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Beer

Beer

Beer is the oldest and most widely consumed alcoholic beverage and the third most popular drink behind water and tea. It is made by brewing and fermenting starches, mainly from cereal grains (barley, wheat, corn, rice). Beer is flavored with hops, which adds bitterness and acts as a natural preservative. Other flavorings such as herbs and fruit may be used also.

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About Beer

The Process

According to Bavarian Brewing Laws, there can only be four ingredients in beer: malted barley, water, hops, malt and yeast. Malted barley, or other grains like wheat, rice or corn are added to near boiling water, where the water helps to extract some of the sugars from the grains. This sweet water is called wort. Different grains produce different flavors, using a darker malts produce beers with a darker color and more of a roasted flavor.

Hops are added to the wort, which adds an element of balance to the beer, providing bitterness. Just like with malts, different hop strains provide different flavors and different levels of potency. A high alpha acid hop (one with a stronger flavor and aroma) would be a more noticeable ingredient than a low alpha acid hop. Hops are almost always added multiple times during the boil, never all at once, because hopping at different times does different things (bittering, aroma, etc.). After a few hours of boiling, the wort is separated from the spent grain and ready to ferment.

Fermentation takes place when yeast feeds on the sugars in the wort, creating carbon dioxide and alcohol. So, the more sugar, the more alcohol. Where the yeast feeds, and at what temperature determines if the beer is an ale or lager. Ales ferment at warmer temperatures (60-75 degrees Fahrenheit) with yeast that feeds on the top of the brew. Lagers ferment at colder temperatures (45-55 degrees Fahrenheit. Because the colder temperatures make the yeast metabolize slower, they take longer to ferment, some where around two months. Ales can be brewed in half that time.

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