Extract Hops In Competition Beer.

[dr K]

The first thing that you have to think about is the "German Purity Law" is much more about Tax and Bread, and its not a law, its a marketing ploy. The decree was meant to stop the use of wheat and rye (bread grains) in beer, daily bread was considered far more important than daily grog. Beer was (and still is) an excellent source of revenue for the governing classes, taxing bread would make the peasants even more revolting..in fact Marie Antionettes famous "Let them eat cake" reply to the fact that the poor of Paris had no bread was in fact a reference to the higher quality breads (cake) eaten by the aristocracy.
Thus Barley, which is fine for soups but screwed for bread except as an adjunct was declared the only grain suitable for beer, note that by my reading their is no mention of malting, and so far as the yeast goes it was not until the late 1800's that yeast was even known to exist, and the work on yeast only came about because the prominent and by this stage slightly mad French scientist Louis Pasteur got really pissed off with the Germans (well the Prussians actually being as how the Franco-Prussian was raging) and figured he could work out how they made beer and destroy the German beer industry.
And a final point...this Purity Law came from Bavaria I think...can someone tell me where the center of Wheat Beer Brewing in todays Germany is....
Brewing to the Reinhetsgebot may be quaint, so is getting the Black Plague.


K

 

[Kai]

The mash paddle would be the closest thing around at the moment, since it is nowadays the all-grain only class at anawbs. However, anything you organise around rules like this ultimately will rely on the honesty of entrants. We tend to be a pretty honest bunch though, so I think it could work. I also think the more high-quality competitions there are, the merrier we shall all be.

 

[Vlad the Pale Aler]

I think the Rheinheitsgebollocks have been discussed on AHB before.


found the link I was looking for

 

[Online Brewing Supplies]

The mash paddle would be the closest thing around at the moment, since it is nowadays the all-grain only class at anawbs. However, anything you organise around rules like this ultimately will rely on the honesty of entrants. We tend to be a pretty honest bunch though, so I think it could work. I also think the more high-quality competitions there are, the merrier we shall all be.

Kai and dr K
Its all good input.Like i said its going to be a hard road to actually come up with a new defining criterea for a comp on new ground,But I would like to keep it as close to possible on using the raw products which are yet to be defined.Im thinking flowers or plugs( pellets if ever body agrees) for hops and then only malted grains ,Yeast is an open case and personal choice.Adjuncts , I know that some german breweries do use chited grains ( I havent seen them here) which I believe at this stage is acceptable.Water profile I think will have to be open as we all brew with different water.I agree I dont think people will try to cheat the guidlines as there is really no point.Then theres the point of which styles it should cover.At the start it will have to be limited only because its a new idea and I dont think the infrastruture will be together to handle every style.Keep the ideas coming and I think this will work.Next what to call this comp?Im not even game to put a name on it.Thats up to you guys to call.Im prepared to sponsor the comp up to a point but then I think a few people would also go for the idea.BTW I would like to take this off the current thread heading as I believe its not the right spot for this thread.I dont know how to do this so I hope some one will .
Cheers GB

 

[Keith the Beer Guy]

:icon_offtopic:
​

in fact Marie Antionettes famous "Let them eat cake" reply to the fact that the poor of Paris had no bread was in fact a reference to the higher quality breads (cake) eaten by the aristocracy.

Ahh Dr K., my own source of ignorance^1-3 suggests that her remarks are very possibly widely misinterpreted. 'The brioche she referred to at the time was only lightly enriched,' with small amounts of butter and eggs, apparently not too dissimilar to 'a good white loaf of bread'. Perhaps her remark was one of kindness?

Perhaps more interestingly, if not a more apposite point, she did not actually utter the words. The words were in print in 1760 and there are claims to have heard the quote as early as 1740.

The theme seems timeless - the people have never approved of the excesses of those in authority.

Bring on the Revolution!

<sup>1. 'The Book of General Ignorance', 2006, Faber and Faber Ltd.
2. The internet.
3. Simpsons.</sup>

:icon_offtopic:​

 

[Kai]

Ah, such entertaining referencing I have rarely seen.

GB, if you're really keen to start up a new comp like that then I'd suggest firing up a new thread in the competitions & results forum. I think it's got potential but there's a lot that needs to be considered.

 

[AndrewQLD]

Ah, such entertaining referencing I have rarely seen.

GB, if you're really keen to start up a new comp like that then I'd suggest firing up a new thread in the competitions & results forum. I think it's got potential but there's a lot that needs to be considered.

Like, sponsoring a comp is nothing like running one. Do you actually plan to organise and run this competition yourself GB or are you only looking to sponsor it and give input to it's conception?
Speaking from experience I can tell you the first thing you need to do is get several other like minded individuals that live reasonably close to you and sit down and nominate rolls for each person, then have a brainstorm session to nut out how you want this competition to run.
Asking questions and getting ideas here is great too, but you will be the one running the comp so it all boils down to you in the end, that's why you need a committee as such to relegate responsabilties to so you don't get bogged down.

Good luck and I hope the idea takes off, the more classy competitions we have the better for the brewing community it is.

Cheers
Andrew

 

[Online Brewing Supplies]

Like, sponsoring a comp is nothing like running one. Do you actually plan to organise and run this competition yourself GB or are you only looking to sponsor it and give input to it's conception?
Speaking from experience I can tell you the first thing you need to do is get several other like minded individuals that live reasonably close to you and sit down and nominate rolls for each person, then have a brainstorm session to nut out how you want this competition to run.
Asking questions and getting ideas here is great too, but you will be the one running the comp so it all boils down to you in the end, that's why you need a committee as such to relegate responsabilties to so you don't get bogged down.

Good luck and I hope the idea takes off, the more classy competitions we have the better for the brewing community it is.

Cheers
Andrew

Andrew
I have moved this to "New comp Idea."
Cheers

 

[randyrob]

hmmm just reading the blurb on a bottle of german pilsner i drank last night..

"made under strict accorance of the german purity law"

ingredients: water, malt, yeast, hop extract

WTF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

so either this is just misleading marketing or this company thinks hop extract is ok as far as the german purity law is concerned?

Rob.

 

[AndrewQLD]

hmmm just reading the blurb on a bottle of german pilsner i drank last night..

"made under strict accorance of the german purity law"

ingredients: water, malt, yeast, hop extract

WTF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

so either this is just misleading marketing or this company thinks hop extract is ok as far as the german purity law is concerned?

Rob.

I can see no reason why hop extract would not be allowed under the so called German Purity Law, it is a pure form of hop.
Lets face it, you have , hop flowers, hop plugs, hop pellets, hop extracts all of which are the same product processed in different ways, but essentially they are all pure hops in one form or another.

Cheers
Andrew

 

[randyrob]

I can see no reason why hop extract would not be allowed under the so called German Purity Law, it is a pure form of hop.
Lets face it, you have , hop flowers, hop plugs, hop pellets, hop extracts all of which are the same product processed in different ways, but essentially they are all pure hops in one form or another.

Cheers
Andrew

thanks andrew, looks like i've missed the point. so i could enter gryphon's brewing competition that was based on the German purity laws and still use hop extracts?

i thought thats what he was trying to get away from.

Rob.

 

[AndrewQLD]

thanks andrew, looks like i've missed the point. so i could enter gryphon's brewing competition that was based on the German purity laws and still use hop extracts?

i thought thats what he was trying to get away from.

Rob.

Rob, how GB interprets the laws would depend on how he wants to run the competition. I don't think you missed the point at all, but you have brought up an interesting one which GB will have to address.
I was merely adding my thoughts on why I feel hop extracts should not be excluded

By the way, I could be wrong

Cheers
Andrew