Wednesday, June 23rd, 2010 at
9:35 pm
It is said that beer has been around as long as man has been around. Some of humanity’s earliest known writings refer to the production and distribution of beer: the “Code of Hammurabi” included laws regulating beer and beer parlours and “The Hymn to Ninkasi,” a prayer to the Mesopotamian goddess of beer, served as both a prayer and as a method of remembering the recipe for beer in a culture with few literate people. Beer is composed essentially of water, malted barley, hops and yeast.
The fermentable material is provided by the starch source in beer and this largely determines the strength and flavor of the beer. The most common starch source used in beer is malted grain. Grain is malted by soaking it in water, allowing it to begin germination, and then drying the partially germinated grain in a kiln. Nearly all beer includes barley malt as the majority of the starch. There are many advantages in using barley in making beer. Barley has a fibrous husk which facilitates the brewing process. It is also a rich source of amylase, a digestive enzyme, which facilitates the conversion of starch into sugars.
The water content in beer is more than ninety percent, and consequently, plays a major role in determining the caliber of the final product. Unlike in everyday living, when it comes to the brewing of beer, “water” is not just “water”. Where the brewing of beer is concerned, there are many intricacies associated with the kind of water, its sources, and what it contains. Water from natural sources contain elements such as Calcium and Magnesium, which aid many of the biochemical processes taking place during brewing.
It is said that “hops are to beer what lemon is to lemonade”. Hops give flavor, bitterness, and aroma to beer. Beer hops also have anti-bacterial properties, which help ward off spoilage and give beer a longer shelf life. The hops plants are very prolific and can be grown in many parts of the world.
The microorganism “yeast” is used to ferment the beer. Specific strains of yeast are chosen
depending on the type of beer produced. The two main strains are ale yeast and lager yeast, with other variations available as well. Yeasts aids in metabolizing the sugars that are extracted from the grains, and, as a result, produces alcohol and carbon dioxide. In earlier times, when the functions of yeast were not fully understood, all fermentations were done using wild or airborne yeasts.
A lot of brewers prefer to add one or more “clarifying agents” to beer that aren’t required to be published as ingredients. Examples include isinglass finings, which are obtained from swim
bladders of fish and Irish moss, which is a type of red alga. Since these ingredients can be obtained from animals, those who are concerned with either the use or consumption of animal products should obtain detailed information from the brewer.
