Beer liqueur

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A beer liqueur is a liqueur that is reminiscent of the taste of beer , usually with malt and / or hop tones , or that was made using beer or malt beer . Since the term is not legally protected as a trade name for spirits , it can mean very different products. Commercially produced beer liqueurs are offered by various breweries and spirits manufacturers, and there are numerous recipes for beer liqueurs that you can prepare yourself at home.

history

Beer liqueurs have long been a neglected by-product and niche product of breweries . The distillation of beer brandy or the production of beer liqueur represented opportunities to utilize surpluses from production or even old beer and process it into long-lasting products. In a specialist book on liqueur production, which appeared around 1900, a "beer essence" is mentioned, which mixed with neutral alcohol and sugar formed the basis for a "beer liqueur". Against the background of the trend towards craft beer that has been observed since the 2010s, newly developed beer liqueurs have increasingly come onto the market since 2015.

finished products

Legal

The EU Spirits Ordinance does not recognize "beer liqueur" as a separate product category, nor is it a protected designation of origin within the meaning of the ordinance. If the term is used as the sales description for spirits traded in the EU , the general rules for liqueurs apply. A beer liqueur must therefore

  • have a minimum alcohol content of 15 percent by volume (cf. Chapter I Art. 2 Paragraph 1 c) and Appendix I, No. 32 b) EU Spirits Ordinance),
  • Contains at least 100 g of sugar per liter, expressed as invert sugar (Annex I, No. 32 a) i))
  • by flavoring neutral alcohol or a distillate of agricultural origin or one or more spirits or a mixture thereof (Annex I, No. 32 a) ii))
  • using natural or nature-identical flavoring substances (Annex I, No. 32 c))

have been made.

The ordinance thus leaves room for different manufacturing processes for beer liqueurs. Only the alcohol content and any food coloring used must be shown on the label, but not the ingredients used for flavoring and the sugar content. As a rule, however, this exceeds the legal minimum: According to a patent application from the 1980s, industrially produced beer liqueurs usually contain sugar between 14 and 30% of the total weight of the end product.

Procedure

Beer liqueur can be made using fresh beer, but this is not mandatory.

As an alcoholic base come alongside high-quality beer brand , one exclusively of fresh beer by burning distillate obtained, ordinary, tasteless agricultural ethyl alcohol or other spirits such as rum , vodka or grain in question, with any combinations are possible.

The "typical beer" taste of beer liqueurs can be achieved in different ways. If beer brandy is used as the alcoholic base, it already brings with it the appropriate aromas; alternatively or in addition, real beer, malt beer, beer that is concentrated through reduction or preliminary products from the brewing process (e.g. wort ) can be used. Further possibilities are the maceration of malt or malt extract and hops or hops blossoms in alcohol and, as the simplest variant of liqueur production, the subsequent addition of flavorings.

Patent applications from past decades describe various manufacturing processes for beer liqueurs, including

  • Heating beer, sugar and vanilla to 90 ° C, cooling, mixing with ethanol, one month of rest, filtering and bottling; the resulting liqueur consists of 56% beer and contains 30% vol. Alcohol.
  • Six-minute boiling of top-fermented Altbier (or in variants: Altbier and Altbier original wort in equal parts or just malt beer ) with sugar, adding vanilla sugar , high-percentage rum and 95% alcohol , cooling and filling.
  • Use of roasted barley malt (Carafa malt extract), hop extract and caramel to flavor high-percentage alcoholic beverages, whereby the drinking strength, i.e. the alcohol content desired in the end product between 16 and 43% vol., Is set by adding water or beer.

To round off the taste of beer liqueurs, other spices and herbs are often used, for example vanilla or vanillin , cinnamon and clove .

Manufacturer

Some examples of commercially produced beer liqueurs available on the German market in 2016 are Altbayerischer Bierlikör (distillery Dr. Rauch, based on bock beer, 25% vol.), BEER liqueur 22 (with hops and malt macerate and Doppelbock original wort, 22% vol.) ), HEILAND Doppelbockliqueur (22% vol., With Doppelbock beer and a rum macerate, since 2014), Hyldegard's beer liqueur (28% vol.), Lahnsteiner beer liqueur (with bock beer, 25% vol.), Penninger beer liqueur (with bock beer and hop distillate , 25% vol.), Red Castle Brew beer liqueur (with Doppelbock and Korn, 17.8% vol.), Schwanenwirt's beer liqueur (made from bock beer, 32.5% vol.), Westerwald beer liqueur (with beer distillate and malt extract, 25% vol .). Among other things, Tiersteiner beer liqueur with 28% vol comes from Switzerland .

Home recipes

There are numerous and very different recipes for home-made beer liqueurs. Is the most common is that initially strong beer (for example, dark beer or stout , about Bockbier heated) with sugar and spices, or is boiled, then cooled and finally with alcohol, for example alcohol , neutral alcohol or a spirit drink, added ( " aufgespritet ") becomes.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Engelhardt, Alwin: Handbook of the practical liquor fabrication. Practical instructions for the presentation of all kinds of liqueurs, brandies, aquavites, arac, cognac, rum, grog, punch extracts, various wines and other drinks (900 receipts) by cold means. 2nd edition, Spamer Verlag, Leipzig 1900, p. 37.
  2. ↑ Nils Wrage: Heiland Bierlikör: The redemption of the Doppelbock? In: mixology.eu. August 4, 2015, accessed July 6, 2016 .
  3. ↑ a b c d Regulation (EC) No. 1107/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 January 2008 on the definition, description, presentation and labeling of spirits and the protection of geographical indications for spirits and the repeal of the Regulation (EEC) No. 1576/89 (PDF), accessed on July 5, 2016
  4. ↑ a b c Beer liqueur made from top-fermented beer, its production and use - Document DE19542259A1. In: patent-de.com. May 29, 1989. Retrieved July 5, 2016 .
  5. ↑ Nils Wrage: Not like that! The BEER liqueur 22. In: mixology.eu. March 3, 2015, accessed July 6, 2016 . ; here: Note in the manufacturer's comment.
  6. ^ Register information from the German Patent and Trademark Office (DPMA). In: register.dpma.de. Retrieved July 6, 2016 .
  7. ^ Register information from the German Patent and Trademark Office (DPMA). In: register.dpma.de. Retrieved July 6, 2016 .
  8. ^ Register information from the German Patent and Trademark Office (DPMA). In: register.dpma.de. Retrieved July 6, 2016 .
  9. ↑ See recipe and preparation of a strong beer liqueur in: Peter Mennigen: Feine Heilschnäpse und Liköre . Area Verlag, Erftstadt 2007, ISBN 978-3-89996-196-6 , p. 18.