Beerbaron is famous

Zauber Brewing – Bringing German beer into the 21st Century

Anyone in the area needs to stop by.

Nice!

I thought that the German beer purity law thing meant that only malted barley, hops, water and yeast could be used. Where does Wheat come into this picture? Is it then called something else as far as German beer goes? Like "German Malted Beverage that is Not Beer" or something? In German, would that be GermanMaltedBeveragethatisNotBier?

Hey, that's not Homer Simpson. We've been duped!

Seriously, it's a great write up. If I'm ever in the area I'll be sure to stop in.

I'm waiting for Skittle-brau.

I am proud to say I have visited and got the tour from Cameron.
We knew him back before...

Dr. Hess wrote: I thought that the German beer purity law thing meant that only malted barley, hops, water and yeast could be used. Where does Wheat come into this picture? Is it then called something else as far as German beer goes? Like "German Malted Beverage that is Not Beer" or something? In German, would that be GermanMaltedBeveragethatisNotBier?

The law is meant to restrict adjunct such as sugar. So, in as long as the wheat is malted (if there is such a thing) you should be good to go.

Nobody cheats as creatively as Stella Artois who does use corn sugar, but claims that since all the yeast is filtered out, they still comply with the "Four ingredients only" mandate. It's a shame I like their beer because their principles suck!

Isn't Stella Artois Belgian?

Yep, Stella is Belgian.

I just read up a bit on this in German and the gist of it is:

• The old beer purity laws have been superceded by other laws in 1993 that allow for additional ingredients. One of the big ones was that the Bavarian beer laws dating back to pre-1918 didn't allow for added sugar (which was used in some non-Bavarian local beers) and as a condition of joining the German nation state, Bavaria insisted that its beer legislation would be expanded to cover all of Germany
• The original idea behind only allowing the use of barley was because the more valuable wheat and rye were supposed to be preserved for use by bakers. The Bavarians had been brewing wheat beers for quite a while, though.
• According to German wikipedia, the two main reasons for the legislation back in the middle ages were to prevent brewers from adding mind-altering herbs that used to be used in non-Christian rituals to the beer and to prevent them from using substitute ingredients to make beer cheaper, as the same legislation also introduced price controls for beer at a time when the price of the ingredients were rising.

I have to be down at OSU Saturday evening for soccer practice, I might have to swing by to check it out.

Dr. Hess wrote: I thought that the German beer purity law thing meant that only malted barley, hops, water and yeast could be used. Where does Wheat come into this picture? Is it then called something else as far as German beer goes? Like "German Malted Beverage that is Not Beer" or something? In German, would that be GermanMaltedBeveragethatisNotBier?

It's called Hefeweizen.

To call something "Bier" in Germany, it has to be Water, Malt, Hops, and Yeast/Microbes. The "Malt" does not necessarily have to be malted barley. Malted wheat is appropriate too. Additionally, the modern German "purity" laws are convoluted things that are more about labelling than "purity". For a beer to be labelled as "Hefeweizen" in Germany, the malt bill has to be greater than 50% wheat.

The original Reinheitsgebot did not mention yeast, because it hadn't been discovered yet. The modern German purity law has also grandfathered in certain styles that are traditionally German, but use additional ingredients, such as Gose (the traditional beer of Leipzig) which uses salt and corriander.

Also, most German brewers break the purity laws and throw in yeast nutrients that are in violation of the laws, then tell their interns that they saw NOTHING.

Any time a GRM'er wants a tour, I'm happy to show you around the back. I'll probably still be running around doing tasks, but I'll show you around. Just ask for me at the bar.

I'm in another blog about cooking. This gal made a peanutbutter banana cake using our Hefeweizen. It was delicious: http://alocalchoice.blogspot.com/2015/03/oh-oh-its-magic-you-know.html?m=1

YAAAAAAY BEERBARON! Congrats dude!!!!!!

Prost!!!

Dr. Hess wrote: Isn't Stella Artois Belgian?

And owned by AbInbev. After the Budweiser super bowl ad E36 M3ting on craft beer I won't drink any Inbev or Budweiser beers.

In reply to Lancer007:

I heard the untold irony of that commercial is one of the breweries they own actually does brew a "pumpkin peach ale" or whatever that was they were making fun of.

I've been in the A-B facility in Newark, NJ. It's a sight to behold, although maybe 50% of the capacity is currently in use. One tank room is simply massive. Each tank is 40K barrels. And there are 27 of them.

Congrats to Beer Baron for the recognition. If I'm ever out that way again I'll have to stop by. The Portergiest sounds interesting.

Sweet. I'll be up there in April or May. I'm coming by.

I have stopped by a handful of times and Cameron has always at least stopped by and said Hi. Ian, the Portergiest is tasty.

I love the German slant of the brewery, and it sounds very appealing. I like that the flavor profiles you've chosen are unique without being too wacky - sometimes brewers get too cute with their ingredients for my personal taste. Hopefully someday we'll have the chance to visit, but all the best of luck to Beerbaron in the meantime.

I had no problem with A-B's Macro Brew commercial - thought it was clever and played to their strengths. If you want yellow fizzy beer, that's something they do well, and not everyone wants a 50 IBU IPA or a chocolate stout.

What wheat based mass produced beer might I have had? Something German or Dutch?

The first beer tapped and run through our lovely new kegerator was a 1/6 barrel of the Zauber Magnum. Yummy! Our party of 24 failed to finish it so Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday nights were a little blurry.

Would Portergeist tap okay with Co2 rather than nitro?

Dr. Hess wrote: What wheat based mass produced beer might I have had? Something German or Dutch?

Depends how you define "mass producer". The most mass produced wheat beer in the U.S. is Blue Moon, but it is done in the Belgian Wit style, rather than the German Hefeweizen style. The largest produced German Hefeweizens in the U.S. are probably Weihenstephaner Hefeweizen, Schneider Original Hefeweizen, and Franziskaner Weissbier (produced by Spaten).

I meant like Heineken or Becks or something. I think I've had Blue Moon.

My concern is that some beers trigger migraines on me. Budweiser being one. I think that one has rice. I have found that drinking beers not made with chemicals tends to be easier on me, and no dark beers except XX Amber, which I do OK with. I'm pretty sure that Becks, Heineken are barley based, not wheat. I am also allergic to a mold that lives in grain dust. I suppose it could be in barley, but I know it is in wheat and soybeans.