Beer is produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches, mainly derived from malted grains – most commonly malted barley, although wheat, maize (corn), and rice are widely used. Most beer is flavored with hops, which add bitterness and act as a natural preservative, though other flavorings such as herbs or fruit may occasionally be included. The basic ingredients of beer are water, malted barley, yeast and hops.
Stages of Brewing beer:
Malting – Turns raw barley (or wheat) into malt by sprouting and then kiln-drying.
Mashing—A cooking process that uses enzymes in malt to convert starches into fermentable sugars. The sugar-rich liquid, called “wort,” is run off into the brew kettle.
Boiling--This sterilizes the sugary wort, and allows bitterness from the hops to be incorporated. After about an hour it is chilled quickly and moved to the fermenter.
Fermentation – Yeast is added and begins consuming sugar and making alcohol and carbon dioxide gas. This stage usually takes a few days.
Conditioning – The fermented beer undergoes aging to reduce unwanted byproducts of fermentation and acquire a smooth, clean flavor.
Packaging – The finished beer is packaged in bottles, cans, kegs or casks. Carbonation may be natural or forced.
Styles of beer:
Styles are a useful way of grouping similar beers together. If someone has tasted and liked a certain beer, a good way to introduce them to new beers is to recommend others of that style or of a similar style.
Let's take a look now at how beer styles are divided into two main groups of Ales and Lagers. While there are many differences between the two, the most important distinction is the flavor. Generally ales have more fruity, robust flavors than lagers. Lagers can be more crisp and subtle.
From light to dark, here are some broad categories of traditional ale styles:
Wheat ales are primarily very light in color and brewed with a portion of malted or unmalted wheat in addition to malted barley. They range from the very light "Belgian Wit" or white beers, to cloudy German Hefe-Weizens and their darker cousins, "Dunkelweizen (Dunkel means dark in German).
Pale Ales encompass a large variety of beers and can range in color from golden or blonde to copper and deep amber.
Bitters is an English term for a well-hopped ale, most often on draught. Although examples vary widely, the name implies a depth of hop bitterness and range in color from bronze to deep copper. Basic bitters usually have an alcohol content of around 3.75% to 4% abv (alcohol by volume). "Best or Special" bitters come in around 4 to 4.75%, and "Extra Special" (or ESB) about 5.5%.
Amber or Red ale is a term coined by some of the new American craft brewers to denote a beer brewed with a higher percentage of caramel malts. These beers are often somewhat sweet or nutty and usually are not very hoppy.
German ales are often called "altbiers or alts". Alt is the German word for "old" and refers to the style of beers brewed prior to the discovery of lager yeasts. In addition to the amber to copper altbiers still found in Dusseldorf, there is a style known as "Kolsch", which is a blonde, delicately hopped ale found in the city of Cologne.
Brown Ales originating from England and the south of England are dark brown with a sweet palate and low in alcohol, about 3 to 3.5% abv.
Scottish Ales The ales of Scotland generally have a very malty profile. In their home country a single brewery's products may be identified in ascending order as "Light', "Heavy", and "Export or Strong".
Belgian Ales. No other country offers such a wide variety of styles - from wild spontaneously fermented brews and fruit beers to spiced wit (white) wheat beers to Trappist beers still produced in monasteries. A number of American craft breweries are now producing their versions of "Belgian Style" beers, either as part of or as their entire portfolio.
Porter is a London style. It is a lighter-bodied companion to Stout. They can range from light brown to black and often have a chocolate profile from the use of darker roasted malts.
Stout is an extra dark, almost black ale made with highly roasted unmalted and malted barleys. They are subdivided into "dry"," sweet", and "Imperial".
Barley wine is an English term for an extra-strong ale (implied to be as potent as wine). They range in color from copper to tawny or dark brown with a 7-10% abv. The American versions are usually stronger and hoppier than their English counterparts.
The Lager style accounts for over 90% of the beer brewed in the world. Largely it is a clear, pale beer fermented with bottom-fermenting yeast at cooler temperatures. The fermentation period is longer than it is for ales, hence the name, which in German means 'to store'. The resulting beers display malt and hop flavors that are free from the fruity and estery traits often found in ales. However, fermenting with lager yeasts at warmer temperatures can result in ale-like qualities. Also, when not properly aged they can exhibit definite sulfur notes.
The following, from light to dark, are the major families of lagers:
American pale lagers range from the low calorie light beers and American premium beers to the higher alcohol ice beers and malt liquors.
European pale lagers range from the hoppier pilsner style to the helles (light or pale in German) style, to export styles.
American amber and red lagers are amber to light reddish in color and can exhibit a caramel flavor with little hop character.
California common or steam beer is amber to copper in color and is fermented as a lager at ale temperatures.
German Marzen (March in German), Oktoberfest, and Vienna lagers are characterized by toasty malt flavors, medium body and low to medium hop character. They are amber to reddish in color and around 5 to 5.5% abv.
Dark lagers can be dark amber to brown in color and are sometimes called "dunkel' after the German word for dark. They can be characterized by caramel to chocolate flavor and are low to medium in hop character.
Bock is the German term for strong beer and is sometimes symbolized by a goat on the label. In Germany, a bock beer has more than 6.25% abv and can be deep gold to tawny brown in color.
Maibock (May in German) is a beer of super-premium quality that is released in early May to celebrate spring. They are usually deep gold in color with a solid malt flavor and medium hop finish and come in around 6.5% abv.
Doppelbock means double in Germany or extra strong and are tawny or dark brown in color. They are usually released in March or April and come in around 7.5% abv. They usually are characterized by a very full, rich malt flavor with a somewhat sweet finish and low hoppyness. Their names usually end in "ator".
Eisbocks are dopplebocks in which potency is heightened by a process of freezing. Because water freezes before alcohol, the removal of ice (eis) concentrates the beer.
Beer Characteristics:
A well-crafted beer stimulates the senses. For the purpose of describing beer styles, we will focus on four senses: sight, in terms of a beer's color and clarity; smell, from hoppy bouquet to the malty aroma; taste, from sweet to bitter; and mouthfeel, as it relates to a beer's body. The four basic ingredients that contribute to these senses are malt, hops, yeast, and water.
A beer's color is determined primarily by the amount and type of malt used. Malt refers to a grain that is germinated or sprouted before being dried under controlled conditions. The first step in this drying process produces what is called pale malt. The malt may be further kilned or roasted to varying degrees to produce different colors and flavors. By mixing a variety of malts, brewers can produce beers from a light straw color to an opaque black.
A beer's smell is the result of the interaction of malt, hops, and in some styles, yeast. Malt contributes a sweet aroma of bread or cereal. Darker malts may provide caramel aromas.
Hops are the main "spice" of beers. The oils in the hop cone contribute a bouquet that may be light and floral or sharp and pungent.
Certain yeasts can contribute to a beer’s aroma. Yeast is a single-celled organism, or fungus, that is responsible for converting the sugars, extracted from the grains during the mashing process, to alcohol, carbon dioxide, and other trace components or compounds. Some of these compounds, especially when "ale" yeast is used, can add a fruity or spicy note to the aroma. These compounds are generally referred to as "esters"; so a beer's aroma can sometimes be described as estery.
A beer’s taste is affected by all the ingredients used including the water, since it is the beer’s main component.
Care for your beer:
The enemies of beer are oxygen (after fermentation has begun), heat, light, and of course spoilage bacteria during fermentation, aging and packaging. Bacteria that are harmful to beer are destroyed during the boiling stage of brewing. Once the wort is cooled after brewing it is highly susceptible to being contaminated because of the high sugar content. Once a strong fermentation has begun with the selected yeast, then it is less susceptible. Oxygen is actually injected into the cooled wort to help the yeast to grow to the volume needed for active fermentation. After that stage, oxygen is one of the enemies. Because of the naturally lower PH (4.25 or so) of finished beer, dangerous bactia such as botulism will not occur, but organisms that can cause off flavors in the beer can occur. Heat can shorten the shelf life of the beer by encouraging some of these organisms to grow. Many mass produced beers are pasteurized at the time of packaging, or are sterile filtered prior to packaging. This kills or removes most of these problem bacteria and so the beer is less affected by the heat of shipping, storage and display, However, most Craft brewers prefer neither of these treatments because they can affect or strip flavor from the beer. Bigger flavored beers, higher alcohol and higher hop content help some of these beers survive the rigors of life outside the brewery. If the beer is not protected from light, it will be damaged as well. Bottled beer not protected by cardboard packaging can be damaged. The color of the bottle glass makes some difference. Brown is best, while green and clear are less protective. The skunky aroma and flavor associated with certain styles is generally caused by being "light struck" including by florescent lighting in as little as twenty four hours. Lighter colored, hoppier style lagers in green, and clear bottles are easily affected by light. Store or display your beer accordingly.
The Important Thing to remember is that neither color nor style alone will determine whether a beer is poor, average, or extraordinary. That determination rests on the skill and determination of the brewer, plus of course, the quality of the ingredients and the efficiency of the brewers equipment. Yet no matter how able a brewer may be, he or she cannot safeguard against the preconceptions and prejudices of the beer drinker, so it is up to all of us to approach each and every beer with a clean palate and an open mind.