Beer- An Introduction

Beer making dates back to ancient Egyptian times. There are five main types of beer: lager, stout, ale, porter and bock. The process of making all five is primarily the same. The difference in color comes from the amount of roasting that takes place. Beer is an alcoholic beverage made by brewing a fermenting malted barley and sometimes other cereals with hops added to flavor and stabilize it.

Barley is germinated and then is called malt. Malt is dried in a kin, the duration of which determines the darkness and sweetness of the Beer. The longer the roasting the darker and sweeter the beer. The roasting malt is mixed with other cereals and specific water then cooked. After it is cooked, a liquid called 'wort' from the pre-alcoholic porridge is drained off. The liquid is mixed with hops which adds the flavor. After a few more hours of cooking the hops are strained off, the wort is cooled and yeast is added which causes fermentation. Yeast converts wort to beer.

Different yeast makes different beers. Yeast that settles at the bottom of the tank produces lager. Yeast that sits on top of the tank makes ale. The ideal serving temperature for beer is 45 degrees F, but almost every customer simply wants their beer 'Chilled'!

Lager Beer: It is the generic term for all bottom fermented beers. Any beer that has been stored for a considerable amount of time is called Lager Beer.
 

(a) Bottom Fermentations at a temperature of 37-49 degrees centigrade.
(b) Lagering time 1 – 3 months
(c) Alcoholic content = 3.2 – 4 %
(d) Hop content is lower that that of Ale
(e) Served chilled.

·       Light Lager – example – Pilsner Urquell (Czech)
·       Dark Lager – example – Carlsberg (Denmark)

Ale:  These are manufactured by top fermentation method and earlier were made without hops and drunk fresh.

(a) Top Fermentation at a temperature of 50 – 70 degree centigrade.
(b) Lagering time 5 – 6 days.
(c) Pronounced hop flavor
(d) Alcoholic Content is higher
(e) Not served as chilled as lagers
E.g.. Ballantine (USA), Bass Pale Ale (UK).

a) Stout: A dark, heavy bodied ale, with a distinct malty flavor. It has a pronounced hoppy flavour and leaves a sweet after-taste. Gives a creamish head when poured served at cellar temperature / slightly chilled.
Example – Guinness (Ireland), Young Stout (UK)

b) Porter: similar to Stout but not that strong. It is lighter, less bitter, less hoppy flavor and less alcohol content. Gives a heavy creamy foam when poured. The name comes from the porters of London whose favorite drink was Porter.
Example – Anchor Steam Porter.

Bock: It is brewed from the sediment taken out of Fermenting Vats in their annual cleaning during Spring. Popular in USA . The bock beer season usually lasts for 6 weeks. In France, Bock is the term for a mug-full of light beer. Alcoholic content is 6% or above.

Draught Beer:  Un-pasteurized beer that is stored in Kegs/Barrels and carbonated at the time of service.
 

INTERNATIONAL BEERS
 

*Always served with a lemon wedge.

INGREDIENTS FOR MAKING BEER

·       MALTED BARLEY
·       YEAST
·       HOPS
·       ADJUNCTS
·       ADDITIVES

WATER

Water constitutes almost 85-90% by volume and forms the basis of the drink. The water used should be biologically pure and should be tested to ascertain its mineral content.

MALTED BARLEY

High quality barley is the most desired type of cereal as it imparts the richest taste to beer. The barley is allowed to germinate so that the starch is converted to simple sugar to enable fermentation.

YEAST

It is an unicellular microorganism responsible for fermentation. The same strain of yeast is used in a brewery for brand continuity.
Fermentation- Can be of two types : Top Fermentation & Bottom Fermentation, depending on the type of yeast.

1) Top fermentation

·       Yeast – Saccharomyces Cervisae
·       Temperature – 50-70 F

The process itself is very violent and rapid resulting in violent effervescence and the carbon dioxide is pushed up to the top and alcohol is produced. The yeast forms a scum at the surface.

2) Bottom fermentation

·       Yeast – Saccharomyces Carlsbergenesis
                               Saccharomyces Uvarum.
·       Temp – 37- 49 F

The process itself is very slow and requires a longer time as compared to top fermentation. Effervescence is also slow. The yeast sinks to the bottom of the vessel. The carbon dioxide during fermentation is not allowed to escape but stored for later use.

Hops ( humulus lupulus)

Belongs to nettle family. The female species of the flower contains a narcotic substance known as lupulin which contains tannins, resins and essential oils.

·       Flavors the beer
·       Antiseptic action
·       Cleansing
·       Clarification & preservation.

MANUFACTURING PROCESS:

1) MALTING:
The barley is first screened and then steeped in water and laid on the floor to germinate. During germination, the enzymes cause the complex carbohydrate to be converted to simple sugar.

2) MASHING
The grist is transferred to utensil known as a mash tun where a carefully measured amount of hot water is added and stirred around for as long as it is needed for extraction of sugar. The temperature and duration of mashing depends on the brew master.

3) LAUTERING
After the sugar is extracted, it is sent to the lauter tub. The liquid is stirred and allowed to settle and the liquid is filtered now known as the WORT.

4) BREWING
Takes place in the brewing kettle or copper. The hops are added to the wort and boiled for 2-2 ½ hours. Lupulin is extracted into the liquid. During the process the excess water and the volatile substances are removed.

5) HOP BACK
The hopped wort goes to another tub and once again filtration takes place. The spent hops act like a filter creating a mesh through which clear hopped wort passes out. The spent hops are used as agricultural fertilizers.

6) PARA FLOW
The clarified wort is now cooled to make its temperature suitable for fermentation.

7) FERMENTATION
The cooled hopped wort goes to the fermentation vat and the yeast is added. The yeast makes all the difference and results in the production of

·       ALE Top fermentation 5-6 days.

·       LAGER Bottom fermentation 8-11 days.

8) LAGERING

The temperature is lowered and the beer is allowed to mature in glass or glass lined tanks because beer needs less oxygen for maturation.
Maturation time: Ale 5-6 days , Lagers 1-3 months.

9) CARBONATION

PRIMING
After lagering the beer is checked for standards and if found to be lacking in anything it is added. This is usually done for brand continuity.
·       Caramel
·       Lactose
·       Galactose

FINING
·       PACKAGING
·       Cans/bottles
·       Kegs/barrels

STORAGE
Bottled/ canned beer should be below 70 f in a dark room. For draught beer 36-38 F. Germany, USA, UK, Czechoslovakia, France, Japan, Spain are few countries known for the production of yeast for commercial use. In India hops are produced in the Kashmir valley. The moisture content of the hops is 65-85% and should be reduced to 10% before use.
Examples are:
·       Bullion - USA
·       Fuggle – UK
·       Hallertau – Germany

Adjuncts
Some breweries mix some other cereals with barley at the time of malting, since barley is expensive.
More the adjuncts less expensive the beer, and lighter the body and flavor. In some countries as much as 30% of adjuncts are allowed, while in countries like Germany no adjuncts are allowed.
Example: rice, corn.

Additives
They serve many purposes. In some countries like Germany & Switzerland the use of additives are legally banned. They are chemicals added to the beer either to help in the manufacturing process or to render certain attributes to the beer.

Ex: Pectin
·       Gum Arabic- to stabilise the head
·       EDTA- to prevent the beer from gushing out when bottle or can is opened. Hydroxybenzoate – as a preservative.

Fancy a beer? It is one of the oldest invitations in the world and one that sets taste buds tingling. Beer, more than any other drink, means conviviality, a pleasure shared. . Cheers !