What are "ice" beers?!
What are "ice" beers?
Answers:
American-style lager beer is a common variety of beer, a type of pale lager, traditionally made and drunk in North America, but also popular in much of the rest of the world. It derives ultimately from the Czech(Bohemian)/German Pilsner, but is characterized by a much lighter color and body and the frequent use of rice or corn as adjuncts. Worldwide, the best-known example is likely Anheuser-Busch's Budweiser, though prominent brands are also made by Coors Brewing Company (United States), SABMiller (South Africa/United States/United Kingdom), Molson (Canada), Corona (Mexico), and others. American-style lagers are very closely associated with large corporate/industrial brewing and the globalization controversy, though some are made by relatively small breweries to appeal to a higher-end market.
American-style lager is often the subject of ridicule among beer cognoscenti, being considered rather characterless in relation to most European styles of beer. It is nevertheless particularly popular in warm climates, and is sometimes referred to in American slang as "lawnmower beer", that is, a beer ideally suited as a thirst-quencher after a day of yardwork. Despite its low reputation, it is actually a difficult style to brew consistently, since the light and delicate character of the style offer the brewer very little room for error or off flavors.
American-style lager
Ice beer
Ice beer gained popularity in the United States during the 1990s. Miller introduced Icehouse under the Plank Road Brewery brand name at that time, which is still sold nationwide; Molson introduced "Molson Ice"; Budweiser introduced "Bud Ice" (5.5% ABV) in 1984 and it remains one of the country's top-selling ice beers, Bud Ice has a slightly lower alcohol content than Natural Ice and other competitors and it retains more of the character/flavor.
Check out this website:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ice%5fbeer...
The making of "ice" beers, in general, involves lowering the temperature of the finished product until the water in it begins to freeze and then filtering out the ice crystals that form. Since water will freeze before alcohol, the result is higher alcohol content. The ice forms around yeast cells, protein particles, etc. so these get removed as well; leaving fewer components to provide taste and character.
This process is not new to brewing, having been developed in Germany to produce "eisbocks". Apparently they were produced by accident during the traditional spring celebration with bock beers. Spring, being the capricious season that it is, probably sent a late cold snap around one year causing some of the spring bocks to partially freeze. People drank it anyway and liked the change in flavor.
In its current incarnation, the process is an offshoot of the concentrated fruit juice industry. It was developed by orange growers to reduce the costs of storage and shipping by concentrating the fruit juice through freezing and removal of some water. Labatt Breweries claims to have pioneered this process for brewing and most of the large North American brewers quickly followed suit in the usual marketing frenzy.
The main difference between these "ice" beers and true eisbocks is taste and character. Any beer brewed using this method will only be as good as the brew with which you start. In other words, if you start with a bland, flavor-impaired, adjunct-laden beer and remove some of the water, you end up with a bland, flavor-impaired, adjunct-laden beer with more alcohol. OTOH, if you take a rich, malty, traditionally brewed bock and remove some of the water, you end up with an eisbock.
Ice beer
Ice beer gained popularity in the United States during the 1990s. Miller introduced Icehouse under the Plank Road Brewery brand name at that time, which is still sold nationwide; Molson introduced "Molson Ice"; Budweiser introduced "Bud Ice" (5.5% ABV) in 1984 and it remains one of the country's top-selling ice beers, Bud Ice has a slightly lower alcohol content than Natural Ice and other competitors and it retains more of the character/flavor.
Many lower-end beers such as Busch Ice (5.9% ABV) and Natural Ice (5.9% ABV) also use the freezing process. Natural Ice is the No. 1 selling ice beer brand in the United States.
Advertising gimmick
1-9. What are "ice" beers?
The making of "ice" beers, in general, involves lowering the
temperature of the finished product until the water in it begins to
freeze and then filtering out the ice crystals that form. Since water
will freeze before alcohol, the result is higher alcohol content. The
ice forms around yeast cells, protein particles, etc. so these get
removed as well; leaving fewer components to provide taste and
character.
This process is not new to brewing, having been developed in Germany
to produce "eisbocks". Apparently they were produced by accident
during the traditional spring celebration with bock beers. Spring,
being the capricious season that it is, probably sent a late cold
snap around one year causing some of the spring bocks to partially
freeze. People drank it anyway and liked the change in flavor.
In its current incarnation, the process is an offshoot of the
concentrated fruit juice industry. It was developed by orange growers
to reduce the costs of storage and shipping by concentrating the
fruit juice through freezing and removal of some water. Labatt
Breweries claims to have pioneered this process for brewing and most
of the large North American brewers quickly followed suit in the
usual marketing frenzy.
The main difference between these "ice" beers and true eisbocks is
taste and character. Any beer brewed using this method will only be
as good as the brew with which you start. In other words, if you
start with a bland, flavor-impaired, adjunct-laden beer and remove
some of the water, you end up with a bland, flavor-impaired,
adjunct-laden beer with more alcohol. OTOH, if you take a rich,
malty, traditionally brewed bock and remove some of the water, you
end up with an eisbock.
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