Big Time Branding Terms Debunked pt 1:

Ask any head of a multibillion dollar corporation about how to keep their customers coming back, and you will most likely be starting a conversation about brand.  Branding is the image that a company portrays to the public using symbols, terms, or methods that are unique to their company.  Multibillion dollar beer companies spend millions of dollars every year creating a brand around the beers, most often to cover up the fact that there really is not difference behind their equally shoddy product.

So when you think about big beer commercials what is probably the most common theme you will see?  Take a look:

Silver, cold, ice.  Yes all the major companies at one time or another promise a refreshing beer served ice cold, the colder the better.  In my humblest opinion this serves two purposes for their brands.  The first to cover up that they all taste the same, and second to cover up the fact their beer tastes
"funky" (dare I say like crap).  No a good craft beer can hold up to temperatures of 40 to 50 degrees, but try drinking a Coors at that temperature...

Don't Fruit Your Beer:  Do you remember Miller's "Man Law" commercials.  Here is one of my favorites:

It's funny how this commercial and mindset vanished from Miller's bag of tricks.  It might have something to do with the fact they now own majorty stake in the following beers that out right break this rule:

1. Miller Chill (Lime)
2. Leinenkugel's Berry Weiss (Mixed Berries)
3. Leinenkugel's Honey Weiss (often served with Lemon)
4. Blue Moon (often served with an orange)

Those are just a few that I was able to find at a glance.  So much for not fruiting your beers!We of the craft brew persuasion have been fruiting our beers for year, heck the most ancient beers (sour beers) were most probably fruited!  Here are some great Midwest "fruited" beers:

1. Lift Bridge Brewery:  Spring Fling (Bitter Orange)
2. Flat Earth Brewing :Cygnus X1 Porter (Various flavors)
3. Raspberry Tart:  New Glarus Brewing (Raspberry)

Again, these are just the ones I could find off the top of my head.  If you like this article leave a comment an let us know!  We'll write another!

Adventures of a Home Brewer

Don't Fruit the Beer? Forget That!

 

Remember those Man Law commercials for Miller Lite? One was “Don’t fruit the beer!” I broke that law yesterday. Send the beer police if you need to, but if anyone should be arrested it’s the brewers of Miller Lite for trying to make us think carbonated water is beer.

Yesterday I started making my annual Merry Cherry Christmas Stout. I make this every year in order to facilitate the Christmas Beer Miracle… I will explain that a bit closer to Christmas.

Merry Cherry Christmas Stout was the first beer that I brewed with other types of additives. When I brewed my first one it was just a recipe kit from the beer supply store. It was a cherry stout that used cherry extract during bottling. It was good, but I knew I could do better.

Year two I decided to step things up. I wanted that cherry to really sing! So, I decided to, “fruit the beer,” and add some actual cherries in addition to the extract. I did a bunch of searching for info on beer forums and Yahoo! as I had no clue where to start. Here is what I learned.

The biggest thing in brewing is that anything that goes in the bucket needs to be sanitary. This applies to fruit as well. You can’t just grab a bunch of cherries from the produce section of your local grocery store and chuck them in there. You will more than likely infect your beer… I did that once with a nut brown and it is a headache.

Some home brewers on forums indicated that you should put the berries in with your beer at the secondary fermentation stage. This seems illogical to me on two fronts. One, you have to boil the berries separately to basically sterilize them. Some people are fine with throwing frozen berries straight into the secondary, but I am not willing to gamble on 5 gallons of beer getting infected. And two, you will lose some of the clarity of your beer, which is kind of the whole point of secondary fermentation.

So what do I do? I throw them in the boil. I am not saying its the end all correct way, but its how I do it. And it works! I mash up the berries to release more of the juices and then just chuck ‘em in during the last 15 minutes or so of the boil. This makes them sterile, saves me a whole separate boil later on, and helps my beer keep its clarity as I don’t bring the cherries along for the party when I rack the beer into the secondary fermenter.

 (Cherries in the Boil)

With most fruits you will want to use approximately one pound of fruit for each gallon of beer you are making. I have played with that a bit for my Merry Cherry Christmas Stout though because I still like to throw that extract in during bottling for a final kick. I try to make this beer palatable to my friends and family who are not into thick dark beers. The extra cherry taste and sweetness helps to accomplish this. No complaints yet!

Here is another tip; use frozen fruit. Using frozen fruit works the best because the freezing process breaks down the fruit. This helps release the juices into your beer to give you more of the fruit flavor. I found this tip online when I first decided to use cherries in my stout. Admittedly I have never used fresh fruit, so I can’t swear by this. But, it makes sense to me and I am happy with the end result. Why fix what ain’t broke, right?

Anybody else out there ever break this unjust man law and, “fruit the beer?” If so, leave a comment below with any tips you might have for the rest of us!