Full moon helpful to brewing?

[bart]

http://www.stuff.co.nz/oddstuff/4168373/Full-moon-helpful-to-brewing

 Full moon helpful to brewing?
26/09/2010

Full moons are often associated with tides, insanity and creatures
like werewolves, but it turns out they're also good for brewing beer.

In Peruwelz, a small, sleepy town in southern Belgium, a
family-owned brewery has produced its first batch of specialist beer
brewed by the light of a full autumnal moon.

It isn't so much a nod to mythology as a recognition of nature's impact on the science of brewing.

"We made several tests and noticed that the fermentation was more
vigorous, more active," explained Roger Caulier, the owner of Brewery
Caulier, which began in the 1930s when his grandfather started selling
homemade beer from a handcart.

"The end product was completely different, stronger, with a taste lasting longer in the mouth," he said.

The full moon speeds up the fermentation process, shortening it to
five days from seven, which adds extra punch to the beer without making
it harsh, according to connoisseurs.

The finely balanced, gold-colored beer is 10 percent alcohol by
volume, extremely strong by most European or U.S. standards but not
uncommon in Belgium, where traditional monk-brewed beers frequently hit
10 or 12 percent.

"It goes down very well, no problem at all," said Joseph Francois, a journalist and beer expert who has tasted the brew.

Brewery Caulier, which uses methods dating from the 1840s and is
well-known for its artisanal beers, plans to produce about 12,000
bottles of its full moon beer, called Paix-Dieu (Peace-God), which go on
sale on October 31.

The idea came to Caulier after he visited a friend in Alsace, a
winemaking region of eastern France, who told him about how he planned
his entire production schedule according to the lunar calendar.

Caulier began experimenting and eventually came up with a nine-step
process that includes using two types of hops and involves a two-week
secondary fermentation process inside the bottle, not unlike the
technique used to produce Champagne.

"It gives the product greater fame, a bit like for great vintage wines," he said.

"It could lead to collectors checking the differences between one
vintage and another because there could very well be differences between
every batch."

Being from a three-generation brewing family, Caulier is fascinated
by the science behind the process. But he doesn't discount the mythical
aspects of full moon beer either.

"Many farmers are convinced that the moon influences the quality of some of their products," he said.

[bart]

Sounds like a marketing gimmic to me, however I do know a large number of people who I think are quite respectable who swear that the moon phase has a strong influence over seed germination and plant growth in the vegetable garden. So who knows.

[Greig McGill]

When someone produces the science behind it, I'll take it seriously. Until then, it's up there with homeopathy, unicorns, and god in the "prove it or piss off" stakes. ;)

[MrC]

I brewed on Saturday which was two days after the full moon and had the shortest lag time I've ever had. There might be something in this theory. The yeast certainly seem to like the full moon ;-)

[MrC]

Also, if I remember correctly, the yeast starter seemed to have particularly large & persistent krausen around the 23rd. I might have to rename this beer to Egg Moon Pale Ale.

[MrC]

NHC LUNAR BREWING EXPERIMENT

"prove it or piss off"? I say lets prove it (one way or another).

Results are due next weekend for the NHC so I challenge all entrants to check the brew dates of their entries against the lunar calendar and list the beers that had an active fermentation period that included a full moon. When the NHC results are posted we'll be able to decide for ourselves.

I entered 4 beers this year, 3 of them were actively fermenting during a full moon:
- Belgian Blonde Ale
- Belgian Tripel
- NZ Pale Ale (entered as a specialty beer due to being "too small" for the NZ Pale Ale style)

Anyone else willing to participate in this fun, ground breaking experiment?

[Greig McGill]

Just one problem with that Mr C... even if it correlates, correlation isn't causation! :)

[MrC]

Wouldn't it be interesting if every gold medal beer was brewed over a full moon though?

I brewed a Dubbel yesterday which is about as far away from a full moon as you can get. According to"Brunar" theory it should be lacking the magical X-factor.

[Matt]

triple BS.