Beer ...

[weedie]

Ahh,The Chiff and Fipple Poststructural Pub..... now this seems as though it would be a good place to post a question about Beer !
A while ago I watched a programme about all the bifferent beers in the world..
As an ex-home brewer,one segment of the show really interested me.It focused on a Brewery somewhere in Europe (maybe Belgium?,Poland ?) where NO yeast was added to the brew during fermentation...instead,the vats were situated way up high in the building and open to the air and the Pollen from flowers in the surrounding fields,forests,gardens etc. was allowed to enter the buiding and get into the Brew (wort) and begin the fermentation process....taking the place of the yeast..hmmmm,yummmm sez I .
There's a whole lot of Bottle Shops in the towns and cities of OZ that are now stocking a big range of beers from across the world and I would'nt mind a bit of a taste.
Would anyone know the name of this beer ?

[dwest]

Open air fermentation beer which uses wild yeast is not uncommon in Belgium, I know in Poland slivovitz, damson plum brandy is often produced using wild yeast strains. Don't know no names though.

[maki]

There are a large number of breweries that make traditional lambic beer.
http://www.beerplanet.eu/index.php?cnt= ... 1&typeID=4

[brewerpaul]

Yup-- Lambic is what you're looking for.
Good beer distributors usually carry several fruit flavored varieties which are really wonderful. I'm partial to the Cassis (Blackcurrant). Unflavored varieties are harder to find.
If you want to try your hand at brewing these fascinating beers, you can buy cultures of the yeast and bacteria (yes, bacteria) that are responsible for their unique flavors:
http://morebeer.com/search/102171/beerw ... d_Bacteria
You owe me one if you try it

[weedie]

"You owe me one if you try it " ... Last year that would'nt have been a problem Paul...that's when we lived on 14 acres and had plenty of room to brew.But now,we live in suburbia and there nowt space to brew...so.... I donated the whole shebang to a local charity (called The Men's Shed...this organization looks after lonely,widowed,depressed blokes, and they all hang out in a shed,chew the fat and make/repair stuff to re-sell and raise funds) ....
Anyways...... the Beer !. Yes I think that Lambic is the one I was thinking of.I've found a few online stores here that stock it and its variations but ....jeez...it's expensive..... AUS$15.00 for a 330 ml bottle ......
I'm off to a big city soon ,so I'll see if I can find a bottle for a test drive....
Thanks for the replies all .. ..

[mutepointe]

I googled "Men's Shed" because I thought weedie was teasing. I thought it was just a bunch a guys he knew that had a name for themselves. Here's a link. Boy, the USA could use something like this.
http://www.mensheds.com.au/

[maki]

I tried Lambic beer a couple of times, never enjoyed it in the least.
My tastes run more to this;
http://www.arrogantbastard.com/arrogant ... efault.asp

[weedie]

For sure Mutey,the Mens Shed is a great organization....and very appreciative of donations.
As well as the brewing outfit,which I think might just end up living in the Shed ,I've given them 2 whole stationwagons full of stuff....stereos,CD players,surround sound DVD/Stereo,tools,furniture,pumps,DVD's,CD's....basically anything they can work on or re-sell.
There must be many chapters of The Mens Shed in Australia as there are three chapters in my local area alone.....Lots of men in need of help and companionship

Hey Maki....I'm an Ale man m'self,but I dont know about the Lucky B*****d ale....8.5% alcohol !!! Could be dangerous that one.Even the Arrogant B is 7.2% ...
The descriptions of Lambic Beer arent really very appertising are they ! The word 'sour' pops up a fair bit.Not something one would normally think of when contemplating a beer.
Still,if I ever see one in a Bottle-o,I'll give it a try..

[maki]

It's not so much the percentage of alk. but the hops.
LOTS o' hops. Bitter.

Do try a Lambic or two, ya never know what you like till ya taste of it.

[brewerpaul]

Lambic is expensive partly because it's very labor intensive. The lambic you buy may be a blend of several "vintages". Then there's the fruit infusion which uses a lot of fruit. Also, the beer is aged which involves storage costs, time, and more labor.
On the plus side, this is a sipping beverage so several people can share one bottle. It's worth it.

[Hotblack]

"You owe me one if you try it " ... Last year that would'nt have been a problem Paul...that's when we lived on 14 acres and had plenty of room to brew.But now,we live in suburbia and there nowt space to brew...

Really? There's loads of people around here who brew in the home and get great quality from doing so. You don't need a huge area at all. Quite a lot use a spare room or the garage to brew.

As for lambics, they may be sour but that's not to say they aren't tasty. I love a good lambic beer. Belgian beers are aways a bit strong but if you drink them like the Belgians do (slowly, with friends, over a long meal) they're delicious and don't get you hammmered.

I work in a local pub. We always have 10 real ales on tap. They currently range in strength from 3.9% (Bath Ales Hare and Hop) to a barley wine at 12% (Arbor Ales and Art Brew Double Trouble) with plenty between 4-5% and a couple of other stronger ones like Durham Bombay (a 7% true IPA) and Sadler's Mud City Stout at 6.6%.

[dwest]

My wife enjoys the apple, peach, and framboise Lambic from Brouwerij Lindemans. She'd rather have a good English cider which are almost impossible to find here in the States. There are English ciders here, pity they don't share their best.

[weedie]

Hot Black says "Quite a lot use a spare room or the garage to brew.".....
A spare room ...jeez would'nt that be nice !Even a bit of spare floor space'd be nice !
Or the Garage ( a shed here in OZ ) ..thats where my bikes,machinery and workshop live...with an area set aside for Music making...nope,no room there ..
It's a funny thing when you live Rural...people say,"I've got this old 'whatever' ,would you like it ? Sure,I'll stick it out in the shed ....and I had 4 sheds there !So 'stuff' accumulates.You don't realise how much clutter you have until you have to move.
So here we are in coastal suburbia in a smallish house and it's great,except for the space thing.
In the 22 years that we were on the farm,I brewed 489 x 5 gallon batches of Beer and was always about 6 months ahead..so you really need storage space for all the bottles as the grog ages....and we just dont have it . Never mind though,my Brewery went to a good cause and there's some really nice 'small brewery' beers around at the moment..plus.. now there's more time for fishing and Music .
I'm very keen to try a Lambic though....maybe this weekend.I'm off to the big smoke (a city) to Ozmanouche...A Gypsy Jazz Guitar Festival ... I reckon there could be a biggish bottle shop up there somewhere ! ...

[Hotblack]

Fair enough

[I.D.10-t]

I was under the impression that the open air fermentation had different results depending on where you live. Any one know if this is true?