BEER
I. HYSTORY OF BEER:
A Brief History of Beer
The origins of beer are older than recorded history, extending
into the mythology of ancient civilizations. Beer, the oldest alcohol beverage,
was discovered independently by most ancient cultures - the Babylonians,
Assyrians, Egyptians, Hebrews, Africans, Chinese, Incas, Tautens, Saxons and
the various wandering tribes that were found in Eurasia. These ancient peoples
have left records to indicate they not only enjoyed their beer, but considered
brewing to be a serious and important job.
In recorded history, Babylonian clay tablets more than 6,000 years
old depict the brewing of beer and give detailed recipes. An extract from an
ancient Chinese manuscript states that beer, or kiu as it was called, was known
to the Chinese as early as the 23rd century BC. Beer was enjoyed by ancient
peoples at all levels of society. Of course, some drank with more style than
others. For example, the University of Pennsylvania Museum displays a golden
straw used by Queen Shubad of Mesopotamia for sipping beer.With the rise of
commerce and the growth of cities during the Middle Ages, brewing became more
than a household activity. Municipal brew houses were established, which
eventually led to the formation of the brewing guilds. Commercial brewing on a
significantly larger scale began around the 12th century in Germany. Although
native Americans had developed a form of beer, Europeans brought their own
version with them to the New World. Beer enjoys the distinction of having come
over on the Mayflower and, in fact, seems to have played a part in the Pilgrims
decision to land at Plymouth Rock instead of farther south, as intended. A
journal kept by one of the passengers - now in the Library of Congress -
states, in an entry from 1620, that the Mayflower landed at Plymouth because We
could not now take time for further search or consideration, our victuals being
much spent, especially our beer...
The first commercial brewery in America was founded in New
Amsterdam (New York) in 1623. Many patriots owned their own breweries, among
them Samuel Adams and William Penn. Thomas Jefferson was also interested in
brewing and made beer at Monticello. George Washington even had his own brew
house on the grounds of Mount Vernon, and his handwritten recipe for beer dated
1757 and taken from his diary - is still preserved!
II. TYPES OF BEER
1. Lager
The word lager is derived from the German verb “lagern”, which
means: to store. During the late middle ages, before the days of refrigeration,
fermentation was a hit-or-miss affair, especially during the hot summer months.
To ensure a supply of beer for the summer, brewers in the Bavarian Alps stored
kegs of spring brew in icy mountain caves. As the beer slowly aged, the yeast
settled, creating a drink that was dark but clear and sparkling with a crisper,
more delicate flavour. In 1842, lager acquired its familiar golden colour when
a brewery in Pilsen, Czechoslovakia perfected a pale, bottom-fermented version
of the beer. Lagers typically take more time to brew and are aged longer than
ales. Lagers are best enjoyed at cooler-than-room temperature.
2. Bock Beer
The other bottom-fermented beer is bock, named for the famous
medieval German brewing town of Einbeck. Heavier than lager and darkened by
high-coloured malts, bock is traditionally brewed in the winter for drinking
during the spring.
3. Ale
Although the term covers a fascinating variety of styles, all
ales share certain characteristics. Top-fermentation and the inclusion of more
hops in the wort gives these beers a distinctive fruitiness, acidity and a
pleasantly-bitter seasoning. All ales typically take less time to brew and age
then lagers and have a more assertive, individual personality, though their
alcoholic strength may be the same. Ales are best enjoyed at room temperature
or slightly warmer.
4. Porter and Stout
Whether dry or sweet, flavoured with roasted malt barley, oats
or certain sugars, stouts and porters are characterized by darkness and depth.
Both types of beer are delicious with hearty meat stews and surprisingly good
with shellfish. The pairing of oysters and stout has long been acknowledged as
one of the world's great gastronomic marriages.
5. Dry
“Dry” refers to the amount of residual sugar left in a beer
following fermentation. This type of beer is fermented for longer than normal
brews so that practically all of the residual sugar is converted into alcohol.
The result is a beer which consumers describe as having a crisp flavour, clean
finish and very little aftertaste.
III.BEER GLOSSARY
This is a list of terms used when describing beers:
Abbey Commercial Belgian beers
licensed by abbeys. Not to be confused with Trappist ales.
Adjuncts Materials, like rice, corn
and brewing sugar, used in place of traditional grains for cheapness or
lightness of flavor.
Ale The oldest beer style in the world. Produced
by warm or top fermentation.
Alt Dark brown top-fermenting beer from
Düsseldorf.
Alpha acid The main component of the
bittering agent in the hop flower.
Attenuation The extent to which brewing
sugars turn to alcohol and carbon dioxide.
Kölsch Top-fermenting golden beer
from Cologne.
Kräusen The addition of
partially-fermented wort during lagering to encourage a strong secondary
fermentation.
Kriek Cherry-flavored lambic beer.
Lager The cold-conditioning of
beer at around 0 degrees Centigrade to encourage the yeast to settle out,
increase carbonation and produce a smooth, clean-tasting beer. From the German
meaning "to store".
Lambic Belgian beer made by
spontaneous fermentation.
Lauter tun Vessel used to clarify the
wort after the mashing stage.
Beer Generic term for an
alcoholic drink made from grain. Includes both ale and lager.
Bitter British term for the pale,
amber or coppercolored beers that developed from the pale ales in the 19th
century.
Bock or Bok Strong beer style of The Netherlands and Germany.
Bottle-conditioned Beer that undergoes a
secondary fermentation in the bottle.
Brew kettle See Copper
Cask-conditioned Beer that undergoes a
secondary fermentation in the cask. Known as "real ale", closely
identified with British beers.
Copper Vessel used to boil the
sugary wort with hops.
Decoction mashing A system mainly used
in lager brewing in which portions of the wort are removed from the vessel,
heated to a higher temperature and then returned. Improves ensymic activity and
the conversion of starch to sugar in poorly modified malts.
Malt Barley or other cereals that
have been partially germinated to allow starches to be converted into
fermentable sugars.
Mash First stage of the brewing
process, when the malt is mixed with pure hot water to extract the sugars.
Märzen Traditional Bavarian lager
brewed in March and stored until autumn for the Munich Oktoberfest.
Mild Dark brown (occasionally
pale) English and Welsh beer, lightly hopped. The oldest style of beer that
once derived it color from malt cured over wood fires. One of the components of
the first porters.
Milk stout Stout made with the addition
of lactose, which is unfermentable, producing a beer low in alcohol with a
creamy, slightly sweet character.
Pilsner or Pilsener or Pils
International brand name for a light-colored lager.
Porter Dark - brown or black - beer
originating in London.
Priming Addition of sugar to
encourage a secondary fermentation in beer.
Dry-hopping The addition of a small
amount of hops to a cask of beer to improve aroma and bitterness.
Dunkel A dark lager beer in
Germany, a Bavarian speciality that predates the first pale lagers.
Entire The earliest form of porter,
short for "entire butt".
Ester Flavor compounds produced by
the action of yeast turning sugars into alcohol and carbon dioxide. Esters may
be fruity or spicy.
Fining Substance that clarifies
beer, usually made from the swim bladder of sturgeon fish; also known as
isinglass.
Framboise or Frambozen Raspberry-flavored lambic beer.
Grist The coarse powder derived from
malt that has been milled or "cracked" in the brewery prior to mashing.
Gueuze A blend of Belgian lambic
beers.
Reinheitsgebot Bavarian beer law of 1516
(the "Purity Pledge) that lays down that only malted grain, hops, yeast
and water can be used in brewing. Now covers the whole of Germany.
Shilling Ancient method of invoicing
beer in Scotland on strength. Beers are called 60, 70 or 80 shilling.
Sparging From the French esparger, to
sprinkle; Sprinkling or spraying the spent grains in the mash tun or lauter tun
to flush out any remaining malt sugars.
Square A traditional, open
fermenting vessel.
Steam beer American beer style saved by
the Anchor Brewery in San Francisco.
Stout Once an English generic term
for the strongest ("stoutest") beer in a brewery. Now considered a
quintessentially Irish style.
Trappist Ales brewed by monks of the
Trappist order in Belgium and The Netherlands.
Union Method of fermentation
developed in Burton-tn-Trent using large oak casks.
Helles or Hell A pale Bavarian lager beer.
Hop (Lat: Humulus Lupulus)Herb used when brewing to add aroma and bitterness.
IBU International Bitterness Units. An internationally-agreed
scale for measuring the bitterness of beer. A "lite" American lager
may have around 10 IBU's, an English mild ale around 20 units, an India Pale
Ale 40 or higher, an Irish stout 55 to 60 and barley wine 65.
Infusion Method of mashing used
mainly in ale-brewing where the grains are left to soak with pure water while
starches convert to sugar, usually carried out at a constant temperature.
Ur or Urtyp German for original.
Weizen or Weisse German for wheat or white beer.
Wort Liquid resulting from the
mashing process, rich in malt and sugars.
IV. MANUFACTURING OF BEER Brewing is fundamentally a natural process. The art and science
of brewing lies in converting natural food materials into a pure, pleasing
beverage. Although great strides have been made with the techniques for
achieving high-quality production, beer today is still a beverage brewed from
natural products in a traditional way. Although the main ingredients of beer
have remained constant (water, yeast, malt and hops), it is the precise recipe
and timing of the brew that gives one a different taste from another. The
production of beer is one of the most closely supervised and controlled
manufacturing processes in our society. Apart from brewing company expenditures on research and quality control
designed to achieve the highest standards of uniformity and purity in the
product, the production of beer is also subject to regular inspection and
review by federal and provincial Health Departments. Substances used in the
brewing process are approved by Health Canada. On average, a batch of beer will
take about 30 days to produce. To be more specific, brewing takes nine and a
half hours, while fermentation and aging combined take between 21 and 35 days
for ales and lagers respectively.
1. Water Pure water is an essential ingredient in good beer and brewers
pay scrupulous attention to the source and purification of their brewing water.
The water used in brewing is purified to rigidly-set standards. If it does not
have the proper calcium or acidic content for maximum activity of the enzymes
in the mash, it must be brought up to that standard.
2. Malt Barley is used to make brewers' malt. At the malting companies,
barley is soaked, germinated (sprouted), then dried and/or kilned/roasted to
arrest further growth. During the period of controlled growth in the malting
plant, specific barley enzymes are released to break down the membranes of the
starch cells that make up most of the kernel. But these are internal changes
only; apart from a slight change in colour, the external characteristics remain
essentially unchanged. When the malt leaves a malting plant, it still looks
like barley. In the brewery, the malt is screened and crushed rather than
ground to flour in order to keep the husks as whole as possible. This process
not only prevents the extraction of undesirable materials from the husks but
also allows them to act as a
filter bed for separation of the liquid extract formed during
mashing.
3. Mashing Malt is added to heated, purified water and, through a carefully
controlled time and temperature process, the malt enzymes break down the starch
to sugar and the complex proteins of the malt to simpler nitrogen compounds.
Mashing takes place in a large, round tank called a "mash mixer" or
"mash tun" and requires careful temperature control. At this point,
depending on the type of beer desired, the malt is supplemented by starch from
other cereals such as corn, wheat or rice.
4. Lautering The mash is transferred to a straining (or lautering) vessel
which is usually cylindrical with a slotted false bottom two to five
centimetres above the true bottom. The liquid extract drains through the false
bottom and is run off to the brew kettle. This extract, a sugar solution, is
called "wort" but it is not yet beer. Water is "sparged"
(or sprayed) though the grains to wash out as much of the extract as possible.
The "spent grains" are removed and sold as cattle feed.
5. Boiling and Hopping
The brew kettle, a huge cauldron
holding from 70 to 1,000 hectolitres and made of shiny copper or stainless
steel, is probably the most striking sight in a brewery. It is fitted with
coils or a jacketed bottom for steam heating and is designed to boil the wort
under arefully-controlled conditions. Boiling, which usually lasts about two
hours, serves to concentrate the wort to a desired specific gravity, to
sterilize it and to obtain the desired extract from the hops. The hop resins
contribute flavour, aroma and bitterness to the brew. Once the hops have
flavoured the brew, they are removed. When applicable, highly-fermentable syrup
may be added to the kettle. Undesirable protein substances that have survived
the journey from the mash mixer are coagulated, leaving the wort clear.
6. Hop Separation and
Cooling After the beer has taken
on the flavour of the hops, the wort then proceeds to the "hot wort
tank". It is then cooled, usually in a simple-looking apparatus called a "plate
cooler". As the wort and a coolant flow past each other on opposite sides
of stainless steel plates, the temperature of the wort drops from boiling to
about 10 to 15.5 °C, a drop of more than 65.6 °C, in a few seconds.
7. Fermentation The wort is then moved to the fermenting vessels and yeast, the
guarded central mystery of ancient brewer's art, is added. It is the yeast,
which is a living, singlecell fungi, that breaks down the sugar in the wort to
carbon dioxide and alcohol. It also adds many beer-flavouring components. There
are many kinds of yeasts, but those used in making beer belong to the genus
saccharomyces. The brewer uses two species of this genus. One yeast type, which
rises to the top of the liquid at the completion of the fermentation process,
is used in brewing ale and stout. The other, which drops to the bottom of the
brewing vessel, is used in brewing lager. In all modern breweries, elaborate
precautions are taken to ensure that the yeast remains pure and unchanged.
Through the use of pure yeast culture plants, a particular beer flavour can be
maintained year after year. During fermentation, which lasts about seven to 10
days, the yeast may multiply six-fold and in the open-tank fermenters used for
brewing ale, a creamy, frothy head may be seen on top of the brew. When the
fermentation is complete, the yeast is removed. Now, for the first time ,the
liquid is called beer.
8. Cellars For one to three weeks, the beer is stored cold and then
filtered once or twice before it is ready for bottling or "racking"
into kegs.
9. Packaging In the bottle shop of a brewery, returned empty bottles go
through washers in which they receive a thorough cleaning. After washing, the
bottles are inspected electronically and visually and pass on to the rotary
filler. Some of these machines can fill up o 1,200 bottles per minute. A
"crowning" machine, integrated with the filler, places caps on the
bottles. The filled bottles may then pass through a "tunnel
pasteurizer" (often 23 metres from end to end and able to hold 15,000 bottles)
where the temperature of the beer is raised about 60 °C. for a sufficient length
of time to provide biological stability, then cooled to room temperature. Emerging
from the pasteurizer, the bottles are inspected, labelled, placed in boxes,
stacked on pallets and carried by lift truck to the warehousing areas to await
shipment. Also in the bottle shop may be the canning lines, where beer is packaged
in cans for shipment. Packaged beer may be heat-pasteurized or microfiltered, providing
a shelf-life of up to six months when properly stored. Draught beer, since it
is normally sold and consumed within a few weeks, may not go through this
process. The draught beer is placed in sterilized kegs ready for shipment.
No comments:
Post a Comment