Brew News Online

Issue #4, May 1999

It's been a pretty hectic year for us at Brewery Lane so far. We have been busy renovating our store and adding new items to our inventory. We now carry professional bar supplies and cocktail mixers and have extended our line of wine and beer kits with an emphasis on premium products.

We have made a lot of changes on our website too. We have added a lifestyle headlines section where you can scan for headlines that interest you and then link to the relevant site to get the whole story. We have added some new liqueur recipes to our miscellaneous section and we have revamped our country wine recipes section.

Don't forget to check our our new expanded online shopping site. It's growing bigger and bigger.

I hope you enjoy the summer. Happy Brewing! - Bill Reddy

Wine Competition

Everything was ready for the first Brewery Lane Amateur Wine Making Competition. After a lot of hard work and anticipation the big night was finally here.

The wine tasting was held at the Murray Premises and judged by Tom Beckett, Steve Delaney and Tony Duarte. These men had the credentials. Tom Beckett is a well known local wine expert with over thirty years of wine-tasting experience. Tom is very active in the local wine scene and his services are in great demand. We sincerely appreciate the fact that Tom took time from his busy schedule to oversee and judge our competition. Tony Duarte is a longtime friend of Tom and has joined him in many of his wine-tasting escapades over the past thirty years. Steve Delaney is secretary of the local chapter of the Opimian Society. Steve is an avid wine lover and is involved in many wine-tasting events.

We arrived at the tasting room at 7:30 PM with fifty-five entries. The bottles were spread out on a table and separated into the categories to be judged. The whites were put into a fridge for half an hour to be slightly chilled. Tom Beckett sat at the head of the wine-tasting table flanked on either side by Tony and Steve. We sat at the other end of the table as spectators and unofficial wine-tasters. The wine judges tasted each wine and had a short discussion on the merits or flaws of the wine before coming to an agreement and awarding points. If there was no consensus, Tom would make the final judgement.

It was a very educating night for us. We learned a lot about wine and intend to participate in more wine-tastings in the future. We were really impressed by the professional way that the judging was held. The judges treated each wine as if it were a Grand Cru. As the evening stretched into early morning some of us amateurs were losing concentration but the judges were still remarkably fresh and approached the job with enthusiasm.

Since this was our first competition there were a few glitches. We didn't receive enough entries to award placings in each category. We hope this problem will resolve itself as the competition becomes more popular. We also found that some of the wines were entered into the wrong categories. We hope to rectify this the next time by supplying a detailed description of what is expected from a certain style of wine.

First and Second place was awarded in all styles where there were enough eligible entries. First Place received a $50 gift certificate while Second Place won a $25 gift certificate. First and Second Place ribbons and certificates were also awarded. See page 8 for a list of all the winners.

It was three o'clock in the morning when we all bid farewell. Everyone involved was quite happy with the event and we are looking forward to next year's competition.

Liberty Light Golden Ale

American-Style Pale Ale

A light-bodied, golden coloured ale (very easy to make)
1 Coopers Lager Kit
1 kg light dry malt extract
250 grams crystal malt - 10øL
500 grams corn sugar
250 grams Carapils
28 grams Liberty hops (5 min)
7 g Coopers Ale yeast or
1 pkg Wyeast 1056 American Ale yeast
1 1/2 cups light dry malt extract for priming

Instructions
1) Steep crystal malt and carapils in 150-180ø F brewing water (amount of water determined by the size of your pot) for 15-20 minutes. Then remove.
2) Mix in malt extract syrup, and dry malt extract. Bring to soft boil, watch for boilover.
3) Add hops and corn sugar with five minutes remaining in boil.
4) Cool wort in pot to room temperature. Transfer into fermenter. Aerate well, then top up to 5 gallons if necessary.
5) Pitch yeast when temperature is less than 80øF.
6) When fermentation is complete transfer to a carboy and let stand in a cool place for 7 to 14 days.
7) Bottle or keg and store at 70§ -75§F for 7 days. Move to a cool place for another 10 days for conditioning.

For detailed beermaking instructions drop by our store or visit our website for a FREE copy of "Making Beer The Brewery Lane Way."

Your Questions

I know someone who adds extra sugar and water to a beer kit. By doing this he ends up with extra beer. What do think of this practice?

It is quite evident that this guy doesn’t like beer! Why anybody would want to do this to a beer kit is beyond me. Most beer kits already are lacking in malt content and call for too much sugar resulting in a thin, light-bodied beer. The extra sugar also tends to give beer that notorious “homebrew taste.” Someone once gave me a bottle of beer that he made using this method. It was horrible! It looked like water and tasted like ENO.

My advice would be to add more malt extract and reduce or eliminate sugar altogether. Or if you want more flavour try reducing the amount of water you add and make 19 litres instead of the traditional 23 litre batch.

What is a malolactic fermentation?

A malolactic fermentation is brought on by the action of malolactic bacteria as it transforms malic acid which has a very acidic taste into milder lactic acid. This process takes place after the alcoholic fermentation. Malolactic fermentation is desirable in wines that are high in acid as it makes them smoother.

You should note that malolactic fermentation can only happen in wines made from fresh grapes and untreated fresh juice or must. The processing used in making wine kits or sterile juices kills off the malolactic bacteria.

Can I make rum or whisky?

Rum and whisky are made by distillation which is illegal in Canada. Rum is made from a molasses base while whiskey is made from a grain base (e.g. rye or barley). The base is fermented the same as beer or wine. The resulting brew is then heated and distilled. Alcohol vaporizes at a lower temperature than water. This allows the distiller to collect and condense the alcohol while leaving most of the water behind. The result is a concentrated alcoholic beverage or spirits.

Can I make wine from grapes I buy at the supermarket? Yes you can, but it requires a lot of work and winemaking skill and the results may be disappointing. Almost all commercial wine is made from the vinifera grape species whereas table grapes (supermarket) are the labrusca species. The labrusca grapes have an unpleasant aroma and taste that make them unsuitable for most commercial winemaking but there are exceptions. If you wish to try making wine from table grapes, you will need about 15 pounds of grapes for each gallon of wine. The grapes will have to be crushed and pressed. You may need to make sugar and acid adjustments.

To reduce the amount of grapes needed you can use a blend of grape concentrate and fresh grapes.