Beer

For other uses, see beer (disambiguation).

A selection of bottled beers

A selection of cask beers

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.

The characteristics of beer such as taste and colour vary according to the ingredients and procedures used to make it. 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

File:Girl making beer.jpg

Egyptian woman making beer (Cairo Museum)

Main article: History of beer

Beer is one of the oldest human-produced beverages, possibly dating back to at least the 7th millennium BC (perhaps prior even to bread), and recorded in the written history of Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia. Earliest known chemical evidence of beer dates to circa 3500-3100 BC. 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.

In Europe, beer was being produced by or for monasteries as early as the 7th century. By the 14th and 15th centuries, beer had achieved great popularity, at least in part because health epidemics made drinking beer safer than drinking water. However it was not until the 17th century, according to author and beer expert Michael Jackson, that beer took on the styles and flavours that we might recognise in the beers of today.

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

Main article: 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.

1. 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, usually about 45 to 90 minutes, depending on mash temperature (high temperatures = faster). The temperature is typically held at either a single temperature (single step) or a series of temperatures depending on the enzymes one wants to focus on. Typically with modern fully-modified malts, a single-stage infusion is all that is required. For most mashes, a temperature between 65-67 °C (150-154 °F) is typical, with higher temperatures yielding fuller bodied beers, and lower temperatures yielding more fermentable and lighter bodied beers. Multi-temperature mashes are used for acid-buffering reactions and protein rests for head-retention for some types of malts.
2. Sparging: Water is filtered through the mash to dissolve the sugars. The darker, sugar-heavy liquid is called the wort. Typically the rinse water (sparge) is held between 76-82 °C (170-180 °F) to (1) keep sugars and gums from setting up and (2) above 82 °C (180 °F), tannin extraction could be a problem.
3. Boiling: The wort is boiled along with any remaining ingredients (excluding yeast), to remove excess water and kill any microorganisms. The main function of boiling is to set proteins and such similar to cooking bread. The hops (whole, pelleted, or extract) are added at some stage during the boil. Bittering hops are added during the entire boil (1 hour +), flavoring are added between about 5 - 20 minutes, and aroma hops are added at 5 minutes or less.
4. 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.
5. 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 (usually about 5 oz corn sugar per 5 gal) or a small amount of newly fermenting wort ("kräusen") to the final vessel, resulting in a short refermentation known as "cask-" or "bottle conditioning". This can be done by "bulk priming" or "bottle priming" methods. Bulk priming is the process of adding the additional sugar to the entirety of the beer. Bottle priming is adding it to each bottle individually.

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. [1]

Ingredients

Malted barley before roasting

Main articles: Hops, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Brewer's yeast, Malt, and Barley

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.

Crushed hops

People who have gluten intolerance have a reaction to the gliadin found in wheat but more frequently, the "gluten" of barley. Such people (coeliacs) should drink gluten free beer to prevent abdominal pain or possible malnutrition.

Hops

Hops have commonly been used as a bittering agent in beer for over a thousand years, the earliest evidence of cultivation for this purpose dates back to the seventeenth century (according to Judith M. Bennett). 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 favors 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 metabolize 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; polyclar (artificial), and gelatin.

Styles

Main article: Beer style

A great many beers are brewed across the globe. Local traditions will give beers different names, giving the impression of a multitude of different styles. However, the basics of brewing beer are shared across national and cultural boundaries.

The British beer writer Michael Jackson wrote about beers from around the world in his 1977 book The World Guide To Beer and organised them into local style groups based on local information. This book had an influence on craft and homebrewers in United States who developed an intricate system of categorising beers which is exemplified by the Beer Judge Certification Program.

The traditional European brewing nations - the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, The Netherlands and Austria - all have their own local beer histories which inform minor variations. In some countries - notably the USA, Canada and Australia - brewers have adapted European styles to such an extent that they have effectively created their own indigenous types.

Categorizing by yeast

Main article: Brewer's yeast

A common method of categorizing beer is by the behaviour of the yeast used in the fermentation process. In this method of categorizing, those beers which use a fast acting yeast which leaves behind residual sugars are termed ales, while those beers which use a slower and longer acting yeast which removes most of the sugars leaving a clean and dry beer are termed lagers.

Ale

Main article: Ale

Cask ales

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, Alt 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 results in a cleaner tasting, dryer and lighter beer than ale.

Lager

Main article: Lager

A stein of lager

Lager is the English name for bottom-fermenting beers of Central European origin. 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 (32-40 °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.

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 and dark beer

The most common color is a pale amber produced from using pale malts. Pale lager is a term used for beers made from malt dried with coke. Coke had been first used for roasting malt in 1642, but it wasn't until around 1703 that the term pale ale was first used. In terms of volume, most of today's beer is based on the pale lager brewed in 1842 in the town of Pilsen, in the Czech Republic. The modern Pilsner lager is light in colour and high in carbonation, with a strong hop flavour and an alcohol by volume content of around 5%. The Pilsner Urquell and Heineken brands of beer are typical examples of pale lager, as are the American brands Budweiser, Coors, and Miller.

Dark beers are usually brewed from a pale malt or pils malt base with a small proportion of darker malt added to achieve the desired shade. Other colourants - such as caramel - are also widely used to darken beers. Very dark beers, such as stout, use dark or patent malts. These have been roasted longer.

Serving

Draught and keg

Draught beer keg fonts at the Delirium Café in Brussels

Main articles: Draught beer, Widget (beer), and Keg beer

Draught beer from a pressurized keg is the most common dispense method in bars around the world. A metal keg is pressurized 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 produces fine bubbles, resulting in a dense head and a creamy mouthfeel.

In the 1980s Guinness introduced the beer widget, a nitrogen pressurized 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-conditioned ales

Schlenkerla Rauchbier direct from the cask

Main article: Cask ale

Cask-conditioned ales (simply referred to as "Cask Ales" in the US) are the unfiltered and unpasteurised beers often called "Real Ale" in the UK. Typically, when a cask of real ale arrives in a pub, it is placed horizontally on a stillage and allowed to cool to cellar temperature (typically around 13 °C / 55.4 °F), before being tapped and vented — a tap is driven through a (usually rubber) bung at the bottom of one end, and a hard spile or other implement is used to open a hole in the side of the cask, which is now uppermost. The act of stillaging and then venting a beer in this manner typically disturbs all the sediment, so it must be left for a suitable period to "drop" (clear) again, as well as to fully condition — this period can take anywhere from several hours to several days. At this point the beer is ready to sell, either being pulled through a beer line with a hand pump, or simply being "gravity-fed" directly into the glass.

Bottles

Most beers are filtered before bottling; see Filtered beer. Some, however, are bottle conditioned.

Main article: Bottle conditioning

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; this practice is, in fact, customary with wheat beers. Typically, when serving a hefeweizen, 90% of the contents are poured, and the remainder is swirled to suspend the sediment before pouring it into the glass.

Cans

A lot of beer is sold in beer cans, though there is considerable variation in the proportion between different countries. In Sweden 60% of beer is sold in cans, in Denmark none at all. People either drink from the can or pour the beer into a glass. Cans protect the beer from light and have a seal less prone to leaking over time than bottles. Cans were initially viewed as a technological breakthrough for maintaining the quality of a beer, but are now commonly associated with cheap, mass-produced beers such as US-made Budweiser and Miller. Good-quality imported beers and many in-country micro-brewed beers will usually be bought in beer bottles.

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. Beer writer Michael Jackson proposes a five-level scale for serving temperatures: well chilled (7 °C/45 °F) for "light" beers (American and Australian lagers), chilled (8 °C/47 °F) for Berliner Weisse, lightly chilled (9 °C/48 °F) for European lagers, all dark lagers, altbier and German wheat beers, cellar temperature (13 °C/55 °F) for regular British ale, stout and most Belgian specialities and room temperature (15.5 °C/60 °F) for strong dark ales (especially trappist beer) and barley wine.

Culture

Gambrinus - king of beer

Social context

See also: Category:Beer culture

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 the BCCA[[2]]; or brewing beer at home. Various drinking games, such as beer pong, and Quarters are also very popular.

International consumption

See also: Beer consumption by country

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

Main articles: Beer glassware, Beer bottle, and Beer can

Beer is drunk from a variety of vessels, such as a glass, a beer stein, a mug, a pewter tankard or even a beer bottle or can. Many drinkers consider that the type of vessel influences their enjoyment of the beer. In Europe, many breweries produce glassware intended only for their own beers. Most drinkers expect their beer to be served in a glass, preferably the glass chosen by the brewery.

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.

Rating

Main article: Rating beer

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

Main articles: Alcohol consumption and health and Beer belly

The moderate consumption of alcohol, including beer, is associated with better health and greater longevity than is either abstaining or drinking heavily.

Brewer's yeast is known to be a rich source of nutrients; therefore, as expected, beer can contain significant amounts of nutrients, including magnesium, selenium, potassium, phosphorus, biotin, and B vitamins. In fact, beer is sometimes referred to as "liquid bread". Some sources maintain that filtered beer loses much of its nutrition.

A 2005 Japanese study found that low alcohol beer may possess strong anti-cancer properties. Another study found nonalcoholic beer to mirror the cardiovascular benefits associated with moderate consumption of alcoholic beverages. However, much research suggests that the primary health benefit from alcoholic beverages comes from the alcohol they contain.

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 a beer belly. But with most overconsumption it is more a problem of improper exercise and overconsumption of carbohydrates than the product itself.

There is evidence that very heavy and prolonged consumption of alcohol may lead to liver damage and also leave the organ vulnerable to cancer cells.

Strength

The alcohol content of beers varies by local custom. British ales average around 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 Hürlimann developed a yeast strain which could get as high as 14% for their Samichlaus beer.

Some brewers use champagne yeasts to artificially increase the 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

See also: Category:Fermented 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 refers to all alcoholic drinks, most of which are distilled liquors (báijiǔ), 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.
• Indonesia: Brem, a Balinese fermented rice wine.
• Japan: Sake, a rice-based fermented drink.
• Korea: Soju
• Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Mongolia: Kumis (in Kyrgyz called kymyz), is the fermented mare's milk drink popular in many parts of Central Asia and Mongolia. It 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.
• Kyrgyzstan: Bozo is a low alcohol, somewhat porridgey drink made from millet. The Kyrgyz are also fans of kymyz (see kumis).
• 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
• List of commercial brands of beer
• Drunkenness
• Baldock Beer Disaster

References

• Man Walks into a Pub: A Sociable History of Beer, Pete Brown. ISBN 0-330-41220-5
• The Complete Guide to World Beer, Roger Protz. ISBN 1-84442-865-6.
• The Barbarian's Beverage: a history of beer in ancient Europe, Max Nelson. ISBN 0-415-31121-7.
• The World Guide to Beer, Michael Jackson. ISBN 1-85076-000-4
• The New World Guide to Beer, Michael Jackson. ISBN 0-89471-884-3
• Beer: The Story of the Pint, Martyn Cornell. ISBN 0-7553-1165-5
• Beer and Britannia: An Inebriated History of Britain, Peter Haydon. ISBN 0-7509-2748-8
• The Book of Beer Knowledge: Essential Wisdom for the Discerning Drinker, a Useful Miscellany, Jeff Evans. ISBN 1-85249-198-1
• Country House Brewing in England, 1500-1900, Pamela Sambrook. ISBN 1-85285-127-9
• Ale, Beer and Brewsters in England: Women's Work in a Changing World, 1300-1600 , Judith M. Bennett. ISBN 0-19-512650-5
• A History of Beer and Brewing, I. Hornsey. ISBN 0-85404-630-5
• Beer: an Illustrated History, Brian Glover. ISBN 1-84038-597-9
• 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 0-937381-65-9
• Big Book of Beer, Adrian Tierney-Jones. ISBN 1-85249-212-0
• Gone for a Burton: Memories from a Great British Heritage, Bob Ricketts. ISBN 1-905203-69-1
• Farmhouse Ales: Culture and Craftsmanship in the Belgian Tradition, Phil Marowski. ISBN 0-937381-84-5
• The World Encyclopedia of Beer, Brian Glover. ISBN 0-7548-0933-1
• The Complete Joy of Homebrewing, Charlie Papazian ISBN 0-380-77287-6 (This is the seminal work on home brewing that is almost universally suggested to new hobbyist)

External links

Consumer groups/Organizations

• The Campaign For Real Ale
• Zythos (Belgian Beer Consumers Association)
• Dutch beer-related group
• European Beer Consumers Union
• Danske Ølentusiaster (Danish Beer Consumers Association)
• NORØL (Federation of Norwegian Beer Consumers)
• Svenska Ölfrämjandet (Swedish Beer Consumers Association)
• Swiss Beer Consumers Association
• French Beer Consumers Association
• Austrian Beer Consumers Association
• Polish Beer Consumers Association
• Finnish Beer Consumers Association
• Czech Beer Consumers Association

Geography specific

Australia

• Australian Beer Guide

Europe

• European Beer Guide

Belgium

• Belgium Babble Belt
• White's Belgium Beer Travels

France

• French Beer 1
• French Beer 2
• French Beer 3

Ireland

• European Beer Guide

General Beer Websites

• Beer Advocate
• RateBeer
• Draft Magazine

Home Brewing

• American Brewers Association
• American Beer Judge Program

How it works

• How Beer Works