Brew News Online

Issue #5, 1999

Charlie Papazian and his American Home Brewing Association can be credited for starting the home brewing revolution. This movement has stalled over the past couple of years and home brew is once more in danger of fading into the background. Read our story "When are beer makers going to catch up?" for more thoughts on this issue.

RJ Grape are the world's premier wine kit manufacturer and have introduce many new firsts to the industry but they may have outdone themselves this time. Check out our "What's New" section for all the news.

I hope you enjoy this issue of Brewnews Online. Cheers! — Bill Reddy

When Are Beer Makers Going to Catch Up?

Why do wine makers take their hobby more seriously than beer makers? Most wine makers are forever trying to make better wine and are willing to go that extra yard. Premium wine kit sales have surged over the past few years and sales in fresh juice are on the rise. Wine makers don’t mind paying extra if it means they will make and enjoy better wine. This is in stark comparison to beer makers who seem to think that home brew is something to be tolerated rather than enjoyed. Granted this does not apply to all beer makers. We have some customers who make outstanding beer that would put a lot of commercial beer to shame, but unfortunately I can count them on my fingers. So why the big difference?

North Americans have been weaned on tasteless beer.
I think it has a lot to do with our beer culture. North Americans have been weaned on the tasteless, anemic liquid served up by our major breweries whereas Europeans have been initiated to this fine pastime with robust, hoppy ales. European ales and lagers have flavour and character whereas you would be hard pressed to find any difference in the major North American brands if you were to do a blind tasting.

Over a decade ago there was a growing movement to promote the appreciation of good beer in North America. This movement was spearheaded by Charlie Papazian and the American Home Brewers Association. Small craft brewers were springing up everywhere, home brewing clubs proliferated, and brew pubs could be found in all major cities. This movement has recently lost some of its steam and beer has fallen back into the shadow of wine again. It’s too bad because good beer can be just as enjoyable and intriguing as wine. Indeed, it is more versatile than wine because it can be paired and enjoyed with a wider range of foods.

Educate your palate—there’s a whole new world out there.
How do we raise beer to the lofty heights enjoyed by wine? We need to educate the palate. We need to break out of that tiny box that has been cleverly built around us by mass marketing. Take it upon yourself to try something new. Pick up a 6-pack of Quidi Vidi Brewery’s 1892 Traditional Ale. Go to the Liquor Store and pick up some Bass Ale or try some of the German lagers. Take a bottle and chill it for about a half hour. Don’t drink it ice cold it kills the flavour. It’s okay to freeze light commercial beers because they have very little flavour and drinking it ice-cold makes it more palatable. Sit back in your favourite chair and hold it up to the light to get a better look at the rich colour. Now inhale the aroma and enjoy the delicious bouquet brought on by the marriage of hops and malt. This is what beer drinking is all about! Close your eyes and take your first sip. This can have two effects. If you are a diehard light beer drinker you may be shocked—that’s good, you just tasted real beer. If you are the more adventurous type you might feel a slight surge of euphoria and know that you are on the threshold of a new and fascinating experience. Follow this routine once a week until you come to the point where you finish a glass, smack your lips and say “boy, that was good, I think I’ll have another”. Congratulations! You are now on your way to a rich and wonderful journey that includes thousands of different beer styles and a tapestry of flavours that you did not even know existed.

I’ll also throw down the gauntlet to other beer lovers out there. Convert someone. I have known people who would drink nothing but light beer. With a little bit of encouragement and a few samples of my home-made Bitter, these same people now wonder how they ever drank light beer. Educated beer drinkers will take their home brewing more seriously.

Foster's Style Australian Lager

A light, hoppy Australian style Lager.

Ingredients:

1.7 kg Morgan's Light Malt
1 kg Morgan's Beer Enhancer
500 g corn sugar
30 g Hallertau hops
1 pkg. Morgan's Lager Yeast

Method:
In a large pot add about 1/2 can of the Morgan's light malt to 5 litres of boiling water. Add Hallertau hops and boil for 45 minutes. Turn off the heat and add the remaining ingredients and stir well to fully dissolve.

Pour into fermenter leaving most of the hops debris behind. Top up to 23 litres with cold water. When temperature is below 30§ C add yeast and ferment* as usual.

Your Questions

Is it really worth shelling out the extra bucks for a premium wine kit?
Some of my friends tell me that I’m wasting my money. Most big premium wine kits are a blend of grape concentrate and fresh grape juice while the smaller 4-week kits are a blend of sugar and grape concentrate. This fact alone should be enough to answer your question. What would you prefer; one glass of freshly squeezed orange juice or that same glass of fresh juice made into two glasses of orange flavoured drink by adding sugar and water? There is no comparison. Premium wine kits produce fuller-bodied wines with more flavour and aroma. They age better, last longer and are a huge bargain at about $3 a bottle. A comparable commercial wine would cost you about $15 – $20 a bottle. So I guess it comes down to the classic argument of quality over quantity.

I’ve seen Ice Wine kits in your store.
How do they compare to the commercial Ice Wines? Ice wine is a sweet dessert style wine that is made from frozen grapes and it can be very expensive. You can expect to pay about $40 for a 375 ml bottle of Ice Wine at your local liquor store. Wine kit manufacturers have tried to duplicate this exotic style by blending different grape concentrates. No one has mastered this better than RJ Grape. Ice wine made from their speciality kits are remarkably close to the real thing. The same goes for their speciality port and sherry kits. I am quite fond of Ice Wine and Port and was generally disappointed with the results I was getting from other wine kits until I discovered the RJ Grape Specialty kits. If you like these styles of wines you owe it to yourself to try one.

I see you have different santizers.
Which one should I use? I have a preference for the chlorinated (pink) cleaner. It contains a powerful sanitizer (chlorine) and an equally powerful cleaner (tri-sodium phosphate). Some people prefer sulphite powder which has been the traditional sanitizer for wine-making and works by producing a sulphur dioxide gas when mixed with water. The resulting gas acts as a preservative and a weak sanitizer. Sulphites should not be used to sanitize beer-making equipment because they are not powerful enough. There are also some environmentally friendly no-rinse products on the market that are very effective. These include Bio-San, Bio-Clean and Iodophor. You will have to choose the one that is right for you. I have used them all and have found them all very effective except for the sulphite powder which I think may have outlived its usefulness as a sanitizer for the home wine and beer-maker. How do I know if home-made beer or wine is safe to drink? No pathogenic bacteria (the kind that makes you sick) can survive in beer or wine. If your wine or beer gets infected by bacteria it may taste bad but it won’t kill you.

What's New?

A Grand Cru Gets Bigger!
In 1991 RJ Grape set the industry on fire by launching the revolutionary Grand Cru wine kit. It was the only 4-week wine kit that contained varietal juice and the first wine kit to win at International Commercial Wine Competitions. Now with years of research and development RJ Grape is once more about to put the industry on its ear. Announcing the new and vastly improved Grand Cru 4-week premium wine kit! The new 10 litre size is twice as big with more fresh juice than any other 4-week kit on the market. This truly premium 4-week wine kit will be entered into international competitions with unprecedented response.

New RJ Grape Specialty Kits.
RJ Grape has released a new format for their popular Specialty wine kit line. Now you get a full 12 litres of fresh juice and concentrate blend. NO sugar added or required and NO water to add. These kits are truly unique and will satisfy even the most discriminant palate. Available in Sparkling Wine, Port, Sherry and three styles of Ice Wine—white, red, and blush.

Bacchus Wine Kits.
Yet another offering from RJ Grape. Bacchus wine kits are perfect for the beginning wine maker. Fast maturing and light-bodied, these wine kits are sure to appeal to the younger set who enjoy a light-tasting, less aggressive wine. Economically priced and backed by the R J Grape reputation for quality these wine kits have winner written all over them.

The Blast Bottle Washer.
From Fermtech, the makers of the popular Double Blast Bottle Washer. This single bottle washer attaches to your faucet like brass bottle washers but that’s where the similarity ends. Tough and very durable, this little bottle washer will rinse over 20, 000 bottles. Use hot or cold water. Easy on plumbing and it can also be used to rinse your hoses and tubing.