled with care and kept refrigerated (but not close to freezing temperatures) for improved longevity.  These are all exceptionally good reasons to support your local micro-brewery!

Father's Day or Beer Day?

Father's day is nearly here and every Brewery man and his retail dog is telling us that what Dad want's for Father's day is a box of beer.  This does make us wonder whether it is father's day or Beer Day!

http://www.beermerchants.com 

https://www.eebria.com 

http://www.beerhawk.co.uk 

Te;; us whether you will be treating the dad in your life to some beer on Father's day. Also let us know whether you've checked with Dad to find out what type of beer he may like!

Get your Craft Beer kicks at the Woolly Mammoth

Although the Woolly Mammoth Alehouse in downtown Brisbane does not have a brewery on site, it is a very exciting Craft Beer destination.

I highly recommend a visit to this gem of a watering hole, where you can learn a thing or two about craft beers. The first thing I noticed after the big, larger-than-life, hairy Mammoth, was the huge tap-wall at the back of the bar.  This has a significant number of craft beers available, and unlike the larger one I saw in Atlanta, this one only has craft beer available (none of that mainstream weak, tasteless stuff).

The most refreshing experience was talking to a highly talented barman who knows a lot about craft beer, which is one of the things most places that sell beer need.  This young gentleman also has an inspiring project that involves specialist mixing syrups that he creates himself that change or enhance a beer's flavour.  His approach is carefully crafted and well thought-out and supported by his years of experience with other products that require a fine appreciation of aroma and flavour (which includes coffee).

The place has lots of space, several beverage services points and a band stand for live music. If you are in Brisbane and you're into craft beer then you need to visit this place. No excuses!

Micro-brewery explosion

The number of micro-breweries in the UK has exploded over the last few years. The map above presents the distribution of approximately 800 of them.  A Financial Times report quoting statistics from the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) indicated that there were around 500 breweries in the UK in 2000 and that number rose to around 1,400 in 2014.  Current estimates are in the order of 1,500 but it may be higher given that approximately 200 new breweries were opened each year during the past two years.  Wikipedia lists less than 600 of them.

Spectacularly Poor Beer Quality

As part of my education into the UK craft and general beer industry, I have been trying different brands that are commercially available in supermarkets and at mini-breweries, where the beer is available to the public. A few days ago I opened a beer that I bought at a well known retail outlet that prides itself on high quality and competes for the top end of the supermarket retail rankings. The beer was ghastly, disgusting, vile and repulsive. I was astounded. The taste might have been described as industrial chemicals smelling a bit like methanol or anti-freeze mixed with vinegar and diluted coke. It is, without a doubt, the worst example of a beer that I have ever tasted. The fact that someone attempted to pass it off as a beer is astounding. It has also made me realise just how spectacularly poor beer-quality can be.

The biggest impact on me has been an immediate dislike of the brand, the beer, and the brewery in question. I've literally written them off from my future tasting list on the basis of one sample. I am not going to mention names, yet, because I want to see how well the supplier and the retailer deal with the complaint. Normally I would never want to visit their brewery, but given that this experience is a serious pit-fall to avoid in this industry I am going to make a point of going to see them.  I want to talk to them in person, inspect their equipment and processes (as much as they will allow me to interrogate them), and to find out more about the distribution chains and how both supplier and retailer attempt to manage product quality. I am interested in the chain of custody - I want to find out who is responsible at what stage of the delivery process?

There is another side to this experience that raised my concerns. How do I know that this beer was a real product of this outfit and not a fake?  There has been a problem with fake alcohol in the UK and I understand that other countries like China have had their fair share of this problem. The BBC lists 5 counterfeit cons you should know about (one of which is alcohol), so as to have less of a chance of falling victim to them.  There is a long list of HMRC news items associated with crooks in the alcohol business.

Drink Aware mentions the dangers of fake alcohol, with health risks being the most obvious and severe, and goes on to list the Trading Standards Institue list of things to look out for in terms of the four 'P's: Place, Price, Packaging, and Product.

• Place: where are you buying? Buy from a reputable outfit.
• Price: If the price looks to good, it probably is fake.
• Packaging: Look out for poor quality labelling, a UK duty stamp, properly sealed containers, and potentially fake bar codes (the later needs more attention in terms of databases, certificates and tools in the form of apps).
• Product: Beware of unusual brand names (well, that would kill the craft beer market, now, wouldn't it?), unusual product appearance, and if it tastes or smells bad, don't drink it. The smell of nail varnish or other chemicals may be an indication. 

This topic probably deserves more time and effort so I will address this again when I have done more research.

Post-dated update:
Two day after I made my complaint the retailer got back to me to apologise for the product not being up to the standard I expected. They reassured me that all complaints are recorded and passed to relevant Partners.   They reassured me that their buyers and technologists work closely with their producers and suppliers to alert them to any concerns. They wanted to reassure me that the information I had provided will help them prevent something like this from happening again. They also offered to send me a gift voucher in the post.

No news from the brewery - they may feel that it is the retailers responsibility to sort it out (pure speculation), but some reassurance they they do their best to ensure everything is managed well on their side would be reassuring and may have tempted me back as a traditional consumer to try their products again.

Brisbane Brewing Co.

An artistic wrought iron gate of a hops-plant leads the way down an alley off Boundary St. to the Brisbane Brewing Co. pub-brewery in the West End.  It's an simple low cost building that feels a bit like a large open-ended garage, reminiscent of what one may consider a good place to start a brewery.   It's a cool venue with a relaxed laid-back feel that looks like a good place to be on a hot day.

The brewing kit is tucked away along one of the walls running the length of the indoor section next to what appears to be a kitchen, with a few extra fermenters squeezed in behind the main bar service area.

The industrial side of this outfit is a bit cluttered and chaotic and raises some questions about housekeeping, which is usually a reflection of an attitude towards health and safety. It may just be that there is limited space and the owners are doing their best to shoehorn a growing business into the limited space they have available.  I like the rustic, rough and ready feel of the equipment and noticed a pile of stainless steel connectors and fittings that every brewery I have visited seems to have.

Many breweries have a simplified process flow diagram depicting the beer making process, which reflects some of the technological advances to a process that has essentially been know for thousands of years.  However, as any engineer will tell you, a simplified process flow diagram doesn't enable you to competently run a micro-brewery. The secrets lie in the details and I have yet to see a brewery where you can peek at the internals of all those pretty, shiny vessels. They are just vessels or fancy big pots, aren't they? Not quite.

 The bar had a good number of taps, mostly their own product and the thing that differentiates a good brew-pub from another for me is that they have more taps than your average bar.  That's because diversity and product portfolio and customer choice is the essence of what this growing craft beer business is all about. Unfortunately this outfit offered the stock standard two size Aussie beer measures (or at least what Queensland usually offers - I discovered that Australia has a bit more beer measurement selection complexity further afield). What I really wanted was to taste a few different things and I was then informed that smaller portions were available, but in the end it would have been better for two of us rather than me out there on my own.  Admittedly beer tourism is better with company but I can hardly expect friends to follow me around the globe on my consulting engineering escapades.

The four 150ml glasses were a bit more expensive than what I would have liked.  In the end their most adventurous beer was apricot infused, and I will admit it wasn't a favourite.  I also found there was a common underlying theme to all their beers that just didn't tickle my tastebuds in the way I like beer to do. I can't put my finger on what it was, whether it was a type of hops they used or the blend of malt they used, but it didn't tick the box that said I'll have to come back here when I know more about beer and learn some lessons from their product portfolio. Admittedly I didn't try any of the darker beers so it might just be their gold and amber range that didn't chime for me.

My general impression was that it was a nice cool environment to get away from the heat and enjoy a beer, but I was a little disappointed with the beer in the end.