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Beers of the World

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Beer has circled the globe more than a few times. One of the great treats a beer fan can enjoy is sampling the great variety of flavors that the beers of the world provide. In the U.S., beer fans have had the great pleasure of being served the beers of the world right here in our own country. Thanks to the rising popularity of fine ales, many of the beers traditional to Belgium, Germany, and the Nederlands are even being made by micro-breweries in the states. In the world of beer, there are still many as of yet unexplored brews from unexpected corners of the world. Here I will discuss a sampling of unique beers from 5 different countries: Africa (Palm beer), Brazil (Manioc), Tibet (Chang), and Scotland (Heather ale), all of which are described in Stephen Harrod Buhner’s book Sacred and Healing Herbal Beers.

Beer tends to be defined, in common parlance, as an alcoholic beverage made with hops, barley, yeast, and water. When talking about beers of the world, we must be ready to broaden our definition of the word beer to encompass that which is at hand. Grains of different types are used, from wheat to millet, rice, and even corn. In some place in the world, barley and hops are not available or simply do not grow there – and so, people make do with what they have.

For example, as we learn from Buhner in his book Sacred and Healing Herbal Beers, in Brazil, one native beer is known as Masato, or Manioc Beer. This beer has been made for approximately the last 4,000 years from a root called Manioc, which is also used to make tapioca. The Manioc root grows quickly, and attains a weight of up to 30 pounds within just a few months. It is used for food as well as to make the Masato. Traditionally, the root is chopped, boiled, and the starch to sugar conversion is catalyzed with human saliva. The women of the tribe chew the root pieces and then put them back in the boiling pot. Wild yeast is allowed into the wort to start the fermentation process. The Manioc plant is deeply ingrained into the cultures of the people who make it still, with it’s own mythology. You can read more about Manioc in Buhner’s book.

Another beer of the world made with unconventional ingredients (at least to the western world’s beer fan) is Palm beer. According to Buhner, palm beer is made with the unrefined sap from a variety of palm trees: date palms, coconut trees, moriche, sago, and palmyra being the most common. For many indigenous peoples throughout Africa, South America, and even India, Palm beer is an important part of life that transcends the physical world. Thus, it is often shared with the ancestors and used to help communicate with their spirits.

Getting back to more familiar ingredients, we shall look at Tibet. There, a brew called Chang is made mostly from Barley. Millet and buckwheat are used in some cases when barley is unavailable. What really makes this brew different from others, as we learn from Buhner, is the use of ginger-root-based yeast cakes for both the starch to sugar conversion and to start fermentation. Yeast cakes are made by crushing dried ginger root and mixing it with rice or barley flour. The mixture is then moistened and formed into cakes that are added to the boiled barley, rice, or millet that are being used to make the drink.

Heather Ale is an interesting beer of the western tradition that encompasses the herb heather as an admixture. The making of heather ale goes back to the culture of the indigenous Pictish tribes of the British Isles. In addition to numerous literary and folkloric assertations about the history of heather ale and mead, Buhner sites, in his book, an archeological dig on the Scottish Isle of Rhum. This dig discovered a pottery shard dating 2,000 years B.C. with “traces of a fermented beverage containing heather.” Heather ale has recently become commercially available in the U.S. as Fraolich ale, brewed in ???.

These five beers are just the tip of the iceberg. There are innumerable beers in the world, some still hidden away in remote corners, making the world of beer a very interesting place. New varieties of herbal beer are popping up among beer fans on the U.S. as well as inventive new micro-brews containing herbal admixtures, re-creations of ancient recipes, and brand new ideas in brewing. Keep your eyes open for the next invigorating (and inebriating) discoveries among the beers of the world.

Holy Beer; Brewed for God: Spiritualism Surrounding Sacred Beers

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Grains used in fermentation the world ‘round have always been associated with being holy. In many cultures, the freedom from the rational mind that comes by drinking is seen as a way to become more open to spiritualism and the spiritual world. In the western world, during medieval times, it was thought that ale must be blessed by the priest in order that the miracle of fermentation could begin. Even today, there are monasteries whose main focus is brewing holy beer to sell and benefit the church. But, as always, for some, the beer brings them closer to their god, and for others, it brings them closer to their own demons.

Sacred grains such as barley, millet, rice, and even corn, have been well-respected for their ability to give the gift of inebriation to humans throughout history. Indigenous cultures have developed many different traditions surrounding the act of fermentation. One Viking tradition was to yell and scream at the wort in order to make the spirit within it angry, and therefore more potent. Other cultures sing around the beer to ensure the connection between the spirit of the plant(s) involved and the people. Some monasteries use a “blessed spoon” to stir the wort and excite fermentation, and other cultures have used rune carved oak staves which are dipped in the wort.

Everyone loosens up a little after having a drink. In many cultures, this loosening up has spiritual connotations. As noted in Stephen Buhner’s book Sacred and Healing Herbal Beers, the fermented sap of the palm is considered to help people’s spirits to detach from the material world.

Most beer fans have heard of the beer brewing monks, but they are, in actuality, an uncommon variety. While being famous for brewing, the Trappist monks actually have only seven brewing monasteries out of 171. It is estimated that by the year 1,000 as many as 500 monasteries were brewing in the western world. The reasons behind the church sanctioned brews were many – according to trappistbeer.net, the beer was made to provide healthy drinks for the monks, and attract new followers.

Around this time, it was common practice for brewers to seek out a priest to bless their brew with the power of god. In exchange for this service, the priest was allowed to drink the beer for free at the local pub. Eventually, this became a blessing from which a tax was collected by the church. Finally, the priests wound up giving their blessing “from afar”, and the church still collected the tax. Needless to say, it wasn’t long before brewers started thinking ill of this “hands-off” blessing technique, and this process halted during the 18th century, along with other church reforms.

With the coming of the industrial revolution, and the French revolution, many of the monasteries stopped selling their beer to the public. It became difficult for the low-tech monks that were left to make any kind of profit using their old world craft brewing techniques. Many monasteries still made beer for their own population, and kept the recipes alive through the difficult time that followed.

After two world wars, three, really, counting the cold war, and numerous competitive knock-offs falsely claiming to be monastic brews, the holy beer still kept flowing. Today, there are seven beers recognized by the International Trappist organization: Achel, Chimay, Orval, Rochefort, Westmalle, Westvleteren, and Tilburg (La Trappe). These are the officially recognized Trappist ales available today.

Holy men and women, monks, nuns, alchemists, and shamans still pursue the holy beer through ancient rituals and subtle manipulations the world over. Some seek out new plants to learn new brews from, and some recreate ancient recipes from their own culture or from that of others. Given the trials and tribulations the Trappists managed to brew through, I am sure that Holy beer will always be a part of human existence.

Gluten-Free Beer

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For many potential beer fans, gluten intolerance has stopped them from ever quaffing brews made with barley. Those times are now over. Gluten-free beers are popping up all over the country, giving those with Celiac Disease (intestinal damage due to gluten intolerance) a new opportunity to drink with impunity. Not to mention that traditionally, beers from around the world have been made with alternative ingredients, some glutinous and some not. Thee is even a gluten-free beer festival held in Chesterfield, England. Here we will discuss some alternatives to using barley malt in beer, and some substitutes that are possible.

Over two million people in the United States have been diagnosed with Celiac Disease. This represents a large market of potential beer drinkers who otherwise have few alternatives. Many health conscious people are also found in this category of non-gluten imbibers. Gluten is a protein found in such grains as barley, wheat, rye, spelt, and oats. As far as beer brewing is concerned, barley is a huge concern if one is interested in making a gluten free beer. Oats and rye can be a problem as well, depending on what flavor of beer you are planning to make.

Some common substitutes for barley are millet, sorghum, rice, corn, and soybean. The good news is that substitutions are possible. The bad news is that many of them do not taste very much like the stuff made with barley.

Many beers in Japan are now being made with soy or pea protein along with hops and sugar to produce a product known as “third beer”. This technology is fairly recent, but sales are booming in Japan. With a few more years of experimentation, these bold new brewing techniques may be perfected to provide a great new gluten free beer like product.

Traditionally speaking, in Tibet, Nepal, and the surrounding areas, beer made with millet or rice has been a staple drink for many years. This drink, called Chang or Chung can be made at home and features the use of ginger and rice flour yeast cakes to promote starch to sugar conversion as well as fermentation. For more information about making your own Chang, read Stephen Harrod Buhner’s book Sacred and Healing Herbal Beers.

One beer manufacturer that is ahead of the game as far as gluten free beers go is Green’s. Their gluten-free beers are made using Sorghum, Millet, Buckwheat and Brown Rice, and contain no allergens. Their beers boast a high nutritional value as well, with 2x-3x the Zinc and Selenium content of Barley, an increased Calcium content, and rich in B vitamins. Their beers include the Quest (trippel bock), Mission (amber), and Pathfinder (dark) ales, lending a huge variety to a specialty market.

Credit to the first craft beer made with sorghum is claimed by Bard’s Tale Beer with their flagship brew called “Dragon’s Gold”. This beer has made a fine impression and weighs in at 3.8%- 4.7%%, with a hoppy, floral aroma, and, of course, no glutens. The Bard’s Tale brewing company has made a commitment to producing gluten free beer for all, and is an example that other brewers will hopefully follow.

The market for gluten free beer has grown considerably in Japan, while regular beer sales are slumping. With new varieties of gluten and malt free beer emerging in the U.S., this could possibly turn into a burgeoning market.

Health Benefits of Organic Beer

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As the world we live in becomes more and more toxic, eating (and drinking) organic is the most fundamental change towards health that we can effect in our daily lives. With new poisons in the air and the water every day, it only makes sense to cut down on the poisons in any way you can. For those of you new to the concept of Organic foods, it is food grown without pesticides or chemical fertilizers. If it is food that contains many different ingredients, such as beer, then chemical additives and preservatives are also excluded from the product. Organic food and beer help your body to process that food and drink more efficiently – with less of these toxins involved, your liver functions more smoothly. A healthy liver is something that every beer fan should promote in their lifestyle. Although organic products cost a little more, the health benefit – and the taste – is well worth it.

It all started with “health food”. A trend started in the 1960’s to really look closely at how our food was made. People started to discover that most of the food at the grocery store was either sprayed with poisonous pesticides or jam packed full of weird preservatives and chemicals. The Health food store quickly became an important part of the daily routine of eating healthy. Foods found there were local, fresh, or made in a way that was “closer to nature”. As far as beer is concerned, it was the health food stores that first started to carry microbrews, and especially organic beers.

It is true that organic products cost more, and organic beer is no exception. The question is, what price are you willing to pay for food that has never been sprayed with poisons and other chemicals? There is probably no better way to spend your money than on the quality of the food you eat and the beer you drink. Buying organic supports farmers and brewers that have a commitment to making the world a better place – and not poisoning the earth or you. If you consider the grand scale of large scale commercial farming operations in this country, we are lucky that the organic food markets aren’t more expensive.

A fundamental mindset change must take place to enter organic eating into your diet. You must realize that you don’t want to die young, you want to be healthy your entire life, and you are committed to enhancing your quality of life. Organic foods are more flavorful and some studies show that organic foods carry significantly higher levels of vitamins and nutrients. Make no mistake, beer is food. The Soil Association Scotland has shown that organic produce contains between 10 and 15 per cent more phenolics (compound that may fight cancer) than non organic. In addition to being grown pesticide and chemical free, organic products also lack the preservatives and additives that many non-organic products have.

I have been a home brewer for many years, and the change to organic, for me, was an easy one. I made the change to brewing organic beer before I started eating organic. Consistently, I found that organic beers tasted much better than non-organic ones, and that the quality of water used to make the beer was also a very important factor. Luckily for me, some friends in a nearby town told me of an organic home brew supply shop where everything was organic! I quickly became friends with the collective members there and, with access to a large variety of organic malt, extract, and hops, I was well on my way towards organic brewing. The Seven Bridges Cooperative brew store has a healthy mail order business, and you can check them out and place orders for organic brewing ingredients online at www.breworganic.com.

We are lucky that we live in this golden age of micro brews, where local and even organic beer is available across the nation. Microbrew organic beer can be found at Whole Foods, Wild Oats, and, of course you local health food co-op or small business. As always, drink it in good health.

Cask Ales

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As interest in ancient beers and brewing techniques is piqued, the world is seeing a proliferation of the technique of serving beer as a cask-conditioned ale. Cask-conditioned ale is also referred to as “Real Ale” in some circles, although there is a subtle difference between the drinks the two terms describe. Cask Ale is a very old and traditional technique for carbonation and serving of beer. Cask Ale is currently enjoying a revival due to the qualities it imbues on the beer that it produces.

A quick summary of Cask Ale conditioning: it is a process that affects the final stage of beer production. Cask ale is un-pasteurized, un-filtered, and carbonated with the natural action of the yeast that is used in the fermentation of the ale, and without the aid of artificial carbonation or nitrogenation. Some cask ales are served with the natural yeast included, and in others the yeast has been filtered out. If the yeast has been filtered, it cannot be called a “real ale”. The concept of “Real Ale” is promoted by an association called the CAMpaign for Real Ale (CAMRA), based in the United Kingdom. According to the CAMRA’s definition, Real Ale is: "beer brewed from traditional ingredients, matured by secondary fermentation in the container from which it is dispensed, and served without the use of extraneous carbon dioxide". One method that brewers and barkeeps have discovered to keep cask ale fresh-looking and clear is to add “finings” to the cask. Home brewers will be familiar with the term “Irish moss” – this is a “fining”, an addition to the beer which causes free-floating sediment to fall to the bottom of the beer. Sometimes, cask ale is served at room temperature, but it is mostly available at cellar temperature (50 or 55 degrees) in most pubs.

Barkeeps doctoring the beer you say? One historical note about Cask Ale is that it is easy for barkeeps to do just that. In older times, barkeeps would add additional hops, finings, or even illicit herbs to doctor the beer. Some unscrupulous bar owners would take ale that was going bad and water down good ale with it and put it on sale, and others would add wormwood to the concoction to make the ale seem stronger.

Many fans of Cask Ale site their beers more subtle fizz as a main selling point. The lesser degree of carbonation, they claim, allows the more subtle flavors of their beer to be enjoyed. Guinness, the famous stout, imitates this more subtle cask ale carbonation, although by the means of different technology.

The degree of carbonation in Cask Ale is actually controlled via a device called a “soft spile”. Once the cask reaches the brew pub, the barkeep hammers this soft spile into the corked hole in the keg known as the shive. By judging the flow of foam through the soft spile, the barkeep eventually takes out the soft spile and replaces it with a hard spile, which allows no more seepage. Once this process is complete, the Cask is ready to be served, via a gravity feed.

Cask ale is becoming more and more popular in the United States, where it is still uncommon to find. The New York Times reported that one beer distributor, Union Beer Distributors, has had their accounts more than triple for cask ale sales in 2007. UBD is the leading cask ale distributor for the New York metropolitan area, and a strong indicator that cask ale is a fast growing trend, at least in New York City. Let us keep in mind that New York City sets trends internationally. Keep your eye out for cask ales at your local brew pub, you may be pleasantly surprised by this taste of the past.

Guide to Drinking Songs

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Little goes better with drink than song. Especially songs that you can sing along to! Drinking songs exist the world over (many made up right on the spot), and enhance any get-together, whether folks are drinking or not. Well, it is probably better if folks are drinking. Some genres of music specialize in the drinking song. Genres such as Irish ballads, Cowboy music, Country music, Old-tyme, and even Klezmer all have a great selection of drinking songs. The best drinking songs for each occasion are the ones that are familiar to the majority of the crowd, or, are easy to pick up – so you must judge each crowd differently, whether you are playing the music on an instrument or on the stereo.

The biggest variety of drinking songs and the most well-known come from the Irish and the Irish-Americans. From many types of beer to whiskey, grog, to Poteen (Irish moonshine), this genre covers a lot of the different drinks out there. Any one interested in drinking songs should pick up the album Irish Drinking Songs – a split album with Clancy Brothers and the Dubliners. It contains many of the Irish ballads that are the best known, such as Finnegan’s Wake, All for me Grog, the Jug of Punch, Whiskey You’re the Devil, and, of course, Whiskey in the Jar. I learned many songs from these recordings, and I recommend this album as a good listen, and as a good starting point for those musicians interested in building a repertoire of drinking songs. Most of the songs are 3 or 4 chords, making the easy to learn, and are traditional songs (no copyright issues). These songs are all popular examples of the tradition of the Irish drinking song, and there are many more of equal rousing quality, although lesser known, as I discovered on my travels through Ireland.

Here is a drinking song I learned from my friend Sean, whom I met in the town Ennis in County Claire. This song is a fine example of an Irish drinking song, sung at a medium-fast pace a cappella or with accompaniment. It is a song about Puchin, which is Irish moonshine:

The Hills of Connemara (traditional)

Gather up the pots and the old tin cans
the mash, the corn, the barley and the bran
run like the devil from the excise man
Keep the smoke from rising, Barney!

Turn to the left, and turn to the right
the tall, tall men are out tonight
Drinkin’ up the tay in the broad daylight
In the hills of Connemara!

Gather up the pots and the old tin cans….

A gallon for the butcher, a quart for Tom
A bottle for the poor old father John
to help his poor old soul along
in the hills of Connemara!

Stand your ground, it is too late
the tall tall men are at the gate
Glory be to paddy, but they’re drinking it, Nate
In the hills of Connemara!

Gather up the pots and the old tin cans….

From the realm of Irish music, we see some crossover into the genres of Bluegrass and Old-Tyme Music. Songs such as Whiskey for Breakfast, and Rye Whiskey are examples of drinking songs from these genres, both with and without words. With tunes like these under your belt, you can liven up almost any party. You may not recognize Rye Whiskey by it’s name, but it is a very common tune, and only one of a few songs that share similar lyrics:

Rye Whiskey, Rye Whiskey, Rye Whiskey I cry, If I don’t have Rye whiskey I surely shall die!

You might hear this verse in a different musical circle, played with the same melody:

Oh moonshine, oh moonshine, how I love thee, you killed my old father, but, ah, you try me!

This particular song also enters the genre of Cowboy music. By “Cowboy music”, I mean old trail songs – the songs actually sung by cowboys back when driving cattle across the wide-open range. These songs differ from country music because they are songs of the people, of the workers. Cowboy songs are a mixture of folk songs and early country, but lack the fundamental principles of popular music which are an essential part of country music. Which isn’t to say that country music doesn’t have its fair share of drinking songs – it certainly does.

If a country song isn’t about being broken hearted, or even if it is, it is probably about drinking. Early country music greats Jimmie Rogers, Hank Williams, and Ernest Tubb all have a good selection of drinking songs, a tradition which has extended to nearly every country music musician since. Some modern names in country music to look out for are Lucky Tubb, and Hank Williams III.

One genre that contains drinking songs that is often over looked is that of Klezmer, a folk music which comes from the Jews of Eastern Europe. Jewish culture has no problem with drinking. Especially on certain Holy Days, one is expected to drink as part of the ceremony. The song “L’chaim”, from Fiddler on the Roof, isn’t the only Klezmer drinking song. There are quite a few songs from the Chassidic culture and Shabbes tunes as well. One well known tune is called Ma Yofus, or "Der Rabi hot geheisen freilich sein" (Avrom Goldfaden copyright 1912), which translates from the Yiddish into “the Rabbi has been drinking liquor instead of wine”.

This quick overview of drinking songs from different genres of music barely skims the surface of the variety and flavor of the world of drinking songs. Visit your local library and search online to find many more of these interesting tunes, fun to learn and to simply enjoy hearing. Cheers!

Beer Book Review

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With the rise in popularity of craft, micro, and home brewing, a slew of books have come out in recent years on these subjects. Some focus on cultural aspects of beer, some on nutritional aspects, and some focus on recipes. I will go over a few of the more popular titles on the shelf today, and relate them to my personal experience.

There is a book by brew scholar and professor of brewing technology at U.C. Davis Charles W. Bamforth called Beer: Tap Into the Art and Science of Brewing, in 2003. This book goes into scientific detail about all aspects of the brewing process, with a mind to a layperson’s understanding of the topics. This is an excellent book for those interested in the details of the process of making beer. This is a good place for a starting home brewer or beer fan to learn more about what they are drinking. Professor Bamforth also gives lectures from time to time, so keep an eye out for his name in your neck of the woods. This book may be a bit simplistic for the home brewer or beer fan that is already intimately familiar with most aspects of beer production. Still, if scientific terms speak to you, it is a worthwhile read.

Radical Brewing by Randy Mosher contains a cultural overview of beer, an amusing embellished timeline of the history of beer, and many recipes. Just to give you an idea of the breadth of beer covered in this book: Corinthian Steinbier, An English Bragot, c. 1500, Juniper Rye Bock, Black Pepper Porter, and Mister Boing Boing Cherry Barley Wine are all represented, for better or worse. The book also contains recipes for beverages other than beer, such as Finnish Sahti, Mead, hop-less Gruits, and wine. Randy’s writing is one of the most palatable ingredients in Radical Brewing – witty and full of humor. I recommend this book to any brewer. Even if you prefer traditional brews, this book is sure to open your eyes, and due to the amount of recipes, a keeper as a reference manual.

The book Wild Fermentation by Sally Ellix Katz is a wild foray into a subject which, for brewers, seems very dangerous. Most brewers do not want to mess with wild yeasts, due to the ease and commercial availability of good quality ale yeasts. But this book covers much more than just beer. It covers a wide variety of foods made with the assistance of fermentation, such as vegetable ferments, dairy ferments, and even ventures into the realm of vinegar making. The book does have chapters on beer and wine as well. This book is a little much for me to handle. The chapters are compelling and informative, but it is all just too much for me to handle at once – it is like learning 5 different trades in one workshop. I recommend this book to those who are capable at multi-tasking.

My favorite book about beer, by far, is Sacred and Healing Herbal Beers by Stephen Harrod Buhner. This book is a gem containing a well-referenced codex of ancient beers from around the world. The poetry and humanitarianism with which Buhner delivers into our hands the wisdom, folklore, and recipes of the ancient brewers is both astonishing and informative. Buhner makes one particularly thrilling correlation between a beer trend that is 700 years old and political maneuvering of the protestant movement in Europe – but I won’t reveal it here because I’m not that kind of person. Buhner also writes from a fairly neutral viewpoint, taking in with deep understanding the cultures about who’s brew he is writing about. This book has been dearly loved in my home brewery, where ever it has been, and my first handed-down copy had so much wort spilled on it that I had to buy a new copy recently. This book goes over the cultural aspects of beer primarily, and also contains some bizarre recipes from the ancients – some of which taste quite good! If you are a home brewer or a fan of beer history, you must get this book.

The Brew Scholar

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Brew Scholar Diploma

Brewing today is more of a science than ever. With advances in the specialty fields of micro-biotics and plant biology, this science is now receiving praise – and the degree programs – from the highest level of academia. The golden age of microbrews we are living in is giving more and more respect around the board to brewmasters, and has created a whole new field of academia – the brew scholar.

With more and more inventive and daring microbrews being created every year, we are seeing the ancient art of brewing given more and more attention. With a better understanding of what happens on the cellular level during each process of brewing – malting, mashing, fermenting, and kegging – efficient short-cuts and better ways of cleaning and sanitizing are becoming apparent. The advent of science of genetic engineering may provide even more efficient ways of fermenting beer as well. Already on the market is the product known as turbo yeast, which ferments quickly and more efficiently than most regular yeast strains. Alcohol fermented by the use of turbo yeast is used primarily as a fuel source or for distillates.

The use of Ethanol as a fuel source is growing rapidly. In Brazil, ethanol production is high, and new “flex” cars are being manufactured, which can run on either Ethanol, Gasoline, or a mixture of the two. U.S. president George W. Bush even visited there in March 7th of 2007, where he signed agreements with Brazilian president about importing alternative alcohol based technology from Brazil to the United States. The rise in value of Ethanol as an easy fuel to turn to has only increased opportunities for the Brew Scholar. After all, alcohol is most easily manufactured through the art and science of fermentation.

Speaking of which, there is a book by brew scholar and professor of brewing technology at U.C. Davis Charles W. Bamforth called Beer: Tap Into the Art and Science of Brewing. This book goes into scientific detail about all aspects of the brewing process, with a mind to a layperson’s understanding of the topics. This is an excellent book for those interested in the details of the process of making beer. This is a good place for a starting home brewer or beer fan to learn more about what they are drinking. Professor Bamforth also gives lectures from time to time, so keep an eye out for his name in your neck of the woods.

One interesting development in the birth of the brew scholar is that many respectable Universities are now offering degrees in brew science. The U.K.’s University at Nottingham has offered since 2006 a master’s course which is open to graduates as well as current brewery employees. Class topics include yeast efficiency, brewery design, and more.

At U.C. Davis, in northern-central California, malting and brewing are taught as part of the bachelor of science degree in Food Science or the master’s degree of science within the Food Science Graduate Group. This is where Professor Bamforth teaches. There are three tiers to the Davis brewing program. First is Introduction to Beer and Brewing, which gets the student familiar with the importance of beer as an international industry, and a basic understanding of how industrial breweries operate. Next is the theoretical class Malting & Brewing Science, which familiarizes the student with all aspects of industrial beer production from growing grains to the point of sale. Thirdly is Practical Malting & Brewing, where the student learns “hands-on” in the brewery and at the lab about analyzing beer and the links of that analysis with production methods.

With the golden age of microbrews going strong, it will be a wonder to see what these new brew scholars can do with beer. We are sure to see more interesting varieties and more efficient beer production thanks to these new degrees. Blue-collar workers finally have something to thank academia for!

A New Kind of Ale: Third Beer

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Third beer is an intriguing and new kind of beer being brewed in Japan today. Third Beer is a category of beer, which uses vagarious malt substitutes such as vegetable protein as a raw ingredient in manufacture. These new beers are mostly a product of the Japanese beer tax, which increases dramatically with the amount of malt content in the ingredients. As a result, a whole slew of beers are flooding the market, some with less than 25% malt content. But is this Third beer any good?

The term third beer is a direct reflection of the three malt categories of the Japanese beer tax system. The highest tax category is beer made with 67% or more malt content, as measured by weight of the fermentable ingredients (that would be first beer). Beers with the next level of malt content are considered low malt beers: 50 to 67%, 25 to 50%, and less than 25% – all of these are considered happoshu, or “second beer. Third beer is a beer-like beverage that contains no malt content at all.

Third beers are the result of the biggest beer companies in Japan trying to find loopholes in the beer tax laws. Sapporo, the leader in third beer innovations, spent nearly 4 years experimenting with different malt substitutes. After attaining unsatisfactory results from millet and corn, Sapporo decided on pea protein for its beverage Draft One, which appeared on the market in 2004. Part of the marketing strategy of the third beer seems similar to Smirnoff Ice. The goal is to appeal to adults that have been raised on sweet tasting sodas, and to whom the bitterness of beer is unwanted.

Instead of malt, Sapporo’s Draft One contains sugar and pea protein, in addition to yeast and hops. Advertisements boast that this beer has less carbs and more fiber. Third beer is also becoming a venue for “healthier beer” as an advertising slogan. After Draft One’s initial success in 2004, Sapporo immediately began to put forth other varieties of third beer such as their “Slims” brand. Other beer companies in Japan have jumped on the third beer bandwagon, putting out their own varieties on the theme.

Ki-rin launched their Third Beer product in 2005, Nodogoshi Nama. Their variety is made with soybean protein, and has also been financially successful, with pre-orders topping 1.6 million cases. Part of the success of the Ki-rin Brewery’s product is the “browning” technique employed to give their third beer the characteristic golden brown hue of actual beer.

Asahi is another Japanese beer company that has entered the Third Beer market. Already going strong in the Happoshu, or second beer market, Asahi’s version of Third Beer, Shin Nama, is based on a malt substitution of soy peptide.

So far, the third beer market in Japan has found little in the way of improvements that actually make any of this third beer taste better than regular beer, at least to the palate of most beer fans. The goal has been predominantly a financial one on the part of the beer companies. Never the less, bold innovations in the field of brewing have been the direct result of these financial and industrial tax evasions. Who would have ever thought that beer would some day be made of soy or pea protein? Third beer is not available for export, but, if you go to Japan, you can get it from a vending machine.

Dieting and Beer

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The first thing that a dieter needs to know about beer is: beer is food. It is not a beverage you can guzzle down and not feel the caloric content of. Darker beers are, naturally, higher in caloric content than lighter beers. So if you are trying to lose some weight, start by lightening your brews – and limiting them. Mixing dieting and beer drinking is simply a question of where you put your priorities. Suddenly, a hamburger and a pint aren’t going to mix anymore.

Let’s look at the hard facts – your average beer has about 148 calories per twelve ounces. Assuming your average daily caloric intake is 2,ooo calories, this means that a couple of beers already counts as one of your meals for the day. I recommend skipping dinner.

If you are drinking darker beers, you may be in even more trouble. Some stouts rank as high as 220 calories. Compared to a light beer’s caloric content of 70-99. Surprisingly, Guinness is one exception to the dark calorie rule. Guinness ranks at a moderate 125 calories for a 12 ounce pub draught, whereas many stouts and porters are around 210. If you are not sure about how your favorite beer ranks, you can contact them and find out. Sadly, this is one area where microbrews are outperformed by the bigger brewing companies. Those microbrews just have so much flavor – and it shows in their caloric breakdown.

Now for a word about dieting. Dieting, as most people consider it, is not the healthiest way to lose weight. Suddenly changing your eating (& drinking) routine, then reverting back to the old ways a couple weeks, or a month later, is not as effective as permanent and slight changes to your routine. These changes become your permanent diet – not your two-week miracle diet. They are changes you can live with – for good. Rules are made to be broken. Most people are more likely to listen to suggestions to themselves than follow rules they make for themselves.

There are a lot of “beer diet” books going around right now. I dare say that many of these books are using the word beer just to get people to buy them. Beer has carbs, it has calories, and must be considered carefully if it is to be taken during a period of effective dieting. While beer is nutritious, it would be ludicrous to assume in any way that a beer only diet could be healthy or effective. One of the biggest difficulties facing the dieting beer drinker is just knowing which beers are high in calories, and just how much starch and carbohydrates are in each variety of beer. Fortunately, there are many calorie counter websites and books out there, and if you are unsure about the nutritional information of the beer you are drinking, it is advised to call the brewery during business hours and find out.

Being well informed is the best weapon you have in your arsenal if you want to drink beer and diet to lose weight. Adjusting your beer diet towards lighter beers with less body is an important step. Realizing that beer is food is another important step in configuring your diet. Moderation and daily routine changes are key to becoming who you want to be.