Malt, Hops, Magic and Passion: The Essence of Beer

By Andy Mitchell

Seasoned qualified master brewer Andrew Mitchell knows that although there are millions who enjoy drinking beer around the world, many have either limited or no knowledge of the beer brewing process.

In a fascinating guide for beer lovers, brewers, and beer drinkers, Mitchell shares insight into what makes a beer a beer and what really goes on behind the scenes in the backroom of a brewery. While blending his personal experiences working in brewing plants and breweries for forty-five years with facts and anecdotes about the delicious golden liquid, he covers a variety of beer-related topics that include the brewing process, the importance of a beer glass, the different beers enjoyed in different nations, ideal beer and cheese pairings, the reasons why beer makes us happy, craft versus mainstream beer, and much more.

Malt, Hops, Magic, and Passion offers insights, personal stories, and interesting facts that reveal a candid glimpse into the world of beer, breweries, and the life of a master brewer.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris AU
• Release date: Mar 26, 2024
• ISBN: 9798369495827

Andy Mitchell

Andy Mitchell is a technical writer with more than 30 years’ experience in GIS. He is the author or co-author of several books, including The Esri Guide to GIS Analysis series and Zeroing In: Geographic Information Systems at Work in the Community.

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Copyright © 2024 by Andy Mitchell.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Rev. date: 03/21/2024

Xlibris

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DEDICATION

This book is dedicated to my beautiful and amazing wife Chez, who has put up with the life of a brewer, not only the long beer tasting nights, but those that were away from home so often, the beer festivals, and the many household moves to follow my career as a brewer. Worst of all she has sat and listened to so many of the same stories over the years, that she could probably do a really good brewery tour and tasting session herself.

Thank you for giving me the most wonderful family a man could want.

CONTENTS

Introduction

Chapter 1     AAA Beer

Chapter 2     Beer Brewing in Layman’s Language

Chapter 3     How barley malt was originally produced

Chapter 4     The origin of Pale Malt

Chapter 5     Hops are the main spice of beer

Chapter 6     There is no beer without hops.

Chapter 7     Yeast strains

Chapter 8     Beer containers

Chapter 9     A few beer styles

Chapter 10   Taste beer like a connoisseur

Chapter 11   The importance of the beer glass

Chapter 12   Serve beer at home in the correct way

Chapter 13   Alcohol-free beer shown to reduce cholesterol

Chapter 14   Beer in cooking

Chapter 15   Beer – tasteful and also useful

Chapter 16   Beer cocktails

Chapter 17   Beer vs Wine

Chapter 18   Beer vs Wine with a meal.

Chapter 19   Beer is healthier for you than wine

Chapter 20   Beer is good for you

Chapter 21   The History of Guinness Stout

Chapter 22   A Bottle of Dog

Chapter 23   A Peculiar Brand of beer

Chapter 24   Different nations - different beer.

Chapter 25   Something German

Chapter 26   Oktoberfest

Chapter 27   Belgian beers – the best of the best

Chapter 28   Liquid Bread for the Lenten Fast

Chapter 29   Ancient Trappist beer today

Chapter 30   Beer and Curry

Chapter 31   Christmas Beers

Chapter 32   Beer and cheese – a really good match

Chapter 33   Ancient Gods of Beer

Chapter 34   Ancient Aztec Cocoa beer revived

Chapter 35   Lambic brewing - a different Brewing Universe

Chapter 36   Drinking on duty can be hazardous to your health

Chapter 37   Moderate drinking can enhance memory

Chapter 38   Beer and bread will help you lose weight

Chapter 39   Beer may be helpful in fighting both breast- and prostate cancer

Chapter 40   Beer does not make you fat

Chapter 41   Beer can strengthen your bones

Chapter 42   The Beer goggles effect

Chapter 43   Beer makes you happy

Chapter 44   Beer thousands of years ago

Chapter 45   Beer is a mine of healthy elements

Chapter 46   Beer is Versatile

Chapter 47   Beer and a healthy heart.

Chapter 48   Beer with a smoky aroma

Chapter 49   Beer and Mayonnaise - A good lesson in life!

Chapter 50   Patron Saints of Beer

Chapter 51   The Brewer’s Star – myths and facts

Chapter 52   The White Bread Test

Chapter 53   50 litres of beer in 5 minutes

Chapter 54   Beer gets tastier in a $60,000 golden mug

Chapter 55   Where did the name beer originate

Chapter 56   Mead – an ancient style of brewing

Chapter 57   Craft vs Mainstream experiences

Chapter 58   Some funny facts connected with beer

About The Author

INTRODUCTION

The inspiration to write this book came from the thousands of beer lovers on Brewery Tours that have traipsed through the various breweries listening to me go on and on about beer and how it is brewed and other anecdotes that stem from experiences I have had during the past 45 years of brewing beer. The interest shown by so many, and the questions asked about something we brewers take for granted, made me realise the vast gap between background knowledge of beer and enjoying a beer. A comment I once had, which stands out, is Having listened to you on this tour, every time we drink a beer in future, we will stand at attention!

So this book is for those of you who love beer, to give you both an insight into what makes a beer a beer, and into the back room experiences that crop up during the life of a brewer. It is meant as a book that you can pick up when you sit down, either on the loo, or in the lounge, or in bed, and read one or two chapters at a time, while you drink a beer.

There are so many characters in the world of beer and those brewers who read this book will no doubt recognise a similar incident or character from their own experience, or more importantly will be prompted to reminisce about other amusing and fun times in their lives, because this is what life in the world of beer is about–-fun. I did for a living what many dream about; - I had to taste beer all day and talk about beer and brew it.

Somebody has to do it!!

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CHAPTER 1

AAA BEER

Alex, Atholl, and Andy. These are the three A Mitchells who were involved with South Africa’s first craft brewery—Mitchell’s Breweries Pty. Ltd. The story is an interesting one, not least of all because there is no blood relationship between any of the three, although this is often thought to be the case.

The saga started way back in 1982 when Lex (Alex) Mitchell left South African Breweries’ Newlands Brewery in Cape Town to start up his own microbrewery in Knysna, a small but beautiful village about halfway between Cape Town and Port Elizabeth on the southeast coast of South Africa. The position of the village was significant because it was too far from either of the big cities for SAB to bother with draught beer deliveries and service. This was a gap exploited by Lex when he began producing the only English-style draught ales in South Africa. At the time, SAB had a reputation of buying up and shutting down all opposition, but Mitchell’s somehow survived and grew into larger premises in the industrial area of Knysna.

In 1989 Lex opened up a brewery in Cape Town on the waterfront, with a number of partners, one of whom was Atholl Mitchell. As I mentioned before, there is no relationship to Alex. After a few months the number of partners was reduced, and the Cape Town–situated Mitchell’s Waterfront Brewery was owned by Alex and Atholl.

In 1995 the international division of Scottish and Newcastle Breweries, at the time the largest brewing group in the UK having just taken over Courage Brewery, expressed an interest in acquiring a foothold in the emerging third-world market of South Africa. Lex and Atholl sold off forty-nine per cent of their shareholding to S & N. This left them able to buy the liquidated St. George’s Brewery in Booysens, Johannesburg. Mitchell’s beers had been brewed under licence in Johannesburg for about two years, and the time was right to open their own brewery.

Andy Mitchell, whom Lex had known from a brewing course they both did while working for SAB at different centres, was approached by Lex to take over the brewing and management in Johannesburg and came with thirteen years’ experience at SAB followed by some two years running a small microbrewery in Durban North called Crawford’s Brewery. Crawford’s was at that time closed but had been giving Mitchell’s a run for their money because of the better quality locally produced beer in Durban he Mitchell’s beer was brewed in Johannesburg without Mitchell’s supervision and then transported to Durban. Andy was at that time running a waste water treatment works as Biochemist and Plant manager.

This completed the trilogy, and Mitchell’s beers received a triple-A rating in Cape Town, Johannesburg, and Knysna.

The rest of the saga unfolds with Scottish and Newcastle buying Atholl’s shares and sending out Peregrine Solly to manage Mitchell’s Breweries South Africa. Lex retained his shares in the Cape Town and Johannesburg operations and 100 percent ownership of the Knysna brewery until 1998 when he sold all to S & N and virtually retired from management, only providing services as a consulting director. This left Andy as the only Mitchell involved. The Johannesburg brewery was closed, and for a time brewing was done at Bavaria Brau in Pretoria under Andy Mitchell’s supervision, who as the only qualified master brewer in the group, looked after beer quality issues at the other breweries as well.

Scottish and Newcastle then sold the group back to a consortium led by Atholl, and Andy took a retrenchment package from them. This consortium also broke up, and the two remaining Mitchell’s breweries are now separate companies with Atholl Mitchell owning and managing the Cape Town waterfront operation, and Dave McRae, the long-time brewer and manager of the Knysna brewery, managing and part owning Mitchell’s Knysna brewery with another partner.

Alex Mitchell is now retired and living in Port Elizabeth, where he still dabbles in home brewing.

Andy Mitchell took up a position managing the Birkenhead Brewing and Wine Estate in Stanford, just outside of Hermanus. This ensured that the quality beers produced by South Africa’s leading craft brewers was still available to those discerning drinkers who were prepared to go out of their way to find something different from the mainstream that satisfied them. Andy has since immigrated to Australia where he retired after ten years as Head Brewer at the Australian Beer Company in NSW and a year at a meadery/brewery in WA, which he helped set up and run.

Atholl is now retired from the brewing game, and Dave McRae is still in Knysna. He had bought the brewery equipment from Atholl in Cape Town and moved it to Knysna from where he supplied Cape Town with Mitchell’s famous beers. Pretty much full circle back to where Alex Mitchell started. Dave is now a brewing consultant in the Knysna area of the Western Cape. Mitchell’s Brewery in Knysna is still operating.

Mitchell’s brewery was the first independent craft

brewery in South Africa. There are now 220 craft

breweries, and the number is growing.

CHAPTER 2

BEER BREWING IN

LAYMAN’S LANGUAGE

Beer in Australia generally refers to a slightly bitter, bubbly, amber liquid. The British are usually more specific in that they refer to top-fermented ale as beer, and a standard lager is referred to as lager. Beer, however, encompasses a