Kicking brewing beer up a notch by creating a new cross-discipline: Culinary Brewing with a dash of biology. FREATURING the Jalapeno Bacon Beer!
So I'm a homebrewer on rare occasions. I can tell you from experience there's quite a bit of science and skill that goes into it.
Let me quickly break it down for you. I've done the most simplified version by using pre-processed ingredients from a supply store. In that form, if I had to break it down the multiple disciplines(Read: Technologies) that went into it, it'd be a combination of Cooking, Biology and Chemistry. You take broken down substances (glucose, sucrose, yeast, hops) mix it, boil it, and add them at specific intervals to your wort concoction. Once the preparation is done the chemistry/biology begins as yeast converts the sugars into alcohol over several months time.
If you think about it... What you're really drinking waste created by bacteria. But it's oh so tasty and allows us to loosen up enough to dance! I digress...
Naturally the original pioneers of this technology created this from un-processed ingredients. Namely Various Grains and Hops. They have an innate advantage over the pre-processed method in that they have a direct impact of the source, quality and mechanism of processing of their ingredients.
People are just starting to realize the potential of less orthodox ingredients for adding accents to the flavor. Honestly the number of possibilities are so vast there's a rapidly growing number of micro breweries popping up just to express the variety awesome flavors. Literally no two people coming fresh with their own idea could make quite the same beer. The real challenge is having that sense for ingredients/flavors and artistic sense to create something unique and tasty.
Most starting out are likely to go the more traditional route, sticking to plants and grains and bitterness things off-shoots of things you'd expect to taste in beer. The real pioneer territory however is going for unique ingredient "accents" that augment the beer without taking away from it and creating a stock of yeast you selectively "breed" to create the type of beer and flavor accent(yes yeast have and contribute to flavors...).
I'll give you a few examples I've come across then I'll tell you about my pipe-dream beer! So I'm partial to porters and stouts myself, the bitterness of hops doesn't really agree with my palette. Two high quality beers of that variety come from local restaurants where I live. The movie theater/brewhouse Flix Brewhouse with the Umbra Chocostout and BJ's brewhouse with their current seasonal Sweet Sin Chocolate porter. Both use different types of beer with some chocolate to make a smooth slightly creamy beer with a full flavor. Another example is an Olive flavored beer called Duivels Bier by Brouwerij Boon. Very Hoppy at first, then the salty olive takes over. Last but not least the Salsa Verde! A beer made with hatch green chilli pepers that gives it just a bit of kick after each sip very unique and tasty for those that like it spicy.
Now my pipe dream beer combines things I enjoy eating. The Jalapeno Bacon Beer! Start with a bready tasting beer like a hefeweizen then. Take some bacon, bake out all the fat and grease then cure it in vodka to leech out just a hint of bacon flavor. I'm not sure if this flavor vodka should be added before or after fermentation for best results... Perhaps you can sparge the bacon in the wort as well. Anyway the Jalapeno part is easy simply cut up a few peppers and add a slice to each bottle before capping them. While the bottle naturally carbonates the oils from the pepper should disperse into the beer.
Ideally it should taste kind of like eating a sandwhich!
This is a fun topic for me. So stay tuned for a more wacky part 2: Lab grown meat? Why not lab grown beer first! AKA the BEER BIOME
Let me quickly break it down for you. I've done the most simplified version by using pre-processed ingredients from a supply store. In that form, if I had to break it down the multiple disciplines(Read: Technologies) that went into it, it'd be a combination of Cooking, Biology and Chemistry. You take broken down substances (glucose, sucrose, yeast, hops) mix it, boil it, and add them at specific intervals to your wort concoction. Once the preparation is done the chemistry/biology begins as yeast converts the sugars into alcohol over several months time.
If you think about it... What you're really drinking waste created by bacteria. But it's oh so tasty and allows us to loosen up enough to dance! I digress...
Naturally the original pioneers of this technology created this from un-processed ingredients. Namely Various Grains and Hops. They have an innate advantage over the pre-processed method in that they have a direct impact of the source, quality and mechanism of processing of their ingredients.
People are just starting to realize the potential of less orthodox ingredients for adding accents to the flavor. Honestly the number of possibilities are so vast there's a rapidly growing number of micro breweries popping up just to express the variety awesome flavors. Literally no two people coming fresh with their own idea could make quite the same beer. The real challenge is having that sense for ingredients/flavors and artistic sense to create something unique and tasty.
Most starting out are likely to go the more traditional route, sticking to plants and grains and bitterness things off-shoots of things you'd expect to taste in beer. The real pioneer territory however is going for unique ingredient "accents" that augment the beer without taking away from it and creating a stock of yeast you selectively "breed" to create the type of beer and flavor accent(yes yeast have and contribute to flavors...).
I'll give you a few examples I've come across then I'll tell you about my pipe-dream beer! So I'm partial to porters and stouts myself, the bitterness of hops doesn't really agree with my palette. Two high quality beers of that variety come from local restaurants where I live. The movie theater/brewhouse Flix Brewhouse with the Umbra Chocostout and BJ's brewhouse with their current seasonal Sweet Sin Chocolate porter. Both use different types of beer with some chocolate to make a smooth slightly creamy beer with a full flavor. Another example is an Olive flavored beer called Duivels Bier by Brouwerij Boon. Very Hoppy at first, then the salty olive takes over. Last but not least the Salsa Verde! A beer made with hatch green chilli pepers that gives it just a bit of kick after each sip very unique and tasty for those that like it spicy.
Now my pipe dream beer combines things I enjoy eating. The Jalapeno Bacon Beer! Start with a bready tasting beer like a hefeweizen then. Take some bacon, bake out all the fat and grease then cure it in vodka to leech out just a hint of bacon flavor. I'm not sure if this flavor vodka should be added before or after fermentation for best results... Perhaps you can sparge the bacon in the wort as well. Anyway the Jalapeno part is easy simply cut up a few peppers and add a slice to each bottle before capping them. While the bottle naturally carbonates the oils from the pepper should disperse into the beer.
Ideally it should taste kind of like eating a sandwhich!
This is a fun topic for me. So stay tuned for a more wacky part 2: Lab grown meat? Why not lab grown beer first! AKA the BEER BIOME
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