HopHead Brew Blog

Ok, I will bet that many beer drinkers, especially homebrewers, or microbrew lovers have heard the statement “I don’t like dark beer, because it is too strong“, hmm, have you ever stepped in it like I have?I would say that most of the people that say that, just don’t have a clue! Ok, what I just said is true, but, should we hammer them in the head? No! It isn’t their fault, rumors, old beer stories, and that kind of thing have made an impression on them, remember before you had a “real†beer?Is this just because of these stories? Where does this come from?From what I have read, in several different books, pay me and I will look it up and tell you which ones. Back before prohibition, beer was made from the same (almost, the quality wasn’t as good) ingredients as homebrewers and microbrewers today, depending on the region, availability and so on, but what happened?During this unfortunate time in American history (1920-1933), prohibition that is, do you think that beer was “unavailable� Of course it was! We beer drinkers, drunks, sots, or whatever you want to call us, had our beer! However, it was hard, if not almost impossible to keep up with the demand, booze was really tough! (how do you think the Kennedy family got so rich!) Anyway, the brewers of those times, probably including todays “big guys†had to water it down to make it go further.Did anybody complain? I doubt it! They were happy just to get a beer!After this prohibition time had ended, the brewers realized that they had a good thing going, they could water it down, and everyone was happy! That was what Americans wanted!Time went on and the more the “beer makers†understood what we wanted (not my opinion). Then at some point, a genius figured out they could sell even more water, I mean beer, but they needed an angle, thats right, diet! Now, the brewers had us! Here comes Lite (light) beer!Did the price go down when they added more water, no way, it went up! The brewers had to work harder to add more water. Guess what happens next?Low Carb beers, thats what. At face value that appears to be a good thing, but, it is only a marketing ploy (my opinion), why do I say this? If the yeast consumes more of the sugar, which is where alcohol comes from. there is less sugar, also known as carbohydrates, therefore, use more sugar, get more alcohol, right? Wrong! (kind of)Barley malt is less fermentable, and leaves more sugar behind (and flavor). So, how do they fix this? Use less barley malt, and more adjuncts (rice, corn, etc) But what would the beer taste like? Well, the same as moonshine before it gets distilled! Who would buy that?See the dilemma? The breweries that had already watered down the beer, had used these adjuncts, but needed something new.They came up with various malt extracts, that concentrated the flavor but not the sugar, mixed that with those adjuncts and BOOM! Low Carb Beer! (along with an enzyme, kinda like beano)Now back to the point, Light versus Dark beer, did you know that the difference between many mass produced beers is not much more than a flavored food coloring! (ask Shiner) Actually, it is an extra concentrated extract, that has less sugar but makes the beer darker and adds flavor, but not as much, fermentables.Why then do we hear these whiners? HOPS! Many of the darker beers, even tha mass produced stuff, is a bit hoppier!So, now you know, after all that, they are right! Not the way that they thought, but they are right, the darker beer is sometimes stronger, with Hops.I sure hope that helps you, learning that has helped me, well, sometimes there is still that umm, disagreement!As far as the Ale/Lager discussion goes, that is actually simple, that is the type of yeast used, one is a top fermenter, one a bottom. One likes coler temps (lager) the other is ok at a little bit warmer temps (ale).Sounds simple right? Wrong! Many states, such as Texas, have labeling laws, like Arrogant Bastard Ale, that is actually a lager! So just drink it, brew it and study!Technorati Tags: beer, brewing, light beer, dark beer, shiner, watered down beer, lo carb beer, extracts, malt, hophead

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