Günther Kollmar, head of the Oettinger Brewery, breaks all the beer industry's rules; he doesn't advertise his products, doesn't do deals with restaurants and bars and has his beer delivered by his own company. That cuts costs. And it's helped him turn a small Bavarian brewery into the maker of Germany's largest and best-selling (discount) beer brand.
Showing posts with label Beer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Beer. Show all posts
New Lineup of Handcrafted Beer by Kirkland (Costco)
Costco, one of the top 3 warehouse club stores in the U.S. (along with Sam's Club and BJ's), started offering its own private label (Kirkland Signature) line of Handcrafted Beer in 2008 with 4 varieties:
- Pale Ale, top-fermented
- Amber Ale, a darker version of pale ale, top-fermented
- Pale Ale, top-fermented
- Amber Ale, a darker version of pale ale, top-fermented
- Hefeweizen, unfiltered wheat beer, bottom-fermented
- German-style Lager ("lager" is "storage" in German), bottom-fermented
- German-style Lager ("lager" is "storage" in German), bottom-fermented
As of 2011, the lineup has changed to include all ale type beers:
- Belgian White Ale
- India Pale Ale
- Pale Ale
- Amber Ale
- Amber Ale
This is a brief review of each beer:
- Belgian White Ale (malt beverage brewed with spices) - with oats, wheat and barley malt. Coriander and orange peel are added to create a citrus aroma. It is seasoned with hops from the Yakima Valley in Washington State. This wheat beer is unfiltered (it looks "cloudy"), in the classic Belgian style of "witbier" (white beer). The beer is not bitter at all (relatively speaking), at 10 IBU.
- India Pale Ale - this beer tastes bitter (67 IBU) due to the generous amounts of Anerican hops, including Cascade, Centennial, and Amarillo - it even has a hops drawing on the label. The malts are barley, Munich and English crystal malt.
- Pale Ale
- Amber Ale
What is IBU? (based on Wikipedia.)
European Bitterness Units scale, often abbreviated as EBU, is a scale for measuring the perceived bitterness of beer. The scale and method are defined by the European Brewery Convention, and the numerical value should be the same as of the International Bitterness Units scale (IBU), defined in co-operation with the American Society of Brewing Chemists.
The European Brewery Convention also defines units for the colour of beer, for which the abbreviation EBC is used. This should not be confused with the bitterness units.
The International Bittering Units scale, or simply IBU scale, provides a measure of the bitterness of beer, which is provided by the hops used during brewing. Bittering units are measured through the use of a spectrophotometer and solvent extraction.
The bittering effect is less noticeable in beers with a high quantity of malt, so a higher IBU is needed in heavier beers to balance the flavor. For example, an Imperial Stout may have an IBU of 50, but will taste less bitter than an English Bitter with an IBU of 30, because the latter beer uses much less malt than the former. The technical limit for IBU's is around 100; some have tried to surpass this number, but there is no real gauge after 100 IBUs when it comes to taste threshold. Light lagers without much bitterness will generally have 5 IBUs, while an India Pale Ale may have 100 IBUs or more.
Related:
Costco (Kirkland) Handcrafted Beer
Oktoberfest: 5 delicious styles of German beer - Slate Magazine, 2011.
Oktoberfest: 5 delicious styles of German beer - Slate Magazine, 2011.
Beer measurement. Wikipedia.
Beers that are 6 times stronger than a Bud - 32% alcohol by volume - TIME Taste Test
How does high-alcohol beer taste? TIME samples Tactical Nuclear Penguin and Sink the Bismarck! - two beers that are six times stronger than a Bud.
"BrewDog, a three-year-old Scottish microbrewery, released a new brand, dubbed Tactical Nuclear Penguin. The beer set a new record by weighing in at a scary 32% alcohol by volume (ABV), more than six times the strength of familiar domestic brands like Budweiser."
References:
Super-High-Alcohol Beer Heads to the U.S. TIME.
The sad state of German beer culture - Slate Magazine, 2011.
Oktoberfest: 5 delicious styles of German beer - Slate Magazine, 2011.
Oktoberfest: 5 delicious styles of German beer - Slate Magazine, 2011.
Costco (Kirkland) Handcrafted Beer
Costco, one of the top 3 warehouse club stores in the U.S. (along with Sam's Club and BJ's), started offering its own private label (Kirkland Signature) line of Handcrafted Beer with 4 varieties:
- Hefeweizen, unfiltered wheat beer, bottom-fermented
- Pale Ale, top-fermented
- Amber Ale, a darker version of pale ale, top-fermented
- German-style Lager ("lager" is "storage" in German), bottom-fermented
There is already a brief YouTube "review" of the Costco's line of Handcrafted Beer:
Video: Costco's very own craft beer with the Kirkland name on it, 4-flavor variety 24 pack for $18.50 for a case. Ale Ale is a type of beer brewed from malted barley using a top-fermenting brewers' yeast. This yeast ferments the beer quickly, giving it a sweet and fruity taste. Most ales contain hops, which impart a bitter flavour that helps to balance the sweetness of the malt. The other major style of beer — lager — is bottom-fermented. Ales are common in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Belgium, Germany, and among craft beer consumers in the United States. Pale ale Pale ales are brewed using a pale barley malt, the classic example being the bitter of English pubs. Strengths vary from 3% abv to over 5%. Amber ale is a North American term for a slightly darker style of this type, that probably takes its name from the ambrée of France. Lager Lager (German: storage) is a type of beer that is stored for at least 3 weeks before being served. It is a general term that includes several variations or styles, such as Pilsener, Export and Märzen. The key difference between an ale and a lager is in fermentation; a lager is fermented at a much lower temperature, and with a different yeast, than an ale. If continuous fermentation is not employed, the fermentation period for a lager will take at least twice as long as for an ale; this time is furthermore compounded by weeks or months of lagering. Wheat beer Wheat beer is a beer that is brewed with a large proportion of wheat. Wheat beers often also contain a significant proportion of malted barley. Wheat beers are usually top-fermented (in Germany they have to be by law). The main varieties are weissbier, witbier and the sour varieties, such as lambic. Weissbier refers to several different types of wheat beer: - "hefeweizen" refers to wheat beer in its traditional, unfiltered form - kristallweizen (crystal wheat), or kristall weiss (crystal white beer) refers to a wheat beer that is filtered to remove the yeast from suspension Weissbier is available in a number of other stronger forms including dunkelweizen (dark wheat) and weizenstarkbier (strong wheat beer), commonly referred to as weizenbock. The dark wheat varieties typically have a much higher alcohol content than their lighter cousins. Alternate terms for hefeweizen include hefeweissbier, weissbier, hefeweisse, dunkelweizen, weizenbock, and weizenstarkbier. The hefeweizen style is particularly noted for its low hop bitterness (about 15 IBUs) and relatively high carbonation (approaching four volumes), considered important to balance the beer's relatively malty sweetness. References: Ale. Wikipedia. Lager. Wikipedia. Wheat beer. Wikipedia. Kirkland's Signature Handcrafted Beer. Strap's Blog.
- Hefeweizen, unfiltered wheat beer, bottom-fermented
- Pale Ale, top-fermented
- Amber Ale, a darker version of pale ale, top-fermented
- German-style Lager ("lager" is "storage" in German), bottom-fermented
There is already a brief YouTube "review" of the Costco's line of Handcrafted Beer:
Video: Costco's very own craft beer with the Kirkland name on it, 4-flavor variety 24 pack for $18.50 for a case. Ale Ale is a type of beer brewed from malted barley using a top-fermenting brewers' yeast. This yeast ferments the beer quickly, giving it a sweet and fruity taste. Most ales contain hops, which impart a bitter flavour that helps to balance the sweetness of the malt. The other major style of beer — lager — is bottom-fermented. Ales are common in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Belgium, Germany, and among craft beer consumers in the United States. Pale ale Pale ales are brewed using a pale barley malt, the classic example being the bitter of English pubs. Strengths vary from 3% abv to over 5%. Amber ale is a North American term for a slightly darker style of this type, that probably takes its name from the ambrée of France. Lager Lager (German: storage) is a type of beer that is stored for at least 3 weeks before being served. It is a general term that includes several variations or styles, such as Pilsener, Export and Märzen. The key difference between an ale and a lager is in fermentation; a lager is fermented at a much lower temperature, and with a different yeast, than an ale. If continuous fermentation is not employed, the fermentation period for a lager will take at least twice as long as for an ale; this time is furthermore compounded by weeks or months of lagering. Wheat beer Wheat beer is a beer that is brewed with a large proportion of wheat. Wheat beers often also contain a significant proportion of malted barley. Wheat beers are usually top-fermented (in Germany they have to be by law). The main varieties are weissbier, witbier and the sour varieties, such as lambic. Weissbier refers to several different types of wheat beer: - "hefeweizen" refers to wheat beer in its traditional, unfiltered form - kristallweizen (crystal wheat), or kristall weiss (crystal white beer) refers to a wheat beer that is filtered to remove the yeast from suspension Weissbier is available in a number of other stronger forms including dunkelweizen (dark wheat) and weizenstarkbier (strong wheat beer), commonly referred to as weizenbock. The dark wheat varieties typically have a much higher alcohol content than their lighter cousins. Alternate terms for hefeweizen include hefeweissbier, weissbier, hefeweisse, dunkelweizen, weizenbock, and weizenstarkbier. The hefeweizen style is particularly noted for its low hop bitterness (about 15 IBUs) and relatively high carbonation (approaching four volumes), considered important to balance the beer's relatively malty sweetness. References: Ale. Wikipedia. Lager. Wikipedia. Wheat beer. Wikipedia. Kirkland's Signature Handcrafted Beer. Strap's Blog.
The sad state of German beer culture - Slate Magazine, 2011.
Oktoberfest: 5 delicious styles of German beer - Slate Magazine, 2011.
The Economist explains: How IPA beer conquered the world http://buff.ly/1k1DUaR
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