How to brew beer at home from 0% beer, yeast and sugar? I have a lot of 0% beer at home and I wanna make them 8%-18% alcohol. I've been said that if I add yeast and sugar to 0% beer, it will become alcoholic beer. Now I need proportion of yeast and sugar for 1 Liter beer and the process to make it happen?

All Ethanol is "natural" in the sense that it comes from fermentation. Neutral spirits are created through distillation to concentrate the alcohol. In theory you can combine sugar, water, yeast to make something that is kind of neutral in flavor, but that will only get you to about 16-20% alcohol. So you would have to dilute the 0% beer with this 16% brew and therefore dilute the flavors of the original beer. Far more effective, would be to buy some vodka and dump that into your beer (Unless you are in a country where you can't buy it, which is what I suspect). Look up "Sugar Wine" recipes like this Sugar Wine recipe.


How can I improve the flavor of a cheap bottle of sparkling wine? How can I improve on a cheap bottle of bubbly wine?  I thought of a few ideas myself but instead of wasting it I thought I'd ask.  BTW, by improving I mean make it taste better.

Make a kir royale with it.

Add a small amount of a strong, fruity liqueur to the bottom of the glass, such as creme de cassis or framboise (Chambord is one brand name).  Then gently add the sparkling wine.

Often, cheap sparkling wine is not very palatable because it is bitter: the strong fruit flavors of the liqueur will mask this.


"Pumpkin" beers made with actual pumpkin? It's about that time of year again, when pumpkin flavored beer (and everything else) starts making its way onto store shelves.

I was wondering, what pumpkin flavored beers are out there, if any, are made with actual pumpkin and not just pumpkin pie spices?

My personal favorite is Pumpkin Head by Shipyard, but I've been unable to find any evidence that would suggest it is made with real pumpkin. Are there readily available beers made with real pumpkin? I live in western PA, but any brand not specifically available here would be good to know.

I drank once Post Road Pumkin Ale from Brooklyn brewery that is brewed with, to quote them,

  Hundreds of pounds of pumpkins [...] blended into the mash of each batch: Post Road Pumpkin Ale


Why is beer in Czech Republic so cheap? I recently traveled to Prague where beer was extremely cheap, usually around $1-$2 USD in supermarkets for 16 oz. cans. Even brands like Heineken and Stella were this cheap. What are the main factors for this?

It is in my opinion mainly thanks to low excise duty on beer in the Czech republic.

Another factor is the fact that there are lower prices of almost everything in the Czech republic (I am talking mainly about local food and beverages).

And last but not least, Czech republic is I guess second or third in the whole world in beer consumption, which means there is high level of demand for traditional czech beer, which allows producers to produce beer in large quantities.


Health Effects of Drinking Slowly I really like the flavor of dark beer, but I hate getting buzzed. Thus, I have developed the habit of drinking a single beer over the course of 1-3 days, because then I can keep my BAC low (ie. sub 0.01%). I am curious if the health effects of drinking slowly differ from drinking fast and intermittently.
For example, will the following have different health effects and how?

1 beer drunk in 10min every day
1 beer drunk in 8 hours every day

I would have to guess that the health effects are very different.  The kidneys will have a tougher load to process with 1 beer/10 min/day versus  1 beer/8 hours/day.  2 beers or 96 beers a day using awake time of 16hrs.
So you would have Drunk, overloading the kidneys and liver, along with withdrawal symptoms if you stop for a couple days.  The 2 a day can also give withdrawal symptoms if you do this for awhile and then stop for a couple days.  I currently have a patient who for the most part drinks 2 a day, and is having withdrawal symptoms.
Obviously the more per day will have more bad effects.


What do they judge on at beer competitions? When you see advertising for beer, some of them advertise awards that they have won at various beer festivals and/or competitions.

What are the judging standards at these competitions, and what are the most prestigious competitions?

There are SO many different subcategories now. You can download the full judging guidelines and registration into the different styles.

Main categories include:

Beer
Mead
Cider

Some of the sub-categories of beer include:

LIGHT LAGER
PILSNER
EUROPEAN AMBER LAGER
DARK LAGER
BOCK
LIGHT HYBRID BEER
AMBER HYBRID BEER
ENGLISH PALE ALE
SCOTTISH AND IRISH ALE
AMERICAN ALE
ENGLISH BROWN ALE
PORTER
STOUT
INDIA PALE ALE (IPA)
GERMAN WHEAT AND RYE BEER
BELGIAN AND FRENCH ALE
SOUR ALE
BELGIAN STRONG ALE
STRONG ALE
FRUIT BEER
SPICE / HERB / VEGETABLE BEER
SMOKE-FLAVORED AND WOOD-AGED BEER
SPECIALTY BEER

I think winning an award at any sanctioned competition would be huge. I do see the World Beer Awards, the US Open Beer Championships, Great American Beer Festival, and North American Beer Awards, just to name a few. There are also Homebrewing awards that are very competitive.


Why have craft beers increased in alcohol content? I've noticed recently that when it comes to pale ales of all types, alcohol content has increased significantly.
Where ten years ago, most beers were either 4% or 5% or maybe 5.2% alcohol by volume, (in Australia) if I look at most IPAs and other craft beers, most are are minimum 5.8%. It's more common to see them the 6% and even 7-9%.
Is this the case all around the world, or Australia only?
If it is a universal thing, is there a good reason, from the point of view of taste, for this? Or is this more just brewers giving drinkers 'more value for money'?

Why have craft beers increased in alcohol content?
From my point of view there seems to be at least three reasons for this trend.

Beer drinkers are drawn to the bolder flavors and the mouth feel of stronger beers.
The higher alcohol content gives such beers a longer shelf life.
Stronger beers do not have to be served at cooler temperatures as lighter beers, some can be served somewhat warm.
Part of craft beer's popularity is in its variety, including high ABV beers.

What is driving the popularity of high alcohol beers, and will it last?
With the surge in popularity of craft beers, the alcohol content in a good many of them has also risen. While most large breweries turn out beer with an ABV (alcohol by volume) around 4 to 5 percent, some craft beers boast ABV counts of up to 29 percent, with the average being 5.9 percent.
The American IPA trend among craft brewers exploits this proclivity toward higher alcohol content, with most being between 6 and 10 percent. Double and triple IPAs are even higher. Most craft brewers now have at least one higher ABV variety, and much of it has been driven by consumer demand.
Why do consumers like higher alcohol beers?
Much of the appeal has to do with taste. Higher ABV beers tend to have a richer, more complex taste that can sometimes be on the bitter side. Fans are drawn to the bolder flavors and the mouth feel of these stronger beers, some of which may be barrel-aged like stronger spirits. Instead of having three or four beers, they may share one with a friend to compensate for its strength.
The popularity of higher ABV beers persists in spite of their steeper price tag. A decanter bottle of Sam Adams Utopia, with an ABV of 29 percent, can cost as much as $200. Another factor in popularity with both brewers and drinkers is that the higher alcohol content gives it a longer shelf life. Either way, consumers tend to identify beers with higher ABV as being higher quality.


Recommended fermentation time for cider I know this is more preference than rule but I am a beginner and from what I have read it is:
2 weeks in the fermenting jug;
bottle, add sugar and sit for another 2 weeks.

Any body else have suggestions for me?
Anyone think this is wrong?

The recommended primary fermentation time for anything you're going to bottle is: until it's done.

After 2-3 weeks, when you think it's ready, use a wine thief to pull a sample to test with a hydrometer.  Record that number.  Then wait maybe 3 days and do it again.  Compare the new number to the first number.  If they're the same, you're safe.  If they're at all different, give it another week then repeat the whole process.

The premeasured bottling sugar or bottling sugar calculator assumes the cider is completely done fermenting, if it's not then you've suddenly overdosed the bottles with sugar which could result in an explosion.


What are some affordable brands of good Scotch? I've just recently begun drinking Scotch, and I find it absolutely delicious. However, most brands I see in the store are quite expensive. So far the best Scotch I've tried is Aberlour single malt, and although it's not prohibitively expensive, it's not exactly cheap either.

What are some good brands of Scotch that won't break the bank?

So, I am answering assuming you want to stick with single malts rather than go blended. Also because people live in different parts of the world, prices may vary.

I would recommend Glenfiddich 12-y as a standard go to single malt and usually a bit cheaper than the rest.

Other good brands include Dalwhinnie and Dalmore(this one being my personal favorite) but these prices will range around the same as your Aberlour.

Lastly, I've once thought about getting cheaper single malts but I have never tasted a good cheap single malt. Were they decent? A few, most were not the greatest and I would not buy again. This has been my personal experience.

Hope that helps.


Changes of gasification of beer in a long draw series Is there any information on how the levels of co2 and n2 change over time in a keg series pressurized with a 30/70 mix (co2/n2 respectively)? Assuming the beer originally carbonated (not a nitro beer) and it takes a week to empty the series of kegs?
I would guess that one would get at least a 1/2 barrel of beer that is at the original carbonation level and no nitrogenation, but as the flow mixes the beer it would change and finally the last 1/2 barrel would have the greatest nitrogenation.

Also, since it is not a nitro beer is there a limit of the amount of nitrogenation due to the originally present carbonation?

While I can't point you to a calculator on beer gas mixture I can point you to this Fact sheet from the Brewers Association.

The key to balance a tap system is figuring out the opposing pressures. The keg to tap resistance must be matched by the gas tank push pressure. The gas pressure puts in a little CO2, the liquid line squeezes a little out. However, in long draw setups where the draft line has a lot of resistance the push pressure would have be so high that a lot more CO2 would be dissolved into the beer.  The amount of CO2 squeezed out would cause very foamy beer. How to solve this?  Mix in some Nitrogen.

Basically, the Nitrogen will never blend into the beer.  It is used as an inert gas to maintain the pressure in long draw lines.  Any change in carbonation would come from the mix ratio.  If the mix is too low in CO2, as the keg empties the beer will go flat since not enough CO2 is being forced in.  If the mix is too high in CO2 then the beer would gain carbonation from the beer gas.

Your ratio of 30% CO2 / 70% N is more suited to a Nitro tap setup.  Traditional nitro beers have an original carbonation level of around 1-1.5 volumes of CO2.  The amount of CO2 needed to maintain this carbonation level is minimal PLUS the faucets that pour these beers have an extra plate that restricts the flow even more, forcing almost all gas out of the beer.  Without that specialized faucet, the beer coming out would just be flat with maybe a few sad bubbles of CO2 but no thick head of foam that you'd expect.


What are some of the most common ingredients used in gluten-free beers? What are the most popular ingredient used in the making of gluten-free beers? Do they have a good shelve life or not?

Corn, rice, sorghum, buckwheat, millet and quinoa are popular. Each has their own special trick to get it to convert the starches to sugars.

In Africa sorghum lagers are very popular, and they have the same shelf life of "normal pale" lagers. aka 3-6 months. I do not know if gluten-free affects the shelf life.

Here is a BYO article to provide more information on gluten free brewing.


Where can I find open APIs with wine data (such as numerical expert rating)? I'm looking for a wine API with basic info (producer name, name, varietal, region, expert rating, description). Wine.com seems to have deprecated their API last month. I can't find any other ones from sites like WineEnthusiast and WineAdvocate.

Wine-searcher.com has one, but it costs $350 a month and they won't give it to me temporarily (I'm just a student building a prototype app).

Anybody know of any?

Thanks,

The closest thing I can find (and am currently aware of) is LCBO API. This free API provides details for products sold through the gov't owned liquor retailer in Ontario, Canada. They have a fairly large selection as they are one of the largest buyers of alcohol products globally.

By providing a product's SKU code to the API, you can retrieve some of the product details you're looking for except rating, and varietal. As a consolation, it does provide details on wine type (red, white, rose, champagne etc.) and country (incl. region for some products), but doesn't provide details such as Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Merlot, etc.


Is wine dryness or sweetness due to grape variety? What divides a dry wine from a sweet wine is the level of residual sugar left in the wine after fermentation?

No, they are not related at all. Except when they are. Let me explain. There are a couple of ways to make a wine sweet.

Ferment to dryness, filter and then add something sweet.
Make a wine with so much sugar that the yeast can't finish
Stop fermentation before it ends (filtering or alcohol) and leave some sweetness

Almost all grapes can be made into sweet wine by one of these methods, but not all of them are as tasty as others. Some grapes, like Riesling, can make both an excellent sweet dessert style wine and a dry wine. Then others like Cabernet Sauvignon are rarely made into sweet wine. It has to do with the tannins. The one exception to this is Port and Madeira where they make sweet wines from red grapes but these are meant to age.

So, to answer your question. No, sweet wines don't have to be related to a specific grape, but they are for taste purposes and not on the physical properties of the grapes.


What is the significance of a beer's head? In many beer tasting guides it tells to describe the head, or to 'admire' the head of the beer. From Wikipedia, I understand that:

  Beer head (also head) is the frothy foam on top of beer which is produced by bubbles of gas, typically carbon dioxide, rising to the surface. The elements that produce the head are wort protein, yeast and hop residue. The carbon dioxide that forms the bubbles in the head is produced during fermentation.

But what is the actual significance of focusing on the head of the beer so much? Why does one concern themselves with how much head exists, how long it lasts, etc?

There are some good answers here, but to distill and maybe enhance:

Beer heads are a great indication of proper serving because if any number of factors that could affect the taste are off, they'll also affect the head.  Some of these are:

Warm beer foams too much. If your server is dumping tons of head down the drain to fill your glass with enough beer, it might be too warm.
Too much pressure in the keg makes beer foam too much.  The brewer carbonated it to the level they wanted, the bar might be over-carbonating it.
Cold beer does not foam very much.  If the kegs are chilled too cold or the bar is serving beer in a frozen glass, your beer is probably too cold.  Cold temperatures will dull flavors and kill aromas. Obviously if you're into beer for flavor, this is bad.
Dirty glasses tend to dissipate the foam very quickly, so you could be drinking whatever was in the glass before, or soap scum... neither of which sounds very tasty.
Under-carbonated beer doesn't foam very much.  Under-carbonation can also dull flavors since so much of taste is based on smell and you can't smell volatile aromatics if there's no fizz to carry them out of the liquid.

There are various schools of thought on the head as an indicator of beer's quality or freshness but realistically this will vary by style.  Think of the thick creamy head of Guinness stout; remove the head and you completely change the experience.  The large luxurious heads of Belgian beers, or the thinner off-color head of porters.

Also, without a good head with lots of tiny popping bubbles of CO2 to spray the air above the glass with volatile aromatic oils, you wouldn't have nearly as much hoppiness to smell and taste in an IPA or spices from a Belgian style.


Unique drinks to make Halloween memorable? Are there any unique drinks out there to pair with Halloween in order to make it truly memorable?

We like having a Halloween party in an area with some so called haunted houses and where stories of Sasquatches abound. we have a grand old time with stories, movies and eats the whole week of Hell Week (the week leading up to Halloween).

For my part, I would like to bring the following eats to our evening soirees:

My own variation of the Croque Monsieur. The béchamel sauce that I make contains enough  Keens Mustard to make your eyes weep and your nose run. These are best served warm to hot, but can be eaten cold.
Mummy Dogs or something resembling Piggy Coffins.
Green pasta salad dish of sorts.
Stuffed Jack-O-Lanterns Bell Peppers which after my Croque Monsieurs are my favorite.

I tend to think of drinks with scary names. Specifically you could serve Zombie Dust from 3 Floyds Brewing which has the advantage of being a really excellent beer.

A Google search for "Halloween themed beer" will yield several articles with similarly scary named beers such as here and here.

Lastly, there is the Pumpkin Ale beer style.


Was beer conceived to be a bitter drink? In all the years of my life (except when I was a minor), I've never tasted beer that's not bitter. So was beer conceived to be a bitter drink? What factors in the bitter taste of beer?

So I'm going to assume you mean historically...

The Wikipedia page has a ton of good info but basically, beer was originally a very sweet beverage due to the wild yeast and under modified malt that was used in the brewing process.  To combat the sweetness, brewers would use Gruit which is an herb mixture to bitter the beer. Hops were also used as a bittering agent, but not to the same extent as gruit.

In 1842, the first Pilsner was brewed, a style which showcases hops and is very pale in color which was revolutionary at the time.  This style took Europe by storm and the migrating Germans to the US brought this taste for hoppy pilsners with them to the US.  There were many competing styles that were popular in the US up until Prohibition.
 After prohibition, the breweries that were still in business chose to produce the beers that appeal to the widest consumer base, I.E. Pilsner drinkers. This is the raison d'etre for the very large breweries.

As for the bitterness in beer, the most common factor is Hops.  Hops contain different acids (Alpha, Beta, Myrcente, etc) that bitter beer in different ways.  The type, quantity and usage of hops in the brewing process can affect the bitterness of beer.
That being said, some styles don't use a lot of hops if at all.  Scottish/Irish ales, for instance, don't have much hop flavor due to the lack of availability of hops in the region.  Other styles originate from locations that have never seen hops.

Hope this helps.  Never be afraid to try new things.


What uses do hops have outside of brewing? Do hops have (or had in the past) any use outside of brewing beer?

I mean: In the question of dating first modern beers we have the first record of cultivating hops predating the first record of use of hops in beer by nearly a century. Could the hops have been cultivated for any other purpose than brewing, or can we safely assume if they were cultivated, there was beer made with them?

In answer to part of your question, there are probably no other reasons for large-scale cultivation of hops in the 8th century other than for brewing.  While hops were used in medicine, the major national herbals of Anglo-Saxon England don't mention them.  That we have strong references in early 8th century England (see "Anglo-Saxon Food and Drink" by Ann Hagen) to comparatively large-scale cultivation of hops strongly suggests they were used in brewing.

Hops are used in medicine as well, but the amounts used there are very small in comparison to those used for brewing, and the two major Anglo-Saxon national herbals, Bald's Leechbook and The Lacnunga don't mention them (I think the Old English Herbarium does, but it is a translation into Old English of a continental Latin work).  Keep in mind most of my work with these has been in translation (Pollington's) and translating plants from the descriptions often poses interesting issues.  I could probably find standarized editions in Old English if needed however.

One of the interesting connections here is that two of the most important early brewing herbs, hops and henbane, both had strong connections to female medical concerns (this is also interesting because historically brewing was women's work, hence the obsolete term "alewife" not referring to a fish--- the woman's place in keeping a tavern was privileged but brewing was sort of like cooking, something every woman was supposed to know).  Hops to heavy periods, and henbane was used to address pain in childbirth.  Both of these may contribute to Bald's warning that pregnant women may drink ale safely but not beer, for beer would cause a risk of miscarriage.

In general for hops to be grown to an extent noteworthy, one is almost certainly talking about brewing, whether grains or honey, and whether alone or with other herbs.


When and how to drink cellared beer? I had acquired a couple of Samuel Adams "one-off" beers, specifically "The Vixen (stout)", "Merry Mischief (gingerbread stout)", "Griffin's Bow (barley wine)" and "Norse Legend (Sahti)". These bottles are either first, second or third batch, according to the label mind you. I had these beers for 2 years in a cellar, almost no light touches them and at room temperature.

I know that most of this types of beer gets better with time, except for the Sahti, hadn't explored much of that type, but I would like to know if it's safe for the beers to be kept and for how long, and at a given time, what's the best way to drink them (chill them, room temperature, etc.). Thanks.

Beers that are high in ABV, have been bottle-conditioned or have been barrel-aged are prime for aging and cellaring. Usually the brewer will say on the bottle or their website what the max amount of suggested aging time is. For instance, Goose Island Bourbon County Brand Stout state "develops over 5 years in the bottle." I bought a case of 2012 and have one about every 6 months...and they get better and better.

They should have been kept at about 50-55 degrees over the time of aging. What did you have them at?


Beer expired last year and this year We have lots of Blonde beer which expired last year and some expired May this year.

Is it still safe to drink?

Most likely - Yes, it is safe to drink it.

Your beer is almost guaranteed to be safe to drink for humans. No pathogens like alcoholic beverages. If you have bacteria in your beer, you will just have another style of beer (see Sour Beer).

Your beer could taste bad, but 1 year over expiration date is usually nothing serious. A lot depends on the type of beer + alcohol percentage + earlier exposure to oxygen + present bacteria in the beer.

When I brew Blondes, wheat beer or beers with belgian yeast, I'd rather have them condition in the bottle for several months before I drink them. Maybe your beer has become even better and more conditioned.

Good luck tasting!


Liquor before beer never fear The common saying "beer before liquor never sicker and liquor before beer have no fear" always made me wander why is that? What is the science behind it?

I had never heard of this saying (I'm not a native English speaker), but the funny thing is that in Dutch there is a similar saying, except with wine instead of liquor and the other way around: 'wijn na bier is plezier, bier na wijn is venijn'. This roughly translates to 'wine after beer is fun, beer after wine is poison'.
I once read an interview with a toxicologist about this and according to him the order in which you drank made no difference.
One explanation I heard was that in the olden days, beer was the drink of the poor people, while the upper class drank wine. So if you went from beer to wine, you moved up in society, while the other way around meant you got poorer.
So, not really an answer to your question, but there might be a similar, not really alcohol-related explanation to this expression.


How to store a bottle of beer once it has been opened? Some of my favorite beers come in 22+oz bottles. Typically these are heavier beers and sometimes, I simply cannot finish the entire bottle in one sitting (maybe I had too much to eat previously. Who knows). Because they are nice beers, I want to enjoy them to their fullest extent, and so I will save the remainder for another night.

How can I prevent these beers from losing any (at least a bare minimum) of their quality once they've been opened? And, does this being opened for a duration -- typically 1 to 2 days -- have a noticeable effect on their quality?

The short answer is that the beer will not last long after opening, and in most cases you are best off resealing the bottle with an airtight cap/stopper that can withstand mild pressure.

Two things you want to prevent in this situation are:

oxidation of the beer, which will change the taste of a beer.
loss of carbonation.

For non-carbonated drinks such as wine, a common method to combat oxidation in an opened bottle is to remove the air from the bottle using a vacuum pump.  This is a bad idea for carbonated drinks, since the lower pressure will force carbon dioxide to out of solution causing it to go flat.  One alternative would be to replace the air with an inert gas (perhaps with a product like Private Preserve).

To minimise loss of carbonation, you really only need to reseal the bottle so it is airtight: carbon dioxide will stop coming out of solution once the pressure builds.  The smaller the air gap in the bottle the faster the pressure will build, so if it is a large bottle with only a small amount of beer left it might make sense to transfer it to a smaller bottle first.


Is it safe to store an open beer in a sealable cup in the refrigerator? I was given a large can of beer. I couldn't finish it so I poured it into a sealable coffee cup and put it in the refrigerator.

Is it safe to drink?

The (relatively) high alcohol, presence of anti-bacterial compounds from hops, and low pH of beer make it inhospitable to most micro-organisms.

Given, it's beer, and cool and sealed: Yes, it's safe to drink.

But it will be flat!


Looking for dark but not heavy I tend to go for darker beers, typically stouts and porters.

Guinness is my usual go to when I'm at a bar or restaurant, but as appealing as "a meal in a glass" is, on occasion I find these to be a little too filling/heavy.

More recently I had the opportunity to try Köstritzer, which I guess would be classified as a black lager. It had the very familiar taste of a stout but without the filling quality.

Black lager seems to be a rather generic category though, the title seems to cover a rather large variety of dark lagers and seems to be more about color than taste.

Is there a more specific category I should be looking for?

Or perhaps better, does any one know any other beers that taste like a stout but with the light weight of a lager?

Let's start off with beers that you're interested in, something akin to a black lager. I'm going to keep things focused on beer styles rather than particulars, since I do not know where you are nor what might be available for you.
Dunkelweizen
This is a dark wheat beer with characteristics of a traditional wheat with caramel type flavors joining the mix. Not exactly stout-like, but more like your black lager in lightness.
Schwarzbier
Schwarzbier means "black beer" in German. This is what you had with your  Köstritzer. It is a medium-bodied, malt-accented dark brew, very opaque and deep-sepia in color, with a chewy texture and a firm, creamy, long-lasting head. In spite of its dark color, it comes across as a soft and elegant brew that is rich, mild, and surprisingly balanced. It never tastes harsh, toasty or acrid.
Black IPA / Cascadian Dark Ale
The American fascination with hops has shown that the addition of toasted malts can give a hoppy, bitter, and coffee-like experience to these beers.
Black Saisons
Similar to the Black IPA, I've seen a few breweries start brewing their saisons with roasted malts. The usual light flavors of the saison are accented by this extra roasted character. It's never acrid, however.
Porters
A lot of English porters are not heavy at all, and are generally akin to milds that have roasted malts added in. Look for lower ABV porters in the 4-5% range, and you'll probably find something you like.
Surprisingly to many, Guinness is actually on par with any other beer of similar alcohol strength, as beer gets a majority of its calories from alcohol, about 7 per gram. Perhaps much of the 'full' feeling is a product of the use of nitrogen in the mix which gives it that creamy texture.


How is it that I sleep well after drinking beer, but I sleep terrible after drinking vodka? The title is already the question.

How is it that I sleep well after drinking beer but I sleep terrible after drinking vodka?

I am talking  about 2 - 3 German 5,5% beer and about 100 - 200 ml vodka.

Hangovers

Primary causes are dehydration and toxins built up in your system from the impurities in the alcohol you've been drinking, but in my personal experience and research sugar content can also contribute.

Dehydration

Alcohol makes people urinate more, which raises the chances of dehydration occurring. Dehydration can give the individual that sensation of thirst and lightheadedness.

Impurites

Most alcoholic beverages contain small amounts of chemicals
other than ethanol as a by-product of the materials used
in the fermenting process (e.g., grains and wood casks). Congeners
are complex organic molecules with toxic effects including
acetone, acetaldehyde, fusel oil, tannins, and furfural.

Spirits have these in higher quantities than beer or wine due to the distillation process.

Sugar content

Depending on what specific brands you are drinking and/or what you are mixing with high sugar content can cause you to have a sugar crash contributing to the hangover feelings.

Quality

In my personal experience the mornings after indulging with top shelf spirits are notably better than those done on a budget. Bargain spirits tend to be cut with grain alcohol and balanced with corn syrup contributing to the issue, but in general higher priced spirits tend to be more highly refined (Vodka for example tends to have more filtration the more expensive it is).

References

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/5089.php

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1530-0277.2009.01116.x/full


Sparkling wine from Spain, is it Cava or not? I bought a bottle of Raventos i Blanc L'Hereu. Here is the link to official web site: Raventos i blanc.

I am unsure whether it is Cava or just regular sparkling wine? I know, Spain has strict laws, and it defines conditions to wine manufactures. I don't see any "Cava" word on official web site, and even on the label of the bottle. But there are many photos in the web with older vintage (for example 2008 or 2010) and its label has "Cava". I am confused. Does this mean, this manufacturer cannot label his wines with "Cava" anymore?

I dug into their website and they are moving away from the Cava distinction because it is associated with cheap sparkling wine and they want to go higher end. They could call it Cava but choose not too. I would put this wine at the same level as a nice Champagne. Looks like a really nice bottle of wine!

If you dig further on their website, you'll read this:

  In 1888, Manuel Raventós Doménech created a sparkling wine in Penedés with three native varieties: Xarel•lo, Macabeu and Parellada.
  When we created CAVA in 1872, we dreamed of a World Class sparkling wine. This is why Josep Raventós Fatjó decided to innovate with Xarel.lo from the same vineyard where de la Finca comes from to this day. He understood the great potential of this grape, the mineral structure of our oldest soils and, most importantly, that to become World Class you have to be AUTHENTIC.
  After 150 years CAVA has become a volume-oriented DO lacking geographical distinction in terms of climate and terroir; it also suffers from low viticultural standards.... For this reason, in November 2012 we decided to leave the CAVA DO.
  We believe that we need to create a LOCAL, VITICULTURALLYORIENTED DO with strict controls in order to showcase our wines and help them to be better understood worldwide.


Are there examples of "Trappist" beers that lost that label (or ceased to exist)? For a pubquiz, I am looking for a "Trappist" beer that lost that label (preferably), or ceased to exist. All I can find are the current 12 Trappists, nothing about old ones.

The La Trappe beer lost for a while the Trappist label (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Koningshoeven_Brewery).
It had, then it lost, and now it has.


Who invented beer and when? It is known who invented the beer? And when was beer invented?

Links:

History of Beer at Wikipedia
When was the first beer ever brewed?

As your link indicates there is evidence of beer going back to around 5000 BC, however, this is only the first time that it is known to have been recorded. Alcoholic drinks made by naturally fermenting fruit are drunk by monkeys and elephants and probably long pre-date the evolution of humans. Evidence of breads, which could result in a type of beer if allowed to ferment in the same way as the fruits if the mixture was left with yeast in too long, exists from 30,000 years and pre-dates the advent writing ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_bread ). It is likely therefore that beers existed tens of thousands of years ago through accident at first and eventually design and were likely to be similar to traditional African beers such as the Kenyan busaa, which by coincidence is still made by my girlfriend's grandmother for the elder men of her tribe. I.e. these beers would be a form of thick, alcoholic liquid bread. In other words we cannot know who "invented" beer as

it probably pre-dates written language and
it wasn't "invented" by anyone really it was made serendipitously at first.

the date was probably some time over 20,000 years ago but that is unknowable for the same reasons.
Interestingly, as it is a drink made from a cheap foodstuff that was widely consumed by the people rather than by nobility who could record such things, it is not known who invented lager either. It is likely that Lambics were the precursors of Lagers though.


What styles of beer pair well with white fish? I eat fish often, and as a beer lover, would like to know how I can drink a beer that would best complement a fish such as tilapia or hake.

When it comes to wine, it's said that white pairs well with fish, and red with meat. Is there any similar rule with beer?

Take your cue from recipes for fish cooked in beer/ale.  "Ale" (not usually specified further) and "amber beer" (example) seem to be the most common, and I can say from personal experience that these work well both for poaching fish and drinking alongside baked, broiled, or grilled whitefish.1  Of course, how your fish is flavored may affect your beer choice, but that might be a question for Seasoned Advice.  If the dominant flavor isn't the fish but, say, curry or habenero, that's a different matter.

Anecdote: In the context of a renaissance-themed event I once cooked from a 15th-century recipe for whitefish poached in ale.  I consulted my local brewing experts and together we made the ale (recipe and documentation).  They told me that the key difference in that time period was that ale didn't use hops.  There were no leftovers.  Based on that experience, I usually reach for a low-hops medium-strength beer to go with whitefish.

1 I don't eat a lot of deep-fried fish so can't advise there, sorry.  @Hunse suggests in another answer a sturdier beer for deep-fried fish.


How do I determine the shelf life of beer? Sometimes I buy beer more quickly than I can drink it -- a sad state of affairs, I know, but it happens.  I know that some beers are best drunk within a few weeks and others can be fine for months, but I don't know which are which.  What are the rules of thumb for this?  How can I determine how long a bottle of beer will keep before starting to lose its taste?  (Assume appropriate storage.)

There are some rules of thumb.  First, if it's a hop-oriented beer (pales, IPAs), drink sooner than later, as the hop aromas and flavor will fade over time.  Second, the higher the alcohol by volume (ABV, think imperial stouts), the better chance it has of lasting longer.

That said, it may be best to ask the brewer what the recommended shelf life is for any specific beer.


Recommendations for a hefeweizen or wheat beer? Planning to do a Quarantine Beer Around The World company event and one of the categories is Wheat Beer - specifically looking at hefeweizens. A favorite is Live Oak given the clover and banana nodes but looking for additional recommendations.

I like Paulaner's Hefeweizen (German brewer) and also Leinenkugel's Sunset Wheat and it's hard to go wrong with Blue Moon.

But beer tends to be quite regional as far as what is available outside the large brewers. Local craft beers normally don't make it too far away.

My recommendation would be to use a site like Beer Advocate or Untappd to try and find local stores selling them.


Does beer cause more fatigue than liquor? These days I drink almost as much liquor as I do beer, and it seems like beer more commonly causes sleepiness and fatigue, where liquor gives a straight up 'drunken' effect.

I wonder, though, is this actually the case or is my perception of the two drinks a self fulfilling prophecy?

It could definitely be a perception thing or any difference with the situation in which you consume beer vs liquor.  (IE, if you're drinking a lot of Jack and Coke maybe that caffeine is helping keep you alert?)

I think the most compelling answer is that there's actually a decent amount of research that shows hop compounds actually have a slightly sedative effect, especially in conjunction with alcohol.  So...you know, beer.

Some sources:

National Institute of Health: The concentration of 2 mg of hop extract effectively decreased nocturnal activity in the circadian activity rhythm.

WebMD (Look under "Interactions"): Alcohol can cause sleepiness and drowsiness. Hops might also cause sleepiness and drowsiness. Taking large amounts of hops along with alcohol might cause too much sleepiness.


Why do some brewing companies only export certain beers outside of their primary location? Wondering why it is that certain smaller brewing companies will export only certain beers out of their primary location? I am a huge fan of Goose Island (Chicago area based) and am having a tough time finding their Sofie and Matilda brews on the East Coast/NYC area.

I'd say it comes down to three things.

Distribution Rights

Breweries in most states are restricted by the three-tier system which divides the brewing industry into three categories:

Producers
Distributors
Retailers.

A few states allow the producer to engage in self-distribution (usually to a limited degree) but most require that a brewery get distribution rights with a third party, which will hold full, exclusive, and unlimited rights to shipping that producer's beer. ProBrewer.com has some excellent reading on the subject.

  The rules and regulations pertaining to the distribution and advertising of beer products are highly regulated and are enacted and enforced at the state level. Therefore, each state has its own set of laws in which the brewer is responsible for knowing and abiding by. It is incumbent on you, the brewer, to know the specific regulations of each state in which you sell.

It boils down to what the distributor wants to do and state-by-state requirements for what can be sold there. Ohio has a cap on alcohol by volume of 12%. Any beer over 4% ABV in Oklahoma must be sold only at liquor stores at room temperature. It varies so much that some brewers don't want to go into those markets.

Demand

There's also the simple issue of supply and demand. In 2013, Founders Brewing delayed entering the Florida market for a few months while they brought on more 600BBL fermenters because of some slight under-reporting of potential market numbers. There's nothing worse than not being able to supply your customers with beer. (Ahem, Cigar City's Great Jai-Alai Shortage of 2013).

Expense

Bottling/canning beer is expensive. There's also only a certain amount of time available to package. This is why there will usually be only a certain number and type of beer that gets packaged in these containers until a brewery grows to a certain size that allows better economies of scale. Once there, it's easier to start releasing seasonals, one-offs, and more nuanced beer styles compared to just cranking out a wheat ale or amber ale.


What are the disadvantages of storing and transporting wine in steel barrels? What are the disadvantages of storing and transporting wine in steel barrels? I am an MBA student from Christ University, lavasa, india and this is a question regarding my internship project. Please help me clear this out. I can only find pros about this but not one con. I would like to know if there are any cons about this system.

Well for starters, the taste. Fermentation (aging) is very important for both wine and liquor alike, and the oak barrels are used because they provide extra flavor. In the case of wine, and specifically red wine, the oak brings out the spice and tannins that many people are looking for.

  Oak wine barrels have been used for centuries in the fermentation and aging processes of wine by wine crafters. Aging wine in oak wine barrels provides the wine with aromas that would typically be found on your spice rack – nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice, vanilla and clove to name a few. And as it passes over your tongue, hints of caramel, mocha, butter and toffee are just a few that come forward.

Oak Wine Barrels or Stainless Steel Wine Drums?

  ... a liquid stored in oak will experience some degree of evaporation. This natural process contributes to the concentration of the wine (much like the way chefs “reduce” a sauce on the stovetop to intensify it) with respect to both aroma and flavor

To add in addition to the article, a new trend among (American) wineries is aging the wine in barrels that previously held liquor. This means that the barrels have absorbed the flavor of the liquor held in it previously, and add extra flavor to the wine as it ages in the reused barrel. Some popular combinations would be:

Cabernet Sauvignon/Zinfandel/Red Blend aged in Bourbon/Whiskey barrels
Chardonnay aged in Rum barrels

Notice how red wines are more so aged in old whiskey/bourbon barrels, as the wineries are looking to add more spice notes (sharper notes on the tongue) whereas the chardonnay (white wine) is aged in a rum barrel to get more of an oak note with a slight fruitiness to it.

Old bourbon/whiskey barrels will have sharper, stronger notes (more spice than oak) whereas the rum barrels have more mild, sweeter notes (lots of oak with a hint sweetness from the rum)


The style of whiskies produced in England? An English relative sent me a map of distilleries based in England today, which I'd never thought of before. Of course Scotch can only be made in Scotland, which begs the question of what these English distilleries are doing. Do they try to mimic the style of Scotch, generally, or something else?

Generally, they make something that doesn't resemble Scotch Whisky. There are many styles and types of whisky, or whiskey with an 'e', and it's made all around the world. There are distinct and famous styles from Ireland, Japan, and the United States. Sullivan's Cove from Australia, Mackmyra from Sweden, and Kavalan from Taiwan have all made award winning whiskys. There are at least 4 whisky distilleries in Toronto, Canada alone.
Not every whisky made in Scotland can even technically be called a Scotch, there are regulations that Scotch follows and some distillers will step outside of those bounds for creative reasons. Scotch regions are also individually recognized for their unique styles.
Often in areas where there is no strong history of whisky, each distillery will kind of do their own thing because the drinkers of the region don't have strong expectations of what the whiskey should be. This is especially true in today's global economy, consumers have tasted bottles from all over the world so there is no accepted standard in new markets. The distillers will borrow ideas from regions that do have a strong tradition, mostly they just try to make something that tastes good. So even though Japanese whisky, for example, was borne essentially directly from Scotch in the 60's, there are strong differences between them. Some of this is because whisky highballs are super popular in Japan, and whiskys will be blended with this in mind. Some of this is for technical reasons, different altitudes make for different distillation temperatures.
In conclusion, they different... probably.


Why shouldn't you mix baileys and cola? Some time ago I ordered a Becardi Cola, I however received a Baileys cola. The cola and Baileys seemed to have reacted, it turned into something spongy. How did this happen? What reaction took place?

Cream liqueurs curdle because of their high dairy content. Dairy products (such as milk or cream) curdle in the presence of an acidic liquid. Acids have a very low pH, which lowers the overall pH of the mixture. As the pH drops below 5.5, the casein proteins in the dairy ingredients begin to curdle. That’s what you called “spongelike texture”. To safeguard against this avoid mixing cream liqueurs with high-acid mixers such as citrus juices and soft drinks (most soft drinks do not taste sour, but they do contain high levels of citric and phosphoric acids and they have the same effect due to the pH levels).
If you enjoy a mixed drink with cream liqueurs try coffee, hot chocolate, other cream liqueurs, or milkshake-style cocktails (in which the dairy enhances the smooth mouthfeel of the ice cream). Cream liqueurs are also delicious served alone on the rocks.


Dark winter days equal dark winter drinks! Winter is just around the corner, thus what should I be drinking?  My normal summer tipple of Gin and Tonic, or should I move over to darker more homely drinks, like perhaps rum and coke?  Is there a particular wine that is evocative of cold days and warm fireplaces?  Or perhaps I should just simply remove ice from gin and carry on - any suggestions?

I'll just go ahead and answer this question assuming it's better formed, something like:

Which drinks are most popular in the winter?

The difference to me in which drinks to choose in the summer versus the winter comes from the temperature in which you're drinking. In the summer people typically crave something that is light, cool, and refreshing in the hot weather, where in the winter they want something that sticks to their bones and warms the cockles. Some examples:

Summer Drinks

Pilsner
Lager
Weiss
IPAs
Fruity cocktails (vodka, rum)
Caesars
Light bodied, medium to sweet wines

Winter Drinks

Stouts
Porters
Full bodied, dry red wines
Mulled Wine
Whisky
Brandy
Autumn or Winter (spiced) ales

Caveat

That said, really just drink and enjoy whatever you want, whenever you want. But in my experience it's usually the summer when I don't want the heavier drinks rather than vice versa. I'm much more likely to drink a light beer in the winter than something dark in the summer, although I'll drink whisky all year round.


When the Trappist foundation was founded in 1997, were there breweries which didn't get the label although they succeeded to the conditions? So from a previous question I learned that the Trappist foundation was founded in 1997 by 6 Belgian breweries one from the Netherlands and one from Germany. But were there other breweries which succeeded to the conditions for the label of Trappist. I mean, it sounds unfair for a brewery in France that six of the founding members are from Belgium.

And are those original founding members still the people who control the label? Then it sounds still unfair today, because they can easily keep the number of breweries with the trappist label low, just for marketing reasons.

The explication to your question is multi-faceted and not so easy to understand if one is neither Roman Catholic nor understanding of the nuances of religious life (Trappist).

The Trappists were founded in 1664 as a branch of the Benedictine Order at the La Trappe Abbey. The abbot of La Trappe has a greater authority of jurisdiction than the other trappist abbots. Under canon law this is permitted because La Trappe is the motherhouse of the Trappist Order.

The history of the Trappist Foundation in 1997 is of a totally different perspective. Originally only La Trappe Abbey could grant the title of the label to those Trappist breweries which could safeguard the integrity of the Order. All other monasteries which could not or would not abide to the conditions to be met, would not be granted the Trappist Label.

Since 2012, four other Trappist monasteries have been added to the list, including St. Joseph's Abbey in Massachusetts, United States.

The three basic rules for granting the label are:

The beer must be brewed within the monastery, by the monks or at least under the supervision of the monks.
The making of ales should be of a secondary importance to the monastery and should be seen as a witness of monastic life.
Any profits from the brewery are to be use to help sustain the monks in their life of prayer. Any extra income is to be given to some sort of charity.

There seems to be no other Trappist Abbeys that were producing beer at the time the label was founded. Since abbeys are independent of one another, sources of revenue are not limited to the brewing of ales. Some abbeys made vestments, while other distilled products such as kirsch, as was the case at Fontgombault Abbey from 1849-1905. Fontgombault Abbey (Wikipedia)


What's bitters to use with bourbon, blood orange syrup, lemon juice and pinot noir? The best cocktail I've ever had is at Santo Mezcal in Santa Barbara, California called the Riveria Hermosa.
The ingredients shown in the menu just say "bitters". I'm wondering what bitters would go best with the other ingredients: bourbon, blood orange syrup, lemon juice, and pinot noir. Any help would be great.

What's bitters to use with bourbon, blood orange syrup, lemon juice and pinot noir?
Bitters have been around for along time, but have come back into favor as part of the current craft cocktail trend. The two most traditional kinds are Peychaud’s and Angostura, both crucial players in whiskey cocktails such as the Manhattan and the old-fashioned. But these days, the sky’s the limit.
Taking into consulting the ingredients of the cocktail you are interested in, I would recommend using Angostura bitters based on this particular recipe.
The only additional ingredient would be the Pinot noir wine.
I am confident that the Angostura bitters will work it’s magic quite well.
And by the way.
Bone Appetite!


What are the predominant styles of Whisky coming out of Asia? Something I've recognized in the past year is that popular Asian whiskies exist. And yet, I've never purchased whisky from Asia, usually only picking up bottles out of Canada, the U.S. or Britain.

So I wonder, what is the whisky market like across Asia, what styles of whisky are they producing, and what are some of the more popular distilleries producing medium to high quality product?

Suntory and Kavalan whiskey have really put Asian Whiskey on "the map." The Yamazaki Single Malt Sherry Cask, by Suntory even won Jim Murray's Whiskey of the Year in 2015.

The styles are the same as other distiller's, though I am sure there are a few exceptions. Nikka Coffee Grain Whiskey comes to mind. The difference - it seems - is in the craftsmanship. Whatever the Asian distillers are doing... people agree they are doing well.

As a Yamazaki 12 owner - I highly recommend you purchase a bottle. Everyone I've ever let try it (I don't tell people when I hand it to them to avoid the "oh I heard this is great so let me rave about it" effect) absolutely raves about it. Even my wife, who normally hates the smell of my spirits, will sip on this neat. If the price tag scares you away, find a friend willing to share a sip or two.


Whats a good beer to have with steak and mashed potatoes? What type of beer goes well with hearty, 'British' style dinners?  What characteristics should I look for?

This of course is pretty subjective, but I will try to answer it anyway.

I would say that the choice of beer in this case should depend on one of this factors:

You want to accompany or match the taste of the steak and seasoning.
You want to have the beer as a regular drink nearby that does not disturb the taste of the
steak.

I will assume that you only use salt and pepper for seasoning.

Case 1:

For this, I would recommend a Dunkel (dark lager). From my experience, it compliments the taste of the steak and seasoning, without disturbing it.
The taste does not sit in your mouth too long, thus if you wait a moment (few seconds) between beer and the mashed potatoes, it should not cause any trouble with them, too.

Case 2:

If the beer is just meant as a drink nearby that should not disturb the taste of the meat, any lighter Pils (pale lager) should be fine.
It does not have a long lasting taste, goes well with mashed potato and does not clash with the steak.

Disclaimer:
I am from Germany, thus my choices might be a bit... regional. All of the above are just personal recommendations, based on my experience.


How long does Chouchen keep once opened? I have tried to look this up but have only come up with a few community sites with improper sourcing and varying degrees of answer (from 1 month to many years).

Does anyone have first hand knowledge or a reliable source?

The back of the bottle is written in Breton, which google translate doesn't support, but since it is close to French I think this is the line I am looking for:

  Conservation du chouchen une fois ouvert des annees.

Which to me sounds something along the lines of 'once opened keeps for years', but it's just a guess.

I also know this is the Breton equivalent to mead, but I believe it's made with apple juice which I assume will make it go off faster.

Update: I opened this bottle when I posted this question, forgot about it in the cupboard and remembered it again over the weekend. It tasted absolutely fine (or at least the same as it did when I opened it). I will add an answer when/if the taste changes.

I had to look up Chouchen as I'd never heard of it before (see, after many years still learning!) It looks like it's a form of mead made out of Buckwheat honey which gives it that dark color and probably stronger flavor. According to the article, it was originally made out of cider and honey but it looks like both versions are called Chouchen now. I looked around on the internet and saw that they were generally 13-14% ABV which is in the normal strength for wine and mead. Mead, cider and wine all can last many decades. But as with all of them, once the bottle is opened it will go bad within a few days from oxidation.


Drinking beer with a straw Does drinking strong beer with a straw get you drunk faster?
If this is true what causes this effect?

This is caused by two things.

1)
When you drink with a straw the liquid touches your palate (upper part of your mouth) more, the skin in your palate is thin and strongly circulated (with blood) this accelerates the absorption of alcohol in the blood.

2)
Sucking fluid trough the straw requires a lower than ambient pressure in the lungs and mouth. This lower pressure causes more of the alcohol to evaporate, this alcohol is absorbed by the lungs again increasing alcohol absorption.

While drinking with a straw will get you drunk faster it will not necessarily get you more drunk as this is mostly just related to the amount of consumed alcohol.


What beer is really bitter, but has a fantastic aftertaste? A beer where you take a sip, and you think, "Oh my, that is weird! But I'll have another sip because it tastes good now", kind of beer?

For really bitter, a double/imperial IPA is the way to go. For the big bitter hop flavors, check out some of these: Stone Ruination IPA, Port Mongo IPA, Russian River Pliny the Elder, Lagunitas (pretty much any of their hoppy beers), Southern Tier 2XIPA, Cigar City Jai Alai. Many more to choose from depending on your location. Maine Beer Company and Kane Brewing are two of my favorite small breweries on the east coast.

As Pepi mentioned, sour beers are certainly very interesting. A great start into the world of sours would be the Oud Bruins -> Monks Flemish Sour Ale, Rodenbach Grand Cru, or Liefman's Goudenband. These will run your a little more $$ but are super refreshing and really great to sip on. They open up and change flavor that longer you leave them out.

Cheers.


Winterhighlight "Feuerzangenbowle" without headache? I would like to take this answer to an other question as an opportunity to ask about an other speciality we Germans like to take in winter. It is about burning sugar with high-proof spirits. The German speciality is called "Feuerzangenbowle". It has different receipts whereas mainly mulled wine (with spices) is a basic substance and a sugarloaf is positioned over it. The sugarloaf then is burned by pouring rum (>54 Vol-%) over it until all sugar is burned and melted down.

The interesting thing is, that I never had headache the day afterwards, even considering the high level of alcohol in the resulting product. I love it when the liquid in the pot it is still burning after sugarloaf has been melted down totally. Is it possible that burning eliminates the fusel alcohol and other "bad" ingredients of the spirits?

What is happening is that you are burning off most of the alcohol before you consume it. I can't tell you the exact amount, but it's significant. I would say that it's probably less than 10% alcohol by the time you drink it. That's why you don't have a hangover.


Which gas will make a beer last longer in a keg, CO2 or nitrogen? Is there a difference in how long a beer is considered good when running through a nitrogen system vs a co2 system?

I don't see CO2 versus nitrogen making a difference in freshness. You are probably thinking that because nitrogen is an inert (ie non-reactive) gas that is used in some packaging to extend the shelf life of some foods like fresh pasta, using it instead of CO2 would extend the life of your beer. However, beer already has significant amounts of CO2 dissolved in it so using nitrogen isn't going to keep it any fresher as a result.

Nitrogen is used versus CO2 because some people like the texture it creates as opposed to CO2, however that's a separate topic which has already been covered in another question.


What constitutes a "stack of whiskey"? This term was used in a TV show recently and was referring to the price of another highly prized liquor by saying it was worth 3 or 4 stacks of whiskey.
The show was a recent episode of NCIS Los Angeles. In very last scene they sat down to a toast with Hettie.

I believe they're referring to stacks of boxes. Now, seeing as how bottles of whiskey can vary widely in price and stacks of boxes can be of any height, the phrase doesn't really mean anything at all. My conjecture is that, if it is a fictional series, this is one of the many instances in which a line sounds cool enough that no viewers catch on to the fact that it means nothing. You can see this all the time when science or technology terms are thrown around on tv.

Just for fun let's make some assumptions. If a stack is 6 boxes high and you use something cheap like cases of Jim Beam two or three stacks would be between 2150 and 3240 dollars. That's a pretty wide range of numbers but not an unheard of price for a bottle of liquor.

You can keep the expensive bottle though, I'll be hiding in the corner with my 200 bottles of whiskey.


What is the difference between Trappist beer and Abbey Beer? Abbaye Bier (Abbey Beer) refer to monastic beer brewed by monks. And there is almost Trappist beer brewed by monks but specifically from Trappist monasteries.

But what is the difference in terms of brewing process, resulting product and historically, why are they different?

Trappist beer is a designation of the origin of the beer, rather than a designation for the style.  That is, it must come from one of the ten Trappist monasteries recognised by the International Trappist Association.  There are similarities between the styles produced by these monasteries, but if one decided to make something in a completely different style it could presumably still be called a Trappist beer.

In contrast, the term abbey beer is used to refer to any beers produced in the style of the Trappist monasteries.  It isn't necessarily produced by a monastery, and some beers produced by major breweries could be described as abbey beer.

It is kind of like the difference between "Champagne" and "sparkling white wine".


When are beers better "hard" poured rather than "soft" poured? One of my favorite stouts, Left Hand's "Nitro Milk Stout," is supposed to be poured "hard" (rapidly dumping the whole bottle in the cup by holding it completely upside down)

Typical pouring was covered in a previous question: How do you pour the perfect beer

In another question Guinness (a 'nitro' beer) was brought up as a special case: Why does Guinness have a special pouring process / bottle, while other stouts do not?

Are all nitros poured differently than carbonated beers?

And are all nitros poured the same (or very similar) way?

(i.e. all carbonated are "soft" poured and all nitros are "hard" poured)

Beers served on nitro have only about 25-40% of the dissolved carbon dioxide compared to regular beers served only on CO2.  For stouts, the figure is usually closer to 25% - 40% is for lagers served on nitro.

With only 25% of the carbon dioxide, there is less concern of creating too large a foam. Plus the nitrogen causes the foam to be made of very very small bubbles, which readily turn back into beer. You can see this as the cascade (video) after the beer has been poured hard into the glass.

If the beer served on nitro has more than 35% CO2 then it's a good idea to reduce how hard you pour - as the percentage of CO2 increases, so does the size of the foam with a hard pour.


Can old flat champagne be used for vinegar? I was given a few bottles of 14 year old champagne. The first bottle was flat but doesn't smell off. Can I use it to make vinegar?

Yes, pretty much any old wine, if it hasn't already turned into vinegar, can be made into vinegar. The best is to start with clean wine, but if it already tastes kind of funky just push it towards the final goal of becoming vinegar. You can let this happen naturally, or you can buy vinegar "mother".


Is there a real life equivalent to Bean's Alcoholic Cider in Fantastic Mr. Fox? Mr. Fox says the cider "burns in your throat, boils in your stomach, and tastes almost exactly like pure melted gold."

To me, that sounds like an ABV of at least 25-30%, but I've never seen an alcoholic cider on the market anywhere near that.

Something similar Boggis and Bunce's poultry is pretty easy to procure, but Bean's cider is the bottleneck in my plan. I really want to try something like that, but I'm not sure it's even possible to produce.

Yes, there are several drinks that match that description.

Apple Jack comes to mind. It's made by freeze distillation of apple cider. It's about 25-40% ABV. It's nasty stuff if you've ever had some.

In Germany, there is drink that I used to drink when I lived there called ApfelKorn. This is just spirits with apple flavor added. This is about 20% ABV. It's actually considered Apple Schnapps.

There are two types of Apple Brandy. Cider distilled into clear spirits and aged like Whisky and Brandy (grapes) infused with apple liqueur.

Then of course there is apple liqueur

My guess is that it's Apple Jack. If you want to make apple jack, it's pretty simple. Just take some hard cider and freeze it in your freezer and pour out the stronger liquid. Here are some instructions


Disposable glass for flaming shots? I'm throwing a party with themed drinks, and one is a shot topped with 151, and set on fire.

I'll need to serve about 15 at a time, and don't own that many shot glasses.  Is there any disposable shot glass that can be safely held at about 130 °F or 66 °C (the only actual number I found online, but probably not too precise) for less than a minute?  What plastic number (the recycling number) should I look for?

Plastic will melt really quickly. Glass might even shatter if it's not the proper type. You need something made out of Pyrex (or similar type glass). I couldn't find Pyrex shot glasses, but they do make 100ml beakers that might serve your purpose!


Using beer as hair care product Can I use any brand of beer on my hair?
what are the things I need to consider before applying beer on to my hair?

Before application, consider the steps you have taken to have gotten to that point, then do whatever you can to ensure you never repeat those steps again.


Costliest beer commercial to date? What has been the costliest beer commercial to date, who owns it and what are the reasons for it to be so costly?

Adding reliable references would be appreciated .

Going to go with Guinness- $16 million in 2007. Several websites state that  Guinness spent $60 million dollars on there 80th anniversary (birthday) in 2007.

  Moving back to beer and safer ground, Guinness celebrated their 80th birthday in style with an estimated $16 million spend on a TV advert.

  That figure is slightly surprising when you appreciate that this advert doesn’t contain any celebrity endorsers. What it does include, however, is a rather precarious domino system of items through an Argentinean village leading up to a pint of Guinness made up of books.

  It hurts just trying to work out how many takes it would have required. - Four of TV’s Most Expensive Adverts

The 10 Most Expensive TV Commercials Ever Made has this to say about the TV advertisement:

  When celebrating your birthday, you are allowed to be a little extravagant, right? Well, Guinness took its 80th birthday celebration to a whole new level; by spending $16 million on a commercial. With the slogan “Good things happen to those who wait,” the commercial that was shot in Argentina shows a whole village waiting for the revelation of Guinness beer after thousands of objects together with dominoes have to knock each other down one by one. Some of the objects in the sequence include cars, tires, padlocks, suitcases, crutches, chairs, and almost anything that can be found in a village. The commercial does not feature any celebrities, but the concept, the setup, and the use of all the resources is what must have pushed up the cost to $16 million.

The Guinness commercial can be seen here on YouTube: Guinness Dominos Commercial - Tipping Point.


Do kosher beers exist? Does anyone know if kosher beers exist? To be kosher, the beer would have to totally (100%) brewed by Jewish hands? Such wines do exist!

Indeed there are kosher beers

All unflavored beer with no additives are considered to be kosher, even without certification. Some of the most popular kosher beer companies include:

  Many breweries are coming out with specialty brews that have
  additives; don't assume that all varieties are acceptable - check the
  label.

Coors
Saranac all products
Pete's Brewing all products
Brooklyn Brewery all products

  These beers are generally available where ever beer is sold.

Read more: Kosher Beer (Orthodox Jews)

The following beers from Samuel Adams, The Boston Beer
Company, are Star-K kosher/pareve, even without the Star-K on
the label.

Black Lager
Boston Ale
Boston Lager
Brown Ale
Cherry Wheat
Cranberry Lambic
Cream Stout
Double Bock
Hefeweizen
Holiday Porter
Light October fest
Old Fezziwig
Pale Ale
Spring Ale
Summer Ale
White Ale
Winter Lage


What are the characteristics of a rye beer? After my taste adjusted to the flavors of IPAs, one of my favorites was He'brew Brewing's Bittersweet Lenny, which as it turns out is an IPA made with rye.  I poked around on BeerAdvocate, and found this long list of rye beers, which seem to include pales, IPAs, and even a brown rye.

What constitutes a "rye" beer (i.e., a certain ratio of rye to other grain)?  Are there characteristics common to a rye beers, and if so, what are they?  In other words, if I like a rye beer, am I likely to enjoy any rye beer?

A rye beer is any beer that incorporates rye, usually malted rye.

How much Rye and how it tastes

There are no laws to state that the quantity of rye should be above some minimum, so some rye beers include just a few percent of the malt bill as rye, while others such as Roggenbier base their entire flavor profile on rye, using over 50% rye malt. With such a large difference in the grain bill and the amount of rye, the two beers taste very different.

When rye is added to beer between 10-20% of the grain bill, it gives a pleasant spiciness and bread-like quality to the beer that blends well with most hop types, particularly spicy or citrussy hops. Rye can also add some dryness to the aftertaste.

Above 20% the spiciness becomes progressively more assertive and the beer fuller, more earthy and hearty, and perhaps not unsurprisingly, tastes similar to rye bread.

Var-rye-ation

Rye beers show considerable variation. Rye is a versatile ingredient, which has become increasingly popular recently with craft brewers, so there is no longer a common theme underlying rye beers, other than the rye itself. In fact, even the rye can vary. New malts are appearing, such as crystal rye which give a new flavor dimension to beers - crystal rye provides some of the spiciness of malted rye with dark fruits, and a pleasant dryness in the finish. This means the brewer can make a rye beer from:

malted rye
flaked (unmalted) rye
crystal rye

Rye is becoming at least as versatile as wheat, if not in fact more so. While most Wheat beers focus on the esters and phenolics produced by the yeast (banana/clove), Rye beers have the freedom to exploit the full spectrum of beer flavors and are not constrained by adherence to a particular style entrenched in tradition.

But will you like some other rye beer having tried one?

If you don't like the taste of rye in beer, then there's a good chance you won't like most rye beers, since the rye flavor is most likely going to be present. However, if you do like the taste of rye, there is still no saying up front that you will like any rye beer simply due to the diversity of beers that can be brewed with rye.


Bottle of Rum covered in leather Had a bottle of Rum but can’t recall the name now; hoping members can identify it.
Bottle was shape and size of an ordinary narrow Bordeaux wine bottle (prob. 750ml). The glass bottle was covered with a leather casing, with (a thick?) stitching running up to the top. The bottle itself is not meant to be slipped out of the casing, it’s tight against the bottle (unless of course you were to cut the leather off).

Sounds like the Ron Centenario Fundacion 20 anos


What to do with leftover gin soaked clementines? I'll start off with saying I'm not looking for a recipe or a list of ideas, as I know that's outside the scope of this SE, but if my question is too close to those lines, I won't take it personally if this is closed!

I usually have left over boosy fruit such as sloes, rubarb and etc and I make them into a boozy pie! But this year I made a spiced clementine gin.

The clementines are not pealed but are cut into 8ths. I'm wondering if there is any idea about how to use these? Maybe a jam, would you still taste the gin?

What to do with leftover gin soaked clementines?

You could make jam with them if you have enough to do it with. The alcohol would obviously be evaporated off. The gin would give it a distinct flavour to the jam.

As for myself, I would mix them with a fruit cocktail and eat them with ice cream after dinner. I have done this occasionally with and without ice cream for dessert.


How does the PA liquor control board decide which beers can be sold in the state? I live in Pennsylvania, where the folks in charge cling desperately to the last vestiges of Prohibition, with a protection racket on the side.  What this means is that the state heavily regulates alcohol import and distribution.  Wine and hard alcohol can only be bought from stores run by the state, and beer is largely sold through licensed distributors.  (I'm not counting ordering single servings in bars/restaurants; that's a separate matter.)

I recently learned that PLCB (PA Liquor Control Board) has opinions on which beers can be sold in the state.  On a recent trip out of town I had a local beer that I liked, but it's not on the approved list so I can't buy it here.  This led me to wonder how PLCB decides -- is there some sort of certification they depend on, or does it depend on breweries paying a fee to sell in Pennsylvania, or what?  I could find nothing on their web site that explains how these decisions are made.

How does the PLCB decide what beers I'm allowed to buy here?

Here is a link to the application for for registering beer brands As you can see on the form, there is a fee of $75 for each "beer brand". They define a "brand" as an individual beer style.  No big deal if you are Miller/Coors/Bud, but a real hassle if you are a micro with a couple of dozen seasonal beers. Note that you also must list the "importing distributors with whom territorial agreements have been established". So, I can see that getting a foot in the door would be a daunting task for a small brewery. And once a brewery is established, the process starts over every time they develop a new beer.

You can thank Gifford Pichot for this mess. He was the prohibitionist governor of PA when prohibition ended, and he established the PA LCB and State Store system to "discourage the purchase of alcoholic beverages by making it as inconvenient and expensive as possible." Recent efforts to reform the system keep failing because there are too many entrenched interests making money off of the status quo.


Makers 46 "Straight Bourbon" Back in the day, I used to see Maker's 46 advertised without the "Kentucky Straight Bourbon" label. Instead, it was just called "Kentucky Bourbon Whisky" as in this picture:

However, they are now bottling it with the "Straight" label, as seen here:

It was my understanding that in order to be a "straight" bourbon whisky, you need to be matured in 100% American oak, period. But Maker's 46 is finished with French oak staves, so how are they able to circumvent this categorization law?

Actually, the label doesn't say it's Straight Bourbon Whisky. It says it's Straight Bourbon Whisky finished with french oak. So, it was Straight Bourbon before it was finished.

Jim Beam probably didn't use Straight Bourbon in earlier releases, or made sure they can legally put "Straight" on the label in the meantime.


What are the differences between an IPA and its variants? I know what makes an IPA an IPA, but what are the unique characteristics of it's common variants? To be specific, the ones I'm interested in are Double IPA and Black IPA, but general differences between any other styles would be welcome too.

This is a broad question, notably regarding the differences between IPAs and Double IPAs, but here's an overview focusing on the naming (and misconceptions thereof) and brewing of variants.

Double IPA vs. Imperial IPA (IIPA)

First, the Double IPA is also known as an Imperial IPA (IIPA). You can think of the "double" as referring to the two letter I's :-) but the name actually owes itself to the beer having "double" the strength / hops.

IPA vs. Double IPA

The Double IPA generally uses more hops (though not literally "double"), lengthier brewing processes (e.g. Dogfish Head's 90 Minute IPA, which is boiled for longer than its 60 Minute variant), sometimes secondary fermentation, etc. It has higher alcohol content, IPAs stopping around 7.5% ABV, while Double IPAs can soar to above 10%.

Double IPAs are claimed to have been started by the owner of the Russian River Brewing Company, famed for its flagship brew, Pliny the Elder, a Double IPA itself.

American Pale Ale (APA) vs. American IPA

The APA and American IPA are not synonymous. American Pale Ales are a derivative of (regular) British Pale Ales, deriving their own flavor from American hops, e.g. Sierra Nevada's Pale Ale. American IPAs, meanwhile, are, of course, derived from actual (British) IPAs, and possess greater bitterness and higher alcohol content—examples include Sierra Nevada's Celebration Ale and Dogfish Head's 60 Minute IPA. The line between APAs and IPAs blur (as do between many variants of ales), but categorically speaking, APAs are not IPAs.

IPA vs. Black IPA

The black IPA (also known by American Black Ale—and yes, a subset of the American IPA) uses dark roasted malts (used in porters and stouts) to achieve the color, while preserving hops characteristics. Some consider the black IPA more of a hoppy porter instead—and don't believe the style will be formally recognized (e.g. by the Brewers Association).


Why would an aged beer explode? I had a bottle of Westvleteren XII aging in my fridge. As I was putting some other bottles next to it, I nudged it slightly and the bottle shattered violently. I'm certain that I didn't hit it with enough force to do that kind of damage, so I'm thinking that there was pressure that had built up inside the bottle.

Is this something that's plausible? Could it mean that the beer had gone "off" and so I should not feel bad that my prized beer ended up as a sticky puddle?

I've been homebrewing and winemaking for almost 25 years and there are 3 reasons why a bottle might explode.

Too much sugar for the secondary fermentation in the bottle. Homebrewers do this ALL THE TIME. Turns your beer into little hand-grenades. Sometimes fermentation is not complete and with the normal addition of sugar at bottling can cause problems. This happens frequently in high gravity beers.
Infection - by this I mean something other than yeast was in the beer and started eating the sugar to make the carbonation in the beer. It could be a wide variety of agents from yeast to bacteria to fungus. They convert sugar to CO2 at different rates than yeast. Many times they produce more CO2 causing gushing beers and sometimes broken bottles.
Defective bottle. 99.99% of the time bottles are built to spec, but occasionally one slips through with a defect and many times that can lead to a bottle failing. Also, bottles are sometimes dropped or banged around causing a crack.