Stella

[dml1954]

Re: Stella

One of my neighbours works for the company that make it and he reckons that you could take the alcohol out of it and 5 pints would still make you feel a bit ill. They ramp up the chemical process at times of demand and its even worse then

You and your neighbour make it sound like the brewery is deliberately trying to poison its customers ! The process of making beer/lager is a natural chemical process. There is nothing illegal contained in it. They cant ‘ramp up’ the chemical process as you put it - they just make more to meet demand. If you drank five pints of any liquid in a row, including water, then anyone could feel a ‘bit ill’.

[RichardM]

Re: Stella

I worked for a major brewer for 25 years and am now a part owner of a craft brewery. I’m no fan of Stella but when you make it you don’t add chemicals... what ones does your friend suggest he adds?

I wonder if they treat the water with salts and other minerals. That could be what he is thinking off when he says they add chemicals.
Edit
They could also add finings

[RichardM]

Re: Stella

That’s how you make alcohol. You don’t add it

Yes but you said "It’s beer. There are no chemicals in it."
You should have said there are no added chemicals.

[WJ99mobile]

Re: Stella

Let's be honest if someone is going to stop drinking lager because it has gone down from 4.8 to 4.6 percent and switch to a stronger brew , they are an alcoholic and need to go and see their doctor before their liver packs in

Reducing alcohol content by .2% will have a big impact on taste for many.

Their 4% stuff was the most vile lager you could get your hands on.

[WJ99mobile]

Re: Stella

Yes but you said "It’s beer. There are no chemicals in it."
You should have said there are no added chemicals.

Some do - I'm not sure about Stella - there's preservatives and colourings etc.

[StraightOuttaCanton]

Re: Stella

I wonder if they treat the water with salts and other minerals. That could be what he is thinking off when he says they add chemicals.
Edit
They could also add finings

They do add finings in some instances, you are correct, but you’ll also know that they’re not chemicals.

They do also treat the water so that it remains consistent but then again only with natural ingredients. A brewer will tell you that brewers water is the best water you’ll ever taste

[Optimistic Nick]

Re: Stella

They do add finings in some instances, you are correct, but you’ll also know that they’re not chemicals.

They do also treat the water so that it remains consistent but then again only with natural ingredients. A brewer will tell you that brewers water is the best water you’ll ever taste

What is used for finings? Egg whites? Fish bladder? Presumably the whole point is that they don't make it into the finished product anyway?

Given the pride that the Germans have in their beer purity laws - is there anything they do in Germany when makign lager that isn't standard practice elsewhere anyway?

I've not had a pint of lager since 2019. Don't miss it at all and when I smell it I do wonder - did I really used to enjoy drinking that?!

[RichardM]

Re: Stella

Some do - I'm not sure about Stella - there's preservatives and colourings etc.

British brewers used (may still) add gravy browning for colouring, but that is based on burnt sugar, they didn't use artificial colouring. As for preservatives, the alcohol does that, no other preservatives are added.

[Rock_Flock_of_Five]

Re: Stella

Don't they pasteurise the beer to preserve it?

[Tuerto]

Re: Stella

Wasn't there some evidence that showed traces of Pesticide in some Lager-Beers?

[A Quiet Monkfish]

Re: Stella

It’s beer. There are no chemicals in it. Sometimes you’ll add an adjunct for flavour (coriander for example in a wheat beer) but in the case of Stella it’s just barley, water, yeast and hops.

..and glysophate. Only trace, but there nevertheless.

[StraightOuttaCanton]

Re: Stella

What is used for finings? Egg whites? Fish bladder? Presumably the whole point is that they don't make it into the finished product anyway?

Given the pride that the Germans have in their beer purity laws - is there anything they do in Germany when makign lager that isn't standard practice elsewhere anyway?

I've not had a pint of lager since 2019. Don't miss it at all and when I smell it I do wonder - did I really used to enjoy drinking that?!

The big brewers use fish bladders which is why they can’t call their beers vegan.

The Reinheitsgebot stated just the four ingredients water, barley, hops and yeast... I don’t know if finings were used as part of the process and that they weren’t considered an ingredient... their purpose (as I’m sure you know but maybe others don’t) is to bring clarity to the finished liquid

[tomcat]

Re: Stella

Wasn't there some evidence that showed traces of Pesticide in some Lager-Beers?

COUGH, COUGH......

https://www.connexionfrance.com/Fren...e%20glyphosate.

[light up the darkness]

Re: Stella

COUGH, COUGH......

https://www.connexionfrance.com/Fren...e%20glyphosate.

I always knew you can’t trust the cheese eating, beer fiddling, surrender monkeys

[RichardM]

Re: Stella

Don't they pasteurise the beer to preserve it?

I think that (and filtering or centrifuging) is more to do with remove residual yeasts so there is no bottle, cask or keg conditioning going on. So more to do with getting a consistent product than stopping it going off. Bottle and cask conditioned beers are not pasteurised and are not usually filtered* so they condition in the bottle or cask and you can be less certain that the beer will taste the same in a month as it does today.
It is natural for the flavour of beer to change over times. Many home brewers drink the first bottle a couple of weeks after bottling and think "that is OK", a month later, they get to the last bottle from the batch, when the beer has conditioned and it tastes great. That wouldn't happen if it had been pasteurised or filtered.

*In some cases breweries will filter or centrifuge the beer and then "bottling yeast" for bottle conditioned beers.