Author: markthomas12

I am a home brewer. I’ll always like to share the home brewing tips through video’s and blogs. You can also read my Blogs here.

Why don’t the Russians Consider Beer an Alcoholic Drink?

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It is one of the prevalent Russian beer facts that a majority of people in the country are quite fond of beer drinking. On the other hand, it is also the truth that the Russians do consider beer as an alcoholic beverage. However, the legal classification of beer as an alcoholic drink was done in the year 2011 through a federal bill signed by the then Russian president, Dmitry Medvedev. Previously, even the best Russian beer was considered foodstuff if it had less than 10% alcohol.

According to some other Russian beer facts, the beer sale over the previous decade had risen by more than 40%, because consumers were taking beer as a healthier alternative to spirits. The popular types of best Russian beer were being sold 24 hours a day, without any store restriction. Under the new law, beer is now an alcoholic drink, as it contains ethyl alcohol produced by beer wort fermentation. Even the beer having 1% to 4% alcohol is treated as a low-alcohol drink in Russia. However, a beer with 0% alcohol is not taken as an alcoholic drink.

Another of Russian beer facts is that the same rules and regulations govern the sale, promotion and prohibition of beer as applicable to other alcoholic drinks. More than 1,200 beer producers are now restricted with their media advertising, while the unlicensed kiosks cannot sell it. However, the best Russian beer, from porter and IPA to lager and wheat ale, is still in the high demand.

What is Dry-hopped Beer?

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Dry hopped beer is prepared with a special brewing technique that was followed in Britain centuries ago. The hopped cones are known for their antibacterial qualities. These are added to the cask of mature beer for preserving it while transporting without freezing or refrigeration. After that, in the 1980s, with the development of more US breweries, dry hopping beer was prepared to improve the texture of this beverage. 

Later, UK craft brewers opted dry hopping for preparing different types of beers, ranging from IPAs and Pilsner to stouts and sours. When we talk of dry hopping, it means dried hops are used in the fermentation vessel. After that, brewers suspend the mesh bags containing hops just like a huge teabag. Other approaches involve the circulation of beer in hop-filled columns. This is done to extract and retain maximum essential oils. 

What’s the dry hop brewing process?

During dry hop beer brewing process, the dry hops are added for boil in three stages. The first one at the start, the second boil a few minutes before the end of the process and the final boil at the end when the heat is released. 

Compared to fruit-flavoured hops, dry hops give herbal, grassy and resinous aroma to the beer. All the essential oils evaporate during the boiling process. Meanwhile, alpha acids are dissolved in the given solution to give a slightly bitter taste to the beer. 

Soon, the hops are added while less alpha acids and more beta acids start dissolving in the finished beer. Contrary to the fruity flavours associated with late hops, dry hops give more natural and resiny fragrances. 

What are some Mind-Blowing Facts about Beer?

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Here are some mind-blowing facts about the beer you need to know:

  • Ancient Babylonia is the birthplace of beer. For Babylonians, beer brewing was so crucial that if brewers didn’t prepare exceptional malt, they drowned in their beer. 
  • Brasse & Vous Craft beer brewery brews one of the most beautiful craft beers in Belgium. They are known for offering the best quality malts in the country.
  • The revenue to the beer segment was around $13 (USA) million in 2018, and the market is expected to grow by 7.7% annually. The average per capita beer consumption stands at 3.6 L in 2019. 
  • According to the interesting Indian beer facts, there are four major brewing companies in India – Carlsberg, Mohan Meakin, UB Group and SabMiller. Moreover, 60 brands of beer are available in the country.
  • The craft beer market in India remains small with less than 1% of India’s beer market. However, in the last five years, microbreweries have started growing in the country from 20 to 120.
  • Indians like strong beer, so 80% of the Indian beer brands have an alcohol content of 5% to 8% or more. 
  • The most expensive beer brand sold in Indian is Belgian brew, Duvel. The average cost of this beer is INR 750 or 9.5 Euros.
  • If you want a cheap beer, you need to head to Goa where Kings Beer is brewed locally and available for just INR 30 or 0.38 Euros. Bengaluru is the most developed craft beer region in the country, as it’s considered to be the pub capital of India.

Brasse & Vous Craft Beer Brewery

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The craft beer culture is getting increasingly popular in countries, including Russia. In contrast, countries like the USA and Belgium already have a well-established base of craft beer lovers who make up a sizable chunk of the alcohol-consuming population. The Brasse & Vous craft beer is one of the more famous Belgian Brewery located in Liege, Belgium. It was established by two beer enthusiasts, namely Bruno Coachella and Luc De Bruyn, in the year 2015. They make beer using the exclusive English and Alsatian hops. It has ample alcohol and is now manufactured under the name Brasse & Vous. 

Brasse & Vous Craft Beer Range

The Belgium brewery manufactures these six beers according to the seasons. They are divided in the form of 2 ranges. One is the Esperlutte series, and this range carries brews named winter, amber, and light. The other range is the Legia range and has a mint and blackcurrant flavored beer. The Brewery also brews other kinds of beers based on the demand of the customers and their specific requirements.

But the Brewery is not limited to craft beer. The restaurant here offers delicious and traditional local foods, dishes and cuisine.

The Brasse & Vous Brewery is soon going to expand and will be increasing its production volumes as well. The new area of the Brewery will be around 700 m2.

Know about Belgian malt, Green malt, organic malt

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Malt is the short form of maltose, a type of simple carbohydrate produced by some grains such as barley and wheat.

High-quality malted barley is an essential base of any beer or whiskey.

In the past few decades, distillers have turned over the task of malting to specialists such as Dingemans, a renowned name in the manufacture of Belgian malt.

Belgian Malt is known for the rich and robust taste it imparts to famed craft beers such as Westmalle and Duvel.

The unique strain of barley grown in this region is responsible for the demand for Belgian Malt. The grain is soaked for a few hours and allowed to absorb water.

As the moisture content rises, the seeds sprout. This stage is known as Green malt, possibly due to the ripening of the seeds and rich green colour.

The expertise of the malt manufacturer plays a crucial role at this stage.

At the exact moment, the water has to be drained from the Green malt, and it has to be dried on the floor. If it germinates too much, then the enzyme levels drop.

After drying, the Green malt is used to make a syrupy dark liquid known as wort to which hops are added to produce beer.

Since beer is made from agricultural produce, there is concern about pesticide content. Thus the rise of organic malt.

Organic malt is manufactured purely. That means that no GMO seeds can be used, only natural fertilizer is added to the soil, and no contamination from any source is allowed to taint its purity.

Dried organic malt is sold as a powder to home brewers who want to distill their own beer. 

Get To Know About The Full Range Of Belgian Specialty Malts

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Beer is one of the most popular alcoholic beverages. Though it can be made with any type of grain, usually barley and wheat are preferred.

What most connoisseurs do not know about is malt, which is the basic building block of beer.

Fine quality malt is the prime necessity of the beer-making process. The best products are from the few Belgian malt manufacturers known for consistency and taste.

The secret to the success of Belgian malt lies in the grain that is high in enzymes and converts easily to maltose. Belgian malt suppliers such as Dingemans are suppliers to world-famous labels such as Stella Artois and Heineken.

When barley is soaked in water for a few hours, it becomes green malt. The second stage of brewing – the green malt has begun to convert complex carbohydrates to malt sugar. The green malt is traditionally dried on the floor in a process known as oasting.

The increasing use of pesticides has raised the demand for organic produce. Beer is no exception, and the growth of organic malt brands is a good indicator.

The manufacturing process of organic malt is strictly segregated from other conventional batches of commercial beer making.

No GMO seeds or artificial fertilizers are allowed for cultivating grain needed to make organic malt. The end product must be pristine and natural.

Of course, organic malt is more expensive, but given the rigorous quality standards required, that is quite acceptable.

Home brewers have taken craft beer making to new heights. The trend is towards the purchase of raw Belgian malt and adding yeast and hops to personalize the taste.

How Much Calories In Beer?

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Beer is a fermented beverage made with cereal grains. The drink has been brewed for centuries – the earliest attempt occurred around 7000 BC in Mesopotamia.

Primary ingredients of beer:

  • Grain (rye, barley, wheat, maize, corn)
  • Hops
  • Yeast (for fermentation)
  • Water (95% of beer’s content)

Steps involved in brewing beer:

1. Malting: Grains get processed through drying out and cracking.

2. Mashing: Cracked grains are left into hot water for about an hour to activate enzymes in the grain release its sugars. Water is drained and now we have wort (sweet, sticky liquid).

3. Boiling: Wort is boiled, and hops and other spices are added.

4. Fermentation: wort is cooled, strained, and filtered. Then put into fermenting vessels and yeast is added now. This liquid is fermented for a couple of weeks.

5. Bottling and aging: Artificial carbonate or soda is added and aged for weeks to months before consumption.

Get to know: What is craft beer? Why craft beer become popular.

Calories in beer

The number of calories in a particular beer depends on two things – the amount of beer poured and the alcohol by volume (abv) of the beer type.

The fat content in beer is negligible; however, a considerable amount of carbohydrate is present in it.

The calories in beer can be divided into:

  • Carbohydrates – 4 calories per gram
  • Protein – 4 calories per gram
  • Alcohol – 7 calories per gram

The calories present in beers (craft) is higher than diet lagers. The reason for this is that craft beer uses high-end products and barley as the grain. On the other hand, diet lagers have lower alcohol levels, and they use rice or corn, which tends to ferment completely. Therefore, they have a lesser number of calories than IIPA or something similar.

Velka Morava | Moscow, Russian Brewery

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For years now, we have been combining beer brewing traditions and modern technology to malt the finest Velka Morava beer. To preserve history, preserving traditions is a must. That’s why we craft the finest Velka Morava with the age-old Russian recipe, as it’s supposed to be.

Influenced by the Russian brewery for creating the premium Russian beer, we constantly learn and develop and thus, look to bring something innovative to the world. We have been brewing beer for people who don’t live by inertia but like to make informed choices, even if they have to drink a glass of beer.

European Style Malts

Castle Malting is known to be one of the experience breweries, specializing in Czech-style camp beer and other European-style malts to make beer drinkers’ familiar with the traditional tastes of their favourite brew.

In recent years, our brewery has been also focusing on top fermentation varieties, including porters, stouts, IPA, pale ale, and New England IPA. Strong and dense varieties, such as imperial porters, stouts, barleywines and doppelbocks, are always present in our brewery line. Besides, occasional brews with both foreign and domestic breweries are a part of our range of varieties.

Velka Morava – Authentic Taste

The Russian Brewery producing the classic Velka Morava has been known to deliver the classic taste for decades. We try to maintain the same authenticity of the brew to ensure that the beer-enthusiasts don’t miss out on the original taste.

You may find this classic malted beer and other European-style brews in our wide range of products on the official website.

Learn about how to make craft beer and brewing.

Is Gluten-Free Beer Good?

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With people’s increasing demand for gluten-free beer due to health conditions like celiac disease, Castle Malting has come up with better brewing alternatives that don’t contain gluten.

We have recognized the need of glue-free customers to enjoy their favourite beverage without gluten ingestion. Our dedicated gluten-free brewery also caters to people with gluten intolerance and health-conscious beer drinkers who follow a gluten-free diet.

What is Gluten in Beer?

Gluten is a set of proteins, known as glutelins and prolamins, which occur within the endosperm of many cereal grains. It is considered bad for some people because it triggers an immune response, which may damage the small intestine lining. It can further interfere with the absorption of major food nutrients and lead to issues like infertility, nerve damage, osteoporosis and seizures.

Gluten-Free Beer

Castle malting uses buckwheat to create gluten-free beer. For 5% ABV beer per hectoliter, we use 25kh Castle Buckwheat, 1.5 kg rice husks and an artificial amylase enzyme to prepare gluten-free beer. Since buckwheat is known for containing no gluten, it’s a perfect ingredient to brew beers for our gluten-averse customers.

Gluten-Free Craft Beers for Community

Since the mid-1800s, people are found to be suffering from ill-effects of celiac disease. However, the grains responsible for this health condition were discovered in the 1940s. After the 1960s, many brewers have started brewing gluten-free craft beers. Now with the increased demand for reduced-gluten and gluten-free craft beers, many reputed breweries like Castle Malting have been catering to everyone who’s part of the gluten-free beer community.

Get to Know |Stadsbrouwerij Gruut, Belgium brewery

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Stadsbrouwerij Gruut is a popular brewery in the Rembert Dodoensdreef in the middle of the Belgian city of Ghent. This is one of the finest and rarest breweries that use a spice blend (Gruut), rather than usual hops for the brewing process.

The Belgium brewery is known for brewing with advanced technology but following the old traditions.

History

The Ghent City Brewery Stadsbrouwerij Gruut was established in 2009 by brewing engineer Annick De Splenter. The De Splenter family owned the Belgium brewery in Dentergem. For replacing the bitterness, flavour, shelf-life and odour of hops, they researched and came up with a suitable composition for a fine beer.

The coin depicted on the beer label is a “Gruut,” which is the local name of a coin that was used in the reign of Emperor Charles V. among others.

The mats of the beer are also separated by an anamorphosis, which is seen as a distorted image that looks realistic when viewed from a specific angle or with a special optical device. If you puzzle two beer mats together, you’ll find a hidden drawing. In the era of Renaissance, this technique was utilized for conjuring up a secret or to conceal forbidden images.

Brew installation

The small brew installation, along with lower tanks and yeast tanks, is located in Gruut within the same premises as the taproom with a capacity of brewing 5 hectoliters of Gruut. This production is sufficient for the brasserie itself and a few cafes in the region.

Beers

Currently, there are five varieties, including blonde, Inferno, brown, amber, and white beer.