Barley, Water, Hops and finally Yeast

     Barley, Water, Hops and finally, Yeast. These are the only 4 things that for centuries could be used in German Beers. Why? do you ask. Well this is price that Bavaria made the other German states pay for it to join them in a unified Germany in 1871. Introduced in Bavaria in 1516, it was called the Reinheitsgebot ( the German beer purity law).
     The Reinheitsgebot made it illegal to use anything but Barley, Water and Hops (yeast not having been discovered yet, wasn't included till the 1800's). Brought in supposedly to stop competition for grains between bakers and brewers and to keep the cost of a loaf of bread affordable, it's actual effect was to remove the diversity and originality from the rest of Germany. Outside of Bavaria the Germans brewed much like their Belgium cousins, lots of adjuncts, wheats, sugars, fruits and spices. Belgium today brews over 1500 different types of Beer, many of them available only in the pub where they are brewed. Imagine where Germany would be today without 200 odd years of constrictions, instead of being dominated by Pilsners and Kolsch's, Abbey ales and Lambics may have evolved even further but we will never know.
     Interestingly enough the Reinheitsgebot was also introduced into Greece in the 1800's due to a Bavarian prince, the first Greek king.
     The Reinheitsgebot is still in force today but only for beers produced in Germany (imported beers can use anything also used in making food) having transitioned through the West German Biersteueergesetz (beer taxation law) to the Vorlaufiges Biergesetz, an expanded Reinheitsgebot to include different malts and sugars for top fermenting beers (ales and the like), and for yeast to be used in bottom fermenting beers (lagers etc).
     Many home brewers and breweries  like to boast that they follow the Reinheitsgebot and that because of this their beers are better than anything else, but I thinkpersonally it's more just a way to limit their creativity. Imagine if every beer had to be brewed by those rules, it would be a pretty boring old selection. Now thats not to say there isn't a place for Reinheitsgebot, it's just not for everyone.

Beer and Cider of the Week

Premiun Organic Cider 6.5% - Westons Brewery UK - mouth puckeringly terrible with sulphides overwhelming any apple taste .

Kamikaze Bitter 5% - Dent Brewery UK - the english barley and hops combine to give an overpowering honeycomb taste and fruit vinegar nose ( noticed after drinking was sold to us 6 months past best before )

Pale Ale 4.9% - Moo Brew  Tasmania - the cascade hops and malt combine to produce a nice middle of the road Pale Ale ( interesting bottle shape that they have patented )

News From Coopers

     After sending an email through to Coopers about their event staff ( see Canberra Craft Beer Festival post ) I received an explanation and an apology today which I am happy to accept.

     In other Coopers news, already the worlds largest home brew kit and equipment supplier they have now taken over Mr Beer in the USA. Mr Beer has over 14000 outlets in the US as well as its online store and is the biggest distributor in America.

     With SabMiller's takeover of Fosters, Coopers is now Australia's largest locally owned Brewery.

In the Brew Room this Week

     This week has seen us bottling the first of our Sweet Meads, using 500gms more honey than the Medium Mead this Sweet  Mead is living up to its name with a finishing gravity of 1.040 there's plenty of body and sweetness, and  with 14.5% alcohol quite a kicker.
     The Blueberry Melomel has been racked off the berries and is tasting pretty good with a great purple colour, another month and it will be time to bottle.
     The two Stouts are now conditioning in the fridge for a couple of weeks prior to bottling.

We are now on the hunt for fresh apple juice and are waiting to hear back from a couple of orchards, we are looking to make a cider with no sulphides or sugar just juice and yeast. We will keep you posted.

Also we have just put down a ginger beer kit and it is bubbling away nicely. We made a starter yeast for this and were amazed to see it go so hard after just 4 hours.

Paddy's Hop Harvest Festival

     Held in the Markets Hotel at Flemington ( also the home of Paddy's Brewery ), the Hop Harvest Festival showcased many of the Craft Breweries of NSW. With brewers ranging from HopDog and Illawara on the south coast; through to Sydney's Redoak, Lord Nelson, Ekim, Happy Goblin and 4 Pines brewing; west to Mudgee Brewing and north to Black Duck brewing in Port Macquarie.

     As you would expect from a Hop harvest festival, Pale Ales, IPAs and Bitters dominated the day with special mention going to Black Ducks Indian Runner IPA and Ekim's Berserka Ale. Both are malt driven and not overloaded with bitterness but with plenty of hop freshness and aroma. We managed to be the first punters to try 4 Pines new release Hop Harvest Lager which is so well balanced you don't notice the 50 IBU that goes with it.

     Paddy's offers 6 of it's own beers of which we tried the Ginger Beer ( great taste and spice), the seasonal Belgium Dubel 6.4% ( more alcohol with some esters ) and the double White Wheat ( packed full of citrusy taste )

     In a great contrast to the Canberra festival not only were the beers poured by the brewers themselves but it cost them nothing to attend and show off their beers and the $3 a midi or $2 a pony went straight to the brewers themselves allowing them to take something away for their efforts on the day

St Peters Brewery from the inside

     Located in, funnily enough, St Peters; Matt Donelan ( formally of Harbour Beer company ) has been running St Peters Brewery and servicing the local pubs and clubs since 2000. With his offsider Gerard Meares ( of Pinchgut Brewing fame ) the boys offer 3 draft and 3 bottled beers. The beer that started it all, Blonde Premium ( Australias FIRST Blonde beer), E'ville Pilsner and Thunderbolt Ale on tap and Green Star Lager ( a bottled version of Blonde ),Cinnamon Girl (a spiced ale ) and Killagh Stout ( a fabulous oatmeal Stout ).

      Matt started out with a passion for beer, and for many years was a member of the Eastern Suburbs Homebrewing Club. Matt was able to translate that passion into a successful business by offering services to other breweries, including consulting, relief brewing, installations and product development. All of this effort provided a network of mates and acquaintances to bring about his ultimate goal of providing the local area with great Artisan Beer through a wholesale only microbrewery. By being wholesale only, Matt has given up the face to face selling and branding of his product and relied on good old customer service and the beers themselves to do the selling. "If they run out of beer in the afternoon they get a full one the next day, not next week "

    
     With his engineering background Matt has been able to assemble a brewery unlike any we have seen before, yes there are the standard conical fermenters but then there is also the re purposed syrup and dairy tanks which are now the hot liquor tank and Ale fermenters, the home made keg cleaner and the brilliant 4 head bottle filler ( really need quick hands for this one ). This brewery looks and feels organic with pieces being found, scrounged, traded for or made, to the point that Matt never knows what he may run across on his travels that will then find its way into service.
     Matt has a firm belief in keeping things local and being as enviro-freindly as possible. To this end, distribution is kept local ( you wont find his beers outside of inner west Sydney ). All spent grain is combined with another local breweries and goes to stock feed. These combine to keep what is known as the "beer miles" to as low a level as possible. Hating cardboard boxes with a passion Matt vowed never to use them and instead uses a system of returnable crates when distributing his bottled beer.

    
     Keeping busy is not a problem Matt and Gerard face, generally making 6 - 8 batches a week not only of their own beer but also contract brewing, making for a pretty steady turnover and lots of manual labour. The boys are currently developing a new beer for the Great Australian Beer Spectacular being held in Melbourne on May 11th - 13th, called Christmas Tree. In the ultimate act of recycling Matt is using last years christmas tree to create a Pine infused Ale, something definately worth trying if you are in melbourne or a week later at the Local Taphouse in Sydney
     Visit Matt and Gerrard at http://www.stpetersbrewerysydney.com.au/
                                        or http://pinchgutbrewing.com.au/

Our thanks to Matt and Gerard for taking the time to meet with us and run us through St Peters Brewing

Beer and Cider of the Week

Imported Beer - Saison Dupont from Belgium

Highly carbonated, packed with esters with a good hop finish

Local Beer - Three Sheets Pale Ale  from the Lord nelson brewery in Sydney

A good standard Pale Ale, balanced malt taste with low hops. This is much better draft than bottled.

Imported Cider - Black Rat premium cider from Moles brewery in Wiltshire UK

This Cider is terrible, they have overdosed it with sulphites - it's the only thing you smell and dominates the taste and so tart it leaves your mouth puckered.