Share ThisGetting to Know Beer Basics
Basically, beer is an alcoholic beverage that's fermented and brewed from rice, barley, corn, hops, water, and yeast. The beer brewing process begins with pure water, corn grits, and malted barley. Malted barley is the basic ingredient and is often referred to as the "soul of beer." It contributes to the color and characteristic flavor of beer. What does malted mean? It means that the barley has been steeped or soaked in water and allowed to germinate or grow.
Brewing beer is a step-by-step process:
1. The corn grits and malt are cooked and blended to create mash.
2. A sugary liquid, called wort, is extracted from the mash. (The remaining solid portion of the mash, the brewer's grain, is sold as feed.)
3. The wort is transferred to the brew kettles, where it's boiled and hops are added. Hops are responsible for the rich aroma and the delicate bitterness in beer.
4. The wort then moves to the wort cooler.
5. Yeast, which converts sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide, and sterile air are added next, and the wort moves to fermentation tanks for a carefully controlled time period.
Two different types of yeast can be used: bottom and top.
- Bottom yeast settles to the bottom of the tank after converting all the sugar, and the resulting beer is a lager.
- Top yeast rises to the top of the tank when it's done with the sugar, and the beer it produces is an ale.
Types of beer
You've probably seen some of the following terms on beer labels, or maybe you've heard them in beer commercials. Here's a quick look at beer types:
- Ale is top-fermented beer. It's a little bitter, usually tastes hoppy, and has a higher alcohol content.
- Bitter beer is a strong ale, usually English, with a higher than normal alcohol content and, as the name implies, a bittersweet taste.
- Bock beer is a dark, strong, slightly sweet lager beer brewed from caramelized malt.
- Ice beer is brewed at colder than normal temperatures and then chilled to below freezing, forming crystals. The crystals are filtered out, leaving a smoother tasting beer with a slightly higher alcohol content.
- Lager is a bottom-fermented beer stored at very low (cold) temperatures for a long period of time (several months). The word lager is German for to store.
- Lambic beer is brewed in Belgium. Ingredients such as peaches, raspberries, cherries, and wheat are added during the brewing process.
- Light beer has fewer calories and less alcohol.
- Malt liquor is fermented at a higher temperature than other beers, which results in a higher alcohol content.
- Pilsner is a light, hoppy, dry lager.
- Sake is beer brewed and processed from rice. (Some consider sake a wine.) Sake is served warm or at room temperature.
- Stout is an ale produced from heavily roasted barley. It's darker in color and has a slightly bitter flavor.
- Trappist beer is brewed in Belgium or the Netherlands by Trappist monks. It contains high levels of alcohol and is usually dark in color.
- Wheat beer is made, as you might expect, with wheat. It's usually garnished with a lemon and sometimes raspberry syrup.
Storing and serving suggestions
In the United States, beer is served cold (40 degrees Fahrenheit). Lower temperatures tend to dull the taste, so consider 40 degrees the lower limit. Store beer away from sunlight, or you'll have skunked beer, which is never pleasant. Most beers now have labels that say when they were brewed or when to remove them from the shelf.
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