Octoberfest is almost here and that means beer
So for the next few days I’ll be posting about beer.
What is Beer?
Beer, just the name is refreshing isn’t it? It brings to mind warm summer nights sitting around the pool with a frosty mug of amber hued liquid. What would a football game be without a tailgating party and cold bottles of your favorite brew. But what exactly is beer?
It’s an alcoholic beverage made of grain, hops, yeast and water. Pretty simple, until it gets complicated. Beer can be made from malted or unmalted barley. It may require a cooling process such as ale does, or include additional ingredients such as fruit, herbs, even hot peppers. The grain can be wheat or barley, although occasionally corn or rice is used. Hops weren’t always part of the beer recipe.
Malted grain is grain that has been germinated, or sprouted, and then dried before the plant has a chance to develop. Malting gives a flavor to the beer and adds sugar by changing some of the starches in the grain to maltose, a sugar. The sugar is important for the development of the yeast, it acts as a food source.
Yeast is the catalyst for the beer making process. Yeast is a one celled fungus. It exists in nature and can be found on the skins of grapes and other fruits. Yeast is used for baking bread. It is responsible for the bread to rise. Brewer’s yeast is used in brewing beer and making wine for the alcoholic content.
The little yeast cells consume the sugar and convert it to alcohol as a by product. The bubbles in beer are a result of the yeast also emitting carbon dioxide. This process is called fermentation.
Water is an important ingredient in beer, the purity of the water used effects the taste of the final product.
Hops, the female flower of the hop plant (Humulus lupulus) are used in the brewing process to add the characteristic “beer” taste and as a stabilizer.