Free Beer That's Free as in Speech 379
darkonc writes "The CBC has notes and an interview with Dane Rasmus Nielsen who decided to reduce the confusion between 'free as in speech' and 'free as in beer' by making a beer free -- in speech. The result is Vores Oel, an open source beer. The CBC site includes the recipe for the beer which is made with Guarana beans, and gives it a bit of a caffeine-like hit. The danish site downloads include the label for the beer (which is also Open Source)."
Wait... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Wait... (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Free Beer? (Score:5, Funny)
Are you crazy?
Streaming free beer over the internet is pointless without a DRM free RS-232 Bar Tap for output and only RMS has one of those.
Re:Free Beer? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Free Beer? (Score:2)
Ha! you though pipingdesign.com was all about industry? Ha!
Re:Free Beer? (Score:3, Funny)
To start press any key.
(reading screen) Where's the "any" key? I see Esc, Catarl, and Pig Up. There doesn't seem to be any "any" key.
Wo! All this computer hacking is making me thirsty. I think I'll order a Tab.
(presses TAB key).
reduce the confusion? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:reduce the confusion? (Score:2)
Re:reduce the confusion? (Score:4, Insightful)
Yup. Not that it isn't already confusing enough:
Me to friend not well-versed in libre: "No, that's free as in beer."
Friend: "Beer isn't free."
Me: "Well, no. But when it is, it's free-as-in-beer."
Friend: "Er, right. Suddenly everything becomes clear-as-in-mud."
Me: "Actually it recently got a bit more complicated..."
Free-as-in-speech beer is all well and good, but I'd really like to see some of this free-as-in-beer beer that everyone talks about.
Re:reduce the confusion? (Score:3, Funny)
Friend: "Er, right. Suddenly everything becomes clear-as-in-mud." Me: "Actually it recently got a bit more complicated..."
No, that usually happens by about Beer 9.0.
Re:reduce the confusion? (Score:3)
It can't be open source (Score:5, Funny)
If this were in the true open-source spirit it'd be 0.99_rc3_beta1.1 at most.
Beta testing (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Beta testing (Score:3, Insightful)
Rebooting a computer is a pain, but shampooing the carpet is worse.
Re:Beta testing (Score:4, Funny)
Did you ever wonder about the poor guys who beta tested preparations A through G? That had to be a crappy job...
Free beer is one thing (Score:5, Funny)
Trusting the Danish for your free beer is quite another.
*ducks*
Re:Free beer is one thing (Score:5, Funny)
mmmmmm danishhhhh
that would confuse the fuck out of homer simpson!
Re:Free beer is one thing (Score:3, Funny)
Open Source Beer? (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Open Source Beer? (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Open Source Beer? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Open Source Beer? (Score:5, Funny)
MadCow.
Re:Open Source Beer? Release Notes (Score:3, Funny)
Most of the modifications I make to beer involve kidneys, liver and bladder. There have been a few occasions where I have made their products freely available, but most people seemed more annoyed than grateful.
Now that will just add to the confusion... (Score:5, Funny)
Except that it helps us get drunk, and that's not a bad thing, is it?
The label... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:The label... (Score:2)
And now that beer is free as in speech, what can we use to mean free as in beer?
Re:The label... (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:The label... (Score:3, Insightful)
Freedom (Score:2, Redundant)
Re:Freedom (Score:5, Funny)
Shame. *hic*.
Don't forget - all drivers are incompatible with this open source release, DO NOT DRINK AND DRIVE
Wired (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Wired (Score:5, Informative)
Somewhat Lacking? (Score:2)
But, did anyone else notice that the recipe provided on the CBC website was somewhat lacking? I mean: How much 55-60 degree water? What kind of filter? How much yeast?
I'd love to try this, but I can't seem to find a complete version of the recipe. Can anyone who speaks Danish tell me if a more complete recipe is availble on the site? Cheers!
DO NOT follow their directions (Score:5, Informative)
A good introduction to brewing is How To Brew [howtobrew.com] by John Palmer. The entire 1st edition of the book is available on the web for free at the URL above. (Perhaps predictably, it's free as in beer, not as in speech
Re:Somewhat Lacking? (Score:3, Interesting)
If you are interested in starting with the hobby (and I recommend you do, you'll never look back), go to your local home brew shop and grab a starter kit, you will make some pretty good beer - certianly better than that recipe will get you.
Once you have made up a few batches, add some Gurana to a recipe you like and you will have a cafinated beer
Re:Somewhat Lacking? (Score:5, Interesting)
A fantastic beer is all a matter of personal preference. The history of beer in north america was changed dramatically by prohibition. During that period, they were brewing awful stuff, and serving it very very green. What was discovered, if you chill the beer till it's 'cold', folks liked it better. If you look into the specific reason why, it's kind of hillarious. A liquid chilled the way north americans prefer beer (ice cold), will numb many of the tastebuds when it flows over the tongue. Those are specifically the buds that react to the flavour of yeast. When prohibition ended, the brewing industry held onto this concept, because it allows one to serve a green beer, and nobody will taste the yeast. Ever notice how much the industry spends promoting 'cold beer'? That simply because they know, if folks are drinking it chilled, they can sell a beer that's got a horrible yeast flavour, and nobody will notice.
The recipe in question as given on the website will produce a very interesting beer, but, its definitely a european beer. That means it should be served just below room temp, not well chilled, and, it does need to be fully and properly cured, to get rid of the yeast flavours. the majority of the flavour from this particular beer will be lost if served chilled the north american way.
If you are doing your own brews, it's a very interesting experiment. Make up a traditional european beer, then try 2 bottles side by side. Chill one 'the north american way', and treat the other exactly the way you would treat a good red wine (8 to 12 degrees below room temp). The chilled variant will taste awful, the room temp bottle will have a host of interesting flavours. Repeat the process with an american beer, and you'll find the room temp bottle will have a horrible yeasty aftertaste, which you dont notice when trying the chilled bottle.
But, that's the beauty of open source beer :) for our north american folks that prefer ice cold beer, they can fork the recipe, and refine it for one that has acceptable flavours when served chilled, and disregard the yeast artifacts, the the chilled serving will hide them.
Re:Somewhat Lacking? (Score:3, Informative)
"The history of beer in north america was changed dramatically by prohibition. During that period, they were brewing awful stuff, and serving it very very green. What was discovered, if you chill the beer till it's 'cold', folks liked it better. ...beer (ice cold), will numb many of the tastebuds..."
Ah Bologna. Cold beer in the US dates back at least to the mid 1800's where they used ice houses, especially in the hot west to keep beer cold through the summer. It was hot and it was dusty. And the townsfo
Re:Somewhat Lacking? (Score:3, Interesting)
Did the post say _all_ tastebuds, or many tastebuds ? Some are not affected by the cold, others are. Heat has a similar effect. I'm sure you know at least one food that seems to 'taste better' after it's got cold?
Re:Somewhat Lacking? (Score:3, Informative)
My breakfast of champions,
-l
Germany (Score:3, Insightful)
I get really sick of this crap that's posted around here though about how we only keep ours cold to kill the flavor.
Re:Somewhat Lacking? (Score:3, Funny)
Hard to set up, isn't that good, and you can add something to something more mainstream to make it do the same thing!
(just kidding!)
GPLed Mead (Score:5, Interesting)
Ingredients per gallon of water (scale as appropriate):
Method:
Boil the acorns in a 1/4 pint of water, until the water turns yellow. Strain out the acorns. Boil the gallon of water separately, then let it cool slightly. Add the honey, tea, the water from the acorns and the lemon juice. Stir gently. It is recommended to remove the scum off the top, but I never do. Allow the water to cool to just above blood-warm and pour all but 1/4 pint into a brewing jar.
Heat 1/2 pint of water in a jug until blood-warm and dissolve into it the maltose. Add the yeast and stir. Let to sit until the yeast is active and a good froth has formed.
Pour the yeast mix into the brewing jar, then rinse the jug with the remaining 1/4 pint to get the remaining yeast. Also pour into the brewing jar. Shake the brewing jar to ensure a good mix, but not so much as to lose any of the mixture out of the top.
Fill the air-lock with water (assuming it is a type that uses water) and stopper the brewing jar. Place somewhere warm (most yeasts do best around 78'F). Regardless of what anyone else says, I do recommend direct sunlight.
Wait until fully fermented, then use the wine siphoning kit to siphon the mead into the empty brewing jar, minus the sludge. Stopper it again and let it settle for a day. Clean the original brewing jar carefully. Place the full brewing jar in a cool, dark location.
After six months, siphon back to the original brewing jar, stopper it up, and place it back in the dark. After another six months, bottle into dark glass bottles.
Mead is "best" after being left for 4-5 years, but is extremely drinkable within a day or two of being bottled.
I use just about any old mead or champagne yeast, but the one that seems to be the most popular is Wyeast's #3632 Dry Mead yeast. If you want something that'll give you an extra kick, START with that until it finishes, then pour out 1/4 pint to make a fresh starter kit. This time, use a high-tolerence yeast (champagne will go to 17 or 18%, but there are yeasts now that'll go to 25%). Once started, pour back into the main brewing jar and let it finish.
If you want a slightly fruitier flavor, add 1 lb. of blueberries or some other soft fruit, when making the original mix.
If you want a "cleaner", softer flavor, don't use the acorns.
Re:GPLed Mead (Score:4, Funny)
Re:GPLed Mead (Score:5, Funny)
Says the guy with RGB colors in his sig. In my country, we only use HSV, you insensitive clod!
You can talk about free beer all you want. (Score:5, Funny)
More Free (as in speach) beer (Score:3, Informative)
I do not vouch for specific recipies there, as I haven't done any brewing in years.
No wonder there is confusion (Score:3, Interesting)
Confused? (Score:3, Informative)
``Free software'' is a matter of liberty, not price. To understand the concept, you should think of ``free'' as in ``free speech,'' not as in ``free beer.'' Free software is a matter of the users' freedom to run, copy, distribute, study, change and improve the software. More precisely, it refers to four kinds of freedom, for the users of the software:
* The freedom to run the program, for any purpose (freedom 0).
* The freedom to study how the program works, and adapt it to your needs (freedom 1). Access to the source code is a precondition for this.
* The freedom to redistribute copies so you can help your neighbor (freedom 2).
* The freedom to improve the program, and release your improvements to the public, so that the whole community benefits (freedom 3). Access to the source code is a precondition for this.
http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html [gnu.org]
Uh-oh ... whose beer now? (Score:3, Informative)
The thing is, a few years ago one of the two major Danish beer labels had a series of commercials in which "Vores øl" was the signature. They might not see this site as such a "free speech" win, though I hope they'll let it pass without raising a fuss.
Article Text, in case of /.ing (Score:3)
Now
Well now
Recipe for approx. 85 ltr. Vores Øl (Our Beer) (approx. 6% alchohol by volume).
Malt extract
For Vores Øl we use four types malted barley:
6 kg pilsner malt
4 kg münsner malt
1 kg caramel malt
1 kg lager malt
The malt is crushed and put in 55-60C hot water for 1-2 hours.
The mixture is filtered and the liquid now contains about 10 kg malt extract.
Taste and sugar Besides malt we use:
60 g Tetnang bitter hops
50 g Hallertaver aroma hops
300 g Guarana beans
4 kg sugar
(Guarana beans can typically be bought at health food stores).
The malt extact is brought to a boil in a large pot with the hops and approx. 70 ltr. of water.
After half an hour, the Guarana beans and sugar are added.
The mixture simmers for about an hour, and is then filtered and cooled in a sealed container.
Fermentation
Yeast is added and the beer is fermented at room temperature for approx. 2 weeks.
When the beer is fully fermented it is transferred to bottles. First 4 g sugar is added per liter and some yeast from the bottom of the fermentation tanks for priming.
Vores Øl is then left in the bottles at room temperature for 8-10 days for carbonation. Then the beer is ready to enjoy; cold and refreshing.
Little Known Fact About Free Beer/Free Speech (Score:2, Funny)
Hopefully someday the ass kicking won't just be legal, but compulsory.
Important message from Heineken (Score:5, Funny)
See our website for zillions of usless statistics and reports (compiled by and independent organisation (funded by us)), that disprove the so called benefits of open source beer.
As well as conveniently digging up all those old patents we also plan to file numourous lawsuits against the open source beer community - if you are a user of open source beer, watch out - you may be prosecuted.
I'm not really a beer drinker myself (Score:2)
Re:Important message from Heineken (Score:3, Funny)
As a beer "power user", I'd just like to remind you that Heineken tastes like an ass.
Coming from an ameteur brewer.. (Score:5, Informative)
The recipe calls for armoma hops and bitter hops. The only difference between the two is the length of the boil. Bitter hops are boiled on the order of 30 minutes, Aroma hops are boiled on the order of 5 minutes. But no boil times are specified at all. The boiling time of hops impacts the hop level of the beer, which has a major impacts on the flavor of the beer.
If this recipe were code, it wouldn't compile. You'd have to guess at the yeast type and boil times for the hops. The massive 85 liter batch size isn't terribly usefull either. Most homebrewers do 5-6 gallon batches.
Re:Coming from an ameteur brewer.. (Score:5, Insightful)
Ahem... (clears throat)
"Quit complaining! it's free, it's open source! Fix it yerself"
But seriously, I agree - it definitly doesn't look ready for a version 1.0 release right now.
:-)
Re:Coming from an ameteur brewer.. (Score:3, Insightful)
It's as if you've got a collection of code that's incomplete, but you're not sure what the completed product was actually supposed to do. How would you possibly fill in the missing pieces of code?
Re:Coming from an ameteur brewer.. (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Coming from an ameteur brewer.. (Score:2)
5-6 gallon batches would mean something around 20 liters btw.
Jeroen
Re:Coming from an ameteur brewer.. (Score:4, Interesting)
Open source beer has been around ever cince home brewing has been around. (like forever)
I strongly suggest to people wanting to get into home brewing to get some books on the subject, and make a couple of throw away batches (my first 4 batches were HORRIBLE! praanoid sterelization is key to making beer!)
I would put the recipie as not even a no compiling project but as a project that requires some dependancies but they only tell you generally..
Oh to compile you need a graphics library. and the lack of details on the rest of it is like not telling you what programming language it is.
This is not at all like that open source cola recipie that was on the net a few years ago. that one was complete and easy to make (if you can get your hands on the ingredients)
in fact that open source cola launched me into beer making. I bought several postmix pop canisters for making the pop.... found they are wonderful for fermenting my beer into larger than bottle sized batches. my "mini-keg" so to speak of lumpyale.
Re:Coming from an ameteur brewer.. (Score:3, Interesting)
While you're busy taking offense, how about taking a break and realise it's a joke?
Either way, people were sharing code and programs long before 'open source' got around. What makes open source is the licence (and preferably some idiot standing on a virtual box shouting, 'this is open source'), and this is the first I'
Re:Coming from an ameteur brewer.. (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Coming from an ameteur brewer.. (Score:4, Insightful)
Since it's named "Vores Oel", I'd guess it's an ale.
Re:Coming from an ameteur brewer.. (Score:3, Informative)
However most danes consider pilsner a normal beer. So you should use Carlsbergensis yeast.
Re:Coming from an ameteur brewer.. (Score:4, Informative)
Basically, the ingredients listed here are useless. Brewing is all about technique, not ingredients. In order to realistically clone a beer, you need to know:
Without all that, you are not cloning a beer, but merely making something vaguely similar. This level of detail is what brewmasters need to do to make a zillion gallons that all tastes the same, regardless of region. That's why when you buy Sam Adams in Arizona, made with different ingredients, it still tastes like Sam Adams.
Basically, this recipe is a marketing ploy and not useful in the least.
From an open source beer advocate (Score:3, Insightful)
If this recipe were code, it wouldn't compile.
Don't whine. Just fix the bugs in the recipe & check
in the fix. That's what open source beer is all about.
Super Flex (Score:2)
"COPYSHOP CHALLENGES INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY.
COPYSHOP is a place where you can photocopy everything from text to images. We use this name for a shop and information forum which will investigate the phenomena of copying. In COPYSHOP you will find products that challenges intellectual property. It can be modified originals, improved copies, political anti-brands. - or a SU
Beer is already free (as in speech) (Score:5, Insightful)
Personally, I think the idea of adding guarana to beer is just plainly insane. Beer is meant to relax people. If I want to stay alert and awake I can drink coffee or energy drinks. Beer is something to drink when the work is over and you can relax. Guarana beer is like coffee with sleeping pills.
Re:Beer is already free (as in speech) (Score:3, Funny)
Rich.
Out of morbid curiosity..... (Score:3, Funny)
I know that malt can be used for other things (although I doubt lager malt has other uses), and hops have properties that stop bacterial reaction (although I have never heard of their use for anything else). Yeast, of course, is used for bread. So for thoes with experience in home bewing, what's the verdict?
Re:Out of morbid curiosity..... (Score:2)
So
Re:Out of morbid curiosity..... (Score:3, Interesting)
can a person under the legal drinking age purchase these ingrediants without anyone asking for ID?
Yes. It doesn't matter what the malt, hops, yeast, airlocks, fermenting bins, bottle cappers, etc can be used for, it matters what they contain, which is not alcohol.
It's illegal for a person under 21 to buy alcohol, not barley malt or live yeast. It's also illegal for a minor to consume alcohol, but that's a different matter, since you're not going to have any alcohol for at least a couple weeks.
I
Bugs in your beer!! (Score:2)
I am eagerly awaiting Beerzilla.
Seriously, this completely confuses the whole issue:
Someone: Its free folks!
Folks: Free as in Free Rights or free beer?
Someone: Erm, Free Beer?
Folks: Is that free beer or Free Beer?
Someone: erm, well...
ALERT!!! DO NOT DRINK IT! (Score:3, Funny)
After you drink it you are running embedded beer and you will have to open all your internals for free
(small fee for sending your intestines is acceptable)
Free Beer Machine (Score:2)
This "molecular manufacturing device on every desktop" will eventually enable anyone to reproduce any desired object using a combination of free stored solar energy, recycled, abundant component molecules, and open (or closed) source "3D blueprints".
Also, a nice side effect of a "make anything replicator" will be to reduce the incentive to want to make source artificially scarce in the first place, since there's no mor
Re:Free Beer Machine (Score:2)
Re:Free Beer Machine (Score:2)
So with this beer (Score:2)
Trademark issues (Score:2)
Carlsberg (Score:2)
The name "Vores Øl"/"Our Beer" is a slogan used by a major danish brewery (Tuborg I think).
Yup! That's Carlsberg's slogan, in fact. Though, we like Tuborg better. ;-)
zRecipes are already free (Score:5, Informative)
Why do you think Coca-Cola keeps their recipes under strict secrecy?
So brew away -- and feel free to ignore the licensing restrictions of the CC license, at least for the recipe.
Re:Recipes are already free (Score:3, Informative)
There's only one company in the US legally allowed to import coca leaves for processing, Stephan Co, in New Jersey. They have an exclusive contract with Coca-Cola to provide the extract, and an exclusive lic
Freedom Needs To Proliferate In Other Products... (Score:3, Insightful)
-I wrote this on my food blog last week about the Free beer. Too many real world physical things are becoming patented. Innovation is being stifled and aggressive capitalism is preventing creativity. I think the best part of this project is that it simply raises awareness of the fact that copyright, trademark, int. property law, etc. don't have to continue going the way they are going.
-Aaron
http://aliment.blogspot.com/ [blogspot.com]
Bug report (Score:3, Funny)
If you run this app for too long, it causes system glitches (hangover) a while after quitting it.
(ok, I know, that's not a bug, that's a feature. workaround: non-alcoholic hack)
Re:caffeine LIKE? (Score:3, Funny)
> natural sources of our beloved caffeine!
The important thing is that guarana is better for you as it is a natural source of caffeine. so that's something to remember
Re:caffeine LIKE? (Score:2)
How does being a natural source of something make it intrinsically good? Humans need iron and pyrites are a natural source of iron, so by your logic I should be tucking in to a pyrite-and-basalt salad for lunch.
Phil
Re:caffeine LIKE? (Score:2)
Uhhh, yeah..... (Score:2)
Unlike coffee beans which are an unnatural source of .... wait, what? ... never mind.
Re:caffeine LIKE? (Score:3, Informative)
I'm pretty sure I read the original article some months ago, btw - don't know if it's a
Re:caffeine LIKE? (Score:5, Insightful)
And then there's the fact that guarana has not been evaluated by the FDA for safety, effectiveness, or purity. All potential risks and/or advantages of guarana may not be known. Additionally, there are no regulated manufacturing standards in place.
Now, the caffeine in guarana beans is generally disgested much slower than in, say, a cup of coffee. However the effect when you grind up the bean and mix it with a carbonated alcoholic beverage would probably be to extract the caffeine directly into the liquid, where it can be digested quicker. Not that I'm against mixing caffeine and alcohol within moderation... just as long as you know what's going on and understand that, yes, you are taking risks.
Re:caffeine LIKE? (Score:3, Insightful)
Tobacco is natural. So is Belladonna. Just being natural does not mean something is good for you.
Re:First Prime Factorization Post (Score:2)
The best kind, a recipe for beer...
Re:First Prime Factorization Post (Score:3, Informative)
After trying the reciept as is i'd probably decide to cut back the bitter Tetnang hops a bit to balance it to my personal preferences better.
If any of my fellow americans would like to by your hand at brewing I can assure you that with a trials, you'll be making a brew that is far better, and better personalized than
Re:Forking it (Score:2, Informative)
I don't know that there are special names for corn beer, or millet beer, or amaranth beer. Then, of course, root beer and birch beer are really beer if you really brew them. Recipes are available on the net, as they are for barley beer, so I'm at something of a loss to explain what this story is all about.
Me, I generally just go straight for the cognac, but I'd have to move to France to make it myself.
There's always wild grape rotgut.
KFG
Re:Forking it (Score:2)
Re:Where's the source? (Score:2)
I know you were probably kidding, but..
No, no no. It's like downloading all the code but having to run it on a machine you had to buy yourself.
Re:What ?! (Score:2)
Hoegaarden Grand Cru for example has curacao peel, many white beers and triples have a hint of coriander. Westvleteren 12 trappist [ratebeer.com] has rye in it. Who would _dare_ not to call it a beer?
Re:Alcohol (depressant) + Guarana (stimulant) (Score:2)
They're the ones that put Bailey's Irish Creme in coffee in the morning...
Of course, them doing it in the morning tells me that the caffeine outweighs the alcohol...
Re:might be useless (Score:2)
Re:might be useless (Score:3, Informative)
It's a non issue. Beer is not cola. In countries with beer culture (Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, the UK to some extent, types of recipe were often originally linked to towns, to abbeys etc.
The basic recipes have been in the public domain for centuries, and you are not held back in any way from making a beer similar to wellknown bra