Is mulled wine just for Christmas?

The short answer is no.

Drinking mulled wine anytime of the year is more than okay. It can create an excellent atmosphere if done tastefully. I have served it myself on Easter Day to guests at my place and all enjoyed the spiced wine. Okay it was a little cold outside still, but that is besides the point. I live in Canada.

In Brazil, they drink Quentão, a type of mulled wine especially during summer festivals.

  In Brazil, we have some festivities on July, and in this period it's common to drink warm and hot wine, pure, or with some fruits and spices. It's called "quentão" and is usually made with cubes of apple and cinnamon. Res

Some recipes use cachaça (sugar cane brandy) in lieu of wine and is served very hot.

  "Quentão " is a traditional "Festas Juninas" (winter party) grog cocktail, especially in the South Region, the coldest area of Brazil. Its irresistible scents combine sweet and spicy notes and it is traditionally served hot in small earthenware, ceramic or thick glass cups, which retain heat well.
  It is a very popular cocktail recipe in the rural areas, and probably made its first appearance in the hinterland of São Paulo and Minas Gerais states. In absence of formal information, one would assume that this recipe is a variation of European mulled wine and grog recipes, made with "cachaça", the Brazilian national sugar cane spirits. In the 18th and 19th Centuries the consumption of "cachaça" has become synonymous of "Brazilianness" against Portuguese domination. After the "Modern Art Week " of 1922 it becomes a symbol of Brazilian cultural autonomy.

  The word "quentão" is derived from "quente" which means hot, plus the augmentative suffix -"ão" (literally very hot). At the beginning of the 20th Century it came to designate the "drink made by boiling sugar cane spirits with sugar, ginger and cinnamon. -  Quentão

Further reading can be found below:

‘Quentão’: Spicy Brazilian Mulled Wine

Quentão

One last note!

  Bonfire is taking Southern Alberta by storm, and it is warming hearts and melting colds.  It is a traditional European winter wine but also warms you up on cool summer nights. Bonfire is pre-mulled, so the only thing you need to do is warm the wine in either a pot or microwave. It is crafted from black currants, saskatoons, cinnamon and cloves.  The berry notes make it a great base for a perfectly balanced mulled wine and provide a much smoother finish than the traditional mulled wine made with grape wine due to the absence of tannins. Drinking it will make you feel like Christmas, no matter which time of the year.  It will warm you to the bone after a day of skiing, hockey, tobogganing, ice fishing, or around the bonfire on cool summer nights.  The perfect wine for Alberta winter and summer camping enjoyments.

  Bonfire pairs great with Alberta weather winter weather and summer nights.


What is the single most influential book every beer enthusiast should read?

Tasting Beer by Randy Mosher is by far the most valuable beer book I've ever read.  It covers the styles you'll encounter, the flavors, the technology, the history, the science, and more.  I was a fairly knowledgeable beer enthusiast when I read it, but I wish I'd read it ten years earlier.  If I had, it would have increased my enjoyment of getting to know beer ten-fold by increasing my  understanding of what I was drinking.


What other beer brands began as fictional but eventually became real?

According to the Beer Advocate website, Romulan Ale from Star Trek is brewed by Cervecería Centro Americana in South Africa. A search in Google Images will produce several images of the bottles. I have included a link to one image.

Romulan Ale


It's a stand to hold your puller on a flat surface so it sits upright.


Why is it a Ginger "Beer" and not a Ginger "Cider"?

The term "cider" is generally reserved for apples.  There are 'pear ciders' such as Woodchuck that use the name, but as Wikipedia points out, "A similar product made from pears is called perry but sometimes (incorrectly) called Pear Cider in the marketing of some producers' products".  I personally can forgive this, since pears are closely related to apples, and the result is quite tasty.

The "beer" part of ginger beer is due to the fermentation process involved in its creation.  In this way, it is more similar to "root beer", since ginger is a root, like the sassafras root used in root beer and birch roots used in birch beer.  The website todayifoundout.com has a well referenced article for Why Root Beer is Called That covering the naming of root beer.  If the ginger based version isn't fermented, but is instead ginger flavouring added to carbonated water, it would be "ginger ale"; I have no idea why, since an India Pale Ale is certainly fermented.  Even with ginger products, the differentiation is not really all that terribly strict, as noted by this Huffington Post article.  Initially, ginger beer, root beer, birch beer, etc, were frequently alcoholic, but Prohibition ruined that for the U.S.

As a bit of a side note, the alcoholic versions are making a wonderful comeback (in my personal opinion) with Sprecher's and Small Town Brewery for root beer.  I personally have not seen as much alcoholic ginger beer, but Crabbies from the U.K. is quite good.  Although I personally do not like Kuchi's ginger beer, I have several friends who absolutely love it.


How is it that I sleep well after drinking beer, but I sleep terrible after drinking vodka?

Hangovers

Primary causes are dehydration and toxins built up in your system from the impurities in the alcohol you've been drinking, but in my personal experience and research sugar content can also contribute.

Dehydration

Alcohol makes people urinate more, which raises the chances of dehydration occurring. Dehydration can give the individual that sensation of thirst and lightheadedness.

Impurites

Most alcoholic beverages contain small amounts of chemicals
other than ethanol as a by-product of the materials used
in the fermenting process (e.g., grains and wood casks). Congeners
are complex organic molecules with toxic effects including
acetone, acetaldehyde, fusel oil, tannins, and furfural.

Spirits have these in higher quantities than beer or wine due to the distillation process.

Sugar content

Depending on what specific brands you are drinking and/or what you are mixing with high sugar content can cause you to have a sugar crash contributing to the hangover feelings.

Quality

In my personal experience the mornings after indulging with top shelf spirits are notably better than those done on a budget. Bargain spirits tend to be cut with grain alcohol and balanced with corn syrup contributing to the issue, but in general higher priced spirits tend to be more highly refined (Vodka for example tends to have more filtration the more expensive it is).

References

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/5089.php

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1530-0277.2009.01116.x/full


Alcohol sales dropping due to name similarity with other things

I know of at least one rebranding due to an unfortunate naming convention - though it has nothing to do with a pandemic: Vergina Beer

Rebranding Vergina
From a greek brewing company... they have since simply rebranded by going back to the greek spelling:

That is not to say that there aren't others... furthermore, there are plenty of companies that should consider rebranding, if they have not already... For example:
Sh*t Wine (literal translation)

A couple others:

An image search for "worst alcohol brand names" turns up some fairly hilarious results  :)


Is it possible to change the outcome of a beer in the fermentation stages?

Could I add in like orange extract or something along those lines in order to get a citrus flavor in the beer?

Yes; search Google for "secondary fermentation additions".

  Is there anything I can do or should that have happened when I was boiling the wort in the first place?

There are flavor additions you can throw in the kettle but you'll get the most bang for your buck with (SANITIZED!) additions during fermentation. Don't think twice about an amber ale, though; wait until you have some more experience before improvising with recipes.

  would it be possible to raise the alcohol percentage of the beer/ make it stronger in this stage

Again, yes and no. In theory you can add more cane sugar, but in practice it only works with yeast that are highly alcohol tolerant. (Usually Belgian; highly alcohol tolerant yeast strains usually make no secret about their properties.) The yeast used for an amber ale is most likely not tolerant enough to go very far outside the recipe, and beer that is too alcoholic for the recipe generally tastes pretty bad.


What are some of the most common ingredients used in gluten-free beers?

Corn, rice, sorghum, buckwheat, millet and quinoa are popular. Each has their own special trick to get it to convert the starches to sugars.

In Africa sorghum lagers are very popular, and they have the same shelf life of "normal pale" lagers. aka 3-6 months. I do not know if gluten-free affects the shelf life.

Here is a BYO article to provide more information on gluten free brewing.


What is Tequila when its not from Mexico?

According to this CNBC article:

  Tequila is only produced inside the Mexican state of Jalisco and in some municipalities in Guanajuato, Michoacan, Nayarit, and Tamaulipas. Any agave-based distilled spirit outside those regions are called "mezcal." Other subtypes of mezcal you might see are Bacanora, Sotol and Raicilla. In other words, all tequilas are mezcals, but not all mezcals are tequila. (Just like all bourbons are whiskeys but not all whiskeys are bourbons. )


This deposit is called trub (sometimes lees), and is a created in all ethanol fermentation processes.
The trub is mostly yeast cells both living and dead. This is why this deposit is only seen in beers that ferment in the bottle as it is otherwise removed before bottling. It is even possible to cultivate the yeast from the trub, but this requires special care. It is often advised not to drink it but some people like the taste. It is also possible a little glass is provided to separately drink the trub.

As some of the yeast still lives, it will continue to produce gas while inside you which can cause flatulence.


Starka does not age in bottles, and has no vintage, so I don't think it can be of any interest.

Tokay ages very well, and 70 years old one might be interesting. On the other hand, I have a serious reservations regarding Richon leZion wine-masters of 1947. I would expect something along the lines of Carmel wines, but less refined. It definitely has a great historic value, because it was produced prior to Israel statehood. Ask your Jewish friends.

I have no say on other exhibits.


There are a few main things contributing to this 'hype'.

Firstly is the addition of the lime. It adds the citric acidity that pairs well with the light beer and gives it a unique zing that you don't find in other easily available beers.

Secondly, its a light beer that is easy and pleasurable to drink. It may not have rich notes that some love, or special characteristics, but what it gains is wide appeal and a product that you can't really hate, even if you don't absolutely love it. It is a very refreshing beer to drink when compared to a heavier lager or IPA.

Finally, is the marketing / ambiance it embodies. This is very likely a smaller contributing factor, but often one recalls having a nice corona on the beach as they relaxed, or correlate the beer to that image in their head, so it has that mental factor as well.

It comes down to the fact that reviews and 'class' aside, you should be drinking the beers you enjoy, and for many non-connoisseurs Corona fits that bill very well.


Is it possible to have a non-alcoholic Gin?

The short answer is yes.

  Pernod Ricard has signed a deal to launch and distribute South African/Swedish brand Ceder’s in the UK, which describes itself as a “non-alcoholic alt-gin made with classic gin and South African botanicals”.

  The non-alcoholic ‘spirit’ was launched in early 2017 by husband and wife team Craig Hutchison (South African) and Maria Sehlstrom (Swedish). - Pernod Ricard ventures into non-alcoholic ‘gin’

Seedlip also has a non-alcoholic gin on the market but the leading flavour is clove rather than juniper as with gin and is thus not a real gin. It is more a gin alternative.

  The biggest name in non-alcoholic gin is Seedlip. Seedlip Spice 94 (£22.99, Amazon) is the closest offering Seedlip has to the ‘real thing’ — although they’re quick to offer a caveat.

  “It’s made like a gin with botanicals, but is definitely not a gin.” The leading flavor is clove rather than juniper as with gin.

  You may be familiar with non-alcoholic beer, but non-alcoholic gin is a relative newbie.

Amongst others non-alcohol gins (gin alternatives) are Brunswick Aces, Herbie Virgin and to a lesser degree Teetotal G&T as it is a pre-mix.

  Teetotal G‘n’T has all the flavour of Gin and Tonic but without the alcohol. It is made from natural ingredients and botanicals found in a good gin and tonic. - The Temperance Spirit Company


I have a crate of out of date beer/bitter by 6 months, tastes watery, can I resurrect it in some way?

I seriously doubt it. What happens over time is that chemicals giving the taste decays, and you cannot magically make them appear. You could perhaps add something to give it taste, but then, is it still beer?

Refermenting (could be done by adding sugar) will give carbon dioxide and alcohol, but not more taste.


What transforms a beer into a Barley Wine?

Barley wine is a style of beer: it isn't something that is made using beer as an ingredient (as you might describe whisky).

There are a number of varieties of barley wine (some hoppy, and some with almost no hop characteristics), but they all have a relatively high alcohol content compared to most beers.  The alcohol is produced via fermentation, the same as any other beer, and without distillation.  Note that not all high alcohol beers are necessarily described as "barley wine" though.

As for the legal aspects, I don't know of any regulations that specifically target barley wine.  The law usually deals with alcoholic beverages based on the alcohol content, and from that point of view barley wines would usually be treated similar to normal wines due to the similar ABV.


What is the difference between an ale and a lager?

Ale yeast strains are best used at temperatures ranging from 10 to 25°C, though some strains will not actively ferment below 12°C (33). Ale yeasts are generally regarded as top-fermenting yeasts since they rise to the surface during fermentation, creating a very thick, rich yeast head. That is why the term "top-fermenting" is associated with ale yeasts. Fermentation by ale yeasts at these relatively warmer temperatures produces a beer high in esters, which many regard as a distinctive character of ale beers.

Top-fermenting yeasts are used for brewing ales, porters, stouts, Altbier, Kölsch, and wheat beers. *

Lager yeast strains are best used at temperatures ranging from 7 to 15°C. At these temperatures, lager yeasts grow less rapidly than ale yeasts, and with less surface foam they tend to settle out to the bottom of the fermenter as fermentation nears completion. This is why they are often referred to as "bottom" yeasts. The final flavour of the beer will depend a great deal on the strain of lager yeast and the temperatures at which it was fermented.

Some of the lager styles made from bottom-fermenting yeasts are Pilsners, Dortmunders, Märzen, Bocks, and American malt liquors.*

(All information from BeerAdvocate.)


Does reduced-alcohol beer taste differently?

You're speaking of Utah, I assume, the only state I've been to that has laws like that. I know you can achieve lower alcohol content by using less yeast, or sugar, or both, since alcohol in beer is produced by the fermentation process of yeast turning sugar into alcohol. I would guess this is primarily how it's done, but there could be other (post-fermentation) processes of removing alcohol. (EDIT: according to Wikipedia, I'm totally wrong. Most low- or non-alcoholic beer is made by boiling off the alcohol.)

In terms of taste, lighter beers (in terms of alcohol content), generally taste, well, lighter. I like many higher-alcohol beers because the alcohol seems to bring out many of the more complex flavours in the beer, making it (in my opinion) more interesting. That's not to say that all strong beers are good or all light beers are bad, as there are many other things to consider. But I don't think it's possible to get the same complexity and flavour into a light 3.2% beer as it is in a stronger beer, in my experience anyway.


Recommendations for a hefeweizen or wheat beer?

I like Paulaner's Hefeweizen (German brewer) and also Leinenkugel's Sunset Wheat and it's hard to go wrong with Blue Moon.

But beer tends to be quite regional as far as what is available outside the large brewers. Local craft beers normally don't make it too far away.

My recommendation would be to use a site like Beer Advocate or Untappd to try and find local stores selling them.


Does the process of shipping Trappists to Ontario, Canada damage the beer?

Usually beer is shipped, by ship. This is a slow process and can get quite hot. The beers are usually not in temperature controlled environments, just in a container. The heat causes chemical reactions in the beer, making the beer's flavours and aromas change. The temp rise (day) and drop (night) also causes the beer to "age" quicker.

Yes, this process hurts all beers. You can do a simple test. Take 2 cans of beer, put the first in the fridge and leave it there for the week. The second you put in a sunny spot in the house during the day and in the fridge at night. Taste the beers after one week.


What is the difference between historical beer and 'modern' beer?

Not only has variety improved, but so has the technology and agronomy of brewing.

Malt variety, yield, and efficiency

Crop science has increased the size of barley kernels and the amount of starches available to convert to sugar.  The common grain at the time was 6-row malt, today the most common brewing barley is 2-row.
Understanding of the malting process has drastically improved. Today we understand how to get perfectly malted barley. Historically the malt would have been over or under modified.  Under modified would have lots of unconverted starch which would leave a hazy beer that tasted rather bready. Over modified malt would would have no starch, but less sugar than possible so the resulting beer may lack body.
Kiln dryers allow for greater variety of malt. By controlling the heat cycle, the same variety of barley can make different malt.  Drying the grain in medieval times consisted of heating it over a fire.  Fire dried grains would have a smokey flavor that would be present in the beer.  The traditional Scottish Ale uses malt that has been dried over a fire where the fuel is peat, which is a very distinct smoke flavor.  The fire also was not nearly as exact or even as a modern kiln so some kernels would be burnt and other may be under cooked, so to speak.

Water

Needless to say, but water purity is drastcally better today than in the 6th-15th centuries.  Because the brewing process boils the water, the beer was safer to drink than the water. Hence the patron saint of brewers said "Drink beer, not water."
Dissolved mineral content of water and pH control.  Medieval brewers had the water that they had.  Today, a brewer can start with distilled water and add whatever minerals they desire to change the flavor profile and pH of the mash.  The water pH can effect the mash efficiency and fermentation profile of the beer.  This lack of water control lead to specific styles coming from specific areas. I.E. Burton upon Trent is known for pale ales, Pilsen for golden pilsners, Munich for malty lagers.Some water source mineral content.

Hops

Ancient beers were not hoppy. Hops were not used extensively in beer until about the 12th century and were not cultivated en mass until about the 13th century.  Most beers older than that were bittered with Gruit..
The hops that were used were not high in bittering acids.  The oldest common hop varieties are the Noble hops.  Just like today, costs of ingredients was a major factor in brewing.  Making a really hoppy beer was prohibitively expensive.  Just compare an English IPA brewed from old recipes vs. an American IPA.

Yeast and Microbiology

This is where modern technology really helps out.  Louis Pasteur discovered yeast in 1857. Up until that time, the changing of sugar into alcohol was considered magic or an act of god.  It was understood that the foam on top of a fermenting wort could be passed around to other vats of wort to start the process (Krausening). Others would transfer Magic Sticks from batch to batch to start fermentation.
There are other microorganisms that can inhabit beer. Brettanomyces, Lactobacillus, and Pediococcus to name a few.  These can cause a sour, acidic flavor in beer.  Some ancient breweries would just let the cold night air in through an open window in order to cool the freshly boiled wort, exposing the warm sugar solution to whatever might land on it.

Technology

Thermometers - The temperature of the mash can affect the fermentabilty of the wort. The temperature of the malting and drying affect the sugar content of malted barley.
Chemical cleaners - All of the brewing equipment is sanitary. Modern living through chemistry.
Food storage/availability - I can get whatever ingredients I want, whenever I need them.
Refrigeration - I can cool the wort in controlled conditions. Beer can travel farther. I can ferment at optimal yeast temperature.
More than can possibly be named...

The Result?

Ancient beers would be sweeter and thicker than today's thanks to less fermentable sugars in the wort due to inconsistencies in the brewing process, and inconsistencies in the malting process and poor yeast/microorganism control.  The alcohol content would be lower as well.
Ancient beers would not be hoppy.
Ancient beers would have to be drunk quickly before they spoiled.  The other bugs in the beer would turn the beer bad after a few weeks.  This also prevented the beer from traveling very from from the brewery.
Ancient beers could vary greatly, batch to batch.  The brewers of the times were very skilled with what they could work with, but they were constrained by what ingredients they could use, whether by law or availability.  Flavor can be affected by fermentation temperature, so a hot day in December could ruin my beer.
Ancient beers were dependent on the season. When was the grain harvested? When is it cool enough to ferment?

Probably more information than you need, but hopefully it helps.


Saperavi is a Teinturier type grape, which usually means red skins and red flesh. I have grown two of these types of grapes. Dunkelfelder and Agria and they both are used to make deep red wines that are almost undrinkable. They are usually used in very small quantities to boost the color of lighter colored grapes like Pinot Noir. On their own you need to take special care in the winery to have a light hand in the wine making area otherwise you end up with a tannic monster that you can't drink. You can pretty easily buy a similar grape in the USA called Alicante Bouchet which has been grown in California for over 100 years. You can usually buy them at a decent wine shop. I have had Saperavi wines and they tend to be huge tannic monsters unless tamed in the winery.

Pair with food as you would Cabernet or Nebbiolo, red meats, bold cheeses, heavy sauces, etc.


Are there styles of cider? How to distinguish them before opening the bottle?

There are different cider styles. BJCP cider style guidelines lists several distinct styles.

However, many commercial ciders like Angry Orchard don't list a style beyond their brand names.


What's the point of IBUs if hoppier beers have lower IBU than stouts?

IBU is a measurement of the chemical concentration of iso-alpha acids, not the perceived bitterness. Malty tastes do suppres the perception of hop bitterness. See wikipedia on beer bitterness 1 and its literature list.

A heavily malty beer, which a stout is, requires way more chemical hop bitternes to achieve the same perceived bitterness as a light pilsner.

Excuse me going anecdotal, but at one time, friends and me brewed an ale with an unholy amount of hops (150g @ 11% for 22l). When it came to hop additions, we decided to just dump in all the hop bags from the freezer. This ended up to be around 100 IBU after correction for ageing.

Now, quite clearly, the resulting light ale was on the very edge of being consumable, but with some aging and getting used to it, it became a very very good ale, which all the hoppy people loved.

The same amount of hops in an irish stout would probably be "meh".


What is the best way to cool your beer on a festival without electricity?

A high-end cooler packed with ice can stay cold for five or six days. High-end coolers can get somewhat expensive, they aren't necessary for most people. First thing I would do is get a cheap cooler, not the styrofoam cooler that you might get from a gas-station but, an double-wall insulated plastic one. The way that you pack it will make a big difference in how long it stays cold.

If you can, bring the cooler down to temperature by sticking some ice in it a day before your trip. For the trip, use the biggest ice that you can, small ice melts faster. You can fill big plastic juice bottles with water and freeze them. You also want to fill as much of the cooler as you can, so fill in smaller spaces with smaller ice. Put a folded-towel inside of the cooler, on top of everything else, to prevent too much cold air from escaping when you open your cooler. The towel should take up the entire surface-area of the cooler and when you grab a beer, only lift as much of the towel as necessary. Avoid opening the cooler more than you have to, so grab everyone a fresh beer at the same time. Of course, try to keep your cooler in the shade.

Without ice, you could take a note from the botijo. A botijo is a ceramic jug, called different things but, used around the world as a water jug. The ceramic is porous so it 'sweats'. And just like a with a person, when the 'sweat' evaporates it cools the container down. I wouldn't put beer in it, it'd go flat and it'd be hard to clean. But you could get a growler, keep it wet, and aim a portable fan at it. I don't know how well it'd work but, it's worth a shot. If the beer doesn't stay cold, at least the fan will cool you off.


Let me see if I can answer your questions. I have years of experience with making beer, wine and mead...

No, leave the apples alone until fermentation is done.
No, the alcohol will stop any rotting. Your mead might be spoiled from another source of contamination (remember good sanitation) but as long as there is alcohol the apples won't rot.
It is advisable to move the mead from the fermentation vessel to a second one for aging. Mead is more like wine than beer and will benefit from some aging and clarification in a second vessel. This would involve leaving the fruit behind.
While it's not 100% necessary to add sulfites (campden tablets) to you mead, it will preserve and protect it from oxidation. Like wine they should be added when you move it to the second vessel for aging.


Contradicting sayings about the order of drinking alcoholic beverages

According to this link, different types of alcohol have differing amounts and different types of congeners (which are one of the primary toxins contributing to a hangover) in them, leading to varying degrees of hangovers. Combining these varying toxins in different ways can lead to different results. Red wine apparently has the highest amount of congeners in it, while clearer liquids tend to have have fewer.

Another thing noted by this article is that carbonated alcoholic beverages (e.g., beer) cause the body to absorb alcohol more quickly; therefore, if you were to consume beer before liquor, your body would have even less time to deal with the alcohol absorption than the other way around.

Other than your reasoning as to the amount of alcohol content drinks contain, this is the only thing I can think of!


Not a spirit, but I would serve red wine. In particular a Barbera d'Alba or maybe a Chianti. Red Italian wine seems appropriate and those two are good with pasta in my opinion. It does depend a bit on the kind of lasagna. I'm assuming the standard red tomato sauce kind.


Are gas injection based wine openers a good idea?

I never used such a bottle opener myself, but there are wine bars (for example Le Millésime in Bordeaux) that use such opening systems to be able to serve wines such as old vintages from Château Cheval Blanc by the glas.
So I think this shouldn't  be a problem.


This is most likely tartrate crystals that have formed around the cork or a seam on the inside of the glass bottle. The like to attach to something rough. I have seen this many times. More often in white wine than red because of the higher tartaric acid levels, but it can occur in both. Generally when the wine has been stored in a cold location for an extended period of time. Like in a cellar or fridge. Nothing to worry about! Here is a picture of white wine crystals that have a similar shape.


Using 'splenda' in Vodka infusions. Serious headache!

Certain people can have very individualistic headache triggers. For me it is second hand smoke. There are quite a few references on the internet tying Splenda to migraines so perhaps it so for you, at least in combination with alcohol. In any case, I'd pitch your experiment. Vodka typically has 65 calories per ounce. Sugar is about 111. However, you probably don't add that many ounces of sugar to your bottle of vodka so most of the calories will come from the ethanol. Some people substitute agave nectar which supposedly has a lower glycemic index than granulated sugar and may be healthier.


Why do most beers from ex-soviet countries have a honey note?

First, let me state that I'm a 4th generation Italian American; I know nothing about Russian customs other than what I learned in a Russian history class (humanities requirement) a few semesters ago. With that said, I could probably shoot an email to the professor who I took the class with if you want more info, but I think my answer will suffice (but please let me know, he is a pretty cool guy).

Anyway, I would presume it has something to do with Russian culture and the importance of honey in that part of the world. I remember when I was a kid (like 2nd  grade I think), we read a collection of short, non-fiction stories of a Russian girl and her grandfather, who was a beekeeper. I cannot remember what the name of the book was nor the author nor whether or not the stories took before or during the Soviet era; but I do remember that honey played a really important role in most of the stories.

Of course there is other more concrete evidence other than my childhood reading material. For instance, just take a look at Russian cuisine. They have a mead-like beverage called Medovukha, which is made with honey and yeast. It's apparently a traditional drink at weddings over there. Also, you've got Russian honey cakes and other food based items. Finally, honey is also a good preservative as it's antibacterial, so it was often mixed in with jams back in the day to preserve them.

So I'd be surprised if many of the ex-soviet brewers didn't use honey as an additive to their beer. Especially if the beers you have in mind are bottle conditioned, they would need to add a sweetener of sorts for proper carbonation. I've used honey in two of my home brews and I like it.

Perhaps some substantiating points:

Baltika Medovoe Light seems to be a popular "first Russian beer" to try. It's a pale lager with natural honey added.
Indeed honey does seem to have played a central role in Russian culture.

  Like the Assumption, the three "Saviors" (Spas), August 1, 6, and 16, were associated with the fruits of the earth. The first was called the "Honey" (medovyi) or "Wet Savior" (mokryi Spas), signifying either the gathering of honey or the religious procession and blessing of the waters traditional for this day.

Ivanits, L. "Russian Folk Belief." [http://books.google.com].

  According to Russian historian Vasili Kliuchevskii (1841–1911), we must learn about the Russian forest, river and steppe in order to understand the Russian people. [...] "The forest provided the Russian with oak and pine to build his house, it warmed him with aspen and birch, it lit his hut with birchwood splinters, it shod him in birch bast sandals, it gave him plates and dishes, clothed him in hides and furs and fed him honey. The forest was the best shelter from his enemies."

Riordan, J. "Russian Fairy Tales and Their Collectors." [http://books.google.com]

It's notable how closely intertwined honey and their ideals of paradise were, as found by a search for the term "honey" in "The Paradise Myth in Eighteenth-century Russia: Utopian Patterns in Early Secular Russian Literature and Culture" (Baehr, S. L.).

So, though still conjecture, it may be so that Russian culture has had a higher demand for honey notes in their foods and beverages, naturally selecting those tastes.

Frankly, it may simply be the case that there's not an objective ("provable") answer to this question.


What temperature should I serve my beer?

It depends on the beer really.  A good rule of thumb is darker beer should be served at a warmer temperature than lighter beer.

For instance if you refrigerate all of your beers and then pull them out of the fridge and drink them instantly you will miss A LOT of the flavor complexity of pretty much every stout and porter you put to your lips.

But, if you let the dark stuff warm up for just 15 minutes before you drink it (let it sit at room temp) a bunch of new flavors will appear that you never would have noticed otherwise.

This doesn't work so well, in my experience, for lighter beers like pilsner, lager, or hefe-weisen.  They really are meant to be drank cold and letting them get warm changes their flavor profile for the worse.

Obviously there will always be personal preferences but, at a minimum I encourage you to try letting your darker beers warm up just a bit and see what a positive difference it makes.

Here is a temperature guide from this article: Serving Temperature Guide. It categorizes different beers based on temps to serve at.  These are basic rules of thumb and again you'll want to experiment and discover what temps you like your beers at the best.


Dark winter days equal dark winter drinks!

I'll just go ahead and answer this question assuming it's better formed, something like:

Which drinks are most popular in the winter?

The difference to me in which drinks to choose in the summer versus the winter comes from the temperature in which you're drinking. In the summer people typically crave something that is light, cool, and refreshing in the hot weather, where in the winter they want something that sticks to their bones and warms the cockles. Some examples:

Summer Drinks

Pilsner
Lager
Weiss
IPAs
Fruity cocktails (vodka, rum)
Caesars
Light bodied, medium to sweet wines

Winter Drinks

Stouts
Porters
Full bodied, dry red wines
Mulled Wine
Whisky
Brandy
Autumn or Winter (spiced) ales

Caveat

That said, really just drink and enjoy whatever you want, whenever you want. But in my experience it's usually the summer when I don't want the heavier drinks rather than vice versa. I'm much more likely to drink a light beer in the winter than something dark in the summer, although I'll drink whisky all year round.


Does beer cause more fatigue than liquor?

It could definitely be a perception thing or any difference with the situation in which you consume beer vs liquor.  (IE, if you're drinking a lot of Jack and Coke maybe that caffeine is helping keep you alert?)

I think the most compelling answer is that there's actually a decent amount of research that shows hop compounds actually have a slightly sedative effect, especially in conjunction with alcohol.  So...you know, beer.

Some sources:

National Institute of Health: The concentration of 2 mg of hop extract effectively decreased nocturnal activity in the circadian activity rhythm.

WebMD (Look under "Interactions"): Alcohol can cause sleepiness and drowsiness. Hops might also cause sleepiness and drowsiness. Taking large amounts of hops along with alcohol might cause too much sleepiness.


What is the shelf life for (unopened) Pino Grigio?

It’s tough to generalize, but most crisp whites have a best-before date of roughly two years from the vintage date on the label.


Short Answer
Sake is categorized as sake, and should not be grouped together with other types of liquor. In Japan, you need a license specifically for making sake, even if you have licenses for making beer, wine and spirits!

Long Answer
To help clarify, let's compare the different liquor types.

  Is sake a spirit?
  No. Sake is brewed. By this definition alone, it disqualifies itself to be classified as a spirit, which are distilled. Shochu (焼酎) would be a closer Japanese counterpart there.

  Is sake a wine?
  No. Sake uses a complex fermentation process known as a parallel multiple fermentation, where the rice is converted from start to glucose, then glucose to alcohol simultaneously in the same container. Wine uses the glucose from the grapes, making it a simpler process single fermentation process.

  Is sake a beer?
  No. While beer is like sake in the fact that it must first convert starch into glucose, this is done in two separate steps, making it a serial multiple fermentation process.

By comparing the processes of making the different liquors, we can see that sake does not fall under spirits, wine, or beer. It is somewhere in between wine and beer in terms of process.

Why is it often referred to as a wine?
I do not have the definitive answer, as there is no source that tells me the story behind that. But I can point the similarities between the two liquor types.

  1) Alcohol content is similar.
  A rough average for red and white wines combined is about 13-14%. It's about 15-16% for sake. Spirits like whisky are at 40%, so sake is nowhere near there.

  2) They are both highly dependent on ingredients (location).
  For wine, it's the terroir, and for sake, it's the water. This makes the location of both liquors' makers an important factor to the flavors.

  3) Taste-wise they are close to each other.
  Especially white wine. Sake can also have sweet, fruity tastes.

  4) The way of drinking is similar.
  When you drink a good wine, you let it roll on your tongue a little, try to find the different flavors. The same goes with sake (God forbid you'd just chug it down like a shot of bad tequila!).

  5) They way they are sold are similar.
  You don't buy 6-packs of sake, but a large sake bottle, similar to (but usually wider than) wine bottles. There are of course small one-cup sizes, and carton sake (similar to box wine), but the main method of purchase has always been the large bottle.

  6) In the US, it's branded as a wine.
  It certainly isn't beer, but if it gets grouped into spirits, sake would be harder to sell in the States, as it would require a separate liquor license to sell it. By counting it as a "wine", stores only need a beer/wine license to sell.

In the end, I feel like wine is "similar enough" to most people to use as a comparison. I said that sake is sake, but really phrasing it like that doesn't help explain things to people. Having something familiar to compare to makes it easy, though I do wish people didn't stop at "sake equals wine", since that isn't an accurate explanation either.

Here are few sites I referenced when looking into the details:
Documents from the Japanese National Tax Agency regarding liquor types (JP).
Homare sake maker website, describing the process of sake-making (JP)
A small article on the similarities of sake and wine (EN)
Oenon, another sake maker. Has pics of the sake-making process (JP)


Was beer conceived to be a bitter drink?

So I'm going to assume you mean historically...

The Wikipedia page has a ton of good info but basically, beer was originally a very sweet beverage due to the wild yeast and under modified malt that was used in the brewing process.  To combat the sweetness, brewers would use Gruit which is an herb mixture to bitter the beer. Hops were also used as a bittering agent, but not to the same extent as gruit.

In 1842, the first Pilsner was brewed, a style which showcases hops and is very pale in color which was revolutionary at the time.  This style took Europe by storm and the migrating Germans to the US brought this taste for hoppy pilsners with them to the US.  There were many competing styles that were popular in the US up until Prohibition.
 After prohibition, the breweries that were still in business chose to produce the beers that appeal to the widest consumer base, I.E. Pilsner drinkers. This is the raison d'etre for the very large breweries.

As for the bitterness in beer, the most common factor is Hops.  Hops contain different acids (Alpha, Beta, Myrcente, etc) that bitter beer in different ways.  The type, quantity and usage of hops in the brewing process can affect the bitterness of beer.
That being said, some styles don't use a lot of hops if at all.  Scottish/Irish ales, for instance, don't have much hop flavor due to the lack of availability of hops in the region.  Other styles originate from locations that have never seen hops.

Hope this helps.  Never be afraid to try new things.


Is there a recipe for a Kosher for Passover beer or ale?

Here's a company that's trying it:

…
According to Chabad.org, beer is '"chametz." What's chametz? According to the site, it's "any food product made from wheat, barley, rye, oats or spelt that has come into contact with water and been allowed to ferment and rise." Aka, considering it is made from wheat and barley, beer is not Passover approved. But! All hope isn't lost — there are now "beers" on the market that are permitted on the Passover table.
An Israeli brewing company called Meadan Craft Brewing has created a beer that's totally kosher for Passover. How? Well, as you know, standard beer is chametz, meaning, it's made with ingredients that need to rise which makes it against Passover law. But this special beer is made with dates. Not only that, but it's gluten-free, too.
…
— Is Beer Kosher For Passover? Here's What You Need To Know About This Popular Drink

But how you can call something made from fruit "beer", when it's obviously "wine", I don't know.
You might consider corn, since it isn't one of the proscribed grains.
But again, there's still the problem of the yeast.
And of course anyone involved in the process up until it's bottled must be a Sabbath-observing male.


Is it okay to store milk stout on the shelf?

It won't hurt you, lactose (the 'key' ingredient of milk stouts) doesn't need to be refrigerated the way actual milk does. However, it is advisable to keep milk stouts refrigerated for two reasons:

1) They generally don't age particularly well, so keeping them in the fridge will best preserve the taste.

2) If a milk stout isn't pasteurized the lactose can provide unfermented carbohydrates for infections to feast on if any bacteria is present. But keeping it in the fridge will drastically slow down any potential infection.


Actually you have nice words to ask in Spain for a shooter beer, but I can add somes:

big quantity (1L or more)

mini
cachi

regular size (200cl-500cl)

tubo

little quantities:

cañita
corto
chato  (used for beer but usually of wine)
zurito (basque country and andalucia but extendind all over Spain)

but we have also words to name beer bottles depending the size:

20cl bottle:

botellin
quinto    (in north regions like Catalunya)

33cl bottle:

tercio
mediana   (in north regions like Catalunya)

1 l  bottle:

litro
litrona
xibi *

* from Xibeca, Damm big bottles


What should I expect from a Belgian triple (tripel)?

I expect a high alcohol beer, with a lot of complex flavors.  One that the alcohol content will "sneak" up on you because it isn't very obvious in the taste.

Quoting from the Beer Judge Criteria:

  Aroma: Complex with moderate to significant spiciness, moderate
  fruity esters and low alcohol and hop aromas. Generous spicy, peppery,
  sometimes clove-like phenols. Esters are often reminiscent of citrus
  fruits such as oranges, but may sometimes have a slight banana
  character. A low yet distinctive spicy, floral, sometimes perfumy hop
  character is usually found. Alcohols are soft, spicy and low in
  intensity. No hot alcohol or solventy aromas. The malt character is
  light. No diacetyl.

  Appearance: Deep yellow to deep gold in color. Good clarity.
  Effervescent. Long-lasting, creamy, rocky, white head resulting in
  characteristic “Belgian lace” on the glass as it fades.

  Flavor: Marriage of spicy, fruity and alcohol flavors supported by a
  soft malt character. Low to moderate phenols are peppery in character.
  Esters are reminiscent of citrus fruit such as orange or sometimes
  lemon. A low to moderate spicy hop character is usually found.
  Alcohols are soft, spicy, often a bit sweet and low in intensity.
  Bitterness is typically medium to high from a combination of hop
  bitterness and yeast-produced phenolics. Substantial carbonation and
  bitterness lends a dry finish with a moderately bitter aftertaste. No
  diacetyl.

  Mouthfeel: Medium-light to medium body, although lighter than the
  substantial gravity would suggest (thanks to sugar and high
  carbonation). High alcohol content adds a pleasant creaminess but
  little to no obvious warming sensation. No hot alcohol or solventy
  character. Always effervescent. Never astringent.

  Overall Impression: Strongly resembles a Strong Golden Ale but
  slightly darker and somewhat fuller-bodied. Usually has a more rounded
  malt flavor but should not be sweet.

  Comments: High in alcohol but does not taste strongly of alcohol. The
  best examples are sneaky, not obvious. High carbonation and
  attenuation helps to bring out the many flavors and to increase the
  perception of a dry finish. Most Trappist versions have at least 30
  IBUs and are very dry. Traditionally bottle-conditioned (“refermented
  in the bottle”).

  History: Originally popularized by the Trappist monastery at
  Westmalle.

  Ingredients: The light color and relatively light body for a beer of
  this strength are the result of using Pilsner malt and up to 20% white
  sugar. Noble hops or Styrian Goldings are commonly used. Belgian yeast
  strains are used – those that produce fruity esters, spicy phenolics
  and higher alcohols – often aided by slightly warmer fermentation
  temperatures. Spice additions are generally not traditional, and if
  used, should not be recognizable as such. Fairly soft water.


Myths and truths about alcohol and antibiotics

QI provides the answer: with a few exceptions (where it will make you vomit) it is perfectly safe to drink alcohol whilst taking antibiotics.

  Apart from some special circumstances, it is on the whole OK to drink while on antibiotics. The reason why people think that you should not is that when antibiotics was first being used it was to cure syphilis. The patients would still be infectious for the first week, so were told not to drink because they were more likely to have sex while drunk. This has since passed down and has become a "tradition" in a way. The main reason that people are told not to drink when on antibiotics is because doctors prefer people not to drink because it is better for them. However, the are some antibiotics like Flagyl which will make you vomit if you take them with alcohol.

ref: Transcript for QI episode 8.10: "health and safety"


I'd start an introduction to sour, or wild ales  with the more approachable Lambics, like Lindemans Framboise Lambic.  With a beer like that, the sour notes from the wild yeast are offset by the sweetness of the fruit and the pleasant texture from the fizz of the carbonation, making it an approachable drink not only for one not used to sour ales, but for one not used to beer at all.

Another option (for a North American) might be a beer categorized as an American Wild Ale, such as Russian River's Consecration, or Sierra Nevada Brux which will have the sour character but also be conscientious of the flavors favorable to the American palate.


It seems as though lighter beers are the most popular:

In northern Germany, a half-and-half made of Pilsner beer and lemon soda is known as an Alster
In southern Germany, a mix of Weißbier and lemon soda is called a "Russ'" (Russian).
The Radler (cyclist) Biermischgetränk has a long history in German-speaking regions. It consists of a 80:20 or 70:30 mixture of beer and German-style lemonade (not American-style lemonade, but sparkling lemon soda, similar but not identical to Sprite or 7 Up).

From wikipedia

In general, shandies are meant to be "refreshing" drinks, so the lighter beers makes sense.  You can get creative with dark or hoppy beers, but in general you want lighter brews like pilsners, saisons, golden ales, etc.


Which Brazilian beers are found outside Brazil?

Brahma and Bohemia are the only Brazilian beers I’ve seen in the United States but only at specialty stores. But this isn’t terribly surprising to me. The vast majority or Brazilian beer is lager and in the United States, we are already flooded with a variety of cheap lager beers and plenty of local craft lager beers.

I can’t find export data for specific countries, but since the United States is one of the biggest beer markets, given the rarity here, I would expect they are increasingly rare the further you get from Brazil.


Why is Lager/Pilsner the most common beer style for alcohol-free beer?

There are several ways to make a non-alcoholic beer (which BTW is not alcohol free. These beers can have .5% ABV). Boiling off the alcohol at 175f degrees, vacuum distillation at 120f degrees and reverse osmosis filters. They all take a toll on flavor and mouthfeel.

Here is a great article:

  The most common way that alcohol is removed from beer is through heating. As we've discussed in several previous articles, alcohol has a much lower boiling point than water. At sea level, it's roughly 173 degrees F.

Then also:

  To minimize this, some operations practice vacuum distilling. Depending on the power of the vacuum, the alcohol's boiling point may be lowered as far as 120 degrees, which is much less disruptive to the flavors.

Then the last way:

  "...beer is passed through a filter with pores so small that only alcohol and water (and a few volatile acids) can pass through. The alcohol is distilled out of the alcohol-water mix using conventional distillation methods, and the water and remaining acids are added back into the syrupy mixture of sugars and flavor compounds left on the other side of the filter.

The reason why hoppy and dark beers can't really be made this way:

  According to Brew Your Own, "The hop aromas will usually be driven off within the first five minutes, while the hop flavors will be gone within the first 15 minutes." This is why neither we nor any of our sources have encountered a half-decent non-alcoholic IPA, which is a damn shame, really.

To sum it up, light lager type beers have little color or flavor to begin with so it's easier for them to come through the process pretty close to what they were before they went in. Hoppy or dark beers would be stripped of so much flavor and color that they would be awful so nobody tries...


Traditional wine recommendation for a romantic evening on Valentine's Day?

As you're planning well ahead, good man, I'd suggest you pair your celebration with the Umbria, as he was Valentinus of Terni, in central Italy. Poor man, bits of him, his relics, are in churches all over, in Dublin, as well as in Rome and Savona, Madrid, Prague, Vienna, Birmingham, Glasgow, Malta, Greece, and France.

Umbrian truffi, truffles, suggests strangozzi (pasta) with black truffles, paired with Montefalco Sagrantino, or gallina ubriaca, drunken hen, a chicken cooked wine; cook it in Montefalco Rosso and, what else, pair it Montefalco Rosso (after all, you don't want to cook with a wine you wouldn't drink).

And then there's Perugia, the capitol of Umbria, and Perugina Baci, kisses, chocolate, how appropriate. Pair that with an Orvieto Classico or Grechetto Bianco.


Is Oyster Stout really made using oysters?

Oyster stout traditionally uses oysters as part of the brewing process, and that is the flavour that differentiates them from other stouts.  While it is traditional to use oysters, some modern breweries use artifical flavours in their oyster stouts, or simply say that they are intended to be eaten with seafood.

You mention Marston's Oyster Stout, which is one example of an oyster stout that doesn't use actual oysters in the brew.  From their website:

  Marston’s Oyster Stout is a dark, creamy, smooth, clean tasting English stout. It doesn’t contain oysters, just called Oyster Stout as this style of ale is a great complement to shell fish dishes.


What is being doubled or tripled in a doublebock/triple bock?

Doppelbock (or double bock) is intense in its maltiness and higher than "single" bock in terms of alcohol content, typically starting around 6-7% and going up to around 13%.  There isn't anything specifically doubled or tripled; rather, doppel idiomatically refers to be being "bigger"/stronger than a standard bock.  In terms of how higher "maltiness" is accomplished, that would depend on the specific beer; mashing at high temperatures, reducing lautering, using certain grains or different yeasts, and other factors all can increase the maltiness of the final product.

A triple bock would just be a naming convention emphasizing even further the maltiness and alcoholic strength of the brew.

As an aside, doppelbocks are an evolution of strong monastic brews used as "liquid bread" for fasting monks, as they were not allowed to consume solid food.  These sweet, malty beers evolved over time into the modern doppelbock.


Recommendations for Tea/Fruity/Sweet beers?

If you like sour beers and fruit flavors, try lambics.  I've known several people who "don't drink beer" who like this style.

A lambic is a Belgian style, light in color and usually in alcohol level, that is fermented with wild yeasts and (usually) combined with fruit.  It has a sour element to the taste, which is most notable with the non-fruit variety (gueuze).


How to order a beer without garnish, simply?

For me, I usually just ask for "no fruit" or "no orange/lime/garnish" and it has always seemed to work. Sometimes I will say "straight up" though I do still get the garnish on occasion I've come to find. I am not sure if this was because the bartender was busy and forgot or if there was some other reason, but I just tend to not say this as much anymore. I've never felt pretentious when I ask, I feel like I am just asking for a beer as is because I just happen to not want the garnish in it. Just be polite about ordering it and I am sure you won't come across as pretentious.


Unique drinks to make Halloween memorable?

I tend to think of drinks with scary names. Specifically you could serve Zombie Dust from 3 Floyds Brewing which has the advantage of being a really excellent beer.

A Google search for "Halloween themed beer" will yield several articles with similarly scary named beers such as here and here.

Lastly, there is the Pumpkin Ale beer style.


Alcohol relaxes your blood vessels as it is a vasodilator.

That means it can improve blood flow - although the negatives far outweigh the positives and most people aren't required to take vasodilators and can be harmed by them.

This is also where the old wives tale about drinking whiskey if you're cold comes from (think St Bernards). It can save your fingers from frost bite, but your body is actually restricting the blood flow for good reason - you may loose fingers but you have a better chance of survival - so it's better to only have that whiskey once you're back in the warmth. Drinking will relax the capillaries in your fingers and toes, allowing the warm blood from your centre-of-mass to flow. This actually means the overall temp of your body will cool down.

As to which kind is "best" it's simply the drink with the highest alcohol content.  Hence traditionally something such as Whiskey or Brandy. For added effect though, you could consider drinks with a high concentration of other naturally occurring vasodilators such as these (from first link):

Coenzyme Q10
L-arginine
Magnesium
Cocoa
Garlic
Niacin (nicotinic acid or vitamin B3)
mint (which contains levomenthol)


When I try to pick beers for friends that don't tend to like "regular beer" in general, there are a few different styles I focus on.  It's worth mentioning up front that there are certain taste aversions that people have to different beers.  You mentioned getting her into a vanilla porter.  I have a favorite from Mill Street in Canada; they make a great vanilla porter.  The caveat though is that I like coffee a lot, and many people averse to beer tend to have trouble with the intense flavors of different varieties of beer, such as extreme hoppiness, heavily malted barley, or, darkly roasted barley that make up stouts and porters.

You mentioned less fruity beers, but talked about "Wild Blue" when you mentioned that.  Wild Blue is a Blueberry flavored lager; it's basically a "regular beer," but is infused with blueberry flavor to change it up.  I would look at other "fruity" styles that are still very authentic and internationally renowned, but pack less of a general beer flavor than a filtered rice/grain/barley beer would...

A good starter would be a more heavily wheat based beer.  Styles like Belgian wheats or German hefeweizens have less of that pronounced "regular beer" flavor, but are still in their own right, very prolific styles.  I tend to find Belgian wheats/"weisse/wittes(whites)" to be a bit more "chewy" with more of a banana/coriander flavor than their full blown German counterparts.  Good wheats that I would recommend would be Franziskaner or Hoegaarden.  They're safe forays into that style of beer that I almost always tend to get for new drinkers.  The cool thing is that if she likes them, you can really experiment with other varieties in that field.  Belgian doubles and triples tend to generally fall into a similar category, and they're arguably some of the finest beers in the world...


To my knowledge, the answer is always no.

To fully experience the flavor of beer, one must swallow it. This is because, unlike the vast majority of wine, beer is carbonated (albeit to varying degrees). When you swallow beer, some of the carbonation escapes the liquid as gas, and actually rises up from your throat into your nose (or, at least, into your nasal passages), carrying with it some of the flavor molecules of the beer. Thus your sense of smell combines with your sense of taste to produce an overall sense of flavor in a manner that is different from what occurs when you drink (uncarbonated) wine.

If you spit out your beer, you're ruining the experience.

(This explanation is based on one that I heard years ago from a brewmaster at Anheuser-Busch. I can't remember his exact words, but you get the gist.)

On a side note, regarding the important relationship between taste and smell, I'm sure you will see tasters at both beer tastings and especially wine tastings swirl their drink a bit to smell it from the glass before tasting it. The difference is that carbonated beverages pack a smell double-whammy coming at you after you swallow.


Beer shop in Brittany (cave à bières bretonnes située en Bretagne)

Please allow me to recommend the Cave à bières à Rennes : Chez Alain.

The French are more into drinking wine, but this shop does beer a lot of justice.

They have around 350 varieties of beer, both imported and domestic.

It also has a small bar situated on site. What more do you need?

  Cave à bières à Rennes : Chez Alain

  Une large gamme de bières artisanales du monde entier en Ille-et-Vilaine

  Découvrez une diversité de bières 100% artisanales à base de malt minutieusement sélectionné. Des bières bretonnes, belges, européenne, ou du reste du monde, sélectionnez votre bière préférée.

  Poussez les portes de notre cave à bières à Rennes et découvrez nos nouveautés et nos derniers arrivages. Vous trouverez 350 références de bières françaises et étrangères (Belgique, Etats-Unis, Canada, Écosse, Norvège, Suède, Italie, Danemark, Hollande, Angleterre, Suisse, Allemagne, République Tchèque…).

Having been there some years ago, it is awesome.

Caveat:

On-line shops may only do sales on-line and may or may not have an inventory shop to browse in. Some are simply middle men so to speak.


Bitters are ales; the English term bitter is generally equivalent to pale ale.  Pale ales are made from pale malt and many types are heavily hopped.  The term bitter refers to the bitterness inherent in their hoppy character when compared to other beers like stouts and porters.

Note that like many beer terms, taxonomy is not hard and fast, e.g. a blonde could be considered a pale ale but few would refer to it as a bitter!


Call them and find out cause in NYC you can get it at a couple of international beer carriers (SEARCH ON YELP).

Or try PRESIDENTE Beer from their DR neighbours at any Publix Supermarket/Wine & Spirits.

Phone Number to Medalla Company


Is chilling champagne in the freezer detrimental to its taste?

English is not my native language and I am not sure of the meaning of the word freezer. I believe it is the part of the fridge that goes under 0°C.
In France, according to my habits, the champagne usually goes in the fridge with the other beverages. We put it in the freezer only when we have unexpected guests and we need to cool the bottle quickly.
The problem if the bottle stays too long in the freezer is that the water in the champagne might freeze which will cause it to lost its carbonation.
On top of that if you drink it too cold you will miss some of its flavour (like for every beverages drink too cold)


Selling after best before date (Belgium/Netherlands)

There's no law infringements in selling beers with past Best Before Date.
EU allows it. A new regulation is awaited by 2021, but the direction is to avoid food waste. Best practice should be the replacement.


When and where did shandies first become popular and why do they get such a bad reputation?

From what I understand, Shandies as we see them now are more similar to the German Radler.  Radler means cyclist in German.  The way I understand the story is that a small pub owner was besieged one day by a slew of thirsty cyclists and knew that his beer supply wouldn't hold out, so he cut it by mixing it with some sort of lemon drink he had on hand.  As far as I know this origin story isn't confirmed and Radler likely grew out of folk attempts to "sessionize" and extend the supply of leftover lager through the summer when lower alcohol and more refreshing drinks were wanted.  According to wikipedia the first printed mention of Radler as a drink was in 1912: Lena Christ: Erinnerungen einer Überflüssigen - Kapitel 20. I believe contemporary Radlers use a lemon-soda sort of drink that's more like a carbonated lemonade than what we'd think of as soda.

Shandy itself is short for Shandygaff which is a British English term from the mid-1800s referring to beer cut with ginger beer or ginger ale. In fact, the OED still defines it as such while Mariam-Webster has loosened it up and allows for any non-alcoholic drink to be used in place of ginger.

As to their reputation, if you'll forgive me a little supposition, most commercial shandies are very pale duplications of mixing lemonade (or lemon soda) with a beer yourself.  The first commercial example I saw was Lienenkugel's and it was abusively sweet.  Sam Adams and The Traveler have fared a little better, but I think a major problem is that to commercially produce a shandy you need to heavily filter and pasteurize the beer and lemonade  to make sure the sugar doesn't ferment or use a non-fermentable sugar, which would change the taste from fresh beer and fresh lemonade.  At the scale a lot of breweries operate at, it possible some of them aren't even using real lemonade regardless of sugar type.  Also, while continuously popular in Europe, beer cocktails never caught on or were lost in America and we tend to think of them now as marketing gimmicks by macro-brewers (Bud Light Lime, Bud Chelada, Miller Chill), though as they become more visible, I think they'll become more accepted.

That said, fresh shandy is incredible, I like using wheat beer.


Does beer really go bad after the 'best before'-date?

The beer will not be bad in the sense of unsafe to drink, since no harmful pathogens grow once the beer is fully fermented. So you can certainly drink the beer.

However, the beer may not taste good! Over time, the beer will oxidize, both from oxygen introduced during packaging, but also through the release of oxygen from compounds previously oxidized in the beer. The oxygen causes the beer to stale, producing tones of sherry, paper, cardboard. Hop aromas are muted, and hop beta acids oxidize to produce an unrefined bitterness. Other forms of staling can lead to a soap taste.

Generally, the higher the alcohol content of the beer the less you need to be concerned with the use by date.


What is the strongest drink in the world?

At the time of writing this the strongest beer in circulation is a scottish made larger/pilsner Snake Venom By Brewmeister, this beer is 67.5% ABV. and is strongly recommended that you only drink small amounts in a sitting, buying a bottle(275ml) of this would set you back a £54.99

Other than this beer there was Koelschip Mistery Of Beer - Brouwerij het Koelschip that was 70% ABV but as I'm aware is no longer in circulation and has had production stopped as the brewery shut down

As far as all alcohol goes the strongest spirit is spirytus rektyfikowany which is a 96% Vodka. The cheapest you will find this is a small bottle(10cl) and  this will cost £7.95 It is is strongly recommended to not drink this neat as it would be damaging


What is the technical term for the "vinegar/easter egg dye" smell in some wines?

Probably what you are smelling is a combination of oxidized wine, ethyl acetate and acetic acid. Oxidized wine smells like sherry and the volatile acidity smells exactly like you described it. Vinegar. Ethyl Acetate smells like nail polish remover.

What happens when you leave wine out, the metabisulfites break down and can't prevent oxidation anymore and also will allow the acetobacter bacteria to do it's thing, which is to convert alcohol into vinegar.


I would spend your limited time and money just tasting wines from one region.  Nahe is a smaller wine region just west of Frankfurt, and I've found the wines there to be good quality, with individual charm (in other words, without the sense that they are mass-produced).  More info here

By all means, talk to locals: the people you're visiting, the clerk in your hotel.  That's almost always a great way to discover something.


Non-alcoholic beers (in the U.S., no more than 0.05% ABV) begin their lives like every other beer; they go through the same 8 step process outlined here, but one step is added between the last two steps -- the conversion.

The beer has already been fermented when added to a conditioning tank, where it is left to mature for several days (the 7th step), from here it is cooked to remove the alcohol. Due to the absurdly high boiling point of water (100°C), it is easy to evaporate the alcohol (boiling point = 78.3°C) and leave the rest of the beer behind.  Vacuum evaporation is also used in most modern breweries to preserve flavor and speed up the process.

Another method used is reverse osmosis, which allows the water and alcohol to escape from the beer through a membrane. The alcohol is then distilled from the solution, and the water is added back to the sugary syrup originally left behind, reforming the beer (minus alcohol).

The beer is now non-alcoholic and continues to the last step of the brewing process where it is filtered, carbonated, and stored (until it is packaged for sale).


What exactly is this process of adding hops called?

I looked through my beer books and I couldn't find a single word that describes the addition of hops. Generally brewers describe the addition of hops based on their intended flavoring. Bittering additions or aroma additions. There are a variety of additions depending on timing. Here is a partial list:

First Wort Hopping - Added before the wort is boiled

Bittering - 90-45 minutes before end of wort boiling

Flavoring - 40-20 minutes before end of wort boiling

Finishing - 15-0 minutes before end of wort boiling

Flameout - after the finish of boil and before pitching yeast

Dry Hopping - during or after beer fermenting

How Hops are used


How is expired beer typically disposed of by large retailers?

Some breweries will by back beer that is past its freshness date (Sam Adams is well-known for this), while some will split the cost with the distributor. - Beer - When good beer goes bad

I have had beers that were quite fine well after there expiration date. And I have had beers that were simply horrible after the expiation date. Cooler temperatures will prolong the lifespan of most beers.

But how is expired beer typically disposed of by large retailers is a different matter?

  To avoid getting spoiled beer, check for a “brewed on” or “best by” date stamp, and avoid those that are not so labeled, especially if they have a fine layer of dust on them or visible sediment in the bottle (bottle-conditioned beers, however, are supposed to have a yeast sediment). Most pale ales, lagers and hefewiezens are best within three to six months of brewing. Darker beers and those with higher alcohol content might last a year. A few special beers are meant to be aged, but they are the exception rather than the rule. Beers stored in the cooler are less likely to spoil than those stored at room temperature, although many liquor stores stack case boxes on the floor, and those beers are less likely to be light-struck.

  Some breweries will by back beer that is past its freshness date (Sam Adams is well-known for this), while some will split the cost with the distributor. In other cases, the retailer is left holding the bag for beer that did not move well. Still, liquor stores should not sell beer that has lost its quality. Let retailers know that a beer is expired or to return beers that you find to be stale (don’t do this just because you don’t like the beer — read some reviews of the beer and see what it is supposed to taste like). Check back in a few days and see how they have responded to your complaints.  If the expired beer is still on the shelf, let them know that you plan to shop elsewhere. - Beer - When good beer goes bad


It is in my opinion mainly thanks to low excise duty on beer in the Czech republic.

Another factor is the fact that there are lower prices of almost everything in the Czech republic (I am talking mainly about local food and beverages).

And last but not least, Czech republic is I guess second or third in the whole world in beer consumption, which means there is high level of demand for traditional czech beer, which allows producers to produce beer in large quantities.


Why is the Dogfish Head 120 minute IPA so expensive?

I think there are three main reasons.

1) Direct production costs. Dogfish declares adding hops for two hours, and this has a cost you need to pay (more hops, more time)

2) Alcohol content. Taxes may depend on ABV (for minimum rate of excise duty on beer in the EU, see here). The higher is the ABV, the higher is the tax.

3) Marketing. The beer is a very special one, and it is easier for Dogfish to find consumers willing to pay more for such a special beer.


Why is beer regulated differently than other types of alcohol?

Part of it is philosophical

Why are airplane pilots regulated differently from car drivers?  Because it's much easier to do damage with one vs the other.  Likewise, it's a lot easier to get so drunk that you do something stupid (or just get alcohol poisoning) on liquor than beer.  As such, they're treated differently.

Part of it is political

The companies that make beer are not generally the same ones that make liquor.  Those two groups of companies also have different groups of lobbyists, who have pushed for laws at different times in different political climates.

Part of it is practical

Liquor and beer production face different logistical needs.  For example:

Beer has much higher shipping costs per dollar worth of product, so shipping rules might need to be different.
Breweries have a need to keep their product cold at the point of sale, so it might make sense to have them sold in stores that already have coolers (like gas stations), whereas liquor companies wouldn't push as hard for that availability.
Liquor has no equivalent of the brewpub, so they don't really care much about sales at their production facility.
Beer has less consumer utility per unit of volume than liquor (ie, you need more of it to have the same amount of fun), so people generally need it closer to their houses.  Since you don't need to buy liquor as often as you buy beer, it's more feasible to have centralized liquor stores

Part of it is "moral"

Especially on the US East coast, there are a lot of laws around booze with their origins in religious morality and the puritan aversion to alcohol.  Beer, being seen as a "lesser evil", tends to have less opposition to laws that would increase its availability.


What's the difference between Cava and Champagne?

Well, Champagne has to come from Champagne and has made out of a combination of 3 grapes (Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier or Chardonnay) and made using the Méthode Champenoise techniques. They think this truly reflects the terroir of the Champagne region. They were one of the first to assert their regional identity around the world by enforcing their region name as almost a trademark. They forced Californians to stop using the the word Champagne when they make sparkling wines (ok there exceptions from before the treaty was signed)

Cava just like Champagne is tightly regulated. It has to be made in a certain place with certain grapes and with certain methods (Méthode Champenoise again). Again, Cava is supposed to reflect the Terroir of the place it's made (Mostly Catalonia). Cava can be as expensive as good Champagne.

Both regions make excellent sparkling wine. Can you tell the difference? Probably not to the untrained palate. I think even I would have a difficulty telling the difference between a high end Cava and Champagne. The only way you'll know is to start buying and tasting!


Origin of the "lick, sip, suck" tequila shot technique

This article does not reference any date, but says something interesting:

  Mexicans have long known that a little sodium chloride on the tongue can help to mollify the fiery flavor that characterizes much of their food. They use salt when downing chile peppers, for example. By the same token, citrus juices of various kinds have long been used to kill the aftertaste of the more potent forms of alcohol [...] Anyway, when tequila came to the U.S., the salt and lime (or lemon) bit came with it.

Further, Stanford University Press Blog states that salt and lime were used to mask bad tequila:

  Legend holds that the origin of serving salt and lime with tequila evolved as a response to an early tequila “boom” in the late 19th-century. The unpredicted spike in popularity led to a proliferation of poor quality tequila brands; salt and lemon were used to mask the taste of crudely-made tequila. Unpleasant or not, the ritual remained and soon became a familiar feature throughout Mexican popular culture.


First, a disclaimer:  I'm American and most of my knowledge of craft beer comes from the American beer scene.  I am somewhat aware of the evolution of the UK brewing industry, but nowhere near as knowledgeable as I am about America's.

Now, definitions.  Craft Beer commonly derives the Brewer's Association definition of a Craft Brewer.  Which is Small, Independent, Traditional.  Sparing the specifics it's a definition meant to exclude the world's largest brewing companies, and their "crafty" portfolios.  "Crafty" is a pejorative used to describe brands or brewers which may or may not produce good tasting beer, but are owned by the larger brands in attempts to diversify their portfolios.  While the BA is primarily focused on the American market, it seems most European writers defer to their terms.

Real Ale, is a distinctly British term.  Coined by CAMRA in the 70's it's more to do with the packaging and serving of the beer in the pub than the business scale of the brewer.  All Real Ale has to do is be cask conditioned and served via a gravity tap or hand-pulled with a beer engine.  This excludes a majority of what we in the US would consider craft beer, because it excludes anything kegged, filtered, force carbonated, or pushed with pressurized gas.

This leads to an interesting overlap where an unfiltered beer, carbonated by natural fermentation, could NOT be a real ale because it was kegged and served on gas.  Also, nothing prevents a large brand like Murphy's or Beamish (both owned by Heineken) from marketing a "Real Ale".

These definitions aside: It sounds like you may just be an IPA fan.  Your craft beer list is entirely IPAs.  It's not really accurate to conflate Craft and IPAs because plenty of craft beers are stouts, rye beers, Scotch ales, English bitters, or totally non-traditional things.

Another issue you might have with "Real Ale" is a technical note.  Because it's exposed to oxygen as soon as the cask is tapped real ale tends to spoil if it's not drank quickly.  The characteristic tastes of oxidized beer are cardboard, and the characteristic tastes of beer left on dead yeast for way too long is soapy.  I can easily see that coming off as "waxy", especially if it's warmer than you're used to drinking and you've just downed some IPAs.

Beer today is probably the best its ever tasted because of refinements in production techniques and farming.  Consumers are becoming interested in what their beer is made of so the quality of ingredients and care on a whole is improving.  But real ale is a niche,  there are going to be great traditional brewers making phenomenal beer, but it's prone to spoilage if not treated well.  There may also be those using it as a marketing gimmick.

And finally a last point about industrialization:  It has vastly improved the quality of ingredient and process that all brewers use.  The huge brands we now have, all started off as craft at one point.  But if they are no longer craft they either couldn't weather the market and faced the choice of no longer being a company or selling to a business and risk becoming more about business than beer.  In the US we have large breweries proving you can still be pretty big and make good beer.  Sam Adams, Stone Brewing, Dogfish Head, Yuengling, are HUGE by craft standards and haven't compromised the quality of their ingredients because brewers are still in charge.  Industrialization will never prevent a brewery lead by a passionate brewer from making interesting beer, but leaving brewing decisions up to a business man will always making boring beer.


What's name of the cognac in the below Armenian photo?

It is without doubt the Armenian "Proshyan" VSOP cognac. It is not the "Proshyan" XO or the "Proshyan" VS. All three are from Armenia.

"Proshyan" VSOP


the bubbles are most probably just CO2 coming out of suspension. This can be due to temperature diffences between the beer and the beerline, or because of something causing the agitation (dirt in the beerline).

If the beer is overcarbonated this will happen quicker. Try to get the beer & beerline at the same temp, or get the beerline even colder.


tl;dr—Yes, but only at safe levels.

Formaldehyde was detected in beer, at safe levels, as far back as 1983:

  A simple procedure was developed for the determination of formaldehyde in samples of beer and soft drinks. [...] Levels of formaldehyde found were in the low mg/kg range. Detection limits were less than 0.1 mg/kg of sample.

Lawrence, J. F. and Iyengar, J. R. The Determination of Formaldehyde in Beer and Soft Drinks by HPLC of the 2,4-Dinitrophenylhydrazone Derivative. 1983; published online 2006. [URL]

A more recent study summarizes how China came under scrutiny, but also how industry standards have changed since (emphasis mine, hereon):

  In 2005, various Chinese newspapers reported that formaldehyde was detected in 95% of the samples of Chinese commercial bottled beers tested in the course of a journalistic investigation. The addition of formaldehyde during mashing is allowed in China, and it is believed to improve the clarity of the resulting wort and beer and the colloidal stability of the latter. Nevertheless, the hygienic standard for fermented alcoholic beverages in China was revised, to stipulate that the formaldehyde content of the finished beer must not exceed 2 mg/L.

Wu, Q. et al. Investigation into Benzene, Trihalomethanes, and Formaldehyde in Chinese Lager Beers. 2012. [PDF]

From the abstract of the same paper,

  Beers brewed commercially in China have been surveyed for the presence of a number of potential contaminants, including benzene, trihalomethanes and formaldehyde. [...] Formaldehyde was measured in 29 beers (including 7 imported brands) using solid-phase microextraction with on-fiber derivatization. Formaldehyde levels were between 0.082–0.356 mg/L. None of the beer samples exceeded WHO drinking water criteria for benzene, trihalomethanes or formaldehyde.

The researchers compared their results to existing literature, which they found were similar:

  Donhauser and co-workers examined beers from Europe, using a HPLC method, and showed that 65% of them contained detectable formaldehyde, although in many the level was close to the detection limit of 0.2 mg/L. More recently, the South Korean Food and Drug Administration has analysed imported beers (13 from China and 4 from Germany). They found that the average content of formaldehyde was 0.132 mg/L, which was compatible with food safety legislation.

(I couldn't find a free link to the above-referenced material, only a citation.)

Apparently, formaldehyde does appear naturally in the brewing process (though, again, I couldn't find the study, only another citation):

  Borchert has confirmed that formaldehyde can be formed naturally in the brewing process, thus beers can contain up to 0.1 mg/L of formaldehyde, even when none is used in the brewery.

Anyway, formaldehyde no longer seems preferred as a clarification agent, as a substitute exists:

  To meet consumer expectations and to avoid further problems, more and more breweries now choose PVPP as a replacement product for the clarification of wort and beer.


Are there drinks/cocktails involving vinegar?

There is a whole class of drinks called Shrubs

Shrubs usually involve a base syrup made from vinegar and fruits and spices and then mixed with a spirit.

Shrub syrups are available online in a variety of flavors and there are plenty of recipes out there too for creating your own Shrubs at home.

My experience with and what I would define as a example Shrub would involve a shrub syrup, fresh fruit muddled in it with a spirit and then mixed, topped off with crushed ice and soda water.


Where I can check the age of this blended scotch whisky?

For blended whisky, the age is not generally considered a relevant factor. There will be a range of ages and whiskies in there, chosen to make the end result.

Unless a particular blend has ages specified (the Grant's Family Reserve doesn't), all you can guarantee is that the youngest whisky is 3 years old.

As an example, another Grant's whisky, the 12 year old, has whiskies that are 12 years old and older blended into it.


Why is some beer kept in/served from a firkin in a bar?

Yes the same beer from a cask and a keg will be VERY different.

To your first point, breweries and bars will often have specially treated casks in ways that are impossible to do with kegs.  Stuff like dry-hopping the beer in the cask at the bar so it's at its freshest and most intense.  With a keg you'd need to put this between the tap and the glass like a Randall but with a cask you can just pop the cap and shove whatever you want in there.

Casked beer also generally still have active yeast in it, at least according to CAMRA's rules, while kegs are filtered and have no yeast in them.  Because of this there's a lot of preparation involved in a proper real ale cask.

The cask will come sealed from the brewery.  First a soft spile or peg must be driven into the top hole.  This is just a porous plug that allows air out.  Based on how foamy this gets the bar can see how active the yeast is.
When the yeast dies down the soft spile gets replaced with a hard spile which stops gas exchange.  The cask then has to sit for a while so all the yeast can fall to the bottom as well as any other particulates or large proteins in the beer.  This is called "Dropping Bright"
Finally, once the beer has dropped bright the cask can be tapped which involves removing the hard spile and also either hooking up the side hole to a beer engine or a simple tap.

Because of all this and traditionally being served from a cellar or bartop at "cellar temperature" vs kegs which are refrigerated the beer that comes out will be slightly warmer (40-50F vs 30-40F), much slower because of the pumping and off-gassing from the pour, and way less carbonated.  Some beer engines will also use "sparkler" taps that fizz up the beer even more on the way out to generate more head but also results in a less carbonated beer.

The result is a beer that will generally be smoother and rounder, you may get more flavor and more sweetness since it's warmer.  Some flavors will come out more in the warmer and less carbonated and some will be overshadowed.  Mouthfeel will be affected a lot by both factors as well.  It's a hugely different animal and sometimes people like it.


How much actual alcohol is safe to drink per day?

The CDC suggests no more than 2 drinks a day as moderate drinking.

The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism suggests no more than 4 drinks per day, and no more than 7 drinks per week, to stay at a low risk for an alcohol use.

At 17 your brain is still developing and imbibing alcohol runs the very real risk of affecting that development. Drink in moderation.

In response to the below comment, a single drink technically does vary but about 45ml / 1.5oz of spirit (e.g. vodka), a 5oz glass of wine, or a 12oz beer.

When I say it varies, different locations have different measurements. Check out this page:

Standard drink (Wikipedia)


Are different mainstream Lagers really all that different?

Most generic lagers have subtle differences, but in general as you say they are usually very similar.

To be frank, though, this is something I find with just about any style of beer. For instance, if I'm buying an imperial stout from any given brewery I can reasonably expect what the beer is going to taste like for the most part. The only thing that really brings it down below my standard is if it's just not a quality beer.

In the same way generic lagers are an equivalent style and have a similar purpose, to be non-offensive and give people the 'beer' taste that they expect. So if you're drinking a Canadian, to a Bud, to a Sapporo you can expect them to be pretty similar.

The one additional thing I'll say, though, is that when beer falls into the realm of 'craft' you usually see a higher range of flavour within a style, than with generics, though. This is because the very purpose of a generic lager is not to stand out as to gain mass appeal.


I don't think anyone would deliberately or professionally serve warm beer, if by warm you mean something close to body temperature. Generally speaking, cask ale (as opposed to pressurised keg beer) is served, in the UK at least, and according to CAMRA's website, at cellar temperature: 12-14 C (54-57 F), whereas lager and keg beer is usually served much colder.

So much for the purist. My preference is always for cask ale to be served cool, but not cold, so that the flavours can be properly appreciated. Good quality lager should be served colder, and I prefer Czech pilsners at around 6-8 C - about the same temperature as you'd want white wine to be. But on a burning hot day in the African sunshine (where I'm from), there is nothing as refreshing as an ice-cold (and I mean ice-cold) ordinary mass-market lager, straight out of the bottle. You can't distinguish tastes as readily at those temperatures. Refreshment is the key there: you don't really care about taste in those circumstances (if you did you'd be drinking something else).


Is there something special about Corona that makes it suitable for adding a slice of lime?

I would say it's the light body, low maltiness and low bitterness that make it amenable to citrus additions (and perhaps other additions.)

The low flavor and bitterness means:

if you choose to add something, you need only a little of it before you can taste/smell the addition
there's less "interference" from the flavors of the beer so the addition tastes cleaner

Contrast with adding citrus to a Czech Pils for example. You'd have to add much more juice - the bitterness and malt backbone of the beer would compete with the citrus additions.


Where can I find a Coriolis IPA in the UK?

From their website, it looks like they only distribute around Connecticut.  If you are really interested in pursuing it, acheong87's recommendation of finding someone to trade with may be your best bet.


What is the regulatory process of being able to produce and sell an alcoholic drink in South Africa commercially?

A simple google search for "alcohol manufacturing south africa" turns up a lot of helpful results...
Essentially, you need to apply for a macro manufacturing and/or distribution liquor license. In order to do so, you will need to register with the National Liquor Authority (NLA) of South Africa.
The information you need to provide and requirements you need to meet include, but are not limited to: company information, financial interest in the liquor industry, obtaining a "B-BEE" Certificate (Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment Codes of Good Practice,) projected annual turnover, and a registration fee.
Required documents include:

Applications should be accompanied by:

A business zoning certificate for industrial purposes or a consent    letter from the relevant municipality;
A comprehensive written representation in support of the application;
Any determination, consent approval or authority required by the Act;
Valid proof that the prescribed application fee has been deposited in    the bank account of the dti;
A valid certified copy of ID or passport of the applicant;
Trading business permit if the applicant is a foreigner;
A South African Police Services (SAPS) police clearance certificate    not older than three months from the date of issue;
If the applicant is a juristic person, valid copies of registration    issued by the Companies and Intellectual Property    Commission   (CIPC) or any other relevant registration authority    indicating the financial interest of all members, shareholders,    partners or   beneficiaries as the case may be;
A valid tax clearance certificate if the applicant is a juristic    person issued by the South African Revenue Services (SARS) within 12 months from the date of application;
Verification certificate issued in terms of the B-BBEE Act.

Considering that the sales and distribution ban in South Africa was recently lifted, I'd say it's a good time to get registered, if you have not already. ;)


What beer is ok to drink not-cold or room temperature (for camping)

Somewhat related: What temperature should I serve my beer? In short, beers don't need to be served as cold as many are led to believe, and darker beers tend to be meant to serve warmer (as warm as 55°F). You certainly don't want to drink warm Coors, so maybe bring along some stouts.

In case there isn't a stream around to do what @user23614 suggests, bring some newspapers. Wet a sheet of newspaper and wrap the bottle with a single layer. Leave the bottle somewhere the breeze can blow on it, until most of the water evaporates. This is probably a common camping trick, but I first saw Moroccans in the Sahara Desert do this to chill a bottle of wine.


How can I try a wide variety beers without buying them by the case/spending a lot of money?

You can look for breweries in your areas that give tours. These often include free tastings. (Since you mentioned you're from the Chicago area, I know there's a bus tour that takes you to different breweries in Chicago and Milwaukee. There's a fee, but you'd get to try a lot of different beers.)

Also, look for brewpubs and restaurants in your area that sell flights of beer. A flight is 4-5 samples of different beers served together. The cost is normally about the same as a full glass, and the total volume is usually the same or a little more. This allows you to try 4 or 5 different beers for about the same price as you'd normally pay for one.


Drink it neat but chilled. the author of the Wikipedia entry seems to agrees with this statement too.

  Limoncello is traditionally served chilled as an after-dinner digestiv

I would recommend it chilled in a chilled shot glass. It’s an aperitif/digestiv so you wouldn’t want to fill up on it...Separately you are quite right though, it is a nice cocktail ingredient and there are plenty of recipies on your search engine of choice!


What do you obtain by concentrating/distilling beer?

There are a number of distilled spirits that are made from the same grains that are used to make beer, so could be considered to be "distilled beer".

The most obvious one is whisky, which can be made using various grains including including barley, malted barley, rye, malted rye, wheat, buckwheat and corn.[1]  Whiskys don't generally include hops though, so you wouldn't use a random beer as a starting point.

Vodka can also be made from grain, but the production process removes most of what you'd consider to be "beer".


Why changes taste of beer when transported by plane?

If your craft beer is unfiltered, unpasteurised beer with live yeast, then any kind of transport could alter its flavour profile.

Other variables that could effect its flavour are:

changes in altitude (not during flight)
no resting after transport (depending on yeast content up to two weeks)
bottling problems (oxygen in bottleneck)
difference between drinking and ambient temperature (e.g. beers taste different in summer and winter)
olfactory changes (flu, humidity, ambient smells)
drinking method (glass or bottle make a taste difference)
transporting bottles that are not so fresh (closer to their exp. date)

Pure speculation/unlikely:

cosmic radiation
altitude changes during flight irreversible

Any of the above mentioned changes in temperature as well as choosing a glass instead of a bottle etc. effect CO² in various ways. This results in a different drinking sensation (the tingling in the nose; try "smelling" the CO² and compare with a flat beer) and different taste (pH).

Humidity, climate, season could alter your perception. An imperial stout for instance takes you over the edge in summer while you would feel perfectly fine in winter.

Ambient temperature has an immense effect on the beer. It effects nearly everything from how much CO² is released upon opening the bottles to what the perfect drinking temperature is. The drinking temperature has an immense effect on how strong hops, sugars and alcohol taste.

Such changes in taste are not unheard of and more likely to occur in strong, malty beers. Flights are not necessary to have such an effect. Any long-distance transport would do.

To test if the beer has actually changed during transport, you could try transporting it back.


One whiskey that I know of is the Snow Grouse it is a blended grain whiskey that as by the name is supposed to be drank cold.
 Some would even say that this whiskey is better straight from the freezer


What is the best angle to store beer bottles?

In general, you just want to store your beer bottles standing upright. For tons of detail on bottle storage, BeerAdvocate has a great guide, but in short: storing a standard shaped beer bottle upright minimizes the surface area exposed to air in the bottle, slowing oxidation, and preventing spoilage. Additionally, in the case of unfiltered or bottle conditioned beers, it's highly desirable that any yeast settle at the bottom of the bottle - and not anywhere else.


It's probably "barrel char" which is the inside of the barrel that was carbonized or "charred". Charred wood is pretty flaky and comes off easily. Sometimes this gets filtered out and sometimes the maker doesn't do a perfect job. Either way, if it's been soaking in alcohol for many years, it's probably not going to hurt you at this point!


What does rolling/swirling a hefeweizen actually do?

A proper hefeweizen is an unfiltered beer. The yeast and other sediment that would be filtered out for other brews is left in. These particles tend to accumulate on the bottom of the bottle during storage.

By swirling the the beer in the bottle you're suspending that yeast and sediment so it can be poured into your glass. This is what gives hefeweizens their fruity (banana?) flavor.


Here is a list from the Wine Faults Wikipedia page. These faults, for the most part, will not do any harm when they are in wine (they aren't strong enough) They just taste bad.

Acetaldehyde    Smell of roasted nuts or dried out straw. Commonly associated with Sherries where these aromas are considered acceptable

Amyl-acetate    Smell of "fake" candy banana flavoring

Brettanomyces   Smell of barnyards, fecal and gamey horse aromas Cork taint Smell of a damp basement, wet cardboard or newspapers and mushrooms

Butyric acid    Smell of rancid butter

Ethyl acetate Smell of vinegar, paint thinner and nail polish remover

Hydrogen sulfide    Smell of rotten eggs or garlic that has gone bad

Iodine  Smell of moldy grapes

Lactic acid bacteria    Smell of sauerkraut

Mercaptans  Smell of burnt garlic or onion

Oxidation   Smell of cooked fruit and walnuts. Also detectable visually by premature
    browning or yellowing of the wine

Sorbic acid plus lactic acid bacteria   Smell of crushed geranium leaves

Sulfur dioxide  Smell of burnt matches. Can also come across as a pricking sensation in the nose.