rcd@opus.UUCP (03/31/84)
<>
A leftover from John Smith's "bock beer" questions:
> P.S. By the way, has anyone else ever heard of "white beer"?
Yes. There are two related German brewing customs - Weiss (white) and
Weizen (wheat) beer. Both are brewed with a combination of wheat and
barley malt. (Normally, beer is made exclusively from barley malt - except
for some American brewers who, in their desperate attempts to remove all
but the last trace of flavor, resort to adding rice.) Weissbier and
Weizenbier are brewed in different areas of Germany, have different
proportions of wheat malt in them, and have somewhat different tastes - but
both have a characteristic taste. They are normally rather light and
brewed to low alcohol content - the intent being a beverage which is
thirst-quenching but not filling or overly intoxicating.
The "white" reference is variously said to refer to the pale color or to
the very white (and generally substantial) head.
There are a few wheat beers brewed in the US, I have been told, but they
are regional specialties.
--
Relax - don't worry - have a homebrew.
{hao,ucbvax,allegra}!nbires!rcdriddle@ut-sally.UUCP (Prentiss Riddle) (04/12/84)
[I am no expert, and the following, being based on folklore, may or may
not be correct in all particulars. Prost!]
Funny that no one has mentioned the biggest distinguishing characteristic
of a Weissbier: it is made with yeast. In Bavaria, at least, Weissbier
is always served with an especially tall glass, and Weissbier drinkers
like to make a big ritual of swirling the foam in the bottom of the
bottle to get every last trace of the yeast out and into the glass. The
yeast gives it its peculiar taste, which those unfamiliar with it
sometimes have trouble getting used to. I like it fine, myself, but
somehow I still prefer a good Helles...
Anyone else out there willing to confess to a taste for Radler?
--- Prentiss Riddle ("Aprendiz de todo, maestro de nada.")
--- {ihnp4,seismo,gatech,ctvax}!ut-sally!riddlearchiel@hercules.UUCP (Archie Lachner) (04/12/84)
Flash! ALL beer is made with yeast, except possibly the Geuze described
recently on the net. Geuze is a Belgian "wild" beer fermented with bacteria
(probably wild yeasts or something similar) present in the air. Usually,
cultured yeast is used for fermenting beer. Great care is taken to filter
the yeast out of most beers, since it can impart a very bitter flavor.
Most naturally carbonated beers will have yeast deposits at the bottom of their
bottles or kegs, since the carbonation is a byproduct of fermentation that
takes place in these vessels. Most commercial beers are carbonated by
injection of CO2 during bottling (this is as opposed to natural carbonation).
There is a method, used by the Anchor brewery in San Francisco, by which beer
can be naturally carbonated, kept under pressure, and bottled with enough of
the carbonation retained.
The Wiessbier referred to in a previous article is an example of a beer that
is naturally carbonated in the bottle. There are Wiessbiers that do not
have yeasts deposits in their bottles, and other types of beer that do.
There is no direct connection between the two; yeast in the bottle does not
make a beer a Wiessbier. It would be possible to drink the yeast from ANY
beer carbonated in its bottle, Wiessbier or not. Usually, an attempt is made
to pour most of the beer and leave the yeast behind.
--
Archie Lachner
Logic Design Systems Division
Tektronix, Inc.
uucp: {ucbvax,decvax,pur-ee,cbosg,ihnss}!tektronix!teklds!archiel
CSnet: archiel@tek
ARPAnet: archiel.tek@csnet-relayrcd@opus.UUCP (Dick Dunn) (04/13/84)
<> >Funny that no one has mentioned the biggest distinguishing characteristic >of a Weissbier: it is made with yeast... There's a right idea behind this, but let's explain...ALL beer is made with yeast. That's what makes it ferment to give the carbonation and alcohol. Most beer that you see in America, including all large-brewery beer, is highly filtered to remove the yeast - partly because it makes the beer a lot more stable under the duress of shipping. Large brewers let beer ferment out (flat) but capture the carbon dioxide, then lager the beer, filter it, and carbonate it under pressure when they fill it. A few small breweries bottle beer with yeast still in it, allowing the beer to finish its fermentation in the bottle and carbonate itself `naturally' (no flames on that please). This latter technique is called "bottle-conditioning". The analogous process for kegs or casks - until recently, common in England and (hopefully) on the comeback - is "cask conditioning". Most German beer is quite carefully filtered and very clear. Weiss is an exception, sometimes. The phrase to look for on the label is "mit Hefe", which means simply "with yeast." I've seen Weissbier without the "mit Hefe" that has a little yeast sediment, but the type that proclaims it on the label has a good healthy dose. -- "A friend of the devil is a friend of mine." Dick Dunn {hao,ucbvax,allegra}!nbires!rcd (303) 444-5710 x3086
fish@ihu1g.UUCP (Bob Fishell) (04/19/84)
I'm kind of partial to Hacker-Pschorr Munchen Weissbier, myself,
but I take steps *not* to let too much of the yeast krud from the
bottom of the bottle get into my glass. It's got a very bitter
taste, and I seem to recall that similar sediments in home brew
should not be drunk for some reason or another.
I like to drink the stuff with a large lemon wedge in a chilled
mug. Trouble is, the chilled mug makes the beer foam an awful
lot, which it does anyway. Now, on ordinary brew, I can pour
as little or as much head as I want. Anybody got a good technique
for Weissbier?
--
Bob Fishell
ihnp4!ihu1g!fishrdp@pthya.UUCP ( R Perlman) (04/24/84)
Actually, Weisbeer is made from wheat (as is the similar Weizenbeer).
It is (commonly) served in Berlin "mit 'schuss", a shot of fruit
syrup...very refreshing.
A previous article re: White beer?, noted that weisbeer (aka weissbeer)
was made from yeast - - what beer isn't??
Prosit..
Richard Perlman
pthya!rdp
{ihnp4,ucbvax,cbosgd,decwrl,amd70,fortune,zehntel}!dual!pthya!rdp
aka {pstsfa, pwda, crHYWD}!star!richard
Pacific Bell, San Francisco, California
--
Richard Perlman
pthya!rdp
{ihnp4,ucbvax,cbosgd,decwrl,amd70,fortune,zehntel}!dual!pthya!rdp
aka {pstsfa, pwda, crHYWD}!star!richard
Pacific Bell, San Francisco, California