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Beer is the world's oldest and most popular alcoholic beverage, selling more than 133 billion litres (35 billion gallons) per year. It is produced through the fermentation of starch-based material, commonly barley, though cassava root in Africa, potato in Brazil, and agave in Mexico, among other starch sources, have been used.
Alcoholic beverages made from the fermentation of sugars derived from nonstarch sources (e.g., grape juice or honey), and beverages which are distilled after fermentation are not considered to be beer.
Because the ingredients and procedures used to make beer can differ, characteristics such as taste and colour may also vary. While local names for beers made with the same methods and ingredients vary, the similarities of method and ingredients can be detected to form a study of the nature of beer styles.
History
Beer is one of the oldest beverages humans have produced, dating back to at least the 5th millennium BC (prior even to writing), and recorded in the written history of Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia. As almost any substance containing carbohydrates, namely sugar or starch, can naturally undergo fermentation, it is likely that beer-like beverages were independently invented among various cultures throughout the world.
Beer largely remained a homemaker's activity, made in the home in medieval times. By the 14th and 15th centuries, beermaking was gradually changing from a family-oriented activity to an artisan one, with pubs and monasteries brewing their own beer for mass consumption.
Today, the brewing industry is a huge global business, consisting of several multinational companies, and many thousands of smaller producers ranging from brewpubs to regional breweries.
Brewing
- For a full explanation, see Brewing
Though the process of brewing beer is complex and varies considerably, the basic stages that are consistent are outlined below. There may be additional filtration steps between stages.
- Mashing: The first phase of brewing, in which the malted grains are crushed and soaked in warm water in order to create a malt extract. The mash is held at constant temperature long enough for enzymes to convert starches into fermentable sugars.
- Sparging: Water is filtered through the mash to dissolve the sugars. The darker, sugar-heavy liquid is called the wort.
- Boiling: The wort is boiled along with any remaining ingredients (excluding yeast), to remove excess water and kill any microorganisms. The hops (whole, pelleted, or extract) are added at some stage during the boil.
- Fermentation: The yeast is added (or "pitched") and the beer is left to ferment. After primary fermentation, the beer may be allowed a second fermentation, which allows further settling of yeast and other particulate matter ("trub") which may have been introduced earlier in the process. Some brewers may skip the secondary fermentation and simply filter off the yeast.
- Packaging: At this point, the beer contains alcohol, but not much carbon dioxide. The brewer has a few options to increase carbon dioxide levels. The most common approach by large-scale brewers is force carbonation, via the direct addition of CO2 gas to the keg or bottle. Smaller-scale or more classically-minded brewers will add extra ("priming") sugar or a small amount of newly fermenting wort ("kräusen") to the final vessel, resulting in a short refermentation known as "cask-" or "bottle conditioning".
After brewing, the beer is usually a finished product. At this point the beer is kegged, casked, bottled, or canned.
Unfiltered beers may be stored for further fermentation in conditioning tanks, casks or bottles to allow smoothing of harsh alcohol notes, integration of heavy hop flavours, and/or the introduction of oxidised notes such as wine or sherry flavours. Some beer enthusiasts consider a long conditioning period attractive for various strong beers such as Barley wines. There are some beer cafes in Europe, such as Kulminator in Antwerp, which stock beers aged ten years or more. Aged beers such as Bass Kings Ale from 1902, Courage Imperial Russian Stout and Thomas Hardys Ale are particularly valued.
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.
Water
Beer is composed mainly of water, which when heated is known as brewing liquor. The characteristics of the water have an influence on the character of the beer. Although the effect of, and interactions between, various dissolved minerals in brewing water is complex, as a general rule, hard water is more suited to dark beer such as stout, while very soft water is more suited for brewing pale ale and pale lager.Starch source
The most common starch source is malted cereal. And among malts, barley malt is the most widely used owing to its high amylase content, a digestive enzyme which facilitates the breakdown of the starch into sugars. However, depending on what can be cultivated locally, other malted and unmalted grains may be used, including wheat, rice, oats, and rye, and less frequently, maize and sorghum. Malt is formed from grain by soaking it in water, allowing it to start to germinate, and then drying the germinated grain in a kiln. Malting the grain produces the enzymes that will eventually convert the starches in the grain into fermentable sugars. Different roasting times and temperatures are used to produce different colours of malt from the same grain. Darker malts will produce darker beers. Two or more types of malt may be combined.
People who have gluten intolerance have a reaction to the gliadin found in wheat but more frequently, the "gluten" of barley. Such people (coeliacs) have to drink gluten free beer to prevent abdominal pain or possible malnutrition.
Flavourings
Hops have commonly been used as a bittering agent in beer since the seventeenth century. Hops contain several characteristics very favourable to beer: (a) hops contribute a bitterness that balances the sweetness of the malt, (b) hops also contribute aromas which range from flowery to citrus to herbal, (c) hops have an antibiotic effect that favours the activity of brewer's yeast over less desirable microorganisms and (d) the use of hops aids in "head retention", the length of time that a foamy head created by the beer's carbonation agent will last. The bitterness of commercially-brewed beers is measured on the International Bitterness Units scale. While hop plants are grown by farmers all around the world in many different varieties, there is no major commercial use for hops other than in beer.Yeast
A microorganism that is responsible for fermentation. A specific strain of yeast is chosen depending on the type of beer being produced, the two main strains being ale yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) and lager yeast (Saccharomyces uvarum), with some other variations available, such as Brettanomyces and Torulaspora delbrueckii. Yeast will metabolise the sugars extracted from the grains, and produce alcohol and carbon dioxide as a result. Before yeast's functions were understood, fermentations were conducted naturally using wild or airborne yeasts; although a few styles such as lambics still rely on this ancient method, most modern fermentations are conducted using pure yeast cultures.Clarifying agent
Some brewers add one or more clarifying agents to beer that are not required to be published as ingredients. Common examples of these include Isinglass finings, obtained from swimbladders of fish; kappa carrageenan, derived from seaweed; Irish moss, a type of red alga; and gelatin. Since these ingredients may be derived from animals, those concerned with the use or consumption of animal products should obtain specific details of the filtration process from the brewer.Styles
- Main article: Beer style
Categorising by yeast
- ''Main article: Brewer's yeast
Ale
- Main article: 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, 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 are 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 but not limited to apple, pear, pineapple, banana, plum, or prune. Typical ales have a sweeter, fuller body than "lagers".
Differences between some ales and lagers can be difficult to categorise. Steam beer, Kölsch 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 is perceived to produce cleaner tasting, dryer and lighter beer than ale.
Lager
- Main article: Lager
Lager is the English name for bottom-fermenting beers of Central European origin, though the term is not used there. They are the most commonly-consumed beer in the world. The name comes from the German lagern ("to store"). Lager yeast is a bottom-fermenting yeast, 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 (30-40 °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 "crisper" 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 color, in Vienna in 1840–1841. With modern improved yeast strains, most lager breweries use only short periods of cold storage, typically 1–3 weeks.
The lagering phase is not restricted to lager beers. In Germany, all beers are stored at low temperatures before consumption; in the British tradition, the practice of Cold Conditioning is similar in nature.
Lambic beers: spontaneous fermentation
- Main article: Lambic
Lambic beers use wild yeasts, rather than cultivated ones. Many of these are not related to brewer's yeast (saccharomyces), and may have significant differences in aroma and sourness.
Pale ale
- Main article: Pale ale
Very dark beers , such as stout, use very dark malts.
Draught and keg
Draught beer from a pressurised keg is the most common dispense method in bars around the world. A metal keg is pressurised with carbon dioxide (CO2) 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 has fine bubbles, producing a dense head and a creamy mouthfeel.
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" are often used as marketing terms to describe canned or bottled beers containing a beer widget.
Cask ales
Cask ales are unfiltered and unpasteurised. When the landlord feels the beer has settled, and he is ready to serve it, he will knock a soft spile into a bunghole on the side of the cask. The major difference in appearance between a keg and a cask is the bunghole. A keg does not have a bunghole on the side.The soft spile in the bunghole allows gas to vent off. This can be seen by the bubbles foaming around the spile. The landlord will periodically check the bubbles by wiping the spile clean and then watching to see how fast the bubbles reform. There still has to be some life in the beer otherwise it will taste flat, but too much life and the beer will taste hard or fizzy. When the beer is judged to be ready, the landlord will replace the soft spile with a hard one (which doesn’t allow air in or gas out) and let the beer settle for 24 hours. He will also knock a tap into the end of the cask. This might simply be a tap if the cask is stored behind the bar. The beer will then be served simply under gravity pressure: Turn on the tap, and the beer comes out. But if the cask is in the cellar, the beer needs to travel via tubes, or beer lines, up to the bar area using a beer engine.
Bottle conditioned
Bottle conditioned beers are unfiltered and unpasteurised. It is usually recommended that the beer is poured slowly, leaving any yeast sediment at the bottom of the bottle. However, some drinkers prefer to pour in the yeast, and this practice is customary with wheat beers. Typically when serving a hefeweizen 90% of the contents is poured and the remainder swirled to dissolve the sediment before pouring it into the glass.
Culture
Social context
Various social traditions and activities are associated with beer drinking, such as playing cards, darts or other pub games; attending beer festivals, or visiting a series of different pubs in one evening; rating beer; joining an organisation such as CAMRA; or brewing beer at home. Various drinking games, such as beer pong, 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 as much as wine, the second most popular alcoholic beverage.
Vessels
Beer is drunk from a variety of vessels, such as a beer bottle, a can, a glass, a beer stein, a mug or a pewter tankard. Some drinkers may pour their beer into a vessel before imbibing, while others may drink straight from the bottle or can. Some drinkers consider that the type of vessel influences their enjoyment of the beer. A few breweries produce glassware intended only for their own beers. While some drinkers in Britain may prefer their ale to be served in pewter tankards, other drinkers in Europe may want their glass to be rinsed just before beer is poured into them to ensure the beer has a satisfactory head.
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 center 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.
Unfiltered bottled beers may be served with the addition of the remaining yeast at the bottom of the bottle to add both flavour and colour.
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. There are no firmly agreed principles for all cases; however, a general approach is that lighter coloured beers, such as pale lagers, are usually enjoyed cold (40-45F/4-7C), while dark, strong beers such as Imperial Stouts are often enjoyed at cellar temperature (54-60F/12-16C) and then allowed to warm up in the room to individual taste. Other beers should be served at temperatures between these extremes.Rating
Rating beer is a recent craze that combines the enjoyment of beer drinking with the hobby of collecting. People drink beer and then record their scores and comments on various internet websites. This is a worldwide activity and people in the USA will swap bottles of beer with people living in New Zealand and Russia. People's scores may be tallied together to create lists of the most popular beers in each country as well as the most highly rated beers in the world.
Health effects
Beer contains alcohol which has a number of health risks and benefits. However, beer includes a wide variety of other agents that are currently undergoing scientific evaluation.
Nutritionally, beer can contain significant amounts of magnesium, selenium, potassium, phosphorus, biotin, and B vitamins. Typically, the darker the brew, the more nutrient dense.
A 2005 Japanese study found that non-alcoholic beer may possess strong anti-cancer properties. Another study found nonalcoholic beer to mirror the cardiovascular benefits associated with moderate consumption of alcoholic beverages.
It is considered that over-eating 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 beer belly *.
Strength
The alcohol content of beers varies by local custom. British ale tends to average 4.4% abv, while Belgian beers tend to average 8% abv. The strength of the typical global pale lager is 5% abv.Typical brewing yeast cannot reproduce (and therefore cannot produce alcohol) above 12% abv. However, in the 1980s the Swiss brewery Hurlimann developed a yeast strain which could get as high as 14% for their Samichlaus beer.
Some brewers use champagne yeasts to artificially increase their 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 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 freezing, believed to be 28% abv. The beer that is considered to be the strongest yet made is Hair of the Dog's Dave - a 29% abv barley wine made in 1994.
Related beverages
There are a number of related beverages such as kvass, sahti and pulque.
- Africa: Hundreds of local drinks made from millet, sorghum, and other available starch crops.
- Andes, South America: Chicha, an Andean beverage made from germinated maize.
- Bhutan, Nepal, Tibet and Sikkim: Chhaang, a popular semi-fermented rice/millet drink in the eastern Himalaya.
- China: Jiǔ酒, the word refers to all alcoholic drinks, most of which are distilled liquors (báijiǔ白酒), 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.
- Japan: Sake, a primarily rice-based fermented drink.
- Korea: Soju
- Kyrgyzstan: Bozo is a low alcohol, somewhat porridgey drink made from millet. The Kyrgyz are also fans of kumis, (in Kyrgyz called kymyz), the fermented mare's milk drink popular in many parts of Central Asia and Mongolia. This is very easy to obtain as it is 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.
- Mexico: Pulque, an indigenous beer made from the fermented sap of the agave plant.
- Russia/Ukraine: Kvass, a fermented nonalcoholic or mildly alcoholic beverage.
- Bouza: An ancient Egyptian beer made from bread which is still made in Sudan.
- Some Celtic peoples of the European Iron Age drank, according to some classical sources, a type of beer known as korma.
See also
- Brewery
- Brewing
- History of beer
- Homebrewing
- Category:Beer and breweries by region
- Beer style
- List of countries ordered by per capita beer consumption
Notes
References
- The Complete Guide to World Beer, Roger Protz. ISBN 1844428656.
- The Barbarian's Beverage: a history of beer in ancient Europe, Max Nelson. ISBN 0415311217.
- The World Guide to Beer, Michael Jackson. ISBN 1850760004
- Beer: The Story of the Pint, Martyn Cornell. ISBN 0755311655
- Beer and Britannia: An Inebriated History of Britain, Peter Haydon. ISBN 0750927488
- The Book of Beer Knowledge: Essential Wisdom for the Discerning Drinker, a Useful Miscellany, Jeff Evans. ISBN 1852491981
- Country House Brewing in England, 1500-1900, Pamela Sambrook. ISBN 1852851279
- Ale, Beer and Brewsters in England: Women's Work in a Changing World, 1300-1600 , Judith M. Bennett. ISBN 0195126505
- A History of Beer and Brewing, I. Hornsey. ISBN 0854046305
- Beer: an Illustrated History, Brian Glover. ISBN 1840385979
- Beer in America: The Early Years 1587-1840 - Beer's Role in the Settling of America and the Birth of a Nation, Gregg Smith. ISBN 0937381659
- Big Book of Beer, Adrian Tierney-Jones. ISBN 1852492120
- Gone for a Burton: Memories from a Great British Heritage, Bob Ricketts. ISBN 1905203691
- Farmhouse Ales: Culture and Craftsmanship in the Belgian Tradition, Phil Marowski. ISBN 0937381845
- The World Encyclopedia of Beer, Brian Glover. ISBN 0754809331
- The Complete Joy of Homebrewing, Charlie Papazian ISBN 0380772876 (This is the seminal work on home brewing that is almost universally suggested to new hobbyist)
External links
General
Reviews
Consumer groups
- The Campaign For Real Ale
- Belgian Beer Societies
- Pint of the Netherlands
- European Beer Consumers Union
Geography specific
Europe
Belgium
France
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- Main article: Lager
Lager is the English name for bottom-fermenting beers of Central European origin, though the term is not used there. They are the most commonly-consumed beer in the world. The name comes from the German lagern ("to store"). Lager yeast is a bottom-fermenting yeast, 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 (30-40 °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 "crisper" tasting beer.
"Beer"