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How Beer Is Made
By Jason (The Snob), Fri Dec 9th
Making is easy, inexpensive, and most of all, fun. With therise in popularity of homebrewing, there are a wide variety oftop quality ingredients available. You can literally makethousands of styles of that will taste great and impressyour friends. Getting started making will only cost you asmall amount of money, depending on your level of interest. Mostbeer making kits range from only $60 to $200 and make great,unique gifts. How to Make Beer Making is just like cooking. Each recipe requires differentingredients and techniques. This page is an attempt to go overthe basics of homebrewing in order to give you an understandingof how is made.
First of all, is made from 4 basic ingredients: water, malt(malted barley), hops, and yeast. Water is the most abundant ingredient in any style of beer. Whenmaking at home try to use filtered water instead of plaintap water. If your water doesn’t taste good from the tap, youprobably won’t like it in your either. Do not use distilledwater because it has been depleted of its oxygen. Malted barley is barley grain that has been carefully soaked inwater until it sprouts and then dried. This malting processdevelops the necessary sugars and soluble starches needed forfermentation. The malt is then taken through a process calledmashing which extracts the sugars and starches from the grain.Although advanced homebrewers can accomplish this step at home,most will buy the malted barley already mashed in a productcalled malt extract. Hops are a green flower that grows on a vine and looks similarto a pine cone. Hops perform several roles
in the makingprocess. Most notably are the taste and aroma they impart on abeer. Since not all of the sugars will ferment, the malt willcause the to be really sweet. Hops will balance out thesweetness by adding a degree of bitterness. Hops will also add adistinctive aroma to the finished brew. Yeast is the catalyst that makes it all happen. In short, yeastis a living organism that feeds off of the sugars in the malt.The yeast will convert the sugars to alcohol and carbon dioxidein a process called fermentation. There are many strains ofyeasts (even in the air we breathe). In order to get the resultsneeded for making beer, a specially cultured yeast isrequired. The yeast will also impart taste and mouthfeelqualities to the beer. The Making Process: To summarize, the malt, hops, and water are boiled for a periodof time. This mixture is called wort (pronounced wert). Then thewort is poured into fermenter and allowed to cool. Next, theprepared yeast is pitched into the fermenter and an airlock isplaced over the opening. Now it’s the yeast’s job to do itsthing. The yeast will multiply like crazy as it consumes thesugars in the brew. After a period of time, usually within 7 to10 days, the yeast will have consumed all that it can and fallto the bottom of the fermenter. Finally, the is bottled andset aside for a couple of weeks to mature and carbonate. Makingbeer at home really is a fantastic hobby and can be a greatsocial activity. Have some friends over and let them try yournew brew. Better yet, get them involved and see who can make thebest batches. Have blind taste tests with your buddies. Most ofall, have fun! About the author:Author of the 2BASNOB.com website about the enjoyment of coffee,tea, wine and beer.
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