In episode #2 we had a great time blasting IPAs and then basically say we'll drink em. But we don't like em. Then we talked about the top unbranded Google search terms and made fun of the general populace, because, why google the word "calculator" when you can just type in "2+2"? And then Dustin surprised me with a topic near and dear to my heart. He blurted out the question "Kirk or Picard?" You be the judge.
Here are my pre-show notes on beer history:
Here's the article I mention several times through the episode: http://www.slate.com/articles/life/drink/2013/05/hoppy_beer_is_awful_or_at_least_its_bitterness_is_ruining_craft_beer_s_reputation.html
Effing IPAs. Why? Because I'm sick of IPAs
Every brewery on earth wants to make the hoppiest IPA that exists.
But let's explore IPAs a bit so we're not just complaining.
Here's some serious beer history:
- Beer goes way back - one of the earliest beverages we have a record of dating back to somewhere around 5000 years BC. It's believed that civilizations independently developed beer on their own. Not like “pizza is from Italy and they introduced it to the world.” It's a little bit like beer is from the whole earth.
- Mesopotamia - 3900 years ago someone writes a poem in stone honoring the patron goddess of brewing.
- Generally speaking, women did the most brewing.
- Beer was almost always culturally inferior to wine. Roman emperor Tacitus insulted Germanic beers of the time while wine was more popular.
- Then in the Middle Ages, beer was very popular from kings to peasants. Hops was mentioned as a flavoring agent by a European abbot. Wikipedia says it was only adopted slowly because of the difficulty in getting the flavors right. Today, clearly, brewers don't give a shit.
- But then hops is credited with greatly improving the quality and flavor of all beer in the 15th century.
- At that time an unhopped beer would be an ale and hopped beer would be beer.
- In 1516 Bavaria passed a beer purity law restricting the ingredients of beer. This law was formally adopted by Germany in 1987 and is considered the oldest food regulation still in use.
- Flavor and quality of Beers were likely relatively inconsistent until the invention of thermometers in the 1700s, which allowed the brewer more control and knowledge of what they were doing.
- So brewing beer locally was great. The Brits were blasting out tasty porters for their chilly climate. And as they started chopping their way through hot and humid India, the company supplying them with beer wasn't cutting it. The thick porters warmed by the long trip across the ocean and through the Indian climate were no good. The company tried several things including making beer concentrate and diluting it in India. Barf. They then tried a pale ale which was brewed by cooking over less smoky fuel. These ales were also known to last years in a barrel, which would likely help them survive the boat trip to India. And, to top it off, hops were added to help preserve the brew and keep it tasting fresh.
- Fast forward to the 1900s - US brewers we're making darker heavier beers but the prohibition shut down all legal beer brewing.
- Then through prohibition, the bootlegged beer that continued to be circulated was often watered down, which some say contributed to the US’s penchant for weaker beer flavors.
- Fun side story - Viking mythology has it that Thor brought god Aegir a cauldron for brewing beer for the gods and as the gods drink the beer, their cups would magically refill. This was alluded to in the post credits scene of doctor strange when Thor met with strange. Strange handed him a cup of tea and Thor said it wasn't really his thing. When he glanced back at his hand, he had a giant beer stein which he happily chugged. It then refilled itself.
- Grains are steeped in water which makes the starches turn into sugars. This is what's called wort. Brewers then add hops to that mixture to tone down the sweetness -- one beer writer said beer would taste like soda without hops -- to add flavors, and to provide anti microbial properties. So the hops are multi-taskers (Alton Brown--who hates "unitaskers"--would be proud).
- One beer writer even said in an article that not all craft beers are hoppy. That's like saying not all American cars are pickup trucks. Like- why should that be a normal thing to say? However, it is, because of the craft beer climate we are now living in.
- A term has come to use with beers called “session” beers. I guess it makes sense that not all beers can or should be chugged at a frat party, but to relegate the ability to have a few to one type of brew is kind of weird to me.
- This writer argues that the hops flavors are a good way to differentiate their product from mass market brands like Coors and miller. Which kind of blows my mind. Like hops is the only option.
- But the writer also points out it's an easy way to get creative with brewing. The highly fickle and scientific process of brewing beer doesn't leave much opportunity for experimentation. At least not like making a dish in a skillet does. And also, the hops let brewers disguise mistakes. When making bitters several years ago, I extracted hops into alcohol and it was crazy how much the hops extract tasted just like a hoppy beer. The flavor is so strong and prevalent, you could mask nearly anything with it.
- In the beer world, hops flavor is measured in international bitterness units. Seriously. I've known that for years, but I still can't believe it when I read it. International bitterness units. As hilarious as I find that, experts (yes international bitterness unit experts) say we can't detect differences above 60.
