Illeagal Biab In South Aus Prison

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"These offenders might think they are clever, but our prison staff are highly trained and will continue to outsmart them."

Yeah, you've done a bang-up job so far...

:p
 
Below is the outline of the process to make vegemite as printed in the Age:

THE Vegemite plant smells of yeast, like a winery during vintage, only sweeter. It's basically a series of big rooms stacked with stainless steel tanks connected to other stainless steel tanks by stainless steel pipes. The world's annual production of 23 million jars of vegemite is made here; 95 per cent of those are consumed in Australia and New Zealand. The rest are sold mainly to expat Aussies and Kiwis. A few make it to Tokyo, where umami-mad locals wolf down tiny frozen cubes of Vegemite in modern sushi bars.

When I mention to our hosts from the marketing department the popular conception that Vegemite is made from "beer sludge", they shrug their shoulders. We are soon down at the receiving tanks into which tanker trucks pump their loads of spent yeast, collected from the nations' breweries. All the action takes place within the stainless steel pipes and vats. The first stage filters off any remaining malt and hops and removes residual alcohol. The remaining yeast is then treated with heat and enzymes to remove the outside of the cell wall and to leave the rest of the yeast cell: protein, amino acids and B vitamins. This is cooked with salt at low pressure for four hours and is now referred to as yeast extract. It has been reduced by 40 per cent to a viscous liquid that looks like hot caramel sauce.

Our host takes a sample of the liquid. Like Augustus Gloop from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory I can't help but taste this proto-spread. Compared with the finished product it is bitter, yeasty and aromatic with the flavours of the hops and barley still upfront; it's a long way from being Vegemite.

To finish the process, the contents of more than 30 of these drums are sucked up into a large stainless steel vat and further reduced.

Liquefied cooked onion and liquid celery seed, a small amount of caramel for further colour and flavour, and both sea salt and mineral salt are added. This goes into another cooker at more than 100 degrees for several hours, where further caramelisation takes place. What has become "black velvet" spread is extruded warm into jars and sealed.

FOUNDED: Vegemite was invented by chemists working at Fred Walker's eponymous cheese company, and was first sold commercially in 1923. The same company invented a beef extract called Bonox in 1918. In 1926, a company was formed with Chicago-based Kraft to make processed cheese in Australia. After Fred Walker's death in 1935, the Australian holdings of the company were absorbed by Kraft in Chicago.

DID YOU KNOW? Australians spread 1.2 billion serves of vegemite on toast and bread every year.

I doubt there would be any yeasties left alive.
 
But, isn't (wasn't) there an African beer that utilised yeast/bugs from human spit?
I thought it was the enzymes in the spit were used to break down starches?
This was an early method to get a mash working. Saliva contains an amylase that will get the ball rolling. Just like when you chew on a grain you get sweetness - not just starch.

I saw this article and just thought to myself... there will surely be a thread for this on AHB soon enough. Lucky I caught it before it was modded into the ground, which it surely will soon.

@Mercs Own: I love the Terry Pratchett version of the origins of vegemite (from 'The Last Continent)... the wizard cooks up some leftover vegetables as a soup with an entire bag of salt, then falls asleep while it cooks down to a thick, black sludge. "tastes good on toast."
 
This was an early method to get a mash working. Saliva contains an amylase that will get the ball rolling. Just like when you chew on a grain you get sweetness - not just starch.

I saw this article and just thought to myself... there will surely be a thread for this on AHB soon enough. Lucky I caught it before it was modded into the ground, which it surely will soon.

@Mercs Own: I love the Terry Pratchett version of the origins of vegemite (from 'The Last Continent)... the wizard cooks up some leftover vegetables as a soup with an entire bag of salt, then falls asleep while it cooks down to a thick, black sludge. "tastes good on toast."

I was just trying to drag the conversation away from the Other Spit.

Oooops!
 
the "steve don't eat it" website is hilaroious!
I found it a while ago and read the whole thing, there are lots of good stories on there.
Re-read the prison hooch storey now and laughed until I almost cried.
Good stuff for sure :D

there are quite a few funny ones:
http://www.thesneeze.com/steve-dont-eat-it/

Bjorn
 
All-knowing there F/S... hope you weren't traded for a carton of Marlboro at some stage of your life. :lol:

Warren -


a rich prisoner eh. that should be a pouch of white ox shouldnt it?
 
I recall on craftbrewer radio years ago they discussed prison hooch. There was one fine example of using yeast from the tampon of a female prisoner to ferment with. Imagine what that beer smelt like!

Man that is messed up- those fellas brewing that gear belong locked away. :icon_drool2:
 

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