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X-Last-Updated: 1997/05/24
From: John Lock <[email protected]>
Organization: The Beer Info Source (Atlanta, GA)
Newsgroups: rec.food.drink.beer,rec.answers,news.answers
Subject: rec.food.drink.beer FAQ [3/3] (revised 16-MAY-1997)
Followup-To: rec.food.drink.beer
Reply-To: John Lock <[email protected]>
Summary: This document contains answers to frequently asked questions
        and other informative data about beer.  It also contains
        pointers to other reference material and archives for
        further research. This is the third of three parts.
Keywords: rfdb drink beer faq
Approved: [email protected]
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Archive-name: beer-faq/part3
Posting-Frequency: bi-weekly
Copyright: (c) 1994-1997 John A. Lock
Maintainer: John A. Lock <[email protected]>
URL: http://www.beerinfo.com/rfdb/

------------------------------

Subject: 4-5. Can I make my own beer....is it legal?

    U.S. regulations state that an individual can brew up to 100 gals/yr
    for personal consumption or up to 200 gals/yr per family without
    being subject to taxes. Other countries will certainly have different
    regulations. State laws often override the Federal tax law with more
    stringent regulations or ban any homebrewing, so check locally. In
    any case, you cannot sell your homebrew. Also, be aware that the
    presence of homebrew supply stores does not imply that homebrewing is
    legal in your state. More often, in a strange quirk of law-making, it
    is legal to sell the supplies, but illegal to make beer with them!?

------------------------------

Subject: 4-6. How do I make it?

    Making your own can range from quite easy to very complicated
    depending on how much of the science you want to absorb. At its most
    basic, you can make beer following these steps:

    1.  Mix together malted barley extract, hops, and water and boil to
        produce what is called the wort.

    2.  The wort is cooled, placed in a fermenter and yeast is added.
        Fermentation will take place converting the sugars in the wort to
        carbon dioxide (which is vented out) and alcohol.

    3.  When fermentation is complete, the new beer is mixed with a small
        amount of primer (made from malt extract or corn sugar) and
        placed in sealed bottles or kegs. The primer will provide just
        enough additional fermentation to carbonate the beer.

    4.  Wait until the beer has properly aged and drink! The aging time
        depends on beer style and can range anywhere from 2 weeks to 1
        year.

    For further details, subscribe to rec.crafts.brewing and lurk for a
    while.

------------------------------

Subject: 4-7. WIMLIACLDAB? BTABFCTW! What was that?

    This is a very old, very tired beer joke attributed to Monty Python.
    I'll spell it out for you:

    Q: Why is making love in a canoe like drinking American beer?
    A: Because they are both fucking close to water!

    But don't ever repeat this on the Net or the following will occur:

    1.  You will be scorched to a crunchy black by some excruciatingly
        creative individuals.
    2.  You will receive a number of "corrective" e-mails.
    3.  Your family/relatives will be visited by "Guido", a large,
        ill-tempered man with hairy knuckles.

    ...in that order!

------------------------------

Subject: 4-8. Is Guinness good for you?

    Answers to this, and many other Guinness questions, may be found in
    Alan Marshall's "Guinness FAQt and Folklore". This document is
    available in the archives or on WWW at
    <URL:http://www.ivo.se/guinness/>.

------------------------------

Subject: 4-9. Where is Sam Adams beer made?

    As the largest contract brewer in the U.S., Boston Brewing Co. uses
    several breweries around the country to make the various Sam Adams
    beers. This info is accurate as of JAN-95.

    Boston, MA
         AKA Jamaica Plain. Former Haffenreffer brewery, a company-owned
         facility brewing the Boston Ale and doing R&D work on other
         recipes.
    Pittsburgh, PA
         Pittsburgh Brewing Co. brews the largest portion (by volume) of
         Sam Adams beers, mostly lagers for eastern distribution.
    Lehigh Valley, PA
         Stroh Brewery Co. brews the ales for eastern distribution.
    Portland, OR
         Blitz-Weinhard Brewing Co. (owned by G. Heileman). Most Sam
         Adams brews for western distribution.
    Nagold, Germany
         A Gambrinus brewery brews the Boston Lager for the European
         market.

    The relationship with F.X. Matt of Utica, NY has ended and Sam Adams
    beers are no longer made there. There is also a Sam Adams brewpub in
    Philadelphia, PA which brews ales from malt extract recipes. Also,
    FYI, the Sam Adams Triple Bock was brewed at the Jamaica Plain
    facility and then shipped to Bronco Winery in Ceres, CA for aging in
    their vats.

------------------------------

Subject: 4-10. Why does American beer suck?

    You might as well ask In fact, any country in the world with a
    sufficiently large brewer is guilty of brewing beer that is (ahem)
    less than it could be. In an effort to boost profit margins and still
    be acceptable to the broadest possible market, the mega-brewers have
    resorted to using cheaper adjuncts, like corn and rice, instead of
    all barley malt. The resulting less-sweet beer doesn't need as much
    balancing bitterness, so they cut back on hops to save money and to
    make the end-product innocuous to the casual drinker. The change has
    been a gradual one, taking place in small increments over many years,
    so that most consumers would not notice the difference. These
    practices are followed up by huge, multi-media, marketing campaigns
    that attempt to sell brand image rather than beer flavor.

    American brewers take the biggest hit because they're the best at
    this game. In addition, most people outside the U.S. only see the
    brews exported by the mega-brewers and judge the entire market by
    these examples. But such blatant generalities as the opening question
    always fall short of the truth. The truth is that excellent beer is
    also being brewed in America and
    Germany/England/Canada/Mexico/Japan/Holland, etc. and the way to
    enjoy good beer from any country (or avoid bland beer) is to
    patronize the brewers that provide it and avoid the ones that don't.

------------------------------

Subject: BEER RESOURCES

------------------------------

Subject: 5-1. Were can I get more beer info and tasting tips?

    Look through the rec.food.drink.beer archives (see next section).

    Also, check out Usenet group alt.beer with archives at ftp.wariat.org
    in /pub/alt.beer.

    On the World-Wide Web, point your browser at:

    WWW Virtual Library Beer & Brewing Index
         <URL:http://www.beerinfo.com/wwwbeer.html>

    The Real Beer Page (TM)
         <URL:http://www.realbeer.com/>

    Dan Brown's Beer Page
         <URL:http://www.eff.org/~brown/beer.html>

    Spencer Thomas' Beer Page
         <URL:http://www.realbeer.com/spencer/>

    The Virtual Pub
         <URL:http://lager.geo.brown.edu:8080/virtual-pub/>.
         Watch for and participate in the beer tastings posted every so
         often by Joel Plutchak, publican.

    For lambic fans there is the Lambic Digest mailing list. You can
    receive it by sending SUBSCRIBE to
    <[email protected]>.

    Michael Jackson (not the pop star) is an acknowledged authority on
    beer world-wide and has written several books:
        The New World Guide to Beer
        The Beer Companion
        Simon & Schuster's Pocket Guide to Beer

    Also look for:
        The Beer Enthusiast by Gregg Smith
        Evaluating Beer from Brewers Publications
        The Essentials of Beer Style by Fred Eckhardt
        Beer Cuisine by Jay Harlow

    Magazines:
        All About Beer - 800-977-BEER(2337)
        Beer, the magazine - 800-646-2701
        Beer Magazine - 613-737-3715 (Canada)
        The Malt Advocate - 800-610-MALT
        What's Brewing - comes with CAMRA membership (see above) (U.K.)
        Get beer-mags.Z from the archives or see the Beer Periodicals
    List, <URL:http://www.beerinfo.com/beermags/> for a complete listing.

    On video tape:
        The Beer Hunter with Michael Jackson
        Call 800-262-4800 - $34.95 + t/s/h.
        Beer and Ale: A Video Guide
        Call 800-546-5034 - $24.95 + t/s/h.

------------------------------

Subject: 5-2. Where can I get good beer?

    In most parts of the world, just go to any place that serves beer and
    ask for it. In North America, micro-breweries and brewpubs are the
    best places to get freshly brewed, finely crafted beer. But they
    aren't everywhere, yet.

    Many bars and restaurants are beginning to offer high quality beers
    on tap and in bottles. Don't fall into the trap of asking for an
    "import" when you want a good beer! The market today is such that you
    could easily end up with a very disappointing import while missing a
    truly wonderful domestic. Always, always, always ask to see a beer
    list. Servers are not always educated in beer lore and may
    misinterpret what you are looking for in a good beer.

    Most liquor stores carry a good selection of bottled beers. Many
    major grocery chains are also beginning to carry remarkable
    selections.

------------------------------

Subject: 5-3. I'm going to "some city", what brewpubs/bars are good?

    A comprehensive list of brewpubs and good bars is available via
    anonymous ftp to ftp.stanford.edu in /pub/clubs/homebrew/beer/docs.
    The file is publist.Z. Caution: I don't think this is being updated.

    There are some other regional guides stored in the archives. On WWW,
    check out the Real Beer Page's Brew Tour at
    <URL:http://www.realbeer.com/rbp/rbp.brewtour.html>. Also see the
    Regional Guides section of the WWW Virtual Library's Beer & Brewing
    Index.

------------------------------

Subject: 5-4. Can I get beer in the mail?

    Yup, monthly subscriptions just like a magazine. These services send
    a selection of beers each month until you tell them to stop. For an
    up-to-date list look for the Beer-by-Mail FAQ posted the 4th Tuesday
    of every month on r.f.d.b or on WWW at
    <URL:http://weber.u.washington.edu/~cverver/bbm_faq.html> or you can
    ftp it from the archives (see below).

------------------------------

Subject: 5-5. Where can I get details on making my own?

    Brewing discussions are held in the rec.crafts.brewing newsgroup. The
    FAQ for that group is posted once each month and can be viewed at
    <URL:http://www.dna.lth.se/EHP/kurt/rcb.faq>.

    On the World-Wide Web, point your browser at:

    WWW Virtual Library Beer & Brewing Index
         <URL:http://www.beerinfo.com/vlib/>

    "The Brewery" Brewers Page
         <URL:http://alpha.rollanet.org/>

    Spencer Thomas' Beer Page
         <URL:http://www.realbeer.com/spencer/>

    Eric Wooten's Beer & Homebrewing Page
         <URL:http://pekkel.uthscsa.edu/beer.html>

    Anonymous ftp from ftp.stanford.edu in /pub/clubs/homebrew/beer/docs
    the following guides:

    beginners.Z
    how_to_brew_your_first_beer

    Read the Homebrew Digest mailing list. You can receive it by sending
    SUBSCRIBE to <[email protected]>.

    Good books to read are:
        The New Complete Joy of Homebrewing by Charlie Papazian
        The Complete Handbook of Brewing by Dave Miller
        Brewing Quality Beers by Byron Burch

    Magazines:
        Zymurgy - comes with membership in American Homebrewers
    Association (AHA): 303-546-6514
        Get beer-mags.Z from the archives or see the Beer Periodical List
    <URL:http://www.beerinfo.com/beermags/> for a complete listing.

    Video tape:
        Home Brew with Charlie Papazian - Call 303-546-6514 - $29.95 +
    t/s/h

------------------------------

Subject: 5-6. Where can I get recipes?

    Check the same sources listed above plus look in the ftp.stanford.edu
    ftp site in /pub/clubs/homebrew/beer/recipes.
    On the World-Wide Web you'll find over 1,000 recipes indexed by style
    in Cats Meow III at
    <URL:http://alpha.rollanet.org/cm3/CatsMeow3.html>.

------------------------------

Subject: 5-7. What is r.f.d.b. about?

    rec.food.drink.beer was created on 16-MAR-1993 as a Usenet newsgroup
    dedicated to serious discussions concerning beer.

------------------------------

Subject: 5-8. Where are the archives?

    The rec.food.drink.beer archives are available via anonymous ftp from
    ftp.stanford.edu in /pub/clubs/homebrew/beer/rfdb.

------------------------------

Subject: 5-9. What is in the archives?

    rfd-beer.charter - The charter for r.f.d.b.
    rfd-beer.faq - This document, in plain ASCII text
    beer-2buds-sb.txt.Z - History of 2 Budweiser's by Steve Beaumont
    beer-atlanta.Z - The Atlanta Beer Guide
    beer-book-list.Z - Library of Congress list of beer-related books
    beer-by-mail.faq.Z - List of Beer-by-Mail companies and services
    beer-calories.faq.Z - List of calorie/alcohol content of 200+ beers
    beer-capacity.faq.Z - Measures of Capacity FAQ
    beer-guinness.faq.Z - Guinness FAQt and Folklore
    beer-learning.faq.Z - Alan Marshall's beginners guide
    beer-mags.Z - The Beer Periodicals List
    beer-no-calif-pubs.faq.Z - Guide to Northern California brewpubs
    beer-ontario.faq.Z - A Beer lover's guide to Ontario
    beer-records.faq.Z - Beer Records FAQ
    bfest93.faq.Z - 1993 Beer Festivals FAQ
    bfest94.faq.Z - 1994 Beer Festivals FAQ
    camra-books.Z - Listing of books offered by CAMRA
    README.camra.Z - CAMRA info
    reinheitsgebot.deutsch.Z - German beer purity/tax law
    reinheitsgebot.english.Z - English translation of above

    The files ending in .Z are stored in a compressed format. If you use
    ftp to "get" them, omit the .Z extension and the ftp daemon will
    uncompress the file before sending it to you. If you can't do this,
    download them using the .Z extension then uncompress them using a
    utility on your machine. Check out Yahoo's listing of utilities at
    <URL:http://www.yahoo.com/Business_and_Economy/Companies/
    Computers/Software/System_Utilities/Compression/> if you need to get
    one.

------------------------------

Subject: 5-10. I don't have ftp, can you e-mail files to me?

    To get a file, send e-mail to [email protected]. No subject
    is required, but you can use one to identify your request. In the
    body of the message, type the following:

    connect ftp.stanford.edu
    chdir /pub/clubs/homebrew/beer/rfdb
    get ????????
    quit

    Replace ???????? with the name of the file you want. If the file has
    a .Z extension (meaning it's been compressed), leave it off and it
    will be automatically uncompressed before mailing. A maximum of 10
    files can be requested per submission. Just use multiple "get"
    statements.

    If you want full details on this service e-mailed back to you, just
    send "help" in the body of the message instead.

------------------------------

Subject: ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I'd like to thank Craig Verver and Alan Marshall for their support and
encouragement in taking on this task. In addition, special thanks to our
other FAQ posters who publish in-depth FAQ's on some of the more popular
beer topics.

Other individuals who have contributed information to this FAQ (either
directly or because they posted something of value):

Jon Binkley <[email protected]>
Aaron Birenboim <[email protected]>
Dan Brown <[email protected]>
Stephen Dunn <[email protected]>
Rich Fortnum <[email protected]>
Brendan Halpin <[email protected]>
Marc de Jonge <[email protected]>
Ed Lingel <[email protected]>
Alan Marshall <[email protected]>
Bill McGinnis <[email protected]>
Brendan Molloy <[email protected]>
Ian Nottage <[email protected]>
Alex Oliver <[email protected]>
Joel Plutchak <[email protected]>
Alison Scott <[email protected]>
Richard Stueven <[email protected]>
Craig Verver <[email protected]>

And, of course, thanks to our subscribers who are dedicated to the common
goal of enjoying beer as a beverage to be relished in its myriad forms.

------------------------------

Subject: MAINTENANCE HISTORY

16-MAY-1997
    Altered to meet "Minimal Digest Format" and RFC-1153
    Re-organized FAQ sections and contents
    Combined Web version back into single file for easier searching
    Added news.answers mirror resources
    Merged into new Beer Info Source architecture

01-DEC-1995
    Miscellaneous updates and corrections
    Added CAMRA Web site

01-SEP-1995
    Debut on The Beer Info Source!

04-JUL-1995
    Update Belgian ale terms in 1-13
    Updated labeling info in 2-3
    Updated CAMRA address in 2-7
    Clarified Chimay description in 4-2
    Added 4-10 regarding American beer
    Updated brewpub sources in 5-3
    Updated numerous WWW links

14-FEB-1995
    Modified lambics definition and added 1-13 regarding Belgian ales
    Modified all clear text URL's to RFC 1738 syntax
    Split into 3 parts for posting

31-JAN-1995
    Changed archive site references
    Change ftp-by-mail procedure
    Added IRC beer tasting info

27-DEC-1994
    Expanded lambic answer and added pointer to Lambic Digest
    Updated various WWW page references
    Added copyright notice
    Added Sam Adams Q&A

29-NOV-1994
    Added Guinness Q&A
    Expanded "brewery/microbrewery" size definition
    Updated "ale, malt liquor, barleywine" labeling definition
    Clarified Koelsch and Alt definitions

01-NOV-1994
    Reformatted, converted to HTML, and published on WWW the ASCII
    version will still be maintained concurrently
    Added Coors politics Q&A
    Clarified "cold-filtering" answer
    Added "gravity" Q&A

20-SEP-1994
    Added Vegetarian/Kosher/Organic Q&A
    Changed mail-order beer answer to point to new FAQ
    Added Q&A for the perennial Chimay topic
    Expanded Internet beer resources
    Updated archives listing

09-AUG-1994
    Clarified "skunking" description

12-JUL-1994 Added Quick Index
    Added city/brewpubs question and answer

28-JUN-1994
    Clarified filtering section
    Clarified brewpub definition
    Changed "Steam Beer" statement
    Added storage recommendations

14-JUN-1994
    Updated "Reinheitsgebot" section

31-MAY-1994
    Added beer magazine info
    Updated beer club list
    Added porter description

17-MAY-1994
    Clarified "Draught-flow" (tm) description
    Added additional notes to judging
    Changed r.f.d.b. archive name to rfd-beer.faq

03-MAY-1994
    Corrected alcohol measurement figures
    Expanded mail order beer info
    Added video tape resource info
    Added FTP by mail info

19-APR-1994
    Added beer description and ale/lager comparison
    Added "800" number for Microbrew To You

05-APR-1994
    Expanded description of "ice" beers
    Added description of bock beers
    Added pointer to beer book list

21-MAR-1994
    Inaugural post

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
<URL:http://www.beerinfo.com/rfdb/>
Copyright (C) 1995-1997
Author: John A. Lock - http://www.mindspring.com/~jlock/home.html

John
<URL:http://www.beerinfo.com/>

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