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Art(n): the use of the imagination to make things of significance.
Webster’s Dictionary of the English Language
Well, given that definition, we should all agree that brewing beer is most assuredly an art. What could be more significant than an ice-cold lager on a hot summer day or a glass of dense porter with a fall feast? To make beer, four things are necessary:
- Water
- Malted Grain
- Hops
- Yeast
Looks darn simple. So how do we end up with so many different kinds of beer? Pretty much like pizza…it depends on the quality of the ingredients and what to do with them during preparation.
Water
I’ll bet you think that water makes a big difference in the beer we produce. Right you are, my teacher’s pet. While modern filtration and sanitation methods make pure water easy to come by, some beer styles are based on differences in chemical make-up of water in various parts of the world.
Water rich in minerals such as calcium or magnesium would cause problems when producing lighter styles of beer. Gypsum deposits in the water of central
Great Britain
are essential to produce the sharply flavored pale ales of the region. We use gypsum to produce sheetrock…what a waste! Knowing the effects of various elements in water on the ultimate flavor of our brew gives us the ability to duplicate any conditions we desire.
 Malted Grain
No, not the malt that you add to milk and ice cream. Steep your grain of choice in water, barley is the best and two-row barley is the premium choice due to lower tannins in the end product. The water will cause the grain to sprout, which releases enzymes in the grain.
Dry the sprouted or malted grain over heat and you have ingredient #2 for your fermentation. When the sprouted barley is dried, we might then decide to roast our grain to make it more complex for the production of certain beer styles. Mill or grind the barley to create easier access to the starches in the ground barley.
 Heating the ground, malted barley in water converts the starches into sugars that are needed for the brewing process. The resulting liquid, called mash, is moved to the Lauter Tun and further contact with hot water to extract the sweet liquid from the grain solids. With the grain solids removed, we now have wort, a somewhat sweet syrupy fluid.
 Hops
The wort is transferred to a brew kettle where it is brought to a boil and the third ingredient is added: hops. The choice of hops, both kind and amount, is critical to the end product. Hops are the spice in the sauce, so to speak. They are a critical element in the brewing process. The boiling process continues until the brew master is satisfied that the proper extraction of flavors has occurred. The hops are then separated from the wort, and the liquid is brought to room temperature.
 Yeast
With the addition of yeast to the cooled wort, a five to seven day process of fermentation begins. The yeast interacts with the sugars in the wort to produce alcohol and carbon dioxide (CO2).
Fermentation is a vigorous process; yeast cells attack the sugars in the wort until all the sugar has been converted either to alcohol or the carbon dioxide held suspension in the beer. The type of yeast used determines whether we produce a lager or ale.
- Saccharomyces (yeast) Carlsberginis produces lager.
- Saccharomyces (yeast) Cerevisae produces ale.
Lager vs. Ale
What is the difference between lagers and ales?
Carlsberginis is a yeast that sinks to the bottom of the fermentation tank as it completes its work on the sugars in the wort. The fermentation process is a relatively cool one. Lagers include: bock beer, pilsner, Oktoberfest, light beers, malt liquors, and of course lagers.
Cerevisae is a yeast that floats to the top of the fermentation tank as it completes its work on the sugars in the wort. The ale fermentation process is warmer than lager fermentation. Ales include: bitters,
India
pale ale, porter, stout, and of course ale.
You might think that after all of this work, we finally have ourselves a beer to drink. Not so fast, oh impatient one.
To get a fine beer, we must initiate a second fermentation referred to as Krausening. To accomplish this, we take our beer from the first fermentation and add unfermented wort to the mix (Boston Beer adds about 15%). This reintroduces the sugars into the beer, which already has plenty of unspent yeast cells still in the mixture. So, fermentation starts all over again, sugars and other
by products of the first fermentation undergo the process and carbonation increases. Better beers move from this second fermentation and then they are stored in a conditioning tank to age. After aging, the beer is filtered to remove unwanted solids and is ready to be bottled.
Is there any other way to make beer? Certainly. Brewers have a recipe or process modification that set their product apart. To increase the spicy characteristic of a brew, they might add hops to the second fermentation ‘dry hopping’. Some will use grains other than barley or wheat in their process (adjuncts) to lower the cost of production.
Some giant brewers will use unfiltered water right out of the St. John’s or
Mississippi River
to save money. Sorry, I lost my head. No one uses unfiltered river water in their beer.
Well I hope this gives you some insight into the beer making process so you can discuss it intelligently with your accounts and appreciate it yourself.
I did say from A to Z, didn’t I?
Zymurgy(n): the applied chemistry of the fermentation process.
Webster’s Dictionary of the English Language
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