Well readers, exams are over. In fact they were over last week but once again I put off posting to the blog. In any case the whole class did well on the Barley, Hops and Energy and Utilities exam. Some people (maybe a certain blogger) not so well on the Malting Technology. I have to say though Malting Technology was a lot of information. There were pH optimums and temperature optimums of enzymes; consequences of various alterations to steeping degree, withering time, withering temperature, kilning time and temperature; molecular composition of the various components of barley (cell wall, starch, etc.); processes for production of various kinds of malt; the list goes on. It sounds daunting and believe me it was. Okay sometimes studying the temperature optima of enzymes is a little boring BUT in the end to understand the reasoning behind all of the adjustments to time and temperature in malt production not to mention what a maltster can do with varying quality in barley to still make a consistent malt. More on malt analysis in the practical work later.I think the majority of the class doing well really speaks to the quality of the teachers here. I came from a science background so I am used to all of the chemistry and biology jargon of enzymes and molecules and such, but I can't say that everyone in the class was used to it. Yet we all did well which shows how well the teachers can bring everyone up to speed. All brown nosing aside if there is anyone out there reading this that is considering the course but is worrying about how technical it can sound, I wouldn't worry.
On another note some of us decided to go to Köln this last weekend to check out carnival. One word: Awesome. Even though we didn't go at the high points of the festival (Thursday and Monday I think) it was still a lot of fun especially after taking exams. Eight of us rented a van and drove the six hours to Köln friday. We were treated to a private brewery tour at Erzquell Brauerei Bielstein, makers of Zunft Kölsch, courtesy of my classmate Dieter. It is only the second brewery I have seen in Germany and the first was a brewpub so I really don't have a basis of comparison but it was bigger than most craft breweries I have seen in the US but not to the scale of one of the major plants. In any case we had some beer, looked at a lot of the "behind the scenes" stuff you don't normally see in a brewery tour like walking down onto the bottling plant floor (Though it was at something like 9pm so no one was there...) and generally had a good time. When Saturday rolled around it was time for a hearty breakfast (You need a good base in your stomach for a festival like this) and then off to Köln.
One thing I should mention here is that the van we had rented, which I liked to call Supervan (R.I.P.), suffered some minor.. damage. When we picked up the spacious Fiat, that was most definitely a converted cargo van, we noticed a big big dent in the top. But hey the van ran fine and it got us to where we needed to go, well almost. Apparently when the rental company ran the van into the low ceiling of their garage not only did it leave a dent but threw off the alignment of all the paneling all the way to the back of the van juuuust enough to stress that back side window a bit. Only a bit. But it was enough that when we stopped for gas as we were nearing Dieter's flat outside Köln and someone closed the door the window... gave up... and shattered... into a billion pieces. On the upside it was safety glass so the window stayed in (for awhile) but was covered in a spiderweb of cracks. Oh and did I mention the door wouldn't close now either? So from this point on we had to drive with someone holding the door closed (More on this in a bit). The window lasted for a bit until it started to spontaneously shatter further, blowing glass all over the inside of the van and the people sitting in the back. This wasn't all at once either. We would be driving and every few minutes you would hear another CRACK and CRASH as more glass exploded inwards. Fun times. Seriously.
Jump forward to the drive from Dieter's flat to Köln on Saturday. It's about a 40km drive and remember the door doesn't close. So someone had to hold the door almost closed the whole 40km as we hit speeds of 140kph+. I say almost closed because the door couldn't close all the way and we were left with a gap of about 5 inches. Poor Marcello holding the door closed at 140kph while the near zero air outside whipped through that gap right over his hand on the handle. He was a trooper though and made it the whole way. Once in Köln we swapped the van for a new smaller and less cool one and one of Dieter's friends drove it back.
To sum up the Carnival: there were a lot of people, a lot of costumes, a lot of Kölsch, and a lot of wandering Köln. Google Carnival and Köln and take a look. Though we started in this one square where there was music and a parade of sorts, we wandered to the Hohe Domkirche St. Peter and Maria in the afternoon and then to a big tent party. There must have been around 5000 people in there with beer served in tall tubes each their own tap and a stage for Carnival music. All in all a fun day/night and everyone survived to head back to VLB for class on Monday. I cut it short here because I can't think how to describe all of Carnival and not take up pages that you will surely get tired of reading. If you are in Germany during Carnival I highly recommend you travel to Köln.
Well that's the update for now readers. Check back later as we are doing a practical brewing this weekend in the pilot plant and I will try to put up a few short posts as the project moves from Day 0 on Saturday to Day End on... some other day later than saturday... In any case why not kick back and crack open a Zunft Kölsch. Cheers!
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