Microbrewed Adventures by Charles Papazian Read Free Book Online Page B

workers did the best they could. The way it was described to me, the scene sounded like an episode straight out of “I Love Lucy.”
    But the beer survived and was enjoyed by the nearly 100 attendees. Both brews were miraculously “clean” and did not suffer from traveling. The Doppelbock was preferred, though both were beers in which I took a great deal ofpride. How did I feel? Totally surprised at how well they had turned out. This success inspired me to have no fear and pursue beer as a passion for years to come. The support given by George Charalambous, Anheuser-Busch, the Master Brewers Association of the Americas, the American Society of Brewing Chemists and the Ball Corporation was tremendous. It was the beginning of a long, mutually supportive relationship between homebrewers, microbrewers, craft brewers and the technical people involved with the large brewing companies. For these opportunities I am forever grateful.
    There is one more part to this story.
    I continued to brew with the lager yeast, using it in virtually all my beer recipes. It behaved extraordinarily well and resulted in great-tasting “ales” and “lagers” even when I knew it was not an ale yeast and I had no facilities to cold lager my lagers. So, my secret was that I was not making true ales nor true lagers for many years. In fact, nearly all of my recipes in the first editions of The Complete Joy of Homebrewing (1984 and 1991) and The Homebrewer’s Companion (1994) were based on having used this unknown strain of lager yeast. Ten years later I asked the source whether they could tell me where this lager yeast had come from. Their answer was a simple “no we can’t tell you, sorry.” A few years later, I tried one more time. A friend I had taught to homebrew had a job at the company. “Do you think you could tell me where this yeast came from if I told you the catalog name?” I asked. He’d try.
    The next day I received a call. “Charlie, I know the source of that yeast you’ve been using. Are you sitting down?”
    â€œShould I sit down?” I asked, puzzled.
    â€œWell, I would suggest you do.” There was a pause, “that yeast was originally cultured from a keg of Budweiser.”
    I was in shock. And then a huge homebrew inspired grin crossed my faceand I began chuckling uncontrollably. All those barley wines, doppelbocks, India pale ales, brown ales, porters, pilseners, Oktoberfest beers, English ales and Irish stouts unknowingly made from a culture of Budweiser yeast!
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    MASTERBREWERS DOPPELBOCK/MASTERBREWERS CELEBRATION LIGHT LAGER
    Chestnut brown, full-flavored, malty and strong, Masterbrewers Doppelbock is an authentic-tasting German-style Doppelbock lager. Masterbrewers Celebration Light Lager, simply made with quality ingredients and a bit of finesse, is every bit as refreshing as a light lager created by a veteran brewer. Cascade hops added at the end contribute a character wonderfully reminiscent of microbrewing and homebrewing roots. These recipes can be found in About the Recipes.
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    With a deep sense of satisfaction I finally realized what I had done. This colony of yeast and the generations that followed were perhaps the happiest Budweiser yeast in the world! And they made me happy too.

CHAPTER 3
In Quest of Fresh Beer
    I F YOU didn’t make your own homebrew in the 1980s, the beer landscape was pretty damned bleak. Of course, if you were brewing at home or visiting with homebrewers, craft beers with flavor and soul abounded. But what happened when you went out for dinner? What were the choices? The meager choices almost always included Bud, Miller, Coors, Bud Light, Miller Light and Coors Light. If you wanted something different you might find a Corona, a Heineken or a Beck’s. Rarely would you find a microbrewed beer, even at better restaurants. I often made do with what was available. All that has changed, and today I won’t