Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 14

Thread: Ingredients

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jul 2012
    Location
    Brisbane
    Posts
    2,418
    Total Downloaded
    0

    Ingredients

    Hello from Brisbane.

    I have just come back from the USA and was wondering over a Christmas Bud or ten again why most of the US volume beer brands include rice as one of the ingredients? I believe most of our brewers stick to just water, hops and barley.

    I recall reading years ago in an article on boutique American beers that it was just a sneaky cost cutter and a sign of lesser quality. However, like everyone else in the world making beer, the US brewers such as Budweiser claim to be producing "the finest and most flavoursome brew produced regardless of expense known anywhere in the world". Ridiculous claim, of course, and many Australians likely regard American beer as little better than dishwater, but the large brewers are surely not totally stupid and wouldn't shove something into their product that would limit its quality for no sensible reason other than shaving a few cents off the cost of materials.

    Any thoughts?

    Cheers,

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Apr 2010
    Location
    South Melbourne
    Posts
    894
    Total Downloaded
    0
    G'Day,

    Just like the big 2 brewers here use cane sugar (and manufactured syrups derived from it) to mainly reduce costs, the US guys use rice and corn. Also, all 3 give the beer a light body, light colour and a dryer finish compared with using 100% malted barley as the main fermentable.

    Cheers
    Simon
    Cheers

    Simon
    2003 D2a TD5, ACE, SLS, Vienna Green.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Location
    Tasmania
    Posts
    247
    Total Downloaded
    0

    Ingredients

    Real beer vs cheap consumer product....
    The big brewers also use super high alpha hops to give the bitterness level they are after with less hops, also means less aroma.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jul 2008
    Location
    Ballarat, Victoria
    Posts
    766
    Total Downloaded
    0
    or they use hop extract

    at a recent tour of the james boags brewery in launceston, the tour guide claimed they added white sugar as an ingredient because "it produces a product that australian beer drinkers want"

    yet in homebrew circles it is pretty much frowned upon, especially if brewing from grain

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jul 2012
    Location
    Brisbane
    Posts
    2,418
    Total Downloaded
    0

    Thanks for the update

    Hello again from Brisbane.

    Thanks also for setting me straight on my original query on why the large US brewers would add nominally quality reducing ingredients into their recipes. It sits comfortably with what I now recall the boutique beer article was stating - in fact, it was the reason that I originally bothered to read a Budweiser label and noticed the "rice" component of the listed ingredients.

    Well, the mainstream beers in the States may not be world beaters from everyone's perspective, but (IMHO) the places where you usually drink it can be a hell of lot of fun. I'm particularly thinking of the likes of Billy Bobs Honky Tonk in Fort Worth's Cowtown.........

    Cheers,

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    Ipswich Qld
    Posts
    1,309
    Total Downloaded
    0
    Quote Originally Posted by S3ute View Post
    Hello again from Brisbane.

    Thanks also for setting me straight on my original query on why the large US brewers would add nominally quality reducing ingredients into their recipes. It sits comfortably with what I now recall the boutique beer article was stating - in fact, it was the reason that I originally bothered to read a Budweiser label and noticed the "rice" component of the listed ingredients.

    Well, the mainstream beers in the States may not be world beaters from everyone's perspective, but (IMHO) the places where you usually drink it can be a hell of lot of fun. I'm particularly thinking of the likes of Billy Bobs Honky Tonk in Fort Worth's Cowtown.........

    Cheers,
    I,ve always liked Millers,much better to me then Budwiser,it is dishwater.
    John.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Location
    Tasmania
    Posts
    247
    Total Downloaded
    0

    Ingredients

    The home brew kits tell you to add sugar but I never do when I use them.
    They make a decent starting point but I use malt extract and extra hops and it comes out alright.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Jul 2012
    Location
    Brisbane
    Posts
    2,418
    Total Downloaded
    0

    true enough

    Quote Originally Posted by Disco44 View Post

    I,ve always liked Millers,much better to me then Budwiser,it is dishwater.
    John.
    John.

    Hello again and I hear what you say.

    Back when I was a student in North America in the late-70s I also thought that Bud was dishwater.

    Probably still is, but I seem to have acquired a genuine taste for the stuff. During my last trip at Christmas it was selling in my corner deli for $8.99 a 12 pack and a schooner equivalent at Hooters on NFL nights is $2. So, a reasonably powerful incentive to drop the standards.....

    Cheers,

  9. #9
    d@rk51d3 Guest

    Re: Ingredients

    By drinking Bud, or going to Hooters?


  10. #10
    Join Date
    Jul 2012
    Location
    Brisbane
    Posts
    2,418
    Total Downloaded
    0

    Undecided

    Quote Originally Posted by d@rk51d3 View Post
    By drinking Bud, or going to Hooters?

    Hmmm.

    A bit of both I guess.

    The corporate slogan is "Tacky, yet unrefined"............

    Cheers,

Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast

Bookmarks

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
Search AULRO.com ONLY!
Search All the Web!