Everything about Beer totally explained
Beer is the world's oldest and most popular
alcoholic beverage. Some of the earliest known writings refer to the production and distribution of beer. It is produced by the
fermentation of
sugars derived from
starch-based material—the most common being
malted
barley; however,
wheat,
corn, and
rice are also widely used, usually in conjunction with barley.
The starch source is
steeped in
water. Enzymes in the malt break down the starch molecules, producing a sugary liquid known as
wort, which is then flavoured with
hops, which acts as a natural
preservative. Other ingredients such as
herbs or
fruit may be added.
Yeast is then used to cause
fermentation, which produces alcohol and other waste products from
anaerobic respiration of the yeast as it consumes the sugars. The process of beer production is called
brewing.
Beer uses many varying ingredients, production methods and traditions. Different types of yeast and production methods may be used to classify beer as
ale,
lager or
spontaneously fermented beer. Some beer writers and organisations differentiate and categorise beers by various factors into
beer styles. Alcoholic beverages fermented from non-starch sources such as grape juice (
wine) or honey (
mead), as well as
distilled beverages, are not classified as beer.
History
Beer is one of the world's oldest beverages, possibly dating back to the 6th millennium BC, and is recorded in the written history of
ancient Egypt and
Mesopotamia. The earliest Sumerian writings contain references to beer. A prayer to the goddess
Ninkasi known as "The Hymn to Ninkasi" serves as both a prayer as well as a method of remembering the recipe for beer in a culture with few literate people.
The earliest known chemical evidence of beer dates to circa 3500–3100 BC from the site of Godin Tepe in the
Zagros Mountains of western
Iran. As almost any substance containing
carbohydrates, namely
sugar or
starch, can naturally undergo fermentation, it's likely that beer-like beverages were independently invented among various cultures throughout the world. The invention of bread and beer has been argued to be responsible for humanity's ability to develop technology and build civilization.
As for the close link between bread- and beer-making, women produced most beer prior to the introduction of
hops in the thirteenth century, selling the beverage from their homes as a means of supplementing the
family income. However, by the 7th century AD beer was also being produced and sold by European
monasteries. During the
Industrial Revolution, the production of beer moved from
artisanal manufacture to
industrial manufacture, and domestic manufacture ceased to be significant by the end of the 19th century. The development of
hydrometers and
thermometers changed brewing by allowing the brewer more control of the process, and greater knowledge of the results.
Beer was also known by Slavic tribes in early 5th century.
Brewing industry
Today, the brewing industry is a huge global business, consisting of several dominant
multinational companies and many thousands of smaller producers ranging from
brewpubs to
regional breweries. More than 133 billion liters (35 billion gallons) are sold per year—producing total global revenues of $294.5 billion (£147.7 billion) in 2006.
InBev is the largest beer-producing company in the world, followed by
SABMiller, which became the second-largest brewing company when
South African Breweries acquired
Miller Brewing in 2002.
Anheuser-Busch holds the third spot.
Brewing
brewing. The essential stages of brewing are
mashing,
sparging, boiling, fermentation, and packaging. Most of these stages can be accomplished in several different ways, but the purpose of each stage is the same regardless of the method used to achieve it.
Mashing manipulates the temperature of a mixture of water and a starch source (known as mash) in order to convert starches to fermentable sugars. The mash goes through one or more stages of being raised to a desired temperature and left at the temperature for a period of time. During each of these stages,
enzymes (alpha and beta amylase primarily) break down the long dextrins that are present in the mash into simpler fermentable sugars, such as glucose. The number of stages required in mashing depends on the starch source used to produce the beer. Most malted barley used today requires only a single stage.
Sparging (a.k.a.
lautering) extracts the fermentable liquid, known as
wort, from the mash. During sparging the mash is contained in a
lauter-tun, which has a porous barrier through which wort but not grain can pass. The brewer allows the wort to flow past the porous barrier and collects the wort. The brewer also adds water to the lauter-tun and lets it flow through the mash and collects it as well. This rinses fermentable liquid from the grain in the mash and allows the brewer to gather as much of the fermentable liquid from the mash as possible. The leftover grain isn't usually further used in making the beer. However, in some places second or even third mashes would be performed with the not quite spent grains. Each run would produce a weaker wort and thus a weaker beer.
Boiling sterilises the wort and increases the concentration of sugar in the wort. The wort collected from sparging is put in a kettle and boiled, usually for about one hour. During boiling, water in the wort evaporates, but the sugars and other components of the wort remain; this allows more efficient use of the starch sources in the beer. Boiling also destroys any remaining enzymes left over from the mashing stage as well as coagulating proteins passing into the wort, especially from malted barley, which could otherwise cause protein 'hazes' in the finished beer.
Hops are added during boiling in order to extract bitterness, flavour and aroma from them. Hops may be added at more than one point during the boil. As hops are boiled longer, they contribute more bitterness but less hop flavour and aroma to the beer.
Fermentation uses
yeast to turn the sugars in wort to
alcohol and
carbon dioxide. During fermentation, the wort becomes beer. Once the boiled wort is cooled and in a fermenter, yeast is propagated in the wort and it's left to ferment, which requires a week to months depending on the type of yeast and strength of the beer. In addition to producing alcohol, fine
particulate matter suspended in the wort settles during fermentation. Once fermentation is complete, the yeast also settles, leaving the beer clear. Fermentation is sometimes carried out in two stages, primary and secondary. Once most of the alcohol has been produced during primary fermentation, the beer is transferred to a new vessel and allowed a period of
secondary fermentation. Secondary fermentation is used when the beer requires long storage before packaging or greater clarity.
Pasteurisation is an optional stage of the beer process in which the beer is slowly heated and cooled to kill off any existing bacteria in order to maintain longer shelf life. This is generally a stage not included in higher end beers, but is quite common in mass-produced beers such as American-Style lite beers, and other mass-produced lagers. It is less common in ales as pasteurization can change the many flavours.
Packaging, the fifth and final stage of the brewing process, prepares the beer for distribution and consumption. During packaging, beer is put into the vessel from which it'll be served: a keg, cask, can or bottle. Beer is carbonated in its package, either by forcing
carbon dioxide into the beer or by "natural carbonation". Naturally carbonated beers may have a small amount of fresh wort/sugar and/or yeast added to them during packaging. This causes a short period of fermentation which produces carbon dioxide.
Ingredients
The basic ingredients of beer are
water; a fermentable starch source, such as
malted
barley; and
yeast. It is common for a flavouring to be added, the most popular being
hops. A mixture of starch sources may be used, with the secondary starch source, such as
corn, rice and sugar, often being termed an
adjunct, especially when used as a lower cost substitute for malted barley. Less widely used starch sources include
millet,
sorghum and
cassava root in Africa,
potato in Brazil, and
agave in Mexico, among others.
Water
Beer is composed mostly of water, and the water used to make beer nearly always comes from a local source. The mineral components of water are important to beer because minerals in the water influence the character of beer made from it. Different regions have water with different mineral components. As a result, different regions are better suited to making certain types of beer. For example,
Dublin has
hard water well-suited to making
stout, such as
Guinness, and
Pilzen has soft water well-suited to making
pale lager, such as
Pilsner Urquell. As a result, it's argued that the mineral components of water have an influence on the character of regional beers. around 400 BC. Hops were used by monastery breweries, such as Corvey in Westphalia, Germany, from 822 AD, though the date normally given for widespread cultivation of hops for use in beer is the thirteenth century. the length of time that a foamy head created by carbonation will last. The acidity of hops acts as a preservative that—after its introduction—gave brewers the ability to transport their product over longer distances, thereby allowing for the rise to commercial breweries.
The bitterness of beers is measured on the
International Bitterness Units scale. Beer is the sole major commercial use of hops.
In the past, other plants have been used for similar purposes; for instance,
Glechoma hederacea. Combinations of various aromatic herbs, berries, and even ingredients like
wormwood would be combined into a mixture known as
gruit and used as hops are now used.
Yeast
Yeast is the
microorganism that's responsible for fermentation in beer. Yeast
metabolizes the sugars extracted from grains, which produces
alcohol and
carbon dioxide, and thereby turns wort into beer. In addition to fermenting the beer, yeast influences the character and flavour.
The dominant types of yeast used to make beer are ale yeast (
Saccharomyces cerevisiae) and lager yeast (
Saccharomyces uvarum); their use distinguishes
ale and
lager.
Brettanomyces ferments
lambics, and
Torulaspora delbrueckii ferments Bavarian
weissbier.
Before the role of yeast in fermentation was understood, fermentation involved wild or airborne yeasts. A few styles such as
lambics rely on this method today, but most modern fermentation adds pure yeast
cultures directly to wort.
Clarifying agent
Some brewers add one or more
clarifying agents to beer. Common examples of these include
isinglass finings, obtained from
swimbladders of
fish;
Irish moss, a seaweed; kappa
carrageenan, from the seaweed
Kappaphycus cottonii; Polyclar (artificial); and
gelatin. Clarifying agents typically precipitate out of the beer along with protein solids, and are found only in trace amounts in the finished product. If a beer is marked 'suitable for Vegans' then it has either been clarified with seaweed or with artificial agents.
Types and styles of beer
The late British beer writer
Michael Jackson wrote about beers from around the world in his 1977 book
The World Guide To Beer and organised them into local style groups based on local information. This book had an influence on
homebrewers in
United States who developed an intricate system of categorising beers which is exemplified by the
Beer Judge Certification Program.
The traditional European brewing regions—
Germany,
Belgium, the
United Kingdom,
Ireland,
Poland, the
Czech Republic,
Denmark,
The Netherlands and
Austria—have local varieties of beer. In some countries, notably the USA, Canada and Australia, brewers have adapted European styles to such an extent that they've effectively created their own indigenous types.
Categorising by yeast
The most common method of categorising beer is by the behaviour of the yeast used in the fermentation process. In this method of categorising, those beers which use a fast-acting yeast, which leaves behind residual sugars, are termed ales, while those beers which use a slower and longer acting yeast, which removes most of the sugars, leaving a clean and dry beer, are termed lagers.
Differences between some ales and lagers can be difficult to categorise.
Steam beer,
Kölsch,
Alt, and some modern British Golden Summer Beers use elements of both lager and ale production.
Baltic Porter and
Bière de Garde may be produced by either lager or ale methods or a combination of both.
However, lager production results in a cleaner tasting, drier and lighter beer than ale.
Ale
A modern
ale is commonly defined by the strain of yeast used and the fermenting temperature.
Ales are normally brewed with
top-fermenting yeasts (most commonly
Saccharomyces cerevisiae), though a number of British brewers, including
Fullers and
Weltons, use ale yeast strains that have less pronounced top-fermentation characteristics. The important distinction for ales is that they're fermented at higher temperatures and thus ferment more quickly than lagers.
Ale is typically fermented at temperatures between 15 and 24
°C (60 and 75
°F). At these temperatures, yeast produces significant amounts of
esters and other secondary flavour and aroma products, and the result is often a beer with slightly "fruity" compounds resembling
apple,
pear,
pineapple,
banana,
plum, or
prune, among others. Typical ales have a sweeter, fuller
body than lagers.
A particularly well-known ale type is
India Pale Ale (or "IPA"), developed by British brewers in the 19th century. The ale was light, and suited to a hot climate, but with a moderately high alcohol strength and strong hop content, intended to preserve it over a long ocean voyage. Some
mass-produced beers (for example Alexander Keith's, brewed in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada) use the term "India Pale Ale", but are not in any way true IPAs.
Real ale is a natural product brewed using traditional ingredients and left to mature in the cask (container) from which it's served through a process called secondary fermentation where the beer slowly ferments in its cask producing its own natural CO2. This causes a build up of pressure in the cask which literally forces it out of the barrel when it's being poured.
Lager
Lager is the English name for bottom-fermenting beers of
Central European origin. They are the most commonly consumed beers in the world. The name comes from the
German lagern ("to store"). Lagers originated from European brewers storing beer in cool cellars and caves and noticing that the beers continued to ferment, and also to clear of sediment. Lager yeast is a
bottom-fermenting yeast (for example,
Saccharomyces pastorianus), and typically undergoes primary fermentation at 7–12 °C (45–55 °F) (the "fermentation phase"), and then is given a long secondary fermentation at 0–4 °C (32–40 °F) (the "lagering phase"). During the secondary stage, the lager clears and mellows. The cooler conditions also inhibit the natural production of
esters and other byproducts, resulting in a "cleaner" tasting beer.
Modern methods of producing lager were pioneered by
Gabriel Sedlmayr the Younger, who perfected dark brown lagers at the
Spaten Brewery in
Bavaria, and
Anton Dreher, who began brewing a lager, probably of amber-red colour, in
Vienna in 1840–1841. With improved modern yeast strains, most lager breweries use only short periods of cold storage, typically 1–3 weeks.
Lambic beers: spontaneous fermentation
Belgian beers, use wild yeasts, rather than cultivated ones. Many of these are not strains of brewer's yeast (
Saccharomyces cerevisiae), and may have significant differences in aroma and sourness. Yeast varieties such as
Brettanomyces bruxellensis and
Brettanomyces lambicus are quite common in lambics. In addition, other organisms such as
Lactobacillus bacteria produce acids which contribute to the sourness.
Pale and dark beer
The most common colour is a pale amber produced from using pale malts.
Pale lager is a term used for beers made from
malt dried with
coke. Coke had been first used for roasting malt in 1642, but it wasn't until around 1703 that the term
pale ale was first used.
In terms of sales volume, most of today's beer is based on the
pale lager brewed in 1842 in the town of
Pilsen, in the
Czech Republic. The modern pale lager is light in colour with a noticeable carbonation, and a typical
alcohol by volume content of around 5%. The
Pilsner Urquell,
Bitburger, and
Heineken brands of beer are typical examples of pale lager, as are the American brands
Budweiser,
Coors, and
Miller.
Dark beers are usually brewed from a pale malt or lager malt base with a small proportion of darker malt added to achieve the desired shade. Other colourants—such as caramel—are also widely used to darken beers. Very dark beers, such as
stout use dark or patent malts that have been roasted longer.
Guinness and similar beers include roasted unmalted
barley.
Serving
Draught and keg
Draught beer from a pressurised
keg is the most common method of dispensing in bars around the world. A metal keg is pressurised with
carbon dioxide (CO
2) gas which drives the beer to the dispensing
tap or faucet. Some beers, notably
stouts, such as
Guinness and "smooth" bitters, such as
Boddingtons, may be served with a nitrogen/carbon dioxide mixture.
Nitrogen produces fine bubbles, resulting in a dense
head and a creamy
mouthfeel. Some types of beer can also be found in smaller, disposable kegs called
beer balls.
In the 1980s, Guinness introduced the
beer widget, a nitrogen pressurised ball inside a can which creates a foamy head. The words "draft" and "draught" can be used as marketing terms to describe
canned or
bottled beers containing a beer widget, or which are cold filtered rather than pasteurised.
Cask-conditioned ales
Cask-conditioned ales (or "cask ales") are unfiltered and unpasteurised beers. These beers are termed "
real ale" by the
Camra organisation. Typically, when a cask arrives in a pub, it's placed horizontally on a
stillage and allowed to cool to cellar temperature (typically around 13 °C/55 °F), before being tapped and vented—a tap is driven through a (usually rubber) bung at the bottom of one end, and a hard
spile or other implement is used to open a hole in the side of the cask, which is now uppermost. The act of stillaging and then venting a beer in this manner typically disturbs all the sediment, so it must be left for a suitable period to "drop" (clear) again, as well as to fully condition—this period can take anywhere from several hours to several days. At this point the beer is ready to sell, either being pulled through a beer line with a hand pump, or simply being "gravity-fed" directly into the glass.
Bottles
Most beers are cleared of yeast by
filtering when bottled. However,
bottle conditioned beers retain some yeast—either by being unfiltered, or by being filtered and then reseeded with fresh yeast. It is usually recommended that the beer be poured slowly, leaving any yeast sediment at the bottom of the bottle. However, some drinkers prefer to pour in the yeast; this practice is, in fact, customary with
wheat beers. Typically, when serving a
hefeweizen, 90% of the contents are poured, and the remainder is swirled to suspend the sediment before pouring it into the glass. Alternatively, the bottle may be inverted prior to opening.
Cans
Many beers are sold in
beverage cans, though there's considerable variation in the proportion between different countries. In 2001, in Sweden 63.9% of beer was sold in cans. People either drink from the can or pour the beer into a glass. Cans protect the beer from light and have a seal less prone to leaking over time than bottles. Cans were initially viewed as a technological breakthrough for maintaining the quality of a beer, then became commonly associated with less-expensive, mass-produced beers, even though the quality of storage in cans is much like bottles. Glass
bottles are always used for
bottle conditioned beers, so are associated with higher-regarded beers. Plastic (
PET) bottles are used by some breweries.
Serving temperature
The
temperature of a beer has an influence on a drinker's experience. Colder temperatures allow fully attenuated beers such as
pale lagers to be enjoyed for their crispness; while warmer temperatures allow the more rounded flavours of an ale or a
stout to be perceived. Beer writer
Michael Jackson proposed a five-level scale for serving temperatures: well chilled (7 °C/45 °F) for "light" beers (pale lagers), chilled (8 °C/47 °F) for
Berliner Weisse and other wheat beers, lightly chilled (9 °C/48 °F) for all dark lagers,
altbier and German wheat beers, cellar temperature (13 °C/55 °F) for regular British
ale,
stout and most
Belgian specialities and room temperature (15.5 °C/60 °F) for strong dark ales (especially
trappist beer) and
barley wine.
Vessels
Beer is consumed out of a variety of vessels, such as a glass, a
beer stein, a mug, a
pewter tankard, a
beer bottle or a
can. Some drinkers consider that the type of vessel influences their enjoyment of the beer. In Europe, particularly
Belgium, breweries offer
branded glassware intended only for their own beers.
The pouring process has an influence on a beer's presentation. The rate of flow from the
tap or other serving vessel, tilt of the glass, and position of the pour (in the centre or down the side) into the glass all influence the end result, such as the size and longevity of the head, lacing (the pattern left by the head as it moves down the glass as the beer is drunk), and
turbulence of the beer and its release of
carbonation.
Beer and society
Social context
Various social traditions and activities are associated with beer drinking, such as playing
cards,
darts,
bags or other
pub games; attending
beer festivals, or visiting a
series of different pubs in one evening; joining an organisation such as
CAMRA; or
rating beer. Various
drinking games, such as
beer pong,
flippy cup and
quarters are also very popular.
International consumption
Beer is considered to be a social lubricant in many societies. Beer is consumed in countries all over the world. There are breweries in Middle Eastern countries such as Iraq and Syria as well as African countries (see
African beer) and remote countries such as Mongolia. Sales of beer are four times that of wine, the second most popular alcoholic beverage.
Health effects
The moderate consumption of alcohol, including beer, is associated with a decreased risk of cardiac disease, stroke and cognitive decline.
Brewer's yeast is known to be a rich source of nutrients; therefore, as expected, beer can contain significant amounts of nutrients, including
magnesium,
selenium,
potassium,
phosphorus,
biotin, and
B vitamins. In fact, beer is sometimes referred to as "liquid bread".
Some sources maintain that filtered beer loses much of its nutrition.
A 2005 Japanese study found that
low alcohol beer may possess strong anti-cancer properties. Another study found nonalcoholic beer to mirror the cardiovascular benefits associated with moderate consumption of alcoholic beverages. However, much research suggests that the primary health benefit from alcoholic beverages comes from the alcohol they contain.
It is considered that overeating and lack of muscle tone is the main cause of a
beer belly, rather than beer consumption. A recent study, however, found a link between
binge drinking and a beer belly. But with most overconsumption it's more a problem of improper exercise and overconsumption of carbohydrates than the product itself.
There is conclusive evidence that heavy and prolonged consumption of alcohol leads to liver disease including
cirrhosis and malignancy. Heavy alcohol consumption has also been linked to
pancreatitis and
gout.
Several diet books quote beer as having the same
glycemic index as
maltose, a very high (and therefore undesirable) 110. Critics rejoin that beer consists mostly of water, hop oils and only trace amounts of sugars, including maltose.
Alcoholic strength
Beer ranges from less than 3%
alcohol by volume (abv) to almost 30% abv. The alcohol content of beer varies by local practice or beer style. The
pale lagers that most consumers are familiar with fall in the range of 4–6%, with a typical abv of 5%. The customary strength of British ales is quite low, with many
session beers being around 4% abv. Some beers, such as
tafelbier
(table beer) are of such low alcohol content (1%~4%) that they're served instead of
soft drinks in some schools.
The alcohol in beer comes primarily from the metabolism of sugars that are produced during fermentation. The quantity of fermentable sugars in the wort and the variety of yeast used to ferment the wort are the primary factors that determine the amount of alcohol in the final beer. Additional fermentable sugars are sometimes added to increase alcohol content, and enzymes are often added to the wort for certain styles of beer (primarily "light" beers) to convert more complex carbohydrates (starches) to fermentable sugars. Alcohol is a byproduct of yeast metabolism and is toxic to the yeast; typical brewing yeast can't survive at alcohol concentrations above 12% by volume. Low temperatures and too little fermentation time decreases the effectiveness of yeasts, and consequently decreases the alcohol content.
Exceptionally strong beers
The strength of beers has climbed during the later years of the 20th century.
Vetter 33 a 10.5% abv (33
degrees Plato, hence Vetter "33")
doppelbock was listed in the 1994
Guinness Book of World Records as the strongest beer at that time, though
Samichlaus, by the Swiss brewer Hürlimann, had also been listed by the Guinness Book of World Records as the strongest at 14% abv.
Since then some brewers have used
champagne yeasts to increase the alcohol content of their beers.
Samuel Adams reached 20% abv with
Millennium and then surpassed that amount to 25.6% abv with
Utopias. The strongest beer sold in Britain was Delaware's
Dogfish Head's
World Wide Stout, a 21% abv
stout which was available from UK
Safeways in 2003. In Japan in 2005, the Hakusekikan Beer Restaurant sold an
eisbock, strengthened through
freeze distillation, believed to be 28% abv. The beer that's considered to be the strongest yet made is
Hair of the Dog's
Dave—a 29% abv
barley wine made in 1994. The strength was achieved by freeze distilling a 10% ale twice.
Related beverages
There are a number of related beverages such as
kvass,
sahti and
chicha.
- Africa: Hundreds of local drinks, such as millet beer, made from millet, sorghum, and other available starch crops.
- Andes, South America: Chicha, an Andean beverage made from germinated corn.
- Bhutan, Nepal, Tibet and Sikkim: Chhaang, a popular semi-fermented rice/millet drink in the eastern Himalaya.
- China: Huangjiu, Choujiu. Jiǔ refers to all alcoholic drinks, most of which are distilled liquors (báijiǔ), but there are traditional grain-based relatives of beer such as sulima, made by the Mosuo people, and lijiang yinjiu, made by the Nakhi people, both in the Lijiang region of Yunnan.
- Finland: Sahti, a traditional Finnish beer.
- Indonesia: Brem, a Balinese fermented rice wine.
- Japan: Sake, a rice-based drink fermented with aspergillus fungus that's inoculated into the rice, then called Kyojin.
- Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Mongolia: Kumis (in Kyrgyz called kymyz), is the fermented mare's milk drink popular in many parts of Central Asia and Mongolia. It is very easy to obtain as it's sold in any market and at small stands on the side of the highway in rural areas as a source of income for the local nomads.
- Kyrgyzstan: Bozo is a low alcohol, somewhat porridgey drink made from millet. The Kyrgyz are also fans of kymyz (see kumis).
- Mexico: Pulque, an alcoholic beverage made from the fermented sap of the agave plant. Though commonly believed to be a beer, the main carbohydrate is a complex form of fructose rather than starch.
- Russia/Ukraine: Kvass, a fermented nonalcoholic or mildly alcoholic beverage.
- Bouza: An ancient Egyptian beer made from bread which is still made in Sudan.
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