Only in Canada eh!

[2stix]

Oh man could you imagine the view in that building!

BIG ASS POT BUST!

Can't believe they weren't brewing beer at the same time!

[trainnvain]

Hmmmm......




Beer Dissected:
Hops, the Heart of Beer

By Paul Sulivan

In the second part of our ongoing series, Beer Dissected, writer Paul Sullivan puts American’s new love affair with hops into perspective.

Unlike malt, which is easily overlooked, hops are usually very prominent in most styles of craft beer, and are usually the first ingredient that comes to mind when one thinks of beer.

Hops are a member of the cannabinaceae family, and are cousin to the cannabis, or marijuana plant. The similarities are striking; both have aromatic flowers, or buds that are sticky with resin when fresh, and both are known to have a soothing, relaxing effect. Bartenders in brewpubs and craft beer bars know that people consuming highly hopped beers rarely cause trouble, due to the mellowing effect of the hops. But beer was not always brewed with hops.

Early brews, dating back to the dawn of civilization around 4000 BC, were brewed with barley malt and other grains and combinations of bark, leaves, herbs, and spices to counteract and balance the sweetness of the malt sugars. In the Middle Ages, these brews were referred to as Gruit ales, and many herbs were used for both medicinal and psycho-active properties.

Early ales were prone to spoilage. Because beer soured quickly, it was best consumed within a few days of brewing. Hops were first used in cooking, and even today hop shoots appear on menus in Belgium as a seasonal delicacy. The hop cone, or flower, is used in brewing; the lupulin glands inside the hop cone are where the essential oils and resins, which give hops their preservative properties, are contained.

There are records of a hop garden in the Hallertau region of Germany in the 700s, and hops appear to have been used in brewing as early as the 800s, although it would be hundreds of years until they became widely used in beer all over the world. The use of hops in beer was widely condemned as an abomination by those with an interest in selling herbs and spices for Gruit was made with, and also by those suspicious of anything new, including some brewers.

The advent of hops in brewing had many important effects. The preservative quality of the acids in hops meant that beer could now be kept longer (especially anywhere where there was stable cool temperatures, such as the caves in Bavaria). It also meant that beer could be shipped, and would survive the journey. Brewing with hops effectively extended the shelf life of beer from a few days to much longer, depending on conditions.
Hops also had a clarifying effect on beer wort during the boil, as it helped coagulate proteins, allowing them to fall out of suspension. This resulted in a clearer beer after fermentation had subsided.

Gradually, all the virtues of hops became apparent, and by the late 1600s, hopped beer was the norm, rather than the exception. Different parts of the world became known for their varieties of hops: Zatec (or Saaz), in Bohemia (a hop so prized that taking cuttings for export was punishable by death); Hallertau in Bavaria; and Kent in England. As hop growing spread from country to country, more varieties were established. Hops were grown in America in the early 1600s, beginning in New England, and by the mid 1800s, more than 5 million pounds were grown each year, mostly from New York State.

During this time, hop growing started to gradually shift to mid-western and western states, where the climate was more favorable, and where various diseases such as powdery mildew had yet to appear. By the early 1900s, both Oregon and California were growing more hops than New York, due to another form of mildew that ravaged the hop fields in the East. Today, the bulk of domestic hops are grown in the Pacific Northwest, and Idaho.
The craft brew revolution of the 1980s and 1990s was in part a reaction against mainstream, mass-market bland American beers. Hop presence in such beers is barely above the threshold of taste perception. When people started brewing flavorful beers at home, and then in small, independent breweries, they found out what flavorful beer could really taste like, and hops were a large part of the equation. Hop presence in beer is generally broken down into three categories:

Bitterness comes from early additions to the kettle, usually 90 to 45 minutes before the end of the boil. All of the alpha and beta acids are not soluble until boiled this length of time, and that is how their bitterness is isomerized and incorporated into the beer.

Flavor hops are additions in the middle of the boil, usually in the last 30 to 10 minutes, and in addition to some bitterness, also impart flavor. That fruity flavor you taste when drinking an American Pale ale is probably Cascade hops (which have a citrus-y flavor) added in the last third of the boil.

Aroma comes from late additions to the boil, usually in the last minutes, so that few of the volatile oils are boiled away. Dry-hopping, in which hops are added to the finished, conditioned beer, also produce an intense, long-lasting hop aroma.

This seasons hop harvest is in, and it looks like an OK year for U.S. grown hops, despite a dry August, according to Ralph Olsen of Hop Union. “A pretty good year, not great, but not a disaster either,” he said.

Europe, on the other hand, except for the UK, had a low crop this year. A long, hot summer, some drought conditions, and non-irrigated fields all contributed to a lower yield with lower alpha acid levels. “The price goes up, and the alpha acids are half of what they usually are — German hops will be tight this year,” Olsen said. He stressed, however, that there are plenty of hops for the market, and that, where there are shortages, in German Perle, for instance, that there are very good substitutes (American Perle) available.

October-November 2003 Ale Street News Page 14



************************************

[OneEyedDog]

Pics at www.thestar.ca

[2stix]

http://www.thestar.ca/images/thestar...t4_gallery.jpg

And thats only one of 25 vats!

hahaha someones up shit creek without a paddel

[KQ]

I think they need to take that maple leaf off their flag and replace it with some Mary Jane

[Beaver]

http://frankdiscussion.netfirms.com/...lag_canada.gif

[The AD]

For sale: 10,000 metal halide grow lights in good condition.

[Plakespear]

Obviously the government in Ontario has a different opinion than the one in BC.

[PlayHarder]

Obviously the government in Ontario has a different opinion than the one in BC.

Gotta love the BC politicians - if you can't beat 'em, join 'em.

Story

[ak_powder_monkey]

Huge bust shows pot problem growing
By CP


BARRIE, Ont. -- A marijuana "factory" concealed within a sprawling old brewery just steps from one of Ontario's busiest highways is proof Canada's pot problem has reached "epidemic proportions," police said yesterday.

The former Molson brewery in Barrie, plainly visible from Hwy. 400, one of the province's busiest commuter routes, was raided on the weekend.

Inside, police found marijuana with an estimated street value of $30 million, along with a grow operation of staggering proportions -- the largest and most sophisticated in modern Canadian history.

Across a 5,400-sq.-metre complex the size of a football field, there were 25,000 pot plants growing everywhere -- even inside the cavernous indoor vats once used to brew beer.

Molson Canada, what to drink when you're chasing beaver

[Canuk]

When I lived in Langley, we would always hear stories of multi million dollar grow op's being busted, and once the smoke cleared (no pun intended) the growers had their equipment confiscated, paid a fine, and were back in business growing some of the best bud in the world.

[trainnvain]

Kinda brings new meaning to the term "skunked" beer.

[TJ.Brk]

Originally posted by Beaver
http://frankdiscussion.netfirms.com/...lag_canada.gif

Aint that the truth. Where I live there are grow fields everywhere. It's almost big business here. A large grow spot is in the woods quarter mile from my house close to a mtn biking trail. On very humid days you can smell it even. Nobody really cares it's so common here. Kids sit on benches downtown and light up.

I think the new Canadian moto should be: "mmck mmck HERE"

[KQ]

Originally posted by TJ.Brk
Aint that the truth. Where I live there is grow fields everywhere. It's almost big business here. A large grow spot is close is in the woods quarter mile from my house close to a mtn biking trail. On very humid days you can smell it even. Nobody really cares it's so common here. Kids sit on benches downtown and light up.

I think the new Canadian moto should be: "mmck mmck HERE"

SPPS

(stoned post preservation society)

[TJ.Brk]

LOL KQ. I went back and edited it. Just cold that's all. Finally feeling the toes. I quit token 18 years ago. If I was still partaking the grocery stores here would have the "TJ isle" stocked only with frosted poptarts. They would have made a killing



What's funny about the shrines on Ajax in Aspen. That is where we all used to stop and get stoned all the time. Now it's a marketing tool