Steve Jackson > wrote:
>"Nels E. Satterlund" > wrote:
>> Bill Benzel wrote:
>>> Craig Bergren ) wrote:
>>> : I think the taste you like in Bud is the flavor of the
>>> : beechwood aging.
>>>
>>> Tell me more about that. Exactly how is Bud "beechwood aged?"
>>
>> IIRC Beachwood chip are put into the wort.
>
>No, it's post-fermentation. Or, to be more accurate (and if I recall
>correctly) it's at the very end of fermentation. The beechwood acts as a
>yeast flocculator. Bud doesn't spend a whole lot of time on the wood, but it
>is still used.

I did another Anheuser-Busch factory tour Friday. 21 days
in the (huge) tanks on beechwood.
And the beechwood (not beachwood-- ew!) is used *strictly*
so there's more surface area for the yeast to be exposed to
the beer (it's no longer wort at that point-- 5-6 days of
fermentation). Beechwood is the wood of choice because it has
no flavor contribution to the beer.
--
Joel Plutchak "Never try to teach a pig to sing; it wastes
plutchak at [...] your time and it annoys the pig." -anonymous