Something similar to Don Julio 1942 We love this tequila but can't find it anywhere any more. Can somebody recommend something similar?

  1942 pays homage to the year Don Julio González began his tequila-making journey. Produced in small batches and aged for a minimum of two and a half years. Bright golden amber colour; the bouquet is filled with notes of caramel, chocolate and flavours of toasty oak, vanilla and cooked agave; with a long lingering finish. - Tequila Don Julio 1942

My recommendation would be to ask your local specialty store if they know which distributor makes Tromba Tequila. The gentleman who first distilled Don Julio is the distiller and part-owner of the brand I believe, and their Anejo might be similar to 1942.

It's tough to recommend particular tequilas as we don't know where you are and tequila brands are very regional as far as U.S. availability goes.


What is this Cooper and Thief red wine bottle? I've got this Cooper and Thief bottle. From the label, it is a blend of red wines aged in Bourbon barrils. However, unlike red wine, it is 17% alcohol.

I don't really know what to expect.

Should I expect something sweet like a vin cuit?

I would like to try it but I am afraid that once I open it, I will have only a few days to drink it before it becomes too oxygenated (like red wine would). Or can it be kept for a few weeks / months like a Porto wine?

How much time do I have to drink it after opening it?

The CellarTracker tasting notes for this one are...Interesting.  Overall it looks like it leans toward port-ish, so is probably fine for a week at least.  And if you end up thinking it is starting to degrade from oxygenation, once it's open you can throw the bottle into the freezer as you would to preserve any open wine.


Why do some cheap beers taste sweet? I had a Tui (cheap New Zealand pale lager) the other day, and it tasted sweet!

Why is this? Is possible that sugar is added during the brewing? What else would make it taste sweet?

The alcohol in beer is created as a byproduct of the yeast consuming the sugar in wort during the fermentation process.  For a beer to taste sweet, there are two possibilities:

The yeast died before the fermentation process ran to completion.  There are various chemicals that can do this.
The wort contained some non-fermentable sugars.  If the yeast can't feed on a particular type of sugar, then it is going to remain in the end product.  Lactose is a traditional example of such a sugar but some artificial sweeteners have a similar effect.

Assuming that the flavour was intended, I would guess that this was (2): using non-fermentable sugars allows the brewer to know exactly how much will end up in the final beer.  It is also the only option if they do in-bottle carbonation, since that requires live yeast in the bottle.


Beer Kit - How long is it good for I bought a kit over the summer from Northern Brewer. This kit comes with the malt extract and the grains (for color mainly). I assume the grains would be stale, so I could probably buy some new grain, but I guess the extract would stay good for a long time, right. Should I just throw it out, or is it still good?

If everything has been sealed tightly, it should all be good still. The grain is probably fine, check that it's dry and still hard before using it, and inspect carefully for weevils or other small bugs.

Dry extract is good for at least 6 months if sealed and dry. Sift it and see how clumpy it's gotten- if it's been good and dry, it won't have many clumps, and you can still use it.

Liquid extract is fine for at least a year if it's sealed. Check the top of it for mold.

There are many schools of thought on hops going bad- personally, I'd buy new ones. Also buy new yeast, or at least get it started a couple days ahead of time and make sure it's nice and alive.


Why and when did the interest for micro breweries and craft beers arise? During the past couple of years, the variety of beers found in supermarkets in Germany has vastly increased.
There is a number of beers that I remember having always been there, and a few have been added over time. But these don’t stick out much in price or flavour.

Recently, I heard the term micro brewery for the first time, and I noticed that large supermarkets have stocked up on many different (mostly regional) beers. Prices start at “slightly above average”, but some are easily ten times as expensive. A bottle of beer for 7 Euros? Not the most expensive.

This, and the fact that beer.stackexchange.com exists, and that many questions concern micro breweries and craft beers leads me to the questions:

Why this sudden interest in micro breweries and craft beers? When did it start?

I'm not sure about the German market for craft, but American craft can almost certainly be traced back to Frederick Maytag's purchase of San Francisco's Anchor Brewing in 1965. Since then, 'craft' or 'microbrew' grew slowly through the years.

A lengthy but interesting report called THE MARKET FOR CRAFT AND SPECIALTY BEER, A Market Intelligence Report, March 1997 has an impressive description of why craft in particular was able to keep growing, and why it wasn't labeled a 'fad':

  "There is also a floor under the craft/specialty segment. This is not
  a fad segment like packaged draft, dry, ice, clear, or perhaps even
  red. While growth in the craft segment will slow, it will not peak
  quickly and then lose share, as the fad beers have. The
  craft/specialty segment has firm underpinnings from homebrewers and
  other beer aficionados. Many of the homebrewers prefer to brew their
  own beer (done right, it’s even better than the best of the craft
  brews), but they often sample commercial brews to try unfamiliar or
  difficult-to-brew styles, and of course they’re top prospects for
  drinking craft brews when they are at a restaurant or brewpub."

That explains a lot through the 90's, but why the quicker increase in growth patterns in the last 10 years?

According to the Brewers Association (a US-based trade group):

  "Between 2011 and 2013, 80% of craft growth came from new craft
  appreciators, the majority of which were in the 21 to 29 age group,
  and their impact is still muted. Lester Jones of the National Beer
  Wholesalers Association (NBWA) sees Millennials as not fully
  economically activated yet due to the impact of the economic recession
  and their struggle to transition into aging Baby Boomer jobs. This
  means as the economy improves we should feel the impact of the
  Millennials even more. The message here is the fastest growing and
  most influential demographic is also moving the fastest toward craft."

Pair this with the increased ideals behind "Trade-ups and premiumization", and you have people willing to spend a little more to gain an perceived increase in value and quality.

IBISWorld shares that craft beer has enjoyed a 19% growth in the past 5 years. I don't know about you, but that's incredible considering the economic woes of developed nations.

It appears to boil down to a long, slow pattern of growth that has reached a massive generational shift in consumption which has caused a spike in sales volume, which in turn is pushing every store from New Jersey to Frankfurt to attempt to capitalize on one of the few growth industries.


What are the best paid wine database APIs? (most extensive and comprehensive) I'm looking to implement a wine database API into my app. What are the most extensive and comprehensive databases to look for? I know about Wine-searcher.com API. Has anyone any experience with it and the data it outputs? What other APIs should I take a look at?

Software Engineer here (with experience in the liquor industry)... So, this is a bit of a tricky question to answer and entirely depends on what kind of data you're looking to extract. There's a lot of different data that could be extracted from different resources.

Item name
Barcode
Price
Size
Description
Tasting notes
Region (it was created)
Alcohol percentage
Wine scores
Awards
Grape variety
Winery
User reviews (from whatever API you are using)
Etc. etc.

It should also be noted that the values are entirely different, based on the vintage of the wine that is selected. Simply going by barcode won't help, as many wineries use the same barcode across multiple vintages.
There then comes the question -- what price are you trying to display? Do you want to show which locations nearby you can buy the product and their prices? Or are you trying to display the wholesaler pricing? From my experience, wholesalers will generally withhold this kind of information.
As far as wine-searcher.com, their data seems pretty good for the most part but according to their API developers page, it doesn't include everything I mentioned above. Going through wine-searcher also means 2 different APIs (Price Check API & Marketplace API), and you'd have to pay for each.
A lot of the other so-called "open source wine databases" online aren't kept up-to-date and don't contain much information. You could try contacting those in charge of CellarTracker, but I'm not sure if they have an API for use to the public.

Your question is pretty open-ended, but I think the data you are looking for (in relation to wine-searcher) would be found here. But once again, you're going to have to pay based on the amount of queries you are doing per day.


Baileys chocolate mousse - an alternative liqueur Chocolate mousse made with Baileys is pretty much heaven.  However, what other liqueurs (not generic Baileys) would give this favorite dessert a well needed kick?  Here is the link to make the Bailey's mousse.  I want to be able to taste the liqueur as if I were drinking it, but without it overpowering the chocolate (or falling over sideways).

I'm not a massive fan of Bailey's myself, but do love a chocolate mousse. Since unless you're going way overboard with the alcohol, you're not really going to disrupt the mousse and make it soupy, you can use anything that you think goes with chocolate. Personally, I love the following paired with a good dark chocolate:

Kahlua/Tia Maria (most similar in spirit to Bailey's)
Port or madeira
Deep but not too peaty Scotch
Dark rum (I'd leave the continental "rums" to fruit desserts, where they excel)
Brandy
Kirsch

I'd avoid lighter or delicate / floral spirits, since they don't really work (for me) with a deep dark chocolate.

I'd keep it to under about a shot per cup to avoid thinning the mousse too much. And please try a tiny pinch of salt, which the original recipe is missing but is essential for a good chocolate dessert!


What does it mean if a wine is an "ex-domaine?" I believe this is a fairly simple question so I'm writing a lot here so the quality filter will allow me to post. I'm not sure what else to say besides the wine is listed as a variety (i.e. Chateauneuf du Pape) but specifically marked as an "ex-Domaine"

I think ex-domaine is the same as ex-chateau which means it's being sold directly from the producer to the consumer, something that almost never happens on a large scale in France. Mainly for collector wines that were held back and released many years later. Here is a definition of ex-chateau


Why are so many real ales so sweet When I go to a pub now the choice of real ales seems to be between "bitters" that are in fact very sweet  (e.g. London Pride, TT Landlord etc), or very hoppy beers. When I was a lad you could get bitter that tasted bitter, e.g. Youngs or Boddingtons but these types of genuinely bitter beers seems very hard to find nowadays.   Can anybody recommend where I can get a list of less sweet beers, that I could use to make more discerning selection ?    Many thanks

Bitters have evolved a lot over time with different brewery trying out a load of different recipes if you have some time and a keen sense of taste try taking a small notepad and pen and start a little journal of beers and give them a score that way you will be able to pinpoint bitters that you enjoy (there are also many apps on the app store that allow you to do this digitally).

As for a list of bitters there is a Top rated beers site you can use to have a look at what is available, this site can be helpful as it has a small description of the beer so you will be able to steer toward the bitters you find appealing instead of a more sweeter bitter

for extra help I have linked directly to the bitters from England section but you can alter the search to suit your needs.


Can I substitute Green Chartreuse for Yellow? I want to make a cocktail which uses Yellow Chartreuse. I happen to have a quarter-bottle of Green Chartreuse in the back of the cabinet. I know the green variety is stronger and the yellow somewhat sweeter. I'm thinking I'll use a little less, increase the (other) sweeter ingredients, and maybe pick a stronger base liquor to balance better. Will this result in something mostly like the original cocktail, or will it be more like a whole new thing (for better or worse)?

You cannot substitute green for yellow Chartreuse without changing the basic character of the cocktail. Both varieties are very strong flavors, but different characters. As the Chartreuse is nearly 25% of the ingredients you can't hide the difference.

If you make a Green Jacket instead of a Yellow Jacket you'll end up with something more vegetable tasting and less sweet. It may taste good or it may not, there's no way to predict. You could try dropping the green Chartreuse to 1/2 an ounce and adding a dash of honey, that may get you closer. If you do use honey try mixing it in with the Chartreuse before adding it to the cocktail - you want it well blended.


What is "Five Fruits" in this 1920s cocktail recipe? From Shake 'Em Up! A Handbook of Polite Drinking (1930), page 46:

GIN PUNCH NUMBER ONE

2 quarts of grapefruit juice
2 quarts of gin
and one quarter cup of Five Fruits or Grenadine

Keep the punch in the ice box for two hours before serving time,
so that it will be thoroughly chilled.
Pour over chopped ice in the bowl and serve at once.

What exactly is "Five Fruits"? From context I infer that it's a sweet juice blend, maybe something like modern-day Hawaiian Punch; but I haven't been able to Google up anything about the name because everyone on the Internet wants to tell me about 1980s-era beverage Five Alive.

Old advertisements show that it was made starting in 1900 in Portland, Maine. It consisted of a syrup made of pineapple, orange, lemon, raspberry, and strawberry juices with sugar, red food coloring, and sodium benzoate as a preservative. Unfortunately, I can't find anywhere what the ratios are, but I'd start by doing equal parts of juice in a 1:1 ratio with sugar for the syrup since it was compared to grenadine as being an analogous substitute.

  The Hay’s Fruit Juice Company was founded in the year 1900 and produced Hay’s Five Fruit, a fruit juice syrup used to make and flavor beverages and desserts. This album was created after September 1923, following the completion of additional construction to a recently purchased new factory at 55-71 York Street, in Portland, Maine. - Hay's Fruit Juice Company album


First known/recognized brewery? What's the name of the first known/recognized brewery that produced beer (that would be recognized as beer also today)?

I don't think there's really a good answer to this question. Beer is an ancient beverage, whose formulations and methods of manufacture have changed over the centuries. The oldest continually operating brewery is claimed to be the Weihenstephan Abbey.


How do you properly taste a beer? If I want to fully appreciate what a beer is offering, how do I properly taste the beer to reveal all the nuances in the aroma, flavor and aftertaste?

Beer Advocate's Guide is a decent one.  The abridged version is:

Look at the beer.  How's the color and head?
Swirl it a little bit to pull out the aroma
Smell it.  Swirl again if need be.  I recommend taking a 20 second break after smelling, then smelling again, since if you smell too long, your nose gets used to it and it becomes harder to pick up the notes.
Sip it.  Don't swallow immediately, but keep it on your tongue for a moment.  Breath out with it still in your mouth and pay attention to the resulting smell (unless you just ate a bunch of garlic before the beer).
Taste again as the beer warms up a bit.


What is "gruit?" Why aren't there many beers on the market containing it? I have heard of something called 'gruit' which seems to sometimes be used in brewing beer.  What is it?

Why are there very few beers on the market containing gruit?  What are some of the more popular ones currently?

More than a millenia ago, there were few standardized recipies for herbs to add during the beer brewing process.  "Gruit" referred to the herbal mixtures used to flavor and preserve beer.  Gruit was usually sold under papal license exclusive to certain areas at various monasteries and therefore represented a monopoly in Christian areas of the Catholic Church.  Traditionally it included plants such as yarrow, mugwort, henbane, sweet gale, bog rosemary, juniper, and more.  Some of these survive in gin recipes.

Why gruit has largely been replaced by hops is a fascinating and divisive historical question.  There may however have been a number of factors including the possibility (largely untested) that hops beers kept longer and the rising concern by Protestant (and even Catholic) nobles of the power of the economic power that this gave Catholic institutions.  What is known is that a campaign was waged against gruit and the purported (and likely actual) mind altering properties of it.  The use of gruit was more or less entirely supplanted by hops.

More recently some breweries have been experimenting with gruit beers for national pride and/or historical reasons.  These include Fraoch and Alba from the Williams Brothers in Scotland, and a few other examples. They are not common however and are certainly specialty beers today.  Additionally the gruits used in commercial beers are pretty tame by historical standards.  I haven't found any including herbs like henbane (which was one of the historical staples of brewing, used even more prevalently than hops is today).


Spilt drink etiquette - the do's and don'ts What is the etiquette when you accidentally spill someone else's drink.  Perhaps the glass got knocked over, or you brush up against someone at the bar.  Should you immediately offer to buy a new drink for them?  Simply apologize and move on - or is there another solution?  At the same time, what is the etiquette for when your own drink is spilled?

Before going on to this delicate question of drinking etiquette, please allow me to share a real experience, while flying with KLM.

Several years ago, I witnessed a stewardess spill some wine one a lady's dress while on route to England. The first thing she did was apologize and then got the head stewardess involved. The lady got her drink renewed on the spot, plus the airline gave her accommodations (hotel) at the airport to cleanup, have her clothes washed and dry cleaned, and so on, all on KLM's bill.

Here are some commonsense rules to follow when you spill someone's drink over as follows, (if it is simply a question of spill a drink):

  1) Avoid letting the situation happen in the first place. You are most likely to spill someone's drink when you are making magnanimous gestures, carrying a few drinks of your own, or if you are feeling buzzed. So remember to be observant at these high risk moments. If you do spill someone's drink, do not ignore it, but act quickly to assess the situation and defuse any hostile vibrations.

  2) Apologize. If you have just spilled someone's drink, you should apologize immediately and unreservedly. If they are a decent type, this should stop them from getting too agitated.

  3) Considering buying a replacement. Have a look at the damage. If you have just knocked their drink out of their hands all over the floor, then you need to replace it immediately. If you've only knocked an ounce of beer or two from the top of their glass, then it shouldn't be a big deal.

  •Most people will be okay about it, and no replacement drink should be required. If they become confrontational, it would be best just to buy them a drink to save you the trouble. -
  How to React when You Spill Someone's Drink


What's the difference between blended and single malt Scotch? I see Scotch is often labelled as single malt or blended, but never both. What, exactly, is the distinction?

We need to work up a few definitions before we get to the final answer here.  So without further ado:

Single Malt

Single Malt means that the whiskey has been made using ONLY malted barley and nothing else and has been distilled at a single distillery.  This is to distinguish it from:

Grain/Single Pot

Grain Whiskey, called Single Pot or Pure Pot when it's Irish, is still whiskey from a single distillery but can have other grains in it, such as rye or unmalted barley.

Single Malt + Single Malt = Blended/Vatted Malt

By mixing single malts from different distilleries you get a Blended Malt or Vatted Malt whiskey.

Single Malt + Grain Whiskey = Blended Whiskey

When you mix Single Malt with anything besides more Single Malt you get regular old Blended whiskey.

A lot of these terms only really apply to whiskies produced outside of the US, namely Scotland and Ireland, but Japan's whiskey-producing traditions are based primarily on Scotland's.

In the US the whole malt thing goes out the window since the legal requirements only specify "Majority" grains, IE American Malt Whiskey only needs to be 51% malted barley.  Rye Malt is 51% malted rye, etc.  But the US terms also put a lot of other restrictions on the length of time the whiskey was aged and the alcohol proof at after distillation, when put into barrels, and when bottled.  But that's a different question.


How hard is it to get rare 18 year old Scotches directly in Scotland? For the purpose of definition we'll call 'rare 18 year old Scotch' bottles that aren't really common in foreign markets like Canada.

What I wonder is, if we're talking about that type of high-grade Scotch, how easy is it to find a bottle if you were visiting distilleries or liquor stores in Scotland directly.

In other words, when distilleries produce premium product does it tend to mostly stay in country, or are some of these whiskies just produced in such low quantities that getting your hands on it anywhere is rare?

As an avid whisky fan, and having worked in a distillery and visited most Scottish distilleries, I can tell you this:

It's incredibly easy - pretty much all the distilleries have 18 year old single malts. It's not rare at all, in fact I don't think I'd class them as "premium" in that way. For many of the whiskies I like I'll buy the 12, 15 and 18 year old. Amusingly enough, many of these whiskies are also available in supermarkets and even local shops.

There are a few I'll hunt down that are considerably older, but they really do command a premium. These are the kind that usually go to collectors, or are available through specialist groups, such as the Scotch Malt Whisky Society.

If your question is because you plan on a whisky tour and you want to know if you can find these whiskies in the distilleries, then yes - no problem.


Is there a difference between the inebriation caused by liquor/wine/beer? The question is:

What are the qualitative and quantitative differences between inebriation caused by liquor wine and beer?

Anecdotal evidence suggests to me that the core difference between the three is that beer contains hops, while liquor/wine doesn't, and so beer tends to have a depressive + dis-inhibition effect, while liquor and wine provide the dis-inhibition effect without being an explicit depressant.

I wonder, though, has this ever been studied and concluded on? Are the differences that I mentioned above accurate? Are there any other differences?

The effect of ethanol will always be the same. For that matter, two bottles of 5% beer equal one bottle of 10% wine.

Depending on its fermentation, it would contain different and different amounts of more complex fermentation products. Usually, a fermentation process that is very short (and thereby cheaper) would result in something that could easily cause a hangover. Wild yeast strains also tend to produce a larger variety of undesired substances. Modern distilleries have these removed during distillation allowing for faster fermentation.

In beers and wines, undesired by-products cannot be removed. Modern breweries and vineyards deal with that by using cultivated yeast strains and/or controlling the fermentation environment, resulting in products that don't give you headache.

The amount of hops in standard beers is negligible. Even if there were enough hops in beer to have any effect, hops may not have sleep-inducing effects after all. Apparently, research indicating such effects was conducted in combination with valerian.

The reason for adding hops to beer was its inhibiting effect on gram-negative bacteria. Nowadays, it's mostly added for its 'typical' beer flavour.


Guidelines for aging Cabernet Sauvignon Cabernet Sauvignon is a varietal more suitable for aging, but are the any general guidelines for the ideal age, or is it highly variable?

Specifically I'm interested in finding out if there are general rules around how long after bottling before you should drink it, and how long it can stay in the bottle before you should drink it.  And if the guidelines are variable, what are some of the factors that come into play?

Way variable.  On the high end even from year to year the same vineyard and same grape will vary how long to hold. When it is released the vineyard and others will have a recommendation.  On the shelf at the liquor store is often ready to drink.  High end wine that is going to be put up is often bought out before it even hits the shelves.  Some wine that still needs to age does hit the shelfs.

Wineries will typically hold some back to mature. Follow when they release it.  But that often goes to high end restaurants.


Seeking images of Devenish brewery labels I’m looking for information about Devenish brewery. I found a few images of beer labels that I love and am doing a little art project to recreate the whole set.
If you have any information, access to images or maybe even Devenish labels in your possession I’d love to see and hear all about it!

Came across this, am i barking up the right tree?


Are there any beer styles that are best enjoyed hot? I'm well aware that beer is commonly enjoyed warm in Europe. However, mulled beer aside, are there any beer styles that fare well when enjoyed hot?

First, to clear up the myth.   European beer is not served warm.  Some beers, such as real ale (or cask ale) are served at cellar temperature, which while certainly above the temperature of a beer fresh out a refrigerator, at 12-14 degrees celsius (53-57F) is still much colder than room temperature.

To answer your question:  Mulled beer is heated beer.  As with wine, mulled beer is usually warmed over a low stove or in a crockpot with spices, often including cinnamon, nutmeg, citrus zest, and a sweetener like brown sugar, but it doesn't need to include any additional ingredients, particularly if it already has strong spice or fruit characteristics.  So, any beer style that you heat is, in fact, mulled beer.

As to styles of beer that would be suitable for mulling, Belgian Strong Dark ales would be good candidates, as would nice fruity lambics.   Barleywine ales, milk stouts, chocolate stouts, and oatmeal stouts I would imagine might also be nice.  The characteristics I'd look for would be a heavy body, more malty than hoppy, a bit of sweetness, and if present, dark fruit (plumbs, figs, raisins) or berries.


Dumping small amount of cigarette ashes into the beers By dumping a small amount of cigarette ash into a beer, I have heard people say it helps give the beer an extra "kick"...

Is there any truth to this? Or, is it just a myth?...

Adding any particulate to a beer will reduce the carbonation due to more nucleation sites and the flavor may change from the tobacco ash, but the only way to increase the alcohol content of a beer in your glass is to add alcohol.


What type of beer should be used in making Beer Soup (Polewka Piwna) I've seen quite a few recipes for this old Polish soup based on beer, egg, cheese and some other ingredients but all of them call for "beer" or at best "light beer". I don't doubt most make a rather tasty dish but I'd like to aim at historical accuracy. While probably Seasoned Advice will be good with the rest of ingredients, I'd like to ask about the beer choice:

Which of beers currently in trade would most resemble what was brewed in Poland 300-500 years ago? What traits, properties, brands should I look for, that are most true to the antique recipes?

A saison would be the closest if you want "authenticity". This soup was usually a breakfast dish made with very weak farmhouse style ale often served to farm workers. The beers were locally brewed often by the farmers themselves. It only had about 3-4% abv so even today's commercial saisons have a bit more (5-8% abv). Sometimes kvas was used. Kvas is a light brew made from fermenting stale/dried bread (1-3% abv).


How long can you age an ipa? I understand IPAs are less amenable to aging than, say, a barely wine.  But how long, specifically, can you age an IPA - days, months, a year or two?

DIPAs generally have a high enough ABV (7%+) to age for a few months...but you probably don't want to.

Most contemporary IPAs and DIPAs are best drank within 3 weeks from the date of bottling.  Stone's "Enjoy By" Series gives you 5 weeks to drink the IPA if properly refrigerated.  Super hop-bursted IPAs with a ton of aroma like Heady Topper recommend to drink them within 2 days, claiming the flavor and aroma begins to degrade after only a few hours if unrefrigerated.

One notable exception is Dogfish Head's 120 Minute IPA which is super high ABV and can probably be considered a barleywine for the purpose of aging.

Less intense IPAs like Long Trail's Vermont IPA could probably keep up to 2 months, maybe 3 with really good refrigeration but not much beyond that without starting to taste real strange and losing a lot of their floral and herbal notes.


Why draught beer tastes so different at different places in India I just want to know why draught beer tastes so different at different places in India. I have been to different places all over the country and the beer tastes radically different.

It's all in the water. The water has a big role in the beverage's taste.


Craft/micro brewery in Saarland, Luxembourg and Lorraine region? I found these Beer from Saarland but it looks more like commercial brews.

Are there any craft/microbrewery in the tri-country greater region of Saarland (Germany), Luxembourg and Lorraine (France)?

First of all... you must know in this regions there is a laarge tradition with beer, so microbreweries are not as usual as in other regions, because there is a lot of abbeys and old factories that made beer in a traditional way. That tradition gives us really good beers, what makes microbreweries less usual than in other regions like Spain or Italy or center-south part of France where comercial beers are a real shit ;).

That's why I will make not only a microbreweries list, but also places where you can find craft and traditional beers of each region.

Also, feel free to check this map I made where you can find some Bretagne (France), Flandes (Belgium) and some Italian (Roma), Home/micro-breweries, Abbeys, Factories, Brasseurs and Bars :) related.

Saarland

Here and here you can find more Saarland breweries.

Walsheimer Sudhaus Microbrewery
walsheimer-sudhaus.de
Facebook: walsheimbrauerei
info@walsheim-brauerei.de

Neufang's Brauerei
Dudweiler Landstraße 3-9,
66123 Saarbrücken.
http://www.neufang.de/

Grosswald Brauerei - Bauer
Grosswaldstrasse 132,
66265 Heusweiler.
http://www.grosswald.de

Hochwälder Braugasthaus
Zum Stausee 190,
66679 Losheim am See.
http://hochwaelder-brauhaus.de/

Homburger Brauhaus Karl-Heinz Wierz Saarpfalz-Center
Talstraße 38,
66424 Homburg.
http://www.homburger-brauhaus.de

Luxembourg

Here and here you can find more Luxembourg breweries.

Brasserie Simon
rue Joseph Simon 14,
9550 Wiltz.
Homepage: http://www.brasseriesimon.lu/
Annual production: 23,000 hl

Brasserie Bofferding
Bd J.F. Kennedy 2,
4901 Bascharage.
Email: direction@bofferding.lu
Homepage: http://www.bofferding.lu/

Go Ten Café
Type: Bar (6 taps, 8 bottles)
10, rue du Marché-aux-Herbes
Luxembourg, Luxembourg L-1728
+352 26203652
www.goten.lu

Liquid Café
Type: Bar (6 taps 25 bottles)
15 - 17, rue Munster, Grund
Luxembourg, Luxembourg
+352224455
www.liquid.canalblog.com

Lorraine

Finde here a list of breweries and brewers (is a France one, but you can search for cities like Metz) and here a list of brasseurs (traditional beer producers in france).

Bière de Metz
Rue de la Fontaine à l Auge
Jury, France 57245
(3) 87 63 83 41

Bière Artisanale Lorraine L’Epitaphe
40, rue de France
Blénod-Lès-Pont-À-Mousson, France 54700


Is there any way that I can discern the IBU of a beer if the bewer doesn't provide that information? Some brewers are awesome and kind enough to place information like the ABV, IBU, and even SRM right on the label of any beer they distribute. This is rad, because (in theory), it means I know exactly what I'm getting myself into, and how to expect a given beer should taste.

However, I find that - especially with IBU, this information often isn't available -  even though it is among the most reliable predictors of the overall flavor profile of a beer that I've never drank. As a consumer, it's a really helpful way to try to sort through different beers. I've been trying to educate my palate by paying attention to things like how different beers are rated along this scale, in order to better adjust my expectations, but unfortunately, without good information, this is hard to do.

Is there any way that I can figure out how the beer I'm drinking rates on that scale without complicated equipment?

I would argue that even having the IBUs on the bottle you still don't really know what you're going to get.

The bitterness of the beer isn't just down to the quantity of alpha acids, which is what the IBUs measure. The bitterness is offset by any residual sweetness in the beer.

A brewer can brew two different beers with the same IBUs, and them taste different. For example, with two beers with 20 IBUs - one might taste balanced between sweet and bitter, while the other one just tastes sweet. Another pair of beers with 70 IBUs, one might be unpleasantly bitter, while the other a more balanced kind bitter, or even simply neutral. The FG can give you some insight into these differences, but it's still not going to be precise.

Frankly the best way to know how the bitterness of the beer plays with the rest of the beer qualities is to read the label for any subjective descriptive text, or simply buy it and taste it.

If you did want to measure it, you would need to use spectrophotometer and solvent extraction.


What is the closest tasting beer to Erdinger? I love Erdinger and wheat beers in general, after trying some of Erdginers others types I wondered what other beer out there is close to Erdinger taste

I assume you're talking about the Erdinger hefeweissbier.  This is a good example of the beer style known as German-style wheat beer / BJCP category 15A.

It also goes by the names: Weizen, Weissbier (Weißbier), Wheat beer, etc. etc.

Lots of German breweries produce great examples of this style of beer: Weihenstephan, Franziskaner, Schneider, Aying.  I believe that if you like Erdinger, many of these companies' wheat beers will be to your liking.

IMHO the closet to Erdinger Hefeweissbier would be from Franziskaner (obviously this is a very subjective assertion, YMMV).  It would be interesting to line some of these up for a taste-difference test.

But you may be able to find German-style wheat beers brewed in many other countries.  Do not be confused with an "American Style Wheat-beer" / BJCP Category 6D.  This is a significantly different sort of beer.

Given your liking of these sorts of beers, you might also enjoy Belgian style wheat beers, collectively known as Witbier.


Removing detergent residue from glassware Last night, after moving some heavy stones around, I poured myself a nice Berliner Weisse (style) into a glass I don't use regularly.  Initially there was a nice head on it but to my disappointment it broke down in a matter of seconds.  I'm pretty certain this was a result of detergent residue in the glass.

I take pains to hand wash my beer glasses without detergent but some members of my household are not always cognizant of the damage this causes.  Once the detergent residue is on the glass, is there any method that can remove it?  I think that in the past I've found that wiping firmly and rinsing will eventually remove it but that means many flat beers along the way.

Generally, washing and rinsing properly first time should mean this problem doesn't happen.

If it does, vinegar is an excellent residue remover.

Rinse the glass fully in clean water (no soap).
Rub the glass with a small sponge soaked in vinegar
Rinse again

That should solve the problem.


What is the largest winery that supplies sacramental wine to the Catholic Church? As the question states, I would like to know what is the largest winery that supplies sacramental wine for the Catholic Church?

By largest supplier to the Catholic Church of sacramental wine, I mean by volume sold to the Church in liters/gallons?

The nation's largest producer, the Mont La Salle Altar Wine Company in the Napa Valley of California, makes a rose of petite sirah, zinfandel, ruby cabernet and cabernet sauvignon.

From the NY Times: Sacramental Wine, Lowest Profile of All

Mont La Salle Altar Wines website

I love the screw cap!


Regarding light beers and dark beers: how would you make a light beer taste more like a dark beer? How would you make a light beer taste more like a dark beer?  In other words, if you  like light beer better than dark beer but you think that light beer could use more taste, what could you add or is there such a beer out there?

It depends upon what you think a dark beer tastes like because there is a wide range of shades of dark, and a wide range of flavors that come with dark.  The amber beers can have tastes of caramel and dark fruits like raisins.  Stouts, like a Guinness, will have roasty flavors, and those and porters can have hints of chocolate and coffee.

The easiest is probably to add a little dark beer to your light beer, like you have with a half and half.   The downside here is that you open two beers when you only want to drink one, but you could always save the mix-in beer in the fridge.  You could also add come coffee, a tablespoon at a time, and see if you like it.  Or, you could cut it with, not a dark beer, but an amber colored one like an Irish Red, or a Mexican lager like a Negra Modelo, if you don't want too much of a "dark" flavor.

If you really want to do it "right" and you live near a home-brew shop, pick up some caramel malt, like a crystal 40 or 60, make a little tea with it in some warm water, and add that to the beer.  That's basically what goes on in the brewing process.


Why do some wines taste salty? I recently moved to a new city in Austria and have noticed that many (but not all, so it’s definitely not a problem with my taste perception) of the local red wines taste salty. I’ve tried red wines both on the cheaper and expensive side and they all give off this salty taste. Almost all that I’m referring to are Blauer Zweigelt variety.
Is this salty taste coming from the grape variety, or could it be something else like my glass or detergent (I make sure that I wash the glass very thoroughly)?

Why do some wines taste salty?

Ed C. Kraus, a 3rd generation home brewer/winemaker and has been an owner of E. C. Kraus since 1999 has 4 possible reasons why a wine may have a salty taste. He has been helping individuals make better wine and beer for over 25 years.

  My first thought would be that if you are aging in a wooden barrel, the remnant salts from the sodium metabisulfite may have built up over the years through insufficient rinsing or no rinsing at all. But this is very unlikely. If you make any kind of conscious effort to rinse a barrel you would be able to keep up with the trace amount of salts that are left behind with each wine batch.

  My second thought is that a mistake was made in a dosage added to a wine/must. For instance, yeast nutrient (diammonium phosphate) would add what some would call a salty taste to the wine if too much were added, but this would take many times the normal recommend dosage.

  Third would be saltiness from the grapes themselves. This could add a salty taste in wine. This could apply if you made the wine from fresh grapes from a vineyard. The mineral content of the soil is always reflected in the grape’s flavor to some degree. This is one of the reasons a grape’s origin is always noted. If you are making wine for the first time from a particular soil or terroir, then this is what could be going on.

  The fourth thing that comes to mind is a mold infection. The only reason I left this for last is because it is the least likely of the four. This is because by the time the wine has a salty taste from mold, it is already blatantly obvious from a visual inspection that mold as set in. So if you don’t see any patches of dried crust on the surface anywhere, or a rainbow-ed, oil-slick look on the wine’s surface, the salty taste in the wine is not being caused by a mold.

  Beyond these things the only thing that comes to mind is accidentally putting salt in the wine.

  What Causes A Salty Taste In Wine?


Popularity: Ale vs Lager This is something that has been on my mind and I am wondering if I just have a statistical bias here, but it seems to me that when I peruse the shelves of my local bottle shops that I usually see a larger selection of ales versus lagers, especially among craft circles. So I guess, in a roundabout way, my question is: are ales more popular/attractive to brew than lagers and why?

Bonus points: numbers that demonstrate one way or another.

The reason I ask is because I read something a couple months ago that said lagers are better sellers than ales and it doesn't see to align with what I observe. Also, please assume that I know the differences between the styles of beer. I just meant this to be overarching.

You have to think of the volume of beer that's actually made. The big 'non-craft' brewers produce huge amounts of lager because the tradition for last hundred years or so has been to make lighter, more 'drinkable' beers. That also happens to fit with the big business ideal of being cheap to produce (light & drinkable means corn & rice are OK!).

Craft brewer tend to make ales for a few reasons.

Prior to the explosion of lagers, most beer in the world was ale, and
there are many more styles & different kind of yeast to choose from
if you make ale.
Most ales can be produced faster than lagers, which is helpful when
your brewery is small.
Ales are easier to make at home, so home brewers are quite familiar
with these styles (and sometimes become pros as well).

Numbers: as of last year, the thousands of craft breweries in the US still only had 11% of market share. Big breweries still crank out ~3/4 of US consumption, nearly all lager.


Is there a correct graph which describes various drinks I was going through list of drinks [Alcholic] . Was thinking is there any graph which subtly defines to which category of drinks they belong to . A more generic to top down approach of specific type .
WIKI LINK

There isn't going to be (or rather it wouldn't be visually appealing enough) a source for what you want. Your best bet is to search "::insert alcoholic family you wish here:: Infographics." When you do you will find that some people have made things like this from PopChartLabs! They have two great ones for Whiskey and Scotch too.


Drinking from a pewter mug? Modern beer is typically served in glassware, and the reasons for the various styles are addressed in What glasses are meant for which beers and why?

I have some alternative vessels at home, including a pewter tankard. The problem I have with drinking from it is that the pewter has a slight tang which you notice on your lips and the tip of your tongue. Depending on the the style of beer, this can either enhance or detract from the taste. (Personally, I've noticed that hefeweizen benefits from the slight acidic tinge, while some Lagers are really undrinkable from it.)

Are there any styles of beer for which it's actually advantageous to drink from something other than glassware, like pewter? Say, for example, they've been brewed specifically to pair well with the  material of the vessel.

Alternatively, should I even be drinking from this kind of vessel at all? While it's documented that pewter and other materials were used historically to make tankards, should I even be bothering today or is it just a gimmick?

To be honest, I think drinking carbonated (with CO2 at least) beer from pewter is asking for trouble if you do it regularly.  The tang you feel is dissolved metal and a component of that, depending on the pewter, may be lead (or could be copper, tin, bismuth, antimony, etc).  A major factor in that is acidity, and both hops and carbonation contribute.

Acidic solutions react with metals to produce hydrogen gas and dissolved metal salts.  So carbonic acid from carbonated beer will react with the tin to produce hydrogen and tin carbonate, and the same basic process with other metals.  The specific metal that reacts will depend on the pewter.

There are some ways around this.  You could, for example, coat the inside of the vessel with bees wax.  This can then be washed by hand with hot tap water and soap (and is a common method in making drinking horns).  This has the pro/con (depending on your taste) of imparting a slight honey taste to everything you drink out of the vessel.


A romantic evening - what to drink? OK, I want to create a romantic evening - everything is organized except for the perfect beverage!  For various reasons, champagne is out, so is any type of wine or beer or cider.  Thus the question, apart from all the above, what can I serve for my romantic evening?

The most romantic thing is to conform to the desires of your companion. It sounds like there are specific problems with sparkling and red wine. Personally as much as I like beer, I don't think it is "romantic" with the possible exception of a Belgium Tripel. These taste great, are surprisingly alcoholic and look neat served in the appropriate glass (a large wine glass may suffice). What I do think might be fun is a good French rose (a sparkling rose is really romantic, but out). Otherwise investigate cocktails. Unfortunately, I not much of a cocktail guy so I don't have any suggestions. Googling "romantic cocktails" provides a lot of hits.


muscadine wine fermenting I made wine last fall (2015) September and racked it one time.  After that
I left it in the carboys.  It stopped fermenting and cleared.  I never bottled it, it's still in there with the airator top on it.  Is it safe to bottle.  It looks good and doesn't smell. I followed the directions to ferment it and racking it.

If the aerator top is still working, meaning that no air has gotten to the wine, you should still be able to bottle it. The best way to know is to taste it. If it tastes right, you should be fine.


How do I measure the sugar content of brewed beers? I want to measure the sugar content of several brewed beers. What is the best equipment to use for this (e.g., Brix hydrometer) and how accurate would the result be using this technology?

Unfortunately, you're not going to easily achieve the solution to your question. Your best bet would be to find the nutritional information for the beer you seek. It isn't readily available, though, legislation has passed requiring craft beer producers to provide this information. While this sounds logical - this can significantly impact smaller craft brewers. :(

You can't actually tell what the sugar content is of a beer without knowing the Final Gravity of the wort before fermentation giving you the Original Gravity. These difference in OG-FG tell you the Alcohol By Volume of the beer in question. Specific gravity is measured in kg/(m^3) - I'm sure there is some math that could be done to figure out how to convert a known Final Gravity into know sugar amounts.

The downside becomes knowing what type of sugars were in the original recipe. Without knowing exactly what went into the beer (and recipes can be quite proprietary) - you'll be hard pressed to figure out exact sugar content.


How do I add a smoked flavour to a red wine? I often make wine from kits. I'm a bit bored with the flavour and would love it to taste smoky and oaky. How do I add a smoked flavour to a red wine?

If you want that oaky, smokey flavor the best way to do it is with toasted oak. At a home level, most people opt for cubes or chunks of toasted oak. At a professional level, the insides of barrels are toasted and impart that flavor.

How much and how long you do it is a preference thing. You need to taste every couple of weeks to see if the oak is giving you the flavors you want. When you are there, pull the wine off the oak. You can put the oak in a mesh bag and then pull it so you don't have to rack it because the oak will sink to the bottom eventually.


Why do corking fees exist? I've been to multiple combination bars/beer stores, where you can either buy bottles to go, or drink them on premises. If you buy a bottle to go, it costs the base price, but if you buy one to drink there, you have to pay an additional "corking" fee.  Is this due to licensing or tax laws, or just a way for a store to make a quick extra buck?  I know that restaurants will charge you this same type of fee if you bring in your own bottle of wine, but I don't understand why a beer store would charge you this for drinking a bottle of beer that you bought from them.

Reviewing various state regulations on GoBYO, corking fees generally do not appear to be mandatory but instead optional for establishments that already have liquor licenses.

Beverage sales generally represent some of the highest profit items for restaurants.  Soda tends to have the highest margins since it is so cheap, but alcohol is easily a 200% or higher margin and sells per bottle/glass.  If people can bring in their own beverages without paying, or just paying cost, it dramatically reduces the amount of money a restaurant can make.

For a retail beer store that lets you drink on premises, it's possible that they are now dealing with two sets of rules, one for selling and one for consumption, or that they have to take on higher insurance liabilities.  You're also transforming retail space into dining space creating an opportunity cost.  This would justify an increased cost.  It would probably also wreck their general retail business if they tried not charging a corking fee.  If you knew of a bar where you could buy beer at retail cost, wouldn't you go there all the time?


Seeking online sources where companies offer free labels for their products (beer, wine or other spirits)? Seeking online sources where companies offer free labels for their products (beer, wine or other spirits)?

A few years ago I discovered that Crown Royal offers free custom made labels (restriction do apply). The labels fit right over the original labels in such a way that no one could tell the the original one were still on the bottle. I had much fun buying some Crown Royal with custom labels put in them at Christmas time. The looks we got when they read the labels were truly amazing.

My question is quite simple: Are there any other breweries or alcohol producing companies that offer free labels online for their alcoholic beverages?

Free, just the label, can be placed over existing label

Josh cellars, will give out free labels for their wine that will be shipped to you that can be placed over existing labels that you have already purchased. Josh Cellars custom label page
Woodford Reserve will print custom labels and mail to you. Woodford Reserve custom labels

Purchase special labeled beverages to be shipped, includes alcoholic beverage

Gordon & MacPhail will allow you to purchase custom labeled products from their site but it doesn't look like you can place a label over an existing product. Gordon & MacPhail custom labeled products
Windsor vineyards will customize a label for free and then send the wine to you. Windsor vienyards label site

Not Free but still custom

In Milwaukee Sprecher brewing will do this for their beer or soda. Not sure if they will ship it. I've not heard of others but I'm from Milwaukee and don't know much about what breweries outside this area will do. Sprecher's Private Labeled Beer & Soda


Why is Frankfurt famous for Apple Cider? Why is Frankfurt famous for Apple Cider?

And is Apple Cider considered a beer? Can any Cider be a beer?

Due to differing geographic and climatic conditions, different areas of Germany specialize on different kinds of agriculture. The area to the south and west of Frankfurt is one of the major fruit producing regions in Germany (red in the map below, source):

In this area apple trees start to bloom much earlier in the year than elsewhere (source, visit link to see the progression of apple blooming over Germany):

Since people like to turn everything they produce into alcoholic beverages, fruit wines – of which (grape) wine is a just a variety – are common and popular in fruit growing regions. Most popular with everyone I know is home-made strawberry wine, but plum wine is a favourite, too, and any berry or fruit is used, with every family that owns a garden making one or two bottles of these fruit wines each autumn.

Apples are different because we grow so much more of them than strawberries or plums, and they are regularly pressed into apple juice in large quantities by the fruit grower cooperatives that sell it to the beverage industry. If you don't pasteurize the juice (for long term stability), it turns alcoholic after a couple of days, and after the apple harvest everyone gets large cannisters of freshly pressed juice from the cooperative presses, bakes onion tarts ("Dinnele"), and eats and drinks this seasonal speciality, with more or less alcohol, depending on taste.

"Most" (must) or "Süßmost" (sweet must) is freshly pressed juice; once it has turned alcoholic (and sour) it has different names in different areas, such as "Sauermost" (sour must) and Apfelwein (apple wine).

Within southern Germany and Austria, Frankfurt is not specifically famous for apple wine, the drink, because it is drunk elsewhere, too. What the region around Frankfurt is somewhat well-known for are the festivities surrounding the end of the apple harvest and the pressing of apple juice, which have been the background theme for a musical tv show, Zum Blauen Bock (The Blue Goat Buck), that ran from 1957 to 1987. The tv studio for that show was styled like a Hessian apple wine folk fair, and the moderator gave each of the folksy musicians and other guests one "Bembel", the stoneware jug traditionally used to serve the apple wine in that region, for them to take home.

At that time there were only two national tv channels in Germany, and many kids grew up spending cosy weekend family tv evenings watching that show. I would guess that this is what makes Apple Wine "famous" (for us), but only in the special Hessian pronunciation "Ebbelwoi".


Why is Guiness so prolific in South-East Asia? One thing I have noticed around South-East Asia is that the primary affordable dark beer is Guiness.  This appears to be due to high beer tariffs and the fact that Guiness has breweries all over (for example in Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, and more places).

How did this come to be?  How did Guiness come to expand so far and wide?  Was it during colonial days or later?

Guinness licenses their brand and recipe to many breweries which is why they are so prolific everywhere. An example is the fact that Labatt's brews most Guinness sold in North America. So, their widespread popularity is simply a combination of marketing and smart distribution.


Can beer be recarbonated? I was perusing a question about uses for flat beer ("Are there any good uses for beer that has sat in my growler for too long?") when I came across an answer that mentioned "any use that doesn't require it to be carbonated would be fitting".

If I have flat beer, and I have, say, a sodastream (or some such), can I effectively re-carbonate my beer? What would be the disadvantage to doing so?

Sodastream: maybe, but at your own risk.

According to Sodastream's FAQ, "You risk damaging your soda maker, not to mention making a big fizzy mess!".  However, there are a few articles discussing how to carbonate non-water with one.

Anecdotes vary:

It overpressurized and sprayed beer everywhere
It worked fine, but go slow
Wild success!

Some tips:

It will definitely void your warranty
Use plastic, not glass, bottles to avoid shrapnel if you make a mistake.
Take your time; most reports indicate it's easy to over-carbonate your beer.


I buy a bottle of wine from a supermaket - can you tell where it's come from? Many wines are often sold under different brand names, or sold with a very generic label (Merlot - France).

Of course these wines will all have come from a chateau/co-operative/blender somewhere, I was wondering if there was anything on the label that would identify these wines further, or if it is pot luck.

Depends on the country, but companies can make it very hard to find where the wine is made and where the grapes are grown. Looking at large supermarket brands, sometimes all that is necessary is listing country of origin and a vague address on the back (and other things like alcohol % and size of bottle). They don't even need to put the types of grapes on if they don't want too. So, to your questions, if you can't find anything on the label about the manufacturer of the wine, it will be very difficult to track it down if they don't want. That's the price you are paying, a super low price without a lot of questions asked.


What is a "sour malt" beer? Are there any commercially available sour malt beers? I have seen occasionally discussion of "sour malt" on home brewing forums.  What is it?  Are there any commercially available sour malt beers?

Sour malt (aka. acidulated malt, saurmalt) is a base malt that has been processed so that it contains lactic acid.

The acid is useful in adjusting the pH of the mash during brewing. Typically brewers use a 1-10% with 2-5% being typical.

The malt's existence is due to the Reinheitsgebot - the German Beer Purity law. This forbids the use of any ingredients other than malt, hops, water and yeast - making the use of other additives to adjust mash pH illegal. Hence, saurmalt was developed as a way to allow brewers to adjust the mash pH while staying within the restrictions of the purity law.

Nowadays, using a sour mash goes way further than just correcting pH. It's used to define the sourness in some beers, such as Berliner Weisse, Lambics, Flemish Reds and Browns and Stouts.

So, while you can't buy a beer made only with sour malt, there are plenty that have used it, or an equivalent souring technique to produce the sour notes in the beer.


Where can I find open APIs about beer? Not sure if this is on topic! Could be interesting though. Feel free to flag/VTC if you disagree.

I'm looking to build an app that has to do with beer. It occurred to me that ratings/information/any beer-related API could be useful. Both BeerAdvocate and RateBeer seem to have no officially available API.

Are there any beer-related sites or resources with an open API?

There are a number of beer-related APIs available.  RateBeer does have a JSON API, but it's apparently currently unavailable and I don't know if they intend on making it available again or not.

Here are several that I've found:

Brewery DB has an API that can return JSON, XML, or PHP, and from their API documentation, it appear that they have quite a bit of info available about both breweries and beers.
Open Beer Database is a beer API, but it appears that it's still under development and may be unstable, so YMMV.
The Beer Spot offers an API that includes some social aspects, such as what people are drinking, and ratings, but not as much in the way of rich data about the beers themselves.
Untappd is another social/beer app that offers an API, but you need an account on the site to view the documentation and they seem to be a bit more strict in that they have to actually review and approve your app idea before they'll give you an API key.
Open Food Facts while not limited to beers, has 1500 of them and an API with barcodes, nutrition, ingredients… It's fully opendata and collaborative, meaning you can upload new beers from their mobile apps.

There are others, but those are a few of the most common and/or promising from what I've seen.


How do you pour the perfect beer How do you make a perfect pour from a bottle, given a typical non-widget, non-bottle-conditioned beer? Is there a special technique used to make a nice foam collar (not too much, not too few)?

To pour a beer you take a clean beer glass, preferably those made by the brewery specifically for their beer. You hold the glass at 45 - 60 degree angle and gently pour the beer into the glass. You then move, after pouring half of the beer, the glass into the upright position as to make a foam colar of about 2 cm.

Depending on the beer you should or should not empty the bottle completely. Very old beers should be poured carefully as they have a lot of sediment on the bottom. Younger beers can have sediment as well, but can still be drunk. The beer will get a more bittre taste if sediment is poured a long as well.

Speed is also important, depending on the temperature of the beer, it can foam more. There are beers which have their own specifc pooring prescription. Some beers like Duvel actually need to be "dumped" into the glass with a vertical poor. Others like Guiness use a double poor.


Are there microbreweries or craft breweries in Iceland? Are there any microbreweries in Iceland?  If so, are any of them in Reykjavik?

What is the most distinct / unique beer from Iceland that one can get at the supermarket?

As of today (2016), there are several microbreweries operating in Iceland. The micro- and homebrewing scene has been budding nicely in the last few years, the latest player being Segull 67.

The Breweries

In a category of their own are Borg and Einstök. These two operate under the wing of the two "large" local breweries (Egils and Víking), serving as their respective experimental departments.

Borg keeps up a steady stream of new beers each year, easily Iceland's most "prolific publisher". They have a steady production of the big-name styles (a lager, an IPA, a porter, etc.), and nearly always one or two beers on limited/temporary release.
Einstök produces the country's most widely sold ales, and seasonal varieties.

Other microbreweries are:

Bruggsmiðjan. Founded in 2006, they are the oldest microbrewery in Iceland (yup). They produce a line of Czech-style lagers, brand name Kaldi.
Gæðingur. Their gig is essentially similar to Borg's - steady production of big name styles, interspersed with experiments.
Steðji. Their lineup is a mix of very normal German-style lagers and some truly wacky stuff - for instance, their infamous whale beer, Hvalur.
Ölvisholt Brugghús. ÖB is of the more established players, but their beers do not follow a particular trend that I have noticed. If anything, I could say they rely on beers "with a twist" more than the others, not many of their beers fall neatly into a common style.
Segull 67. Segull 67 is the newest and by far the smallest operating brewery. They released one beer in 2015, a dark lager.

At the time of writing, this list is exhaustive for operational breweries. In addition, I know of three breweries which will be opening "any day now": Hún/Hann brugghús (in Reykjavík), Austri (in the eastern part of the country) and Hið austfirska bruggfélag (also in the eastern part of the country).

Brewpubs

In addition to the breweries that sell nation-wide, there are a few who focus on their own premises.

Bryggjan Brugghús, in Reykjavík near the harbor area. The only brewpub in Reykjavík, and unlike most Icelandic "pubs", also operates an actual restaurant.
Brothers Brewery, in Vestmannaeyjar (islands off the south coast). It's the place to get craft beer in Vestmannaeyjar, apparently! Don't know much about it, unfortunately.
Bjórsetur Íslands, in Hólar (in the northern part of the country). This tiny establishment is the oldest brewpub by several years. It's basically run as a hobby - open on Fridays only. It is notable for its association with a beer festival (Bjórhátíð á Hólum), held annually at Hólar.

Microbrews and Craft Beers on Tap

Several bars pride themselves on selling Icelandic micro- and craft brews. These are:

Microbar. There are two bars operating under this name, one in downtown Reykjavík, the other in Sauðárkrókur. The one in Reykjavík is the pioneer of the Icelandic craft bar scene. It is owned by the Gæðingur brewery, and appropriately, you can always find Gæðingur beers on tap here (among other local beers)
Skúli Craft Bar, in downtown Reykjavík. It is notable for its diverse and rapidly rotating taps. At any given time, about half of them are likely to  be connected to local beers. The bar is independent, but beers from Borg brewery are always prominent in their choices.
Bjórgarðurinn, in Reykjavík. They have 22 taps, Icelandic craft beers always among them. They serve food other than bar snacks, mostly gourmet sausages that they recommend pairing with particular beers. It is a hotel bar, not associated with a brewery.
Kaldi Bar, in downtown Reykjavík. It is not owned by Bruggsmiðjan, but it brands itself as a place where you can get local beer, in particular, Bruggsmiðjan's Kaldi. This is, however, not a place I would call a craft bar that prides itself on a varied selection.
R5 Micro Bar, in Akureyri. I have not visited, but it's marketing itself as a craft beer bar. The locals seem impressed!

Micro/Craft beer fans will also want to know of Mikkeller & Friends Reykjavík. Large tap selection there, but no focus on local produce.

Borg and Einstök taps can commonly be found interspersed with the common Egils and Víking taps. Steðji and Ölvisholt beers are only sporadically found on taps.

Many other bars (but definitely not all) have some ambition when it comes to craft beer availability without making a particular deal of it. Hlemmur Square, a hostel/bar near the main bus station, is usually particularly well stocked. But always, ask your bartender!

Selected products

Off the top of my head, here are a few items I consider distinctive - or at least, I have not found anything quite like them abroad.

Garún. Imperial stout, more heavy on the licorice than most.
Lava. A smoked imperial stout.
Snorri. An ale spiced with Icelandic thyme.

And always, keep an eye out for seasonal beers. The breweries usually allow themselves more creative freedom on those products. In 2014, we saw beers like the Einstök Arctic Berry Ale (beer flavored with Icelandic berries), Fenrir (an IPA smoked with sheep dung) and Hvalur (the whale beer mentioned earlier).

General beer buying advisory

You won't buy Icelandic beers in the supermarket. The things that look like beers in those shelves are low-alcohol versions. To buy beers, you must go to one of the state-operated "Wine stores" (Vínbúð). Beware of their opening hours - they are never open after 20:00, on Sundays, or on holidays.

Source: Icelandic beer enthusiast.


What does "fl. oz" mean? I have seen the expression "fl. oz" accompanied by a number in a lot of labels of beers. For instance, I have seen "9.4 fl. oz", "12 fl. oz", "11.2 fl. oz"... What do these numbers mean?

It sounds like you live in a place that uses the metric system. A fluid ounce (fl. oz.) is a measure of volume in U.S. customary units: 1 fluid ounce = 29.5735 milliliters. A Fluid ounce in British Imperial Units is slightly smaller: 1 fluid ounce = 28.413 ml. However, you are unlikely to find any modern labeling that uses British Imperial units since the U.K. has fully adopted the metric system, so in all likelihood the labels you are seeing refer to U.S. customary units.


Other Jalapeño beers? I recently drank Stone's "Punishment" which was brewed with jalapeños! Having homebrewed with jalapeños from my garden for years I was super excited. Are there other breweries that have started experimenting with spicing their beers this way?

I recently had their "Crime" and loved it. Here are some other beers brewed with Jalapenos, but not a whole lot from major breweries like Stone.

Rogue - Chipotle Ale

"smoked jalapeno peppers"

Twisted Pine - Ghost Face Killah

"serrano, jalapeno, habanero, fresno, anaheim" (notoriously hot)

Alaskan - Jalapeno Imperial IPA

Horseheads - Hot-Jala-Heim

"jalapenos and anaheim"

No Label - Don Jalapeno

"this beer is brewed with 60lbs of jalapenos. 30 lbs raw and 30lbs roasted (seeds included)"

Hot Box - Imperial Smoked Pepper Porter

"smoked poblano & jalapeno peppers"


What dishes pair well the Maltese Harruba liqueur? What food stuffs pair well with the Maltese liqueur Harruba?

A friend of mine has several bottles of this sweet liqueur and we are hoping to make it into a meal of something more than just the ordinary.

  The carob tree, in Maltese called Harruba (Ceratonia siliqua) has been a prominent component of the Maltese vegetation for several centuries. The fruit beans of this tree, also known as ‘St. John’s bread’ formed a substantial part of the diet of the local population during the hard times of World War II.
  Carob beans, harvested by Maltese farmers, are crushed, roasted and boiled to produce a syrupy liquid with aromas and colour reminiscent of cocoa to which orange extracts are then added. Zeppi’s Harruba liqueur can be served chilled, on the rocks or can also be taken neat to close off an exquisite meal. Harmless sediment may form at the bottom of the bottle due to the nature of the product. -
  Mediterranean Maltese Liqueur

I'd say it is probably too sweet to be enjoyed as part of a meal except as an aperitif as @Eric suggested.

Since Carob tastes like chocolate and this is a sweet strong liqueur. Maybe consider using it in a Tiramisu recipe as a substitute for Marsala? I have used Amaretto in this way before and it was delicious!

Carob is often used as a substitute for chocolate so any liqueur based recipes where you want a hint of chocolate flavour would benefit from this. Maybe in a beef based dish (as we know a hint of dark chocolate in a beef casserole or chilli is a great trick!)

I found this article online which could give you some inspiration.


What kind of whiskey is served cold? I really like my alcoholic beverages cold. But I do know most whiskeys should be served in room temperature.

Although adding ice is an option, I do not prefer this method because when ice melts, the whiskey is mixed with water.
Using whiskey stones is good for drinking at home, but I cannot carry my stones around (for instance in a bar).

So, what type of whiskey is served chilly so I can order that one when I go to a bar?

One whiskey that I know of is the Snow Grouse it is a blended grain whiskey that as by the name is supposed to be drank cold.
 Some would even say that this whiskey is better straight from the freezer


What transforms a beer into a Barley Wine? Is it merely high alcohol content or some change, alteration or addition to the brewing process, mandated by law or otherwise that requires the brew be called Barley Wine?

Barley wine is a style of beer: it isn't something that is made using beer as an ingredient (as you might describe whisky).

There are a number of varieties of barley wine (some hoppy, and some with almost no hop characteristics), but they all have a relatively high alcohol content compared to most beers.  The alcohol is produced via fermentation, the same as any other beer, and without distillation.  Note that not all high alcohol beers are necessarily described as "barley wine" though.

As for the legal aspects, I don't know of any regulations that specifically target barley wine.  The law usually deals with alcoholic beverages based on the alcohol content, and from that point of view barley wines would usually be treated similar to normal wines due to the similar ABV.


What are the difference between a dubbel and a tripel? From a question about german beers, the difference between a doppelbock and triple bock seems to be simply about the abv and maltiness. Basically just a stronger version of the "single" bock.

Is is the same difference for Belgian versions (dubbels and trippels)?

From a comment I read, the difference seemed to be more complex, and I would like to get more information about it.

It's often a misconception that one comes forth from the other, this is incorrect. The name was used to indicate the strength of the Westmalle beers. Originally there was the Enkel, Dubbel and Tripel. It is said that they represent the holy trinity. Later quadruppels were added. Both Dubbel and Tripel as name were first used by the Trappist brewery of Westmalle.

Westmalle produced the first dark beer in 1856 named "Dubbel" (the recipe was changed in 1926). Dubbels are dark in color, and tend to have malt flavors dominating over hops. Whereas the Quadrupels have more of a fruit presence, the Dubbels tend to be a bit spicier with strong caramel flavors. They tend to have an ABV of 6.5-9.0%.

Some examples:

Chimay Red
La Trappe Dubbel
Ommegang
Westvleteren 8
Rochefort 6
Westmalle Dubbel

Tripels are lighter color, often blonde. They are generally a lot fruitier and lighter in flavor. The name Tripel originally was first used in 1956 by the Westmalle brewery to name their strongest beer (originally produced in 1930 and named Superbier, it was renamed to Tripel). The ABV is a lot higher than the double,  8.0-12.0%.

Some examples:

Tripel Karmeliet
Westmalle Tripel
St. Bernardus Tripel
Leuvense Tripel
Chimay Cinq Cents Tripel


Human body parts in a cocktail? Human body parts in a cocktail?

It is a question that seems to come out of The Twilight Zone.

Up in the Yukon (Canada) there existed (exists) a cocktail made with a real severed human toe called The Sour Toe Cocktail.

It's like a Halloween cocktail just came to life and a sordid life at that!

My question is: Do other drinks or cocktails exist or have existed with other real human body parts?

Unless you count Body Shots, then it would seem the answer to this question is a firm no.

But, there are cases of body parts being used in cocktails - fortunately, of other animal species. This article references an octopus tentacle used as a garnish, as well as another that uses Sea Urchin gonads... The article also references the Sour Toe cocktail.

I have also heard of using rooster feathers as a garnish to make a "Cock's Tail cocktail" but, I can't find a reference to that anywhere... Finally, this article details a pig's blood cocktail made in the UK.

It seems that, for now, the Sour Toe is a one-of-a-kind... Honestly, I myself would prefer that things stay this way (barf ;)


Why New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc and French one are so different? Why New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc and French one are so different?
Like they would be two different grapes..

And this difference is stable. Or may be this is false and there are French Sauvignon Blanc that tastes as New Zeland and vice versa?

The French call it “terroir.” Microclimate, soil composition, even water minerality all have an effect on how the grapes taste.

Then there are the style elements, often dictated by tradition (and law, more below). How long do the grape skins remain in contact with the grape juice? How long is the wine aged? What is it aged in (stainless steel tanks vs barrels, etc).

Back to the tradition piece, France and many other European countries have laws and a legal designation system applied to their products. You may have seen them: Appecation d’Origine Controlee (AOC), Vin de Pays, Vin Ordinaire, etc.

All of those factors play into whether you can get the coveted AOC, which requires strict traditionalism. You can sell your wine for a lot more with that designation. More experimental things will get you a lower tier certification.

Newer/non-EU wine-making areas (Australia, New Zealand, Chile, USA) have no such laws, and are free to experiment.

Couple the terroir with the lack of homogeneity,  you have lots of room for difference.


What is the best alcoholic drink for gout patients? I know alcoholic drinks are "restricted items" for a gout patient diet list. So just wanted to check if we have any specialist here :)

Which drink is less imapct ? Beer/Wine/Other Liquors ?

The answer to this question is going to differ from person to person, since gout sufferers react differently to both diet and alcohol. For some individuals alcohol increases pain in gout sufferers, while in others it decreases their pain. One has to know how to micro-manage their personal diets and alcohol consumption.

  For those who want to micro-manage their gout diet, you should know that there is never a single best alcoholic beverage. You know that your overall diet needs change at different times in your gout treatment plan. This applies equally to alcohol.

  You should know that the affects of alcohol are different for every gout sufferer. For that reason, I urge you to get a personal gout management plan from your doctor. - What Is The Best Alcoholic Beverage To Drink With Gout?

Gout attacks rise with when your diet is high in purines. Purines are found in high-protein foods, and they are also found in some drinks.

  “Beer contains a large amount of purines and has a strong association with gout attacks. One study estimated that patients who consumed a 12-ounce serving of beer daily were 1.5 times more likely to have gout compared to those without alcohol consumption,” says Dr. Sloane. Beer is especially bad for you if you tend to get gout symptoms because it is high in alcohol and brewer’s yeast, both of which may trigger gout pain.” - Gout and Alcohol

It seems that wine, whiskey or scotch may be a reasonable substitute for beer if drank in moderation or small amounts.

  “In a study published in The Lancet medical journal this spring, researchers followed over 47,000 male medical professionals with no history of gout for up to 12 years. By the end of the study, close to 2 percent of the men had experienced attacks of gout. Men who drank the most alcohol daily had twice the risk of developing the disorder as men who did not drink. Beer drinkers increased their risk by 50% for every daily serving, while those who drank hard liquor increased their risk by 15% for each drink. Men who drank wine did not appear to increase their risk for gout, although few men had more than two glasses of wine daily so these results are less conclusive. - Gout and Alcohol

The Lancet Journal "interprets" their findings as such:

  Interpretation

  Alcohol intake is strongly associated with an increased risk of gout. This risk varies substantially according to type of alcoholic beverage: beer confers a larger risk than spirits, whereas moderate wine drinking does not increase the risk.

Even though this study is in favor of drinking wine for gout sufferers, all alcohol consumption must be done in moderation and prudence as individuals react differently to alcohol and different types of alcohol.


Why are some beers non-vegan? Some beers (for example, Guinness) are marked as 'not suitable for vegans'. What is in the beer such that this is the case?

There are two main ingredients in beer that might cause them to be unsuitable for vegans. The first one might be fairly obvious. Honey is sometimes used as a sweetener, especially in meade, but certainly in other beers.

However, the main cause is a fining agent called Isinglass that is made from ground swim bladders of fish.


Is Heady Topper by The Alchemist worth it? I have heard a lot about Heady Topper, the Double IPA by The Alchemist brewery, and how it is a fantastic beer. Online reviews always rank it exceptionally high and everyone I have asked that has tried it has said it was good. However, I have also been told that it is fairly pricey; due to name, renown, and the exclusivity of it. Would it be worth trying to get or order some?

I've had it and I would say it's not really worth going out of your way for it. It's been overhyped, in my opinion, and while it's a good beer I don't think it's really as mind-breakingly good as many others seem to think.

I believe this discrepancy arises from the fact that Heady Topper is a relatively well balanced IPA. It has the hops bitterness to it that IPAs do, and the high alcohol content of a double, however it also has more of a malty body to it that most people are unused to when drinking IPAs. So lots of people are shocked when drinking it that it actually has some balance between the body and the aftertaste, so that's part of what leads to the high reviews (in my opinion).

So if the opportunity comes up to try it, sure, go for it. But I wouldn't really go out of my way to chase after it - there are other well balanced IPAs out there that are more readily available.


What is the single most influential book every beer enthusiast should read? If you could go back in time and tell yourself to read a specific book about beer, which book would it be?

Tasting Beer by Randy Mosher is by far the most valuable beer book I've ever read.  It covers the styles you'll encounter, the flavors, the technology, the history, the science, and more.  I was a fairly knowledgeable beer enthusiast when I read it, but I wish I'd read it ten years earlier.  If I had, it would have increased my enjoyment of getting to know beer ten-fold by increasing my  understanding of what I was drinking.


Why do France and Italy have so much lower beer consumption than their neighbors? Consider the map of per capita beer consumption by county from Wikipedia:

Zooming in on Europe, something that jumps out is that France and Italy consume much less beer than their neighbors:

What has caused these two countries to be pretty much surrounded by other countries with higher beer consumption? I would imagine to some degree this is caused by replacing beer consumption with wine consumption, but what led to these regional differences in alcohol preferences?

You are correct that in countries like France and Italy, beer consumption is replaced by much higher wine consumption.

Why?  Because they can.

It's a cultural difference that has been developed and ingrained over many centuries, back to when trade was more limited and more difficult, and Northern Europe was colder than it is today.   For much of that time, the climate in Southern Europe was ideal for growing grapes and producing wine, while it was simply too cold further north. So, Southern Europe produced and drank wine, Northern Europe produced and drank beer, thus creating regional preferences that persist even to this day.


How much fermentation happens post-bottling in a UFO? In Harpoon's UFO series (and other related products from other companies), the beer is bottled unfiltered, so some of the yeast carries over into the bottled beer.

As long as the beer is kept in a cool area, as not to promote the growth of the yeast, how much fermentation will occur?  Aside from producing extra carbon dioxide and eventually ruining the beer, is this harmful when it proceeds over short periods?

It depends on how much sugar is present in the bottled beer.

If the beer is bottle-conditioned, a small amount of sugar is added deliberately in order to carbonate the beer. Once the yeast have eaten all the sugar, they stop producing carbon dioxide and fall to the bottom of the bottle. This is not physiologically harmful in any way, but the beer might need to be poured carefully to avoid too much yeast in the glass.

(If the beer is force-carbonated at the brewery, the yeast may contribute to the flavor of the beer, but does not produce any CO2.)

Harpoon's UFO appears to be bottle-conditioned, meaning the carbonation is produced naturally by the yeast. It's a hefeweizen, where the yeast character is actually desired - most people recommend to pour half the bottle, swirl it to suspend the remaining yeast, and then pour the rest.

(Now, home-brewed beer can be harmful if too much sugar is added at bottling - the bottles can explode and cause injury. The beer itself doesn't become harmful, though.)


Are syringes food grade? I’ve been tired of storing opened bottle wines and having to have the same one the next day plus the day after that (and find out it’s sour).

So I’m thinking about syringes as they easily suck the wine out of the bottle and provide isolation. The problem is, I can’t find whether it’s food grade or not. (The answer seems to be yes, but then syringes are disposable. So I’m unsure of whether or not it can be used for long term storing?)

I’ve considered freezing (yes it preserves all the flavor) but it is terribly inconvenient.

Thank you for helping!

Let me try and answers some of these questions. Syringes are most likely food grade since they are used to inject liquids into your flesh. But like all plastics, long term storage is not a good idea since plastics are permeable and allow gasses to pass through. Maybe the plastic they use to make syringes is some super plastic but I kind of doubt it.

Your plan to suck some wine out (through the cork?) with a syringe is not without merit and you can buy contraptions that do this, but the big thing you will run into is that you need to replace the wine with some type of gas or eventually gas will leak around the cork because you created a vacuum, and spoiling your wine. You would need a way to inject nitrogen into the bottle as you are sucking out the wine.

Freezing wine is always a bad idea.


Where can I buy Liefmans Fruitesse In Ontario? This beer used to be available from the LCBO but now outside of Kegs or going to a bar it doesn't seem that I can get it anymore. Does anyone know the best way I could get a hold of it?

The Village Idiot Pub (126 McCaul St Toronto, Ontario M5T 1W2) sells Liefmans Fruitesse.

Here is what they say about this craft beer:

  Liefmans Fruitesse

  4.2% alc./vol. 33CL
   A fresh Belgian beer blend, maturing for 18 months on cherries in Liefmans cellars, artfully blended with natural juices of strawberry, raspberry, cherry, blueberry and juniper berry resulting in a fruity, pleasantly sweet, sparkling and refreshing beer.

Here is what the LCBO has to say about this must try craft Beer:

  Red Berry

  Yes, “red berry”, because there’s some excellent combos out there. Both of our winners in this category come out of Belgium, but can be found in LCBOs and pubs around Ontario.

  Liefmans Fruitesse bills itself as an appetizer beer. It’s a deep red, cranberry juice colour, sparkling, and oh-so-juicy. It also tastes something like cranberry juice,  with a bit more sweetness, and a nice alcoholic kick. Like how you (or at least Jess) wish wine would taste. There’s no cranberry involved though; it’s actually cherry, raspberry, elderberry, strawberry, and bilberry. - Best Fruit Beers You Can Find Locally


The quality of beer from one gallon brewing equipment versus more robust equipment I'm becoming more interested in brewing my own beer and due to space considerations am thinking a 1-gallon size may be my ideal choice of setup.

The question is:

In what ways does brewing with 1 gallon equipment effect the quality of beer that's produced, as opposed to brewing from more robust and expensive setups?

edit: May have used the 'kit' terminology in a way I didn't intend. Basically what I'm asking is if 1 gallon equipment will produce a lesser quality beer than a more expensive, and bigger setup.

I think it depends on a lot of factors, but you should be able to make high quality beer. You just have to pay a lot of attention to detail. Measuring ingredients becomes super important. A little error can screw up a beer. In bigger batches there is more room for error. Same with mashing. You need to have a really good way to keep the mash at the proper temperature, which can be hard in a small container. Otherwise, there is no reason a 1 gallon batch can't be just as good.


What's the effect of Chill-filtering on Whisky? Some whiskys (for example Deanston 12 ) say on their label that they are "Un-Chill filtered" and in the example case follow that up with "exactly as it should be" which implies that there are some negative effects to chill-filtering whisky.

What are the effects (positive and negative) of Chill-Filtering whisky?

The main reason to chill filter a whisky is actually purely cosmetic

Chill filtering is a process that makes sure that a whiskey won't go cloudy if water or ice is added to it.

It is mainly only done as people don't want to see a cloudy whiskey so it is done a a cosmetic touch to make the whiskey more appealing.

Although if a whiskey is above 46% this process is not necessary as the alcohol level will stop the cloudiness from happening.

It is causing a bit of bother with whiskey distillers as people want a natural organic whiskey so they don't want it to go through the process of chill filtering but they also want a nice clear whiskey.

For more information see Here


Why did my Big Bad Baptist come in a brandy snifter? Over the weekend, I decided to order something new from the menu: a Big Bad Baptist. I thoroughly enjoyed it (lots of coffee flavor and not nearly as much alcohol taste as I feared). But it came in what looked to be a brandy snifter.

Is this the typical way to serve that type of beer? I assume the purpose has something to do with the aroma, but is there any other reason (either traditional or practical)?

First, yes, this is quite typical.  Snifters are widely used for beer and generally for two reasons, in my experience.

As you suspect, the bowl shaped glass helps to concentrate the aroma.  However, this isn't unique to the snifter as many types of beer glasses incorporate a narrowing throat to provide this effect.
Quantity.  With a glass of beer that has a particularly high alcohol content, or particularly strong flavor, you'll often get much less than a standard 12-16 oz. pour.  The beer you refer to for instance, the Big Bad Baptist, has an alcohol content of 11.8% ABV, which closer to wine than beer, (and wine has a standard 5oz serving size per glass, or thereabouts) so it calls for a smaller serving size.  However, a 5oz or 6oz serving would look rather silly in a pint glass, so a snifter is more appropriate in proportion.


Where is Archetype microbrewery in Vietnam? Traveling to Vietnam in 2018-19 I had the chance to try several (very good!) local craft beers and one of those I tasted in Ho Chi Minh was by Archetype Brewing Co.
I am trying to find out any reference, for example the address of the brewery headquarters, or a company website, because neither Google Maps nor RateBeer and Untappd seem to know where this brand of beer is produced.
Archetype Vietnam is not Archetype USA: https://www.ratebeer.com/search?q=Archetype&tab=brewer
Their logo:

Where is Archetype microbrewery in Vietnam?
Archetype microbrewery is a relatively new microbrewery (2019) situated in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam?

Archetype No Name Pale Ale
Bottle at Biacraft District 1, Ho Chi Minh City. Poured a clear medium amber colour with a lasting frothy white head. The aroma is toffee caramel malt, light woody hop. The flavour is moderate sweet light bitter, with a smooth caramel malt, light fruity, light pepper spice, light dry woody hop bitter palate. Medium bodied with to soft carbonation.


Are Oktoberfest beers available in Germany before the official start of the festival? In the US where I live, fall brings beers labelled "Oktoberfest", usually Bavarian Märzenbiers.  I like this style and look forward to it.

This year it happens that I'm going to be passing through Munich a few days before the start of their Oktoberfest.  It'd be great to be able to sample Oktoberfest beers fresh out of the tap where they're made, rather than waiting for whatever makes it across the Atlantic to me later.  Am I likely to find any Oktoberfest beers in the Munich airport in the week before the festival, or is that date the "debut" and I'll just have to settle for other German beers when I'm there?

I'm not sure if you will find any Oktoberfest beer at the airport but they are available several weeks before "official" start in big groceries or beer shops.  Hacker-Pschorr Oktoberfest Märzen, Paulaner Oktoberfest and Löwenbräu Oktoberfestbier were already available three weeks  ago even in nothern Germany.


What are the IBUs (bitterness units) of common lagers? Also, what are hop contents? I would be interested to know these two things:

(1): What are the ratings in IBU of common lagers: e.g. Stella, Kronenbourg, Fosters, Becks, Heineken, San Miguel, Corona? Are there major differences?

(2): Same question RE: Hoppyness/Hop content.

E.g. I like Stella and not Becks. Then my friend told me that's because Stella is more bitter. However I have no way of knowing for sure... hence the question.

I like IPAs and I hate stouts. However the differences between lagers is difficult to perceive for me.

Finding a compiled list of common-marketplace lagers is probably not going to happen unless someone has made a specific list like this.

Generally, you would just search "SPECIFIC BEER IBU" and either the result or website where you can find the result would populate. You can also look at homebrewer clone-recipe sites like this that give you the IBUs and recipes for clones of your favorite beers.

There are, however, sites like this that have BJCP average IBU ranges for varying styles of beer.

For proprietary reasons, you will never know the exact make-up of hops/hop ratios in beers unless the company shares that information with their imbibers.

If you have a good palate and understanding of what kinds of hops yield what kinds of flavors, you might be able to pick them out.


Burned volume to alcohol percentage In ancient Russia the way to measure "proper" strong spirits was to burn it - if the volume decreased by half than it was considered right one. How can I convert this into modern days alcohol percentage? Also, as a side note, how accurate this conversion would be? I mean which factors besides actual alcohol percentage would affect the process - ambient temperature? humidity? atmospheric pressure? And to which degree: +-1%? 5%?

There are a lot of different factors that provide the alcohols percentage,

  It's not really the liquid burning. It's the vapors that catch fire.
  Higher proof equals more vapor, depending on temperature. source

So burning alcohol is not a guaranteed way of finding out the percentage as whilst cooking wine will 'flame on' despite being low percentage and this is all to do with the vapor of the alcohol. Sure a High proof alcohol will catch fire easier but that will only tell you that it is a high proof alcohol not the percentage in it. A low proof vodka can ignite if a flame is held to it as the change in temperature will make it produce more vapor and it will ignite

(Please don't try and set fire to alcohol if you don't need to it can course spillage that will then cause an out of control fire and we don't want any of you guys to start burning up on us now )


Is it possible to invest (long-term) in beer? I've recently discovered that the beer Oude Geuze Boon can be stored up to 20 years and only improve in flavor. Seeing as this beer is rather special and might not exist any more in x years time due to the changing climate it might be a fun endeavor to buy some crates and see what they'll be worth in 5-15 years time.

Now, wine and whiskey are established beverages to invest in but I've yet to really see any old beers on the market besides some very strong, brown beers.

Are people actually willing to buy old beers? Would they prefer 33cl or 75cl? Is it feasible to store beer up to 10+ years?

Thanks in advance!

You can't. At least not like wine or whisky.

It is different from wine because:
The price increase of wine is based on the vintage. If you a bottle of wine of a high-priced vintage, it increases in market value because over the years the number of available bottles decreases. The value does not increase because it tastes better. The chance of finding a 30 year old bottle of red wine that tastes good are as astronomical as the expenses that come with it. Investing in wine is, as someone put it, speculating in human snobbery.

It is different from whisky different because:
Whisky is basically an infusion of grain alcohol with oak accompanied by a decrease in alcohol. Unlike wine, you will never get an exponential increase by simply storing it longer because the result can be reproduced repeatedly. Whisky, however, does not benefit from bottle-ageing as the alcohol content cannot evaporate and bottles are not made of oak. In other words, unless you plan on opening a distillery, it is unlikely profitable to invest in whisky. Still, even with a highly durable beverage like whisky, there is a tipping point after which its quality starts decreasing.

Beer is more comparable to blue cheese because:
An aged beer is more expensive than a freshly brewed one simply because it is more expensive to produce. Like blue cheese, it is an acquired taste. To most, it would not even taste like beer. Aged beers suffer from the same short-comings as wine but much sooner as there is still active yeast in it (unless they are as strong as wines of course or you store them at very low temperatures).

Beers that benefit from ageing are usually beers that are not fermented well and have too many off-flavours that they tend to lose after time. That is true for many Belgian beers as they are made with a bunch of wild yeast strains that manifested themselves in the brewing vessels. The taste of hops is completely gone after a few years and the ongoing fermentation eventually converts the remaining sugars into a little more alcohol and --more dominantly-- into acid.

In order to make a significant amount of money from storing beer, you would probably require a speculative bubble. Otherwise, the increase in value will merely reflect your expenses (ie. the cost of storing it), inflation patters and of course the actual demand.

I should add that speculative bubbles can of course appear at any time anywhere, and the current craft beer craze does in fact somewhat bear resemblance with things like cryptocurrencies though not anywhere near that territory. Such a comparison does, however, hint at the inherent risks involved.