Beer

1. an alcoholic beverage made from grain, esp. malted barley, fermented by yeast and flavored with hops; esp., such a beverage produced by slow fermentation at a relatively low temperature
2. any of several soft drinks made from extracts of roots and plants ginger beer

All beers falled into one of two Categories Lager or Ale. Ale is the oldest kind of beer. Lager beer was developed by German brewers who discovered that aging beer in natural caves after the initial fermentation produced a cleaner beer and made their brews less susceptible to contamination.

It is the yeast that makes the difference between the ale and the lager. Ale yeasts flocculate at the top of the fermentation tank. They generally thrive at temperatures between 60 to 72 degrees Fahrenheit. Lager yeasts are more successful at lower temperatures, typically 46 to 55 degrees Fahrenheit and flocculate closer to the bottom of the fermentation tank. Lager yeasts also tend to ferment more aggressively, leaving behind less residual sweetness and flavors than ales.

Lager  is a type of beer that is recognized by its high carbonation level and light color, though some modern lager beers are darker in color and may even be black. The lager beer was originally developed in the 19th century. During this time, brewers in Bavaria commonly stored their beer in cool places to allow the beer to mature. In order to aid in the brewing process, the brewers created a type of yeast that was cable of helping cold beer mature properly. This yeast is still used today to make lager beer and is referred to as bottom-fermenting yeast .

The term lager is derived from the German word lagern , which means “to store.” This name hearkens back to the early methods of creating lager by storing it in places such as caves. Unlike the modern lager , however, the early lager was dark in color because the water used to make it was quite hard. Today, softer water is used to make lager . This has resulted in the beer's distinctively light color.

Ale is a type of beer brewed from malted barley using a top-fermenting brewers' yeast . This yeast ferments the beer quickly, giving it a sweet, full bodied and fruity taste. Most ales contain hops , which impart a bitter herbal flavour that helps to balance the sweetness of the malt and preserve the beer. The other major style of beer is lager, which is bottom-fermented.

Pilsner , sometimes pilsener or simply pils , is a pale lager , developed in the 19th century in the city of Pilsen , Bohemia

Indian Pale Ale - IPA   a hoppier version of pale ale. Originally brewed in England with extra hops to survive the journey to British troops stationed in India. The original had a very high alcohol level.

Porter  Porter is first mentioned in writings in the early 1700's, and the name Porter is derived from its popularity with London's river and street porters. Traditional porters start with a Pale malt base, and typically add a mix of Crystal, Brown, Chocolate and Black malts to achieve a dark color and taste. Roasted malts are used only in Robust Porter styles.

 

Beer is meant to be served with a visually appealing (not excessive) head of foam. If you are ever served a beer in a glass and there is absolutely no head retention whatsoever or there are lots of bubbles sticking to the sides of the glass, this is certain indication that the glass has not been properly cleaned. Soap, detergent, grease and wax residues left over from prior use will kill foam formation and retention. You deserve better.

Bubbles of carbon dioxide escape from the beer creating foam and also carry with the pleasing aromas of craft-brewed beer. You miss all of the sensually pleasing aromatic characters of craft-brewed beer if you only drink out of the bottle. Enjoy it in your favorite glass.

Microbrewery: A brewery that produces less than 15,000 barrels (17,600 hectoliters) of beer per year. Microbreweries sell to the public by one or more of the following methods: the traditional three-tier system (brewer to wholesaler to retailer to consumer); the two-tier system (brewer acting as wholesaler to retailer to consumer); and, directly to the consumer through carryouts and/or on-site tap-room or restaurant sales.

 

Brewpub: A restaurant-brewery that sells 25% or more of its beer on site. The beer is brewed primarily for sale in the restaurant and bar. The beer is often dispensed directly from the brewery's storage tanks. Where allowed by law, brewpubs often sell beer "to go" and /or distribute to off site accounts. Note: BA re-categorizes a company as a microbrewery if its off-site (distributed) beer sales exceed 75 percent.

 

Yeast are single-celled microorganisms that reproduce by budding. They are biologically classified as fungi and are responsible for converting fermentable sugars into alcohol and other by products. The yeast converts the sugars from the malt into alcohol, carbon dioxide and other components through a process called fermentation .

 

The brewing process is typically divided into 7 steps: mashing , lautering , boiling, fermenting , conditioning, filtering, and filling. The skill and various methods of these seven steps are part of the brewmasters secrets to creating his or her beer. You the consumer decide what you like or do not like.

 

Mashing is the process of combining a mix of milled grain, known as the grist (typically malted barley with supplementary grains as maize , sorghum , rye or wheat ; in a ratio of 90-10 up to 50-50), with water, and heating this mixture up which rests at certain temperatures (notably 45°C, 62°C and 73°C to allow enzymes in the malt to break down the starch in the grain into sugars , typically maltose . Mashing at different temperatures produces different types of sugars, which lead to different qualities in the final product

 

 

Lautering is the next step is to rinse the sweet liquor from the spent grain, and collect it for boiling. A rotating sprinkler of warm water washes the sugars from the grains, and the result is pumped to the boiling kettle

 

Boiling begins once all the sweet liquor is pumped into the boiling kettle, the wort (unfermented beer) is brought to a boil and various types of hops are added at different points during the boil. Additions early in the boil empart bitterness, later additions produce a hoppy flavor, and very late additions impart a hop aroma to the beer."

 

Fermentation is the next step After the wort is cooled and aerated — usually with sterile air — yeast is added to it, and it begins to ferment.  Ales typically spend a week or two in the primary fermenter, then are racked, or transferred to a secondary fermenter for aging. After fermentation is complete (usually another couple of weeks), the beer is tranferred to shipping kegs or storage tanks. Fermentation is the process by which yeast converts the glucose in the wort to ethyl alcohol and carbon dioxide gas -- giving the beer both its alcohol content and its carbonation

 

Conditioning When the sugars in the fermenting beer have been almost completely digested, the fermentation slows down and the yeast starts to settle to the bottom of the tank. The beer is often cooled. This can be done in in a seperate tank from those used for fermentation. If the fermentation tanks have cooling jackets on them, as opposed to the whole fermentation cellar being cooled, conditioning can take place in the same tank as fermentation.   Conitioning encourages settling of the yeast, and causes proteins to coagulate and settle out with the yeast

 

Filtering is a step not all breweries use. Filtering the beer stabilizes the flavour, and gives beer its polished shine and brilliance. Filters range from rough filters that remove much of the yeast and any solids (e.g. hops, grain particles) left in the beer, to filters tight enough to strain color and body from the beer.

 

Filling putting the beer into the containers in which it will leave the brewery. Typically this means in bottles, aluminium cans and kegs , but it might include bulk tanks for high-volume customers. Bottle conditioning is the process of leaving or adding live yeast to a beer so it can mature in the bottle. Most bottle conditioning involves adding yeast and a sugar source of some sort at bottling. This causes the beer to referment, adding natural carbonation, a layer of live yeast, and a small amount of alcohol.

 

 

The first pilsner was brewed in 1842, over a hundred years ago, in the Bohemian town of Plzen. Revolutionary at the time, it was a fired-brewed beer characterized by a rich golden colour, sweet malty flavour and an abundance of hop.

 

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